Fantasist's Scroll

Yes, they’re real.
Actual autonomous robots that mimic fish are no longer just science-fiction. According to this article on the BBC, the London Aquarium not only has them, but has them swimming in a tank with actual fish. Primarily as a marketing gimmick at the moment, but, still, they’re in there just acting like fish. Currently, they’re trying to get them to “feed” like biological animals, too, but, at the moment, they’re on batteries that last rough 5 hours.
Obviously, these little blighters are part of a scientific experiment to see how the fish and robots interact, as well as representing a step in the ever popular quest for artificial life. Any way you slice it, robofish are pretty interesting.

That’s “Godzilla” to all us non-Japanese.
Scientists have found the remains of what seems to be a Godzilla-like creature. Basically, this sucker is a cross between T. Rex and an ancient crocodile that lived in the sea. Not content to eat fish, like most crocodillians of his age, this bad-boy ate other dinos. He didn’t just fish, but he hunted. No radioactive fire-breath, but, otherwise, pretty much like Godzilla.
Now, freeze that and mix in a little radioactive waste and…. Suddenly, that movie doesn’t seem quite so bad!

Yes, apparently even airplane geeks dream.
And, when they do, they dream of fantastic, frightening, freaky planes. Some even dream them into existance. Mostly, though, they just exist as fantasies. Still, someone has collected a bunch of them together into one easy-to-use webpage: Fantasy Planes.
Perfect for a Friday Fun Link!

Hey, it’s Friday, dream big and click the link!

This is common sense to anyone in the business.
Honest. When was the last time you tried to find a computer that used a floppy disk? Have you even touched a floppy in the past year? If so, I think you’re in the minority. But, soon it may be true for something that IT Professionals (ie. professional geeks) have most likely dealt with: backup tapes. I’ve lost count of how many different kinds of backup systems I’ve used over the years and you know, most of them only would read tapes from one or two generations back. I wonder how many businesses have their archival data stored on tapes that they can’t read anymore…
But, this article on smh.com.au regarding a coming digital Dark Age might be news to some of my readers here. Or, at least, it might not be something that they’ve really considered. Imagine getting some really interesting, but obscure, documents on a system that you can’t acess. Say, a CD-ROM in the far future. It’s labelled and all, so the finders know what is supposed to be on the disk, but they don’t have a system to read it. What do they do? Thaw out that crusty, old twenty-first century computer geek so he can tell them what to do? Build a new system to read the old storage media? Find an alien to do one of the above? The possibilites for story are almost endless.

Real or hoax?
While reading a story on Slashdot.org about an improper request for a non-existant version of the Linux kernel, someone made a joke about John Titor, time traveller. As per usual on Slashdot, a fellow commentor then posted a link to the John Titor entry on Wikipedia. After reading the entry, I find myself wondering who was really behind it and why. Is it simply a Toynbee Convector? (The Toynbee Convector is a book by Ray Bradbury which contains a story of the same name. In the story, someone fakes going to the future to get folks to develop things to create that near-utopian future.) Was it someone writing a bit of interactive fiction? Or, was it simply a hoax to sell a book? (John Titor A Time Traveler\’s Tale)
Who knows? Who cares? It’s fun to look at and contemplate the intricacy of the story.
And, of course, it’s Friday, so click the link!

Well, pretty soon, maybe.
According to this article on WiredNews.com, it’s in the works! To be more specific, big makeup manufacturer L’Oreal is working cosmetics that mimic the structure of a butterfly’s wing using only chemistry and light instead of the traditional pigments, waxes and oils in “normal” offerings. What’s more, they can use these new techniques to create surreal effects that just aren’t possible with traditional cosmetics. Freaky stuff, but kind of cool, too. I wonder how long before this develops into some kind of bizarre body-modification cult thing. I can envision chemicals that create scale and fur-like effects already, so I’m sure someone is working on it.
Once again, science is making science-fiction real.

Oh My God!
Finally, after literally years of waiting Space Above and Beyond – The Complete Series is available on DVD. This was the finest science-fiction show EVER! Yes, I mean ever. Including Star Trek, in all its various incarnations, and both versions of Battlestar Galactica and anything else you can think of to date. It was real, hard-nosed, gritty science-fiction with compelling stories fille with drama and real meaning. Not psuedo, let’s-all-get-high-and-get-Roddenberry-laid messages, but the real deal. Every episode dealt with something that made you stop and think about what it meant to be something, to stand for something, or even to be human. There were funny parts, but not like in Star Trek that played for campy laughs. No, if there was something funny, it was funny the way things are in life, not some wooden slapstick played for laughs with goofy music.
And, of course, it’s the only science-fiction show to ever feature R. Lee Ermey. What can top that!?

Excuse me while I go spend a little money on whole lot of joy.

NASA’s gotten into the comics business.
No, really, according to Manga News, NASA scientists commissioned a “space comic book” to explain their new satellite program to school kids. It’s pretty neat, actually, that they’re reaching out to that kind of audience. Science has been neglected in school here in the States for a long time, so, anything they can do to raise awareness and make it fun is great. (Though, I’m not sure I would have gone with that dog-catcher theme…) Anyway, you can check “Cindi in Space” out for free here.

C’mon, it’s Friday, don’t you deserve to look at comics, too?