NASA’s New Horizons probe, set to fly by Pluto this July, may eventually leave the system with crowdsourced messages for extra-terrestrials.
We’ve also got some video of NASA’s flying saucer:
Robot arms are now so surgically precise they can sew skin onto a grape:
While our own eyes might be modified with bionic lenses.
Below, we leave the science for fiction, with cosplay from cons around the globe:
This week we have space exploration and SF-inspired science, including
A realworld Tron lightcycle (recently auctioned for over $77,000.00)
Hulkbuster Armor in progress, by one James Bruton:
While astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, having already represented Starfleet in space and sipped espresso off-world, gives us a tour of astro-hygiene:
More space-toileting below, along with dino-snouted chickens, spots on Ceres, Cosplay and Cons, and more….
…came and went once more. Here’s how it looked from my pov:
For May the 4th, the crew of the ISS watched Star Wars in space! Meanwhile, Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who recently wore a Star Trek uniform on the station, used it to brew the first space-espresso yesterday, using the machine they received a couple of weeks ago:
Some real-world comic-book technology, cosplay, Lois Lane dickery, and more, below:
Even space is not void of cosplayers, as Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti showed us recently with her Star Trek Selfie… in Space… taken aboard the International Space Station.
Here on earth, last weekend’s Star Wars Celebration Anaheim featured creative cosplay, peerless panelists, Muppet stormtroopers, and more (below):
Reboot!
After a two-year rebuild, the large Hadron Collider has restarted. And after years of disputed existence (“it was just a younger Apatosaurus!”), the beloved Brontosaurus may be back in the books as a distinct species.
But enough science! A good many Cons took place this weekend. Check out some highlights and Easter Eggs below:
NASA will continue to work with Russia on the ISS, but currently have no plans to collaborate on a successor space station. Meanwhile, an astronaut from each country prepares for a year in space:
This Instagram presents images that could be from Blade Runner: located in the actual twenty-first century.
An ancient lake bed in Portugal yields the remains of a gigantic prehistoric amphibian.
GenCon may leave Indiana over that state’s recently-passed, problematically-named “Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
Comic-Cons and Cosplay in Utrecht and Seattle, below:
Mars One has moved its deadline back two years, creating further doubts about the project. Organizers stand behind their plan to send colonists one-way to the planet, but I’d bet my last red cent they won’t be launching anytime soon.
Scientists have successfully implanted mammoth DNA into elephant cells. The achievement has a number of implications– but don’t expect mammoths to roam any sooner than we’ll get to Mars.
Upon reflection, biology has names for two new species of vampire crab.
Microsoft Explorer will be replaced with…. Spartan!
Also, Forget “Whalers on the Moon.” Check out Ruairi Robinson short space-whale ‘trailer’:
Cosplay, Cons, Lucy Lawless, and St. Paddy’s, below:
The last couple weeks have been exciting ones in the news, in that all of these real-life stories are the kind that drives the plots of old serials, adventure novels, and SF classics:
A jawbone sets back the timeline for humanity’s origins.
Further evidence suggests that Mars had, not merely water, but an actual ocean
We’ve got the previously undisturbed remnants of one in Honduras and another in New Mexico, this second one found by drones.
The builder of that Secret Tunnel in Toronto reveals he only wanted a Fortress of Solitude.
And some interesting video, below:
This week’s news brings us a look at the Mars One Rejects:
Consolation Prize? The chance to live a normal life-span, assuming Mars One gets off the ground.
In case you missed it, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman image has been released online. He looks pretty good– but we’re still left wondering whether the Batman / Superman / Justice League Start-up Movie will fly or be a grounded, cluttered mess.
Meanwhile, Batman apparently kills someone, and a mysterious and possibly sinister feat of engineering has been uncovered in…