Gravity Lens Weblog

Archive November 26 2007 - February 25 2008

Monday, February 25

I am placing Gravity Lens on a hopefully short-lived hiatus. My current work schedule really doesn't give me the time to do an adequate job on this, and most of my downtime is spent seeking other employment. Thank you all for putting up with my sparse postings these past few months.

Monday, February 18

Tales of Future Past gives us features on moon rovers and satellites.

Friday, February 15

The first installment of Warren Ellis' webcomic Freak Angels is up today.

And because life doesn't imitate bad movies enough, the planned attempt to shoot down a crippled spy satelitte may damage the International Space Station.

Tuesday, February 12

A moment of silence, please, for Mr. Steve Gerber. He was blogging up until a few days ago.

Obits here and here.

Monday, February 11

A moment of silence, please, for Mr. Roy Scheider.

Friday, February 8

And I quote: "an experiment nuclear scientists plan to carry out in underground tunnels in Geneva in May could create a rift in the fabric of the universe."

Thursday, February 7

Steven Grant at Comic Book Resources looks back at thought balloons in comics.

Monday, February 4

Assorted Items: a moment of silence, please, for Mr. Barry Morse.

The Molecule of the Month is yummy Vanillin.

Tonight, the Beatles Across the Universe will be transmitted into deep space.

Friday, February 1

It is February.

The Goddess of the Month is Brigit.

Tuesday, January 29

Dark Roasted Blend gives us a great gallery of Mind-Boggling Transportation.

Meanwhile, Dwayne A. Day at Space Review shows us an abandoned plan for a monster chopper.

Thursday, January 24

Friend Henry sends us to the disturbing Terminator Kama Sutra.

Coudal links to this neat Artect gallery of Ocean Arcologies.

Wednesday, January 23

Because you demanded it: Polka Floyd. Oh yes, there are videos.

I don't remember this, but McDonalds once had a Klingon in a Happy Meal ad.

Monday, January 21

Gerry Canavan writes in to point us to this picture post of his about how science fiction keeps wrecking the Statue of Liberty.

Sunday, January 20

SF Signal links to this piece by Clive Thompson at Wired explaining why science fiction is the last bastion of philosophical writing.

Popular Mechanics tells us Boeing wants to put a gas station in space.

Long time Gravity Lens supporter and talented artist Randall Ensley has a blog.

Friday, January 18

Yesterday I got my copy of Doctor Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory, containing images of WETA's gorgeous steampunk weaponry and hardware. A stunning work.

Because science demands it, a paper airplane is going to be launched from the International Space Station and (hopefully) glide to Earth.

Wednesday, January 16

The George Jetson robotic shaver is becoming a reality. It also cleans your ears.

Popular Science has a great feature on anti-conterfeiting technology used in currencies.

And because there is no such thing as too much free time, IGN gives us the Top 10 Death Plummets, Retrocrush pays tribute to Pop Culture Clowns, and Coudal links to this alphabetical list of Dr. Smith's Monikers for the Robot.

Sunday, January 13

The 2007 Darwin Awards have been announced.

Saturday, January 12

Your Cone of Silence has arrived.

Tuesday, January 8

Recommended Readin': Dwayne A. Day and Roger Guillemette of The Space Review examine what we can learn about classified space flights by their mission patches.

George Dvorsky says our future biotech plans should include overcoming gender.

Cory Doctorow has some interesting things to say about artists' rights at Locus.

Assorted Eye Candy: Dial B for Blog shows us some sweet Frank Frazetta comic work.

Tales of Future Past has two new retro-sexy features: Future Fashion and Future Farm.

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has beautiful Arkham Asylum Certification of Insanity documents available as downloads.

Monday, January 7

Popular Mechanics updates us on four current airship designs, while Boing Boing links to this look at the Skyscraper Airport for the City of Tomorrow from 1939, and Gizmodo gives us the very sexy Manned Cloud airship liner.

Saturday, January 5

Warren Ellis gives us a new set of the Three Laws of Robotics.

Wednesday, January 2

Assorted Items: Scott Edelman of SciFi Weekly gives us a list of moments in SF history he wishes he could have witnessed.

Space.com gives us the best space discoveries of 2007.

Last month a Minneapolis theater troupe performed A Christmas Carol in Klingon.

Oh yes, there are videos.

Mythbusters asks: do pretty girls fart?

As with the past few years, the Website @ the End of the Universe has made its Pulp Art Calendar for 2008 available for download.

Tuesday, January 1

It is January.

The God of the Month is Janus.

Happy New Year.

Wednesday, December 26

Recommended Readin': John Harris tells us that the genetic enhancement and improvement of our species is a moral duty at New Humanist.

Gregory Mone at Popular Science shows us plans for a self-sustaining lunar greenhouse habitat.

Tom Chivers and Roger Highfield of The Telegraph report on evidence that time itself may one day cease altogether.

Alexis Madrigal of Wired gives us the Top 10 New Organisms of 2007, while Lore Sjöberg gives us his predictions for 2008.

Astrobiology informs us that astronomers are trying to determine what alien races might see if they happened to be staring at the Earth from the surface of far away planets.

Friday, December 22

Here's some neat 3D scientific computer animations of the Tunguska explosion.

And with that cheerful thought I put this humble blog to bed for the holidays. I truly hope yours are memorable.

Thursday, December 20

Assorted Items: Space.com gives us the Top 10 Spaceflight Stories of 2007.

Popular Science gives us the specs on what will be the world's biggest telescope.

Dwayne A. Day at The Space Review updates us on NASA conspiracy buffs.

Retrocrush fondly remembers our favorite toys.

Technovelgy shows us some really cool car doors and chairs that follow you around.

McSweeney's has uncovered the diary of Prometheus.

And just in time for Christmas, your personal nuclear reactor has arrived.

Wednesday, December 19

Kylie Minogue likes Daleks.

Monday, December 17

Apologies for the lack of posts. Work and weather have conspired to consume all my time.

With Christmas only a week away, I guess it's time to unleash this year's Bad Day Studio Holiday Card onto the world. This one's a semi-caustic little number called The Harbinger of All Things Glorious.

The meatspace version ships today or tomorrow.

Friday, December 14

Richard Dawkins reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas...

Dial B for Blog gives us the secret origin of Bartman.

Wednesday, December 12

In the news: Hindu gods get summons from court.

Tuesday, December 11

Behold the Church of the Whale Penis. No, you don't want to know how I found this...

Monday, December 10

Assorted Items:

Wil McCarthy at SciFi Weekly gives us survival tips for a parallel universe.

Eric R. Hedman at The Space Review looks at the current state of launch systems.

Robert Roy Britt at Space.com tells us how to destroy a giant planet.

Retrocrush compares and contrasts Heat Miser and Snow Miser.

Sunday, December 9

Here's a beautiful gallery from Dark Roasted Blend on retro-future cities.

Last month they did a similar spread of trippy SF art.

Monday, December 3

Michael Huang at The Space Review looks at our government's attempts to ban humans from Mars.

Dial B for Blog gives us the top ten Jack Kirby blurbs.

Saturday, December 1

It is December.

The Goddess of the Month is the Crone.

The Molecule of the Month is Methane.

Thursday, November 29

I'm not a big fan of cute, but this tale of Neil Gaiman helping a guy propose to his girlfriend is really cute. Video of it here.

Chris Knowles at Comic Book Resources gives us a painstakingly detailed comparison of the cover of Action Comics #1 and Antonio Pollauoio's painting “Heracles and the Hydra.”

Tuesday, November 27

The 400th edition of Dial B for Blog looks at Jack Kirby and Neal Adams.

Monday, November 26

In an extreme case of the Uncertainty Principle, two physicists suggest that we may have brought the universe closer to its death by merely observing dark energy.