Douglas Adams as a prophet-of-sorts …
In the early 1990s, the Voyager Company looked into creating “Expanded Books,” digital books that would offer an enhanced onscreen reading experience. Appropriately, among the titles they converted into expanded books was a series that revolves around The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Douglas Adams recorded a promo on the history of books, hailing e-readers as the future of reading. This audio, “Getting the Book Invented Properly,” recorded in 1993, comes off as rather prophetic now. That’s why the Literary Platform has invited animators to provide their own accompaniments to Adams’ words. Above is Gavin Edwards’ entry.
Jordu Schell started his career in creature effects by working on films like Predator 2 and Puppetmaster 2 and continues to contribute his amazing talent in recent films like Avatar, The Mist, Hellboy and many others. He is considered one of the greatest monster makers of our age. It is a lot of fun to see, in nightmarish detail, all the realistic ways he’s created monsters, aliens, killer robots, zombies and everything else from his imagination. See more at the Schell Sculpture Studio website.
Interesting 18 min talk by Leonard Nimoy at Steve Wozniak’s DEMO Enterprise Disruption, January 2012.
… and here’s a link to the 1952 movie he mentions.
Will Hart shows what happens when Thomas Kincade meets Cthulhu …
Found at the Lovecraftzine
The Astronomer Who Inspired Jodie Foster’s Character in “Contact”
Astronomer who inspired Jodie Foster’s character in “Contact” retires as Director of the Center for SETI Research
Astronauts, Scientists and Celebrities to gather in Santa Clara to salute Tarter June 22 – 24
Mountain View, California — 22 May 2012
After thirty-five years of searching the skies for signs of intelligence beyond Earth, astronomer Jill Tarter is turning over the scientific reins to new leadership at the non-profit SETI Institute. SETI Institute Physicist Gerry Harp will succeed Tarter as Director of Center for SETI Research while Tarter will focus her time on fundraising for SETI research as the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI within the scientific organization.
Photo of the solar eclipse on 21 May 2012, taken by Cathleen Allison/AP in Gardnerville, Nevada.
Wow.
How a book is born
Found on WeldonOwen, presumably by Mariah Bear.
Auror’s Tale, a new Harry Potter-web series comes to the (computer) screens this summer. It takes place in New York City … and it looks VERY American.
The trailer follows the newest member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as he cleans up the magic streets of New York City. The episodes will run on Aurors Tale.
Dwayne Johnson? Ripping out pages from collectable books? You will go to hell for this.
Scene from ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (@ 8:37)
Red Dwarf goes Futurama, courtesy of artist Robin Meyer.
Found on Shortlist.
A real gem: Roger Zelazny reads from his own work (almost one hour long), recorded at the 4th Street Fantasy Convention in Minneapolis back in 1986.
Zelazny reads “Loki 7281” and “Blood of Amber” (excerpt), the actual reading starts at 2:45 after an introduction to the convention and some talk about fantasy in general.
Annabel Carberry performs a hula hoop dance with a glass of wine in her hand.
This Is How Little Water There Is On Earth
This is one amazing visualization by the U.S. Geological Survey: a picture that gives you a perfect idea of how much water there is on Earth compared to the solid materials that form its main body. It’s truly staggering:
This picture shows the size of a sphere that would contain all of Earth’s water in comparison to the size of the Earth. The blue sphere sitting on the United States, reaching from about Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, has a diameter of about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers) , with a volume of about 332,500,000 cubic miles (1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers). The sphere includes all the water in the oceans, seas, ice caps, lakes and rivers as well as groundwater, atmospheric water, and even the water in you, your dog, and your tomato plant.
Here are some more numbers from the USGS:
• The volume of all water would be about 332.5 million cubic miles (mi3), or 1,386 million cubic kilometers (km3). A cubic mile of water equals more than 1.1 trillion gallons. A cubic kilometer of water equals about 264 billion gallons.
• About 3,100 mi3 (12,900 km3) of water, mostly in the form of water vapor, is in the atmosphere at any one time. If it all fell as precipitation at once, the Earth would be covered with only about 1 inch of water.
The 48 contiguous United States receives a total volume of about 4 mi3 (17.7 km3) of precipitation each day.• Each day, 280 mi3 (1,170 km3)of water evaporate or transpire into the atmosphere.
• If all of the world’s water was poured on the United States, it would cover the land to a depth of 90 miles (145 kilometers).
• Of the freshwater on Earth, much more is stored in the ground than is available in lakes and rivers. More than 2,000,000 mi3 (8,400,000 km3)of freshwater is stored in the Earth, most within one-half mile of the surface. But, if you really want to find freshwater, the most is stored in the 7,000,000 mi3 (29,200,000 km3) of water found in glaciers and icecaps, mainly in the polar regions and in Greenland.
Say What? Kodak Had a Secret Nuclear Reactor Loaded With Enriched Uranium Hidden In a Basement
Kodak may be going under, but apparently they could have started their own nuclear war if they wanted, just six years ago. Down in a basement in Rochester, NY, they had a nuclear reactor loaded with 3.5 pounds of enriched uranium—the same kind they use in atomic warheads.
But why did Kodak have a hidden nuclear reactor loaded with weapons-grade uranium? And how did they get permission to own it, let alone install it in a basement in the middle of a densely populated city?
