Archive for the ‘From the web’ Category
Science fiction blogs
Here are a few blogs that I check on a fairly regular basis. Robert J. Sawyer Robert J. Sawyer is the author of such brilliant novels as Hominids, Calculating God, and Wake. He’s Canadian, and we once interviewed him in Challenging Destiny. On his blog he talks about his books, of course, but he also […]
How many slaves work for you?
A provocative question — the obvious answer is none. But there are still places in the world where people aren’t free. This web site has a survey that gives you an idea of what products you buy might be made in inhumane conditions. The people behind the web site work “to engage individuals, groups, and […]
Recent SF books with big ideas
If, like me, you’re interested in science fiction novels with big ideas, you might want to check out this list from io9: 10 Recent Science Fiction Books That Are About Big Ideas I can recommend Spin, Blindsight, and The Lifecycle of Software Objects. I hadn’t heard of Feed, Wool, or Super Sad True Love Story. […]
Things we learned from Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking’s best known book is A Brief History of Time. But he hasn’t been slacking off since then. His recent book The Grand Design, which he wrote with Leonard Mlodinow, has some interesting things in it as well. Clara Moskowitz from LiveScience has picked 8 shocking things to draw our attention to. If you […]
When do you get a shiny new robot body?
Possibly sooner than you think. Scientists are working on it, and in particular some Russian scientists think it can be done by 2045. The head of the project, Dmitry Itskov, is asking the world’s richest people to consider financing the project. The ultimate goal is to transfer human consciousness into an artificial brain, allowing you […]
Surviving the World: a funny web comic
Here’s another web comic I’ve just discovered, created by Dante Shepherd. It shares some qualities with xkcd but is definitely unique. It consists of photos of Dante’s writing (occasionally a graph) on a chalkboard. It’s been going since 2008 and he updates it every day. Surviving the World: Daily Lessons in Science, Literature, Love, and […]
xkcd: A very funny web comic
xkcd is a comic strip on the web I just discovered (although there’s some chance I discovered it in the past and then forgot about it) — it’s done by Randall Munroe. Many comics are based on obscure bits of math or science. It’s sometimes not funny but it’s often very funny. xkcd: A webcomic […]
10 recent scientifically solved mysteries
What made the ancient theatre of Epidaurus so acoustically great, who made the crystal skulls, and is there a face on Mars — all answered. From Listverse: 10 Recent Scientifically Solved Mysteries There are lots more lists on this web site if you’re a fan of lists. As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here are […]
10 things to know about the Moon
Think you know everything about the Moon? See if you’re right. Feel like you don’t know enough about the Moon? Look right here. From LiveScience: Top 10 Amazing Moon Facts The most amazing thing I ever saw in the sky was a ring around the Moon. Here’s an explanation of the cause (you can also […]
Large Huron site from 500 years ago
A place now called Mantle was the site of a large Huron settlement 500 years ago — dubbed an ancient “New York City” because it had nearly 2000 residents. There’s evidence that the Hurons there traded with the Iroquois, who were traditionally their enemies. With bigger settlements, the people might have been less interested in […]