“I tore these out of your symbol, and they turned into paper.”

– River, “Firefly”

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As a reformed dial-up user who didn’t have high-speed internet until last December (I know, I know), I’ve been cut off from the world of downloading unless I was willing to wait 15 minutes for a three-minute song to make it through a 59 kbps straw. So it’s only recently that I’ve tested the waters of podcasting.

At Balticon this past May I learned there was such a thing as science podcasting. One of the podcasts represented was Astronomy Cast, and since then I’ve been enjoying these professionally produced half-hour shows.

Hosted by Fraser Cain, publisher of Universe Today, and Dr. Pamela L. Gay, visiting assistant professor of physics at Southern Illinois University, the podcasts cover a wide range of topics with titles such as “Space Elevators,” “Interstellar Travel,” “In Search of Others Worlds,” “Robots in Space,” and “The Life of the Sun.” I particularly liked episodes 174 and 175, which cover mysteries of the solar system, including discussions of methane on Mars, the hexagon on Saturn and what is under the ice of Europa. I’ve also enjoyed the ones I’ve heard with guest Dr. Chris Lintott, such as episode 125, “A Zoo of Extrasolar Planets.” There are about 200 podcasts available, with more posted regularly. They recently concluded a five-part series on the history of astronomy.

Transcripts of the podcasts and research resources are available on the Astronomy Cast website. The podcasts can be downloaded directly from there, of course, and are also available through iTunes and other means.

I look forward to when they post the episode they recorded at Balticon, which I attended. I’m in the audience, applauding.

And I applaud them now.

Well, isn’t he?

In Philip K. Dick’s novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, published in 1965, Eldritch possesses stainless steel teeth; slotted, artificial eyes; and a black, mechanical arm — his “stigmata.” Star Wars‘ Darth Vader wears a metal breath mask with large eyes and a grille of artificial “teeth” and he sports an artificial arm.

Can each character’s attributes come from the same sources, those that are visual and, perhaps, subconscious?

Read the rest of this entry…

As Dr. Tyson reminds us, for 10 percent of the Earth’s population it is now autumn.

Count me in.

Photo © ACF

“Space fiction stories are mainly, I think, thought of as action adventure; and I think what we were engaged in with ‘Space: 1999′, of course, was action adventure, but it was also ideas adventure. And the notion at the end of [the episode] ‘Dragon’s Domain’ that what the Alphans are now facing is the creation of their own mythology is a big idea, and I don’t think we were afraid of big ideas in ‘Space: 1999,’ series one. It’s what drove us on day by day and actually gave it a huge sense of excitement.”

“I remember when we did talk, it was always, invariably, … about the biggest things we could think of.”

– Christopher Penfold and Johnny Byrne, screenwriters, “Space: 1999″ DVD commentary