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Even in the midst of the summer lull, there are a few TV programs that are well worth checking out — and which could actually change your life. The Sci Fi Channel is finally showing Charlie Jade, the Blade Runner-esque show about evil corporations and alternate universes. There's a new documentary series about how NASA converted a missile into a quick-and-dirty spaceship. And you can find out which would be worse for Earth: a meteor strike, or a comet shower. And there are new eps of Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Spectacular Spider-Man, Ben 10 and Transformers: Animated. Details, and minor spoilers, below. More »
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The promo frenzy for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull kicks into high gear this week, with Shia LaBoeuf appearing all over the airwaves to explain his Fonzie-esque character Mutt, plus a new Sci Fi Channel special about the real-life crystal skulls. But if you're not obsessing about Indy and his skulls, there's also the season finale of Smallville, which sees the departure of half the show's cast and creators in a hopefully explosive conclusion. And if that doesn't make you want to jump on your TiVo, then how about Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer playing the Black Cat, Spider-Man's baddest girlfriend? More »
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The Quake Catcher Network is the latest effort in distributed computing that aims to turn your computer into a node in a vast, distributed earthquake detection network. Developed by University of California seismologists and computer scientists, Quake Catcher uses accelerometers already built into many laptops to detect shaking. If several nodes produce consistent hits at once, the word goes out across the internet in real time: Earthquake in Progress. Once there are enough nodes in active fault zones, the researchers think they can pick up seismic waves on the Network and transmit a warning to populated areas with somewhere between 10 and 20 seconds of warning. After the break, we take a look at three of the most dangerous places on Earth that are most likely to need Quake Catcher. More »
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