Or at least, that's what a new press release from UFO guru Luke Fortune claims. Fortune, an inventor, has put the plans and patents to allow you to build your own laser-fusion-powered UFO online for free. The prototype will cost $60,000 for you to build, but don't worry — soon, building your own UFO will be dirt cheap, and everybody on the planet will be flying them, according to Fortune's press release. And this will transform the world's economy:

The government approved public charity to develop UFO technology is underway.

Imagine a tomorrow where instead of your usual humdrum job, you, and the Average Joe, were flying about the planet at thousands of miles per hour without danger, hauling cargo or people. The Average Joe can build a flying craft for about the cost of a car. Instead of driving a taxi, Average Joe flies people all over the planet, all over the solar system. The cruise industries find great profits in tours around the moon and the outer giants. Resources need no longer be in short supply as mining the asteroid belt becomes a commonplace event. Shooting galleries can be opened in the Kuiper Belt. Oil prospecting on Jupiter's moons could likewise easily be achieved. The open use of these technologies will repair the global economy by opening the next great economic growth. Space tourism can become a reality in a much shorter time, as people who aren't millionaires realize they can build these devices and cash in on the space tourism trade. You can become wealthy by taking part in the next great economic expansion.

For you, for all of us, science fiction will become science fact.

Current, and retired, aerospace engineers, some involved with "black operations" have been consulted for this project. It is acknowledged by these engineers that a repository of over 50 years of research data was their source material database of knowledge in UFO research and development in their employ with their respective aerospace companies.

Technology exists that can repair and rebuild the economy on both the national (United States) and global scales. Exotic Propulsion Systems are methods of transport that far exceed the abilities of the currently used methods of travel and transport. For the last century, these methods have been available, but have been hidden beneath a mountain of paperwork and filing numbers.

George Noory called them "very interesting stuff. There is a ton of material."

Michael Knight of Earth Change Report said "They are fascinating... You might be surprised to learn that many of the drawings ... depict craft that you would think come straight out of movies like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind. However, unlike Hollywood, we are not mixing fact and fiction here."

6,500 pages of complete patents of these craft have been compiled by Luke Fortune and made available in book format at www.ufohowto.com. Come to the website and see the free E-book. Come to www.ufohowto.com and see explanatory videos. Come to the website and see the other free downloads available at the site, including interviews, patents and more.

Exotic Propulsion craft (formerly called "UFO's") are capable of speeds of thousands of miles per hour. Pilots and cargo are shielded from gravity and inertia. Right angle or sharper maneuvers are can be made without danger of damage to cargo or pilot by the exposure to G-forces. This is a patented fact that has been scientifically proven since the early 1970s. G-forces are simply not a factor with this shielding.

Since these craft are capable of circling the globe in under an hour, of hovering, and landing anywhere [whether air strips are present or not], the ability to transport needed supplies, people, and/or cargo instantly to anywhere upon the globe becomes a reality.

Fresh foods can be brought anywhere on the globe in mere minutes. Imagine eating a meal with lobster from Maine, caught fresh that morning, with Irish potatoes, not 120 minutes out of the earth from Ireland, with pineapple from Hawaii, picked not an hour before, and drinking coffee from Ethiopia, picked, roasted and delivered within two hours. This could be the reality of today, with technology that we've had for many yesterdays.

Starvation can be eliminated, as food and clean water can be transported anywhere.

The threat of overpopulation can be stopped, as the technology to create lunar bases and settlements in other locations of the solar system, technology already in our possession, can be manufactured. Transport and shipment of supplies between these settlements and the Earth will be possible because the speeds achieved are far in excess of rocket technologies.

So what are you waiting for? Why haven't you built your UFO yet? The world is waiting! [UFOHowTo via Australia.To World News]

Legault talked to the Wall Street Journal about his hobby, driving all around the world photographing stars, nebulae, galaxies, space shuttles and the International Space Station from the absolute best vantage points. He consults a special website, Calsky.com, to know exactly when various phenomena will be best observed. He's traveled to Angola, Egypt, Russia and Shanghai, China to photograph various stellar phenomena.

The WSJ article contains the best, and simplest, explanation of why so many astrophotography pictures are so brightly colored. In the case of Legault, he uses filters:

[A]ll of the deep-sky pictures of constellations, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, meteorites and asteroids require an exposure of several hours. For these photographs, Mr. Legault places red, green or blue filters between the camera and the telescope. Without them, the pictures would come out in black-and-white. "I prefer pastel colors because they are the colors we would see if our eyes were more sensitive to low light or if these objects were brighter."

Here are some of our favorite images by Thierry Legault. They're available in much, much higher resolution, along with many other photos, over at his website. [Astrophoto.FR via Wall Street Journal]

Take this image, of the Veil Nebula (NGC 6992). It's so rich with detail, with so many other stars showing up, the sky looks way more crowded than in pictures from the Hubble or other space telescopes or big observatories.

Ditto for this image of the Cocoon Nebula. It's just one phenomenon surrounded by countless stars.

And here's the Horsehead Nebula. Check out the horse's head at almost the exact center of the image.

Here's the nebulae M-8 and M20, with the open cluster M21 (top left) in Sagittarius.

And here's the area of M-8 and M-20.

Here's the galaxy of M-101. A lot of people would have cropped this image a lot closer around the galaxy, but it looks cool with so much space around it.

The galaxy of M-31.

The comet C/2001 Q4 NEAT on May 13, 2004.

Solar activity.

The Moon and Venus in transit.

Rowell spent four months and $5000 constructing Lrry-1, which runs on a 26-horsepower Citroën engine and is made of BMW and Suzuki motorcycle frames. Rowell says the 1,900-pound robo-beast's shape is meant to be part donkey, part raptor, but as it lumbers through Lowell's hometown of Rimini, Italy, it evokes visions of a wingless dragon, spewing propane-fueled fire from its head and tail.

You Built What!? Lrry, A Fire Breathing Robo-Beast [Popular Science]

At least two Lego enthusiasts have used the multicolored blocks to visit Frank Herbert's Dune. The gray sandworm popping out of the dune with the detailed Fremen comes from Brickshelf member RebelRock, while the blue sandworm is the work of Flickr user - 2x4 -, whose science fiction-themed Lego constructions include the Tron lightcycles and a bevy of ships from Battlestar Galactica.

[Brickshelf via MAKE]
[- 2x4 -'s Flickr via The Brothers Brick]

Set around the year 2075, In-World War takes place in an era where virtual reality has become indistinguishable from the real world. The film follows a game tester who finds himself unable to log out from a simulation of the War on Terror. Ultimately forcing his way back into the real world, the protagonist finds himself in in the wrong city and, more worryingly, the wrong body. His attempts to return to his real body only lead him further astray into a world that still bears the psychological scars of our current events.

Writer-director Brant Smith acknowledged some of the most controversial aspects of Bush era politics may even now seem like old news, but he explained the film is about how supposedly forgotten stories become some of the most deeply entrenched aspects of history:

"This film is about mythologizing history, and the calcification of conventional wisdom as the accepted narrative of what happened. Specific issues of Muslim stereotyping and the 2002-03 fear-mongering era may be behind us, but they still have lasting imprints that will affect us through the ages, at least for the next few generations."

In-World War is the directorial debut for the Oakland-based Smith, who previously won some acclaim on the festival circuit as a producer on the ultra-low-budget 2004 drama Quality of Life. A self-described DIY filmmaker, Smith follows the guerrilla method of shooting as quickly and cheaply as possible wherever one can (although he stressed that he's just enough of a sellout to get the proper permits when they're needed).

Filming is due to begin in the Bay Area on July 6, and Smith also hopes to do location filming in such faraway locations as New York, Dublin, Paris, and Geneva. Though he hopes interested investors will contribute the necessary funds to make In-World War with the budget it deserves, he is not actively soliciting funds and is instead focusing on making the film however he can with whatever resources he can get his hands on, true to the DIY way. Maybe Universal could give Smith .1% of the budget for its Candyland movie. I'm guessing that would be more than enough.

[SF 360]

Vogelein writes,

As many of you know, I make Steampunk Jewelry for fun and sometimes profit. I buy old watch parts off of eBay, glue them together into new and interesting shapes, and make them into pins and necklaces and earrings. Back in October, I won an auction that contained a bunch of old military watch faces. When they arrived, I looked them over, and after fiddling with them for a bit, and even preparing some of them to be made into jewelry, I noticed that several of them had greenish paint on their numerals. Huh, I thought. I'll bet that's the infamous radium paint I've heard so much about. I didn't pay it much mind. After Googling a bit, I decided they were probably risky, so I segregated the suspect faces into a plastic bag and stuck them inside an Altoids box.

Upon further investigation, though, an Altoids box turned out to be not enough protection:

The faces that I thought were hot were really hot. So hot that the Radiation Safety Officer took them away to be disposed of in their own separate landfill. We surveyed my entire batch of watch parts and found a bunch more faces and parts — plain metal parts the casual observer would never suspect — were also radioactive. Old movements that probably had radium faces on them — but without the faces, there was no way to tell. Tiny wristwatch hands with a pinhead-sized dab of paint on them turned out to be just as hot as some of the full-sized faces. Faces with so much of the paint flaked off of them that you could barely see the numerals on them showed as being hot... How hot? Not spent-uranium hot. Not enough to harm you unless you swallowed one of the radium dials or duct-taped it to your forehead and left it there for a few years. Casual contact would probably not do you much harm; even a an inch or two away from the hot pieces, the meter only picked up background radiation. The non-radium watch faces that had been in the same auction as the radium faces initially showed as hot, but when run under the faucet for thirty seconds returned to normal background levels, because all the radium paint-dust was washed off. Metal that had been in contact with the hot faces was also largely fine: after I pried the hot movement off of a pin-back, the pin-back registered as normal. Still — radium has a half-life of 1600 years, so it's not like it's going to go away anytime soon. Far better safe than sorry.

Admit it; now you're beginning to worry about all of your retrofitted jewelry. Vogelein goes on to explain more about the dangers of radium paint, and also who to contact if you're worried about the hotness of something you own, but admit it: You always knew there were hidden dangers of steampunk crafting, didn't you?

Steampunk Crafter Public Service Announcement [JanerBlog]

Posting on the SuperHeroHype forums as “youngbat,” he been constructing a working Batmobile from reference photos he’s found online. He estimates that, when complete, the car will have cost him $50-70,000 in parts and insists he has no intention of selling it. He has also made a Batsuit and Batbelt so his neighbors can get the full effect of living next door to Batman. Once the Batmobile is complete, he plans on adding a Batpod to his collection.

My Tumbler progress [SuperHeroHype via TechEBlog]

Shaun of the Dead Lego Man
Give yourself a weekend to assemble a peg head which involves cutting some Styrofoam, gluing it accordingly, and spray-painting the whole deal. Pair that with slacks, a short-sleeved button-up, and a tie. Short on time? Screw the head and just spatter some blood on your shirt and invest in one of those fratboy paddles.

Everyday Zombie
Get a posse of the walking dead to follow Shaun around. All this requires is a steady hand for make-up application and the willingness to destroy a few articles of your clothing.

Dr. Horrible
We know what you’re thinking: a wimp-out. Perhaps. But your resemblance will be unmistakable and timely, especially if you have to whip up an outfit on the fly. Keep this one in your back pocket in case of emergency.

Space Suit
Like the work of a bespoke tailor on London’s Saville Row, this will never go out of style.

Iron Man
Once you’ve got the Arc Reactor assembled (a bit intimidating—but press on, grasshopper!), you can just throw on a tank top and pants. Optional accessory: muscle mass, which will exponentially enhance this look.

Darth Vader
It’s important to pay homage to the classics. Note: time-consuming and expensive. But what price villainy?

Ghostbuster
If you’re the type that likes to go all out, then this is a project for you. Our advice: Start now!

Tron Dude
Not nearly as intense and complicated as The Tron Guy’s get-up, but this should easily do the trick nonetheless.

Member of Devo
…or a nostalgic alternative to the omnipresent alien costume. Build the gradated red hat, then dress like a beatnik from the shoulders down. Are we not men?

Steampunker
Say, have you heard about this newfangled steampunk fashion? Start here if you want to give a shout-out to the omnipresent resurgent subculture-of-the-moment. Then save your get-up for Comic-Con.

"I'm a Cylon" image courtesy of comeonworkitout and steampunk courtesy of hmschronabelle

According to a UPI report on Space War:

The IRAM is . . . in essence . . . a flying IED. It consists of a canister — either a propane tank or cylinder — packed with explosives attached to a rocket tube (body) and powered by a 107mm rocket motor. Each IRAM carries more than 100 pounds of high explosive. In contrast, a conventional 107mm rocket carries only 3 pounds.

The device is placed on rocket rails, which can be angled for distance, and fired at its target by a timing device, military officers said.

The rails are placed on the back of a low-sided flatbed cargo truck, usually a Bongo, which is ever-present in Baghdad. The truck is parked and angled toward the target, and the devices (usually four or more in succession) are launched using delayed timers.

Aiming is directional, a sort of line-of-sight lob over the cab of the truck or over the side. Distance is about 300 to 500 meters, according to Maj. Geoff Greene, executive officer of the 1st (combined Arms) Battalion of the 68 Armor Regiment.

In a June incident, an IRAM accidentally went off in a civilian area, killing 16 and injuring 29 others. So far, no US military have been killed by IRAMs.

I said earlier the IRAM is a weapon of the future because it's looking like the terrorist model of warfare is going to be with us for a long time to come. That means you'll have organized state forces going up against people who are fighting with little formal training using whatever devices they can. It probably won't be long before we see guided IRAMs — just attach the whole thing to a remote-controlled plane that can carry the weight and you're set.

Airborne IED Gets Attention [Space War]

Here's how it works: When you press each key, it cycles through three colors. You press the color you want. When you've got your color pattern set, all the lights flash green and the door opens. Obviously, if you want to be safe, you'll want to figure out a way to shield the keypad while you're unlocking it (this is a good idea with number-based keypads too).

You can go through all the steps to make this lock, from circuit boards to LEDs, or you can buy a pre-made keypad here. You'll still have to program it, though!

How to Make an RGB combination door lock [via Hackaday]

I was there when that happened. It was AWESOME.

Seriously, don't miss the RoboGames.

The building consists of 32,000 square feet including a reading room, an auditorium, a children's library, offices, and open space for hanging out.

From the outside, it looks like a giant pile of stones or firewood. Images by Nicolas Cabrera

Villanueva Public Library, Colombia [Dezeen]

Other than those restrictions, the sky's the limit. Well, there is one other thing. According to the rules:

Use of a time machine or other similar instrument to stop the normal passage of time, giving you say 3 weeks to make a film in what seems like just a weekend to the rest of us - well, that is cheating and we won't stand for it - unless of course you use some kind of mind control and erase any knowledge of this rule or your cheating or the fact that the time machine was invented...

Winners get a video camera. What? No Dalek-shaped chocolate cake?

Sci-Fi London [official site]

NASA's Mercury Visualization Tool includes a slider bar. You can choose the time period of black-and-white images by the minute, the second and even the hundredth of a second. For each time period, there are images from the Wide-Angle Camera, the Narrow-Angle Camera and the sensor footprint. You can also choose a "phase" of the exploration, including WAC Approach Color Imaging or WAC Departure Mosaic.

Probably the best way to find the coolest Mercury images via this site is just to set a refresh rate of 1 second and then hit "play" on the slideshow. The site will jump forward in time a minute or so at a time. Just be prepared to hit "pause" when something good pops up. And then get ready to spend a few hours in Photoshop making your images sexier. Send us your best Mercury porn and maybe we can post a gallery. [Messenger Visualization Tool]