io9
dead space
Posts Tagged “
Space: 1999
”
space porn
A satellite image shows a totally machine-made world, which looks like a cubist painting. But it's not a giant set for the new Terminator movie, it's the remains of the Bolivian rainforest, after massive clear-cutting. The red areas are the places where vegetation still exists. This is just one of 30 amazing satellite images of the Earth which resemble abstract art, as posted over at Environmental Graffiti. Others include natural phenomena, such as the gorgeous Richat Structure in Mauritania, a huge bulls-eye impact crater in the Sahara. Click through to see a few more of our favorites.
More »
This Is The World The Machines Made
A satellite image shows a totally machine-made world, which looks like a cubist painting. But it's not a giant set for the new Terminator movie, it's the remains of the Bolivian rainforest, after massive clear-cutting. The red areas are the places where vegetation still exists. This is just one of 30 amazing satellite images of the Earth which resemble abstract art, as posted over at Environmental Graffiti. Others include natural phenomena, such as the gorgeous Richat Structure in Mauritania, a huge bulls-eye impact crater in the Sahara. Click through to see a few more of our favorites.
More »
star trek
Star Trek Con Gives Vegas Reason To Exist
If you're already bored with all this talk of Comic-Con, it's worth remembering that there are other conventions around the corner... like, for example, the Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas. Sure, it may not have JJ Abrams popping by to talk about his new TV show and that little franchise reboot movie he's working on, but it does have a themed hypnotist preparing a "Hypnotic Trek Adventure" full of hilarity and embarrassment. More »
moon base porn
When the Ares V rocket lands on the moon next decade, part of its payload will be a full-functioning, instant moon base that will be ready for a several-month long habitation. At least, if experimental architecture firm Architecture and Vision has anything to say about it. The firm's design, called Moon Base Two, was a hot topic at the recent Gravity Free conference in Chicago, and could actually work. More pictures, plus the beta version, below.
More »
Instant Moon Base to Be Delivered by Ares Rocket
When the Ares V rocket lands on the moon next decade, part of its payload will be a full-functioning, instant moon base that will be ready for a several-month long habitation. At least, if experimental architecture firm Architecture and Vision has anything to say about it. The firm's design, called Moon Base Two, was a hot topic at the recent Gravity Free conference in Chicago, and could actually work. More pictures, plus the beta version, below.
More »
magnetic fields
The Asteroid that Killed the Martian Magnetic Field
One of the many mysteries of Mars is how the planet lost its magnetic field 4 billion years ago. Evidence suggests the planet once had a magnetic field just like Earth's, created by a churning molten dynamo in the planetary core. But what could have caused that core to stop spinning, and stop generating a magnetic field, over a period of a mere few millennia? A group of geophysicists may have the answer: a massive meteor impact. More »
science fiction turned real
We love a good science fiction story, but sometimes reality is just as strange. While we may have seen 2001 come and go without an actual space odyssey, the last eight years have been full of events that - had they not actually happened - could easily pass for science fiction. Here are five real life events that still seem like they've come straight from the set-up of a big budget summer blockbuster.
More »
Five Ways Reality Went Sci-Fi So Far This Century
We love a good science fiction story, but sometimes reality is just as strange. While we may have seen 2001 come and go without an actual space odyssey, the last eight years have been full of events that - had they not actually happened - could easily pass for science fiction. Here are five real life events that still seem like they've come straight from the set-up of a big budget summer blockbuster.
More »
the sf alternative career guide
Protect Universal Law And Order As A Space Cop
Science Fiction opens the mind to more than just fantastic concepts about technology and alien planets. At its best, it also makes you realize that there's more than you could be doing with your life than sitting at your desk and wasting time on the internet. That's where we come in, with the SF Alternative Career Guide. It's a chaotic universe out there, and where there's chaos, there's the need for order... the kind of order that you, yes you, can provide if you dare to step up and sign up to become... a space cop. More »
review
If, by any chance, you've seen the trailers for Space Chimps and thought, "Hey! Wall-E was pretty good, and who wouldn't want to see the uplifting animated tale of three heroic monkeys traveling into space to save the world?" then I have one simple message for you: For the love of all that you hold dear, fight that thought with all you have and go and see something else instead. Anything else.
More »
Space Chimps Monkeying Around Isn't Entertaining
If, by any chance, you've seen the trailers for Space Chimps and thought, "Hey! Wall-E was pretty good, and who wouldn't want to see the uplifting animated tale of three heroic monkeys traveling into space to save the world?" then I have one simple message for you: For the love of all that you hold dear, fight that thought with all you have and go and see something else instead. Anything else.
More »
11:00 AM on Sat Jul 19 2008
By Graeme McMillan
14,438 views,
27 comments
Latest by 5cents: @MatthewT: Well, I couldn't figure out the ad for the longest time; what was it trying to convey, etc., etc. I never forget that it's an Arby's ad, however, and it that sense, I think it works. If they're pushing more »
space porn
Two days ago, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope revealed an image of what could be the brightest star in our galaxy: Wolf-Rayet star WR 102ka or, more fondly, the "Peony nebula" star. Astronomers say that it burns with the light intensity of 3.2 million suns — but that's a rough estimate, and one that might even stretch to 4 or 5 million suns.
More »
The New Hottest Spot in the Milky Way
Two days ago, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope revealed an image of what could be the brightest star in our galaxy: Wolf-Rayet star WR 102ka or, more fondly, the "Peony nebula" star. Astronomers say that it burns with the light intensity of 3.2 million suns — but that's a rough estimate, and one that might even stretch to 4 or 5 million suns.
More »
mega impacts
Mars isn't the only planet with awe-inspiring craters. Here on Earth, we've been pummeled by space rocks in the not-so-distant past, and our planet has the scars to prove it. A new photo essay in National Geographic by Stephen Alvarez tells the story of planetary impacts like this one (above) in Arizona, U.S., called simply Meteor Crater. It's almost a mile wide. Check out an even more awesome one below.
More »
The Earth-Bashers
Mars isn't the only planet with awe-inspiring craters. Here on Earth, we've been pummeled by space rocks in the not-so-distant past, and our planet has the scars to prove it. A new photo essay in National Geographic by Stephen Alvarez tells the story of planetary impacts like this one (above) in Arizona, U.S., called simply Meteor Crater. It's almost a mile wide. Check out an even more awesome one below.
More »
retro futurism
Qazar Quantor Rocks the Star System With Zolar X!
We’ve written about elfin outer-space glam band Zolar X before, but just discovered what appears to have been a short-lived video podcast. Here, most recent member Qazar Quantor discusses his intergalactic origins and the first time he saw Zolar X, who dazzled L.A.’s 1970s glitter rock scene dressed in spacesuits, pixie haircuts, and prosthetic ears, and reformed in 2005. Starmen on Sunset, a documentary about the band, is scheduled to be completed this year. I can hardly wait!
mars porn
This deep gorge known as the Echus Chasma was ripped into the Martian soil by gushing water, and scientists speculate that it may once have boasted giant, 4000-meter-high waterfalls. This image, by the European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite, was released this week along with a few others. We've got an even more gorgeous one for you below.
More »
The Frozen Waterfalls of Mars
This deep gorge known as the Echus Chasma was ripped into the Martian soil by gushing water, and scientists speculate that it may once have boasted giant, 4000-meter-high waterfalls. This image, by the European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite, was released this week along with a few others. We've got an even more gorgeous one for you below.
More »
cunning plans
I Love It When A Plan Totally Doesn't Come Together
It happens to the best dashing science fiction hero: You come up with a preternaturally clever plan to stop the bad guys, involving a totally cunning bit of MacGyvering or hustle... and it totally fails. Your super-gadget blows up. Or your allies flake. The bad guys turn out not to be total idiots. Or all the random variables you totally had a handle on turn out different. It's what you do after your cunning plan fails that separates the good guys from the great guys. Here are our favorite failed plans. More »
retro futurism
Home Ec in Outer Space with Andy Astronaut and Mandy Martian
Calling all crafty retro futurists: it’s time to heat up the glue gun and go back in time to make some SPAAAAACE PUPPETS! Just think of all the zero gravity fun a little girl could have with Andy Astronaut and Mandy Martian. Plus, this is a rare example of a 1960s-era outer-space toy aimed at girls. Of course, it was a lesson in home economics, too. All you need is some fabric, scraps of felt and yarn, a plastic cup (for Andy’s helmet, of course), a sock, and the ability to sew—which I don’t have. [How to Make Space Puppets via Black Olives On My Fingertips]
space porn
This supernova dominated our skies for weeks, a thousand years ago. It was brighter than Venus and visible during the day, and observers documented it in China, Japan, Europe and the Arab world. We now know that the brightest supernova on record, SN 1006c, was caused by a white dwarf star that gained mass from a companion star until it gorged itself and exploded. Click through for some more mind-blowing images of SN1006c, including some super-colorful X-ray images.
More »
Brightest Supernova In History Has Turned To Velvety Goodness
This supernova dominated our skies for weeks, a thousand years ago. It was brighter than Venus and visible during the day, and observers documented it in China, Japan, Europe and the Arab world. We now know that the brightest supernova on record, SN 1006c, was caused by a white dwarf star that gained mass from a companion star until it gorged itself and exploded. Click through for some more mind-blowing images of SN1006c, including some super-colorful X-ray images.
More »
space porn
A group of secretive rocket designers have defected from NASA's rocket-building team to spearhead their own forbidden project. They spend their evenings designing Jupiter (pictured), a moon rocket they think will work far better for less money then NASA's current moon rocket, Ares, set to bring some people to the moon in 2020. With all its plans available on a site called Direct 2.0, and nearly 100 engineers working, its possible Jupiter could zoom to the moon before Ares — if it can get some funding.
More »
The Moon Rocket Project NASA Doesn't Want You to Know About
A group of secretive rocket designers have defected from NASA's rocket-building team to spearhead their own forbidden project. They spend their evenings designing Jupiter (pictured), a moon rocket they think will work far better for less money then NASA's current moon rocket, Ares, set to bring some people to the moon in 2020. With all its plans available on a site called Direct 2.0, and nearly 100 engineers working, its possible Jupiter could zoom to the moon before Ares — if it can get some funding.
More »
Blame It On Sci-Fi
Aldrin Blames Lack of Interest in Space Program on Science Fiction
Forget shifting priorities or a de-emphasis on science education; this week, Buzz Aldrin told the Sci Fi Channel that the real culprit behind youth disinterest in space exploration is none other than science fiction. Et tu, Buzz? After the jump, find out why Aldrin is taking the genre to task. More »
Extreme Life
There is an organism living on this planet who can travel through space without a suit. Cute, unassuming little invertebrates, these organisms are called tardigrades, or water bears, and usually spend their days crawling around on a piece of nice wet moss in a forest, or meandering through our vast oceans. They only grow to be about 1.5 millimeters long, but over 1,000 species of them inhabit the planet, and they all have a superpower unmatched by any other species on Earth. No now knows why, but tardigrades can withstand temperatures as cold as liquid nitrogen, radiation doses that would kill a human 100 times over, thrive in an outer-space-like vacuum, and survive without water for years.
More »
Meet the Tardigrades: The Solar System's Most Extreme Survivors
There is an organism living on this planet who can travel through space without a suit. Cute, unassuming little invertebrates, these organisms are called tardigrades, or water bears, and usually spend their days crawling around on a piece of nice wet moss in a forest, or meandering through our vast oceans. They only grow to be about 1.5 millimeters long, but over 1,000 species of them inhabit the planet, and they all have a superpower unmatched by any other species on Earth. No now knows why, but tardigrades can withstand temperatures as cold as liquid nitrogen, radiation doses that would kill a human 100 times over, thrive in an outer-space-like vacuum, and survive without water for years.
More »
