According to AFP/Getty:

A full body scan is pictured on a computer screen at Manchester Airport in Manchester, north-west England, on October 13, 2009. The scanner works by bouncing x-rays off an individuals skin to produce an outline of the person's body which is then used to detect concealed, potentially dangerous objects. The image is then transmitted to a remote security officer who has no visual or verbal contact with the area where the machine is located.

Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

Comporellon
From: Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series
History: Comporellon, known first as Baleyworld and then as Benbally World, was one of the first planets settled by human Spacers.
Local Color: Comporellians operate under a strict social and religious ethic and are quite sexually repressed, although said repression can be countered through robotic mind control.
Key Attraction: Clues to the location of Earth.
Watch out for: Corrupt government officials who will try to swindle you out of your superior technology. Also, Comporellon is one of the colder planets in the Foundation Federation, so be sure to pack your thermal underwear.

Harmony and Association
From: Gordon Dickson’s Childe Cycle
History: Two of the 15 planets colonized by humans, Harmony and Association are a pair of impoverished planets inhabited by the Friendlies and ruled by the Council of Churches.
Local Color: The Friendlies are fierce adherents to their religion, able to endure any hardship in service to their faith. Some are quietly spiritual while others are full-blown fanatics.
Key Attraction: Farms. Both planets are largely agrarian, although they supplement their meager incomes by drafting their citizens to serve as mercenaries.
Watch out for: Sectarian violence between warring groups of Friendlies.

Kukulkan
From: L. Sprague de Camp’s Viagens Interplanetarias Series
History: As humans spread out into the stars, one of the planets they settle is Kulkulkan, a planet already inhabited by the reptilian “Kooks.”
Local Color: The Kooks are an intelligent, dispassionate, and honorable race who have managed to construct cities, forge edged weapons, and develop steam technology. They have a land treaty with the human Terrans, but still eye their new planetary roommates with cool suspicion, so be nice.
Key Attraction: Steampunk dinosaurs.
Watch out for: Evil land developers, evil loggers, and anyone else looking to repeat the cycle of American colonization.

Yellowstone
From: Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space Series
History: Humans colonized the planet Yellowstone and a series of surrounding orbital habitats known as the Glitter Band. At one point, it becomes the height of human civilization.
Local Color: Depending on which century you choose to visit, the upper crust of Yellowstone could be technologically sophisticate democratic anarchists leading a life of luxury, or deformed survivors clinging to the last vestiges of their culutre’s former glory.
Key Attraction: The sight of the greatest achievements in human history, or the ruins thereof.
Watch our for: The Melding Plague, which will attack any nanotech in your body and leave you dead or physically deformed.

Vulcan
From: Star Trek
History: Vulcan is the birthplace of both the Vulcan and Romulan peoples, the former going on to found the United Federation of Planets.
Local Color: The Vulcans are a coldly logical people with a coldly beautiful culture. They are restrained and polite, and if they seem condescending, don’t take it personally. They’re that way with everyone.
Key Attraction: The kal-if-fee, a rare but blood-pumping event where two fighters battle to the death over a woman's hand.
Watch out for: The lack of meat and booze. Vulcans stick to a mostly vegetarian diet and don’t derive much enjoyment from alcohol.

Babylon 5
From: Babylon 5
History: Following the Earth-Minbari War, the space station Babylon 5 was placed in orbit around the abandoned planet Epsilon III to serve as a political neutral venue of human-alien discourse.
Local Color: At Babylon 5, you’ll witness one of the most diverse groups of residents in the galaxy, from the imperialistic Centauri to the spiritual Minbari to the mysterious Vorlons.
Key Attraction: Red Sector, which houses the station’s gardens, swimming pool, casino, and sports bar.
Watch out for: Anything and everything. When the various governments aren’t threatening to go to war and a rogue alien or telepath isn’t about to rend the station apart, one of the thugs from Downbelow is bound to steal your traveler’s checks.

Akihabara—or Akiba, as regulars fondly call it—has as many figurine shops as 47th street has diamond retailers. Way back in the day, the area was inhabited by lower-class samurai and craftspeople who made everything from swords to ceramic bowls. During the post-WW2 US occupation, it hosted a black market for electronics components like vacuum tubes, radios, and nuts and bolts. Then, in the early 80s, after the debut of Nintendo's Family Computer, several retailers started selling video game software. One day, somebody realized that the people who were crazy about electronics were the same people who went to little stores sprawled out across town that sold figurines of robots and anime characters. Thus spawned the "figyua" madness seen today.

Most standard-scale PVC 1.7-scale figurines from major retailers sell at a standard 6,800 yen, or about $65. Danny Choo, a well-known Stormtrooper cosplayer who collects, reviews, and blogs about figurines on DannyChoo.com and for Good Smile Company, describes his fascination with figurines as follows: "The way people see statues in Italy is the way I see the figurines in Akihabara. They are works of art." Choo also explains that new technologies allow the figurines to be flawless—they're finished with 600 layers of paint in order to get the skin tone perfect, and the joints are smoothed down with putty and sandpaper. "My favorite is a pink-haired ero-ge character named Fauna. She's so cute, she gives me energy." Goodsma and MaxFactory are two major manufacturers of high quality figurines. They also make things like cell phone strap accessories, but it's the big-breasted anime girls that really make the big bucks.

In Akiba, fans don't just buy figurines in boxes. A subset of talented geeks pick up kits and then fine tune the products into perfectly painted, customized collectors items that they then resell in little glass windows rented by the hour for about $500/week. Why buy figurines that have been modded by other fans? With kits, you often don't know what you're going to get inside, but this way you can pick and choose what character you're getting. The more skilled fans also add extra super-intricate coloring and detail to the standard finish, enhancing the aesthetic. It's kind of like getting any product customized—cookie cutter factory-made goods transform into one-of-a-kind collectors' items. Radio Kaikan, a famous seven-story department store built in the 60s, used to exclusively sell music components, but as the demand for music players dropped and the demand for figurines soared, the display of stereos have been replaced by rows and rows of figurine-encasing glass windows.

Akiba is a magical place where anime fans can express their talents and obsession with anime freely and creatively. The Giz Japan figurine tour really gave me a good glimpse into the creativity, talent, and obsessiveness that dominates otaku subculture.

Where to buy figurines in Akiba:
- Robots: Tsukumo Robot Kingdom, Tsukumo Pasoko Honten 3F, 1-9-7 Soto Kanda, Chiyoda-ku Phone: 03-3251-0987
3 minute walk from Akihabara Station.
- Manufactured figurine sets: Asobit Character City, 1-2-9 Soto Kanda, Chiyoka-ku. Phone: 03-3257-2590
- Fan-made figurines: Radio Kaikan, one minute walk from the Akihabara Electric Town exit. Map

San Clemente UFO Trail: If you are looking for a chance extraterrestrial encounter, journey down to Chile, where the town of San Clemente has just opened its UFO trail. The town is rumored to be a hotbed of alien activity, with hundreds of UFO sightings on record. Although the tour can’t guarantee that your visit will result in a close encounter, you will get to see El Enladrillado, the alleged landing pad for alien spacecraft.

Atomic Tourism: Sadly, the promise of atomic monster men isn’t even hinted at, but atomic tourism will take you to the great sites of the nuclear age. Plan trips to Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was detonated, the congressional bunker in the Greenbrier luxury resort, or Three Mile Island.

Star Trek: The Exhibition: If you’re still mourning the loss of Star Trek: The Experience, then perhaps Star Trek: The Exhibition will brighten your day. Formerly Star Trek: The Tour, the exhibition features Trek-themed flight simulators, recreations of the interior sets of the Enterprise, and props and costumes from the various series. After suffering financial issues earlier this year, the tour relaunched in June at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Unfortunately for those who like to plan in advance, Star Trek: The Schedule hasn’t yet listed the exhibition’s future destinations.

Doctor Who Tours: Star Trek is hardly the only franchise worthy of a vacation destination. Visitors to the Welsh capital of Cardiff can book a Doctor Who package at the Park Plaza, which includes a night’s stay at the hotel, a city map featuring locations from various episodes, admission to the prop-filled Doctor Who Up-Close Exhibition, and a remote-controlled Dalek in the room to keep you in your place. Or you could forego the Dalek and do the tours a la carte.

Space Camp: As Tony Hale’s character in Stranger Than Fiction says, “You’re never too old to go to Space Camp.” And, for the wannabe space tourist on a budget, the adult Space Academy programs in Huntsville, Alabama might be your best bet. Granted you experience weightlessness in a SCUBA tank rather than in orbit, but for a few days you can at least pretend you’re in training to fly the shuttle.

Mauna Kea Observatory: You can watch shuttles take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida or imagine that you’re James Bond at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory, but some of the best stargazing in the world is said to be at Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawai’i Island. Although you can’t look through the research telescopes at the region’s summit, you can explore the cosmos with portable telescopes, provided you’re willing to make the trek up the treacherous access road.

Alpine Astrovillage Lue-Stailas: For a more leisurely approach to staring at the heavens, head to the Swiss Alps and stay at AAV Lue-Stailas. At the astrophotography-center-cum-Alpine-retreat, you can photograph faraway galaxies after a full day of skiing and siteseeing. The Astrovillage, which opens for business in 2009, allows visitors to use its professional imaging equipment to snap photos from its fully motorized viewing domes.

Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame: Exhibits at Seattle’s Science Fiction Museum, have included costumes and artwork from and influenced by works of science fiction, as well as permanent exhibits exploring the building blocks of sci-fi, the concept of the Other, and how the choices we make today affect the future. The museum shares real estate with the Experience Music Project, and plays host to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and an annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Film Festival.

Maison d’Ailleurs: Another Swiss entry, this “House of Elsewhere,” describes itself as a “Museum of science fiction, utopia and extraordinary journeys.” Its recent exhibits have focused on North Pole expeditions, organic architecture, and art inspired by HP Lovecraft.

Space Center Houston: The world is filled with tech museums and, of course, the free-admission National Air and Space Museum, but the Space Center Houston is an official part of NASA. Come for the educational life-in-space exhibits, or just check out the incredibly large collection of Star Wars paraphernalia.

Tomorrowland: Yes, the Tomorrowland has had notorious problems updating its attractions to keep up with changing visions of the future. But at least the Magic Kindom’s version has surrendered to its now retro-futurist roots, even featuring the Carousel of Progress from the 1964 World’s Fair, one of Disney’s oldest attractions. If you want something shiny and newer, you can always hit the Tomorrowlands of Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong.

Tunisia: When deciding where to film scenes set on Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine, George Lucas chose Tunisia because it had a “beautiful countryside, unique architecture and a very high level of technical sophistication.” And the area today is much as it was when Lucas filmed it. Stay in Luke’s home, now the Sidi Driss Hotel in Matmata, trace R2-D2 and C-3PO’s journey through La Grande Dune, wander the streets of Mod Eisley, and stand at the site where Qui-Gon Jinn battled Darth Maul.

Akihabara: Tokyo’s electronics district is the much-touted mecca of the game and anime-obsessed otaku. Visit the Tokyo Anime Center for screenings, demonstrations, and exclusive items for purchase. And to see cosplayers in their full costumed glory, stroll through Chuo-dori on a Sunday afternoon.

CERN: Been drooling over the Large Hadron Collider? You can check out a mock-up at CERN’s Microcosm science center in Geneva and learn about the latest in particle physics. Temporary exhibits are housed in the planet-shaped Globe of Science and Innovation.

Evolution Emanation Cruise: In February 2009, Scientific American is shipping out with educational cruise company Insight Cruises for the Evolution Emanation Cruise. Travel from Fort Lauderdale to the Panama Canal while attending seminars on natural selection, genetics, and the future of life on this planet and elsewhere.

Galacticruise: If you’re an original Battlestar Galactica fan and you have time off next week, consider hopping aboard the Galacticruise. Celebrating thirty years of BSG, the five-day floating convention will host actors from the original show, including series-straddling Richard Hatch.

Vulcan, Alberta: Much like the city of Metropolis, Illinois, Vulcan has capitalized on its association with an alien among us. The self-professed home of Spock, the Canadian town has embraced all things Trek. Visitors are greeted by a captain and crew, and the town’s most prominent feature is a giant model starship mounted near the main entrance. And each summer it hosts Galaxyfest, its very own convention. It may not be Vegas, but Vulcan seems dedicated to keeping its Star Trek experience alive.

Here you can see cacti dotting the edges of the salt flats. If you were going to try to introduce plants to Mars gradually, a succulent like cactus would be a good bet. Of course, that assumes that you've already introduced sufficient nitrogen to the environment, or have bioengineered cacti that could thrive in the Martian atmosphere — and in temperatures much colder than anything in Bolvia.

These are the mud pots of Sol de Mañana, which release steam and sulfur as well as hot mud. The strange blue cast to the mud comes from the scalding water reflecting the sky at dawn. This might be from the surface of ultra-volcanic moon Io, rather than anywhere on Mars.

If you want to see many more of the amazing photographs Steinmetz took, check out the National Geographic gallery. Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

Bolivia's Brink and Bolivia's New Order Gallery [via National Geographic]

Fitzsimons and his crew completely gutted the old auto and replaced its innards with fancy fixtures.

I'm taking this on my next camping trip. Images by Mobitat

Mobitat main page via

Burg has worked as a concept artist, storyboarder, and matte painter on everything from Buckaroo Banzai to Robot Jox, and has also worked with sci directors like Robert Zemeckis on Contact, and Paul Verhoeven on Starship Troopers. In fact, given that we're going into a Terminator-laden weekend, it's only fitting that he also worked on Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and the T2:3D theme park film.

Burg frequently puts sketches and computer artwork up on his blog for people to check out, and of this spaceport picture he had this to say:

I wanted to capture the feeling of a busy port at dawn, with numerous craft of different shapes and sizes coming and going. The enormous cubes — at least in my mind — contain portals that enable inter-dimensional travel to other worlds. Large ships circle the area, waiting for clearance from traffic control to proceed to their destinations — much like jumbo jets at a modern airport.

Artist Neville Page was one of the designers of the jetpack used by the precog cops in the movie Minority Report, but he wanted to take the design a bit further and created this pinup in the process. He meant it to be tongue-in-cheek, and he's his own biggest critic: "It is safe to say that with police officers like her, one might be inspired to commit crimes in the hopes of being arrested. So perhaps this is not such a good costume idea after all."

We'd have to disagree with him there as far as costumes go, but as far as the uniform for a civil servant, this one might be a tad too distracting. Plus there's no way you'd want to see the 300 lb. Sergant McGillicuddy in that thing. Especially since he got that nasty skin rash.

From their press materials, "The study desk folds out of the techno wall with its own stow able chair and a complete range of power and connectivity including free internet access and cosy local lighting." Ah, there is nothing like cosy local lighting, and where's our techno wall?

Capsule Hotel In London [UrbanDaddy]