• Front Page
• An Unnatural Selection
• Signs of Parallel Universes
• A Sense of Place
• Extras

CQ: Has humanity become too risk-averse to properly allow a generation of space explorers?

Full list of 34 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • Can’t we all just get along? And all hate the sports geeks? (Kidding!) (Mostly..): Orange – Police separate Star Wars and Dr Who fans
  • It seems like a fundamental design flaw, really..: Orange – New pants hide ‘unsightly cracks’
  • Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it..: New Scientist – New memories filmed in action for first time
  • We all know we cannot recreate the past, or freeze the present; so is the answer to invent the future?: New Scientist – Rebuilding not rewinding is the future of conservation
  • “Good” news: sightings were up! “Bad news”: “good” sightings were down!: UFOrum – The 2012 Canadian UFO Survey
• An Unnatural Selection:
  • Although it only really proves that the speciman is old, and has been seen before. (Ripley was no scientist..): Who Forted – Believe it or Not: The Atacama “Alien” is Human, and Ripley Knew It First
  • Who knew that beneath that hard exterior, China is actually filled with awful cream filling?: Who Forted – Monster Barf: Weird, Smelly Foam Oozes Through Cracks in Chinese Streets
  • Or, maybe a bear. Or a man in a bear-suit. Or a Furry..: Cryptomundo – Bigfoot Shot in PA?
  • Name me something that someone can’t make money from, and I’ll see you at the drawing table, as we make money from it..: Mysterious Universe – Bigfoot, or Big Business?
  • It’s ok for me not to feel sad for the Beebs, right?: Orange – Justin Bieber set to lose pet monkey
  • More terrifying: what if she wasn’t quite dead yet?: Huffington Post – Woman Eaten By Vultures In 45 Minutes After Falling Off Cliff
  • (EXTRA) Women will never experience having a nail driven through their nads, either, but does that make either side right? *cringe*: Orange – Men struggle to cope with ‘childbirth’ pains
  • (EXTRA) Beyond simple biology, how much do we still need to emphasize the differences between boys and girls? Does it still matter much? Should it?: Orange – ‘St Trinian’s’ to open its doors to boys
  • In the real world, no one trusts anyone that much..: New Scientist – Parcels find their way to you via the crowd
• Signs of Parallel Universes:
  • Thats no ordinary pothole!: The Argus – Vortex to another dimension reported in Brighton
  • This is only really true if they are feeling peckish.. So, keep them well-fed, and you’re fine.: The UK Daily Star – NEW REPORT SHOWS THAT BRITAIN IS A NATION OF CANNIBALS
  • The Internet has created a hole into the Cat Universe..: Orange – Fancy dress hats for cats
  • Stop. Sending. Us. Cat. Pictures. Already!: Time – Flickering Stars: Could Aliens Be Sending Us Signals?
  • Fake concerned citizen sez: “Serves them right! About time they started requiring licences, too!”: The Times – Broomstick-flying witches to be brought down in Swaziland
  • (EXTRA) Weirdest part? The FAA sez: “All that we can tell you is that we can’t tell you anything, except that it’s all fine here. We’re fine down here. How are you?”: WBZ/CBS Boston – Mystery Aircraft Frightens Quincy Residents
  • (EXTRA) Also: not a witch. Or at least, not on a broomstick.: boston.com – Photos show mystery aircraft over Quincy is not a drone
  • Google: “Well, it’s kinda neat, so we bought one to use as an engineer toy.” NASA: “This might open up the universe — or at least replace the Windows 95 computers we were using.”: New Scientist – Google and NASA buy controversial quantum computer
  • (EXTRA) First likely use: keeping your beer cold in the direct sun..: BBC – Thermal invisibility cloak in first demonstration
  • (EXTRA) Isn’t it disturbing that these aren’t intended as deterrents for individuals, but crowds?: New Scientist – Pain ray: The US military’s new agony beam weapon
  • How long before the “brain hat” is made illegal during tests?: New Scientist – Zap the brain with electricity to speed up mental maths
  • In seven minutes, a slow-moving but unstoppable slushy waves crashes.: CBC News – Wall of ice destroys Manitoba homes, cottages
• A Sense of Place:
  • (EXTRA) It’s like the Hunger Games, only with less pomp and more circumstance. (Also: less killing.): Orange – Four-year-old boy is town’s new mayor
  • (EXTRA) Is this like Euro-Disney?: BBC – Dunwich underwater images show ‘Britain’s Atlantis’
  • (EXTRA) Either that, or a fuzzy cloud.: Fox News – ‘Lost City of Gold’ found deep in Honduras rain forest?
  • (EXTRA) What price, progress? What price, history?: The Sydney Morning Herald/AP – Mayan pyramid bulldozed in Belize
  • (EXTRA) What’s that Lassie? Bacteria Billy fell down the well?: CBC News – World’s oldest flowing water found deep in Timmins mine
  • (EXTRA) Does any place that gives unrealistic ideals need to be closed down? : Orange – Feminists protest opening of Barbie house
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) It’s the “… and if they lost, they would have to serve time working for each other’s _airlines_” that get me, really..: Orange – Branson turns trolley dolly after losing bet
  • (EXTRA) A clear need for runner GPS, perhaps.: Sky News – Marathon Runners Sent On Wrong Route

On the show this week:

• Front Page
• No Closure for Disclosure
• Sensory Deception
• If You Build It
• Extras

PROMO: Walk The Fire Volume 2: Kickstarter – A shared-world SF anthology! Go listen to the entire first volume, then support the second being made!

PROMO: Nutty Bites – A fun podcast filled with awesome — including the ever-popular Nutty Debates! Nutty tells me there is going to be a live debate at Balticon this year, as well!

CQ: Name a single fiction — whether a novel, a TV series, a movie, a play, whatever — which has made a profound change and inspiration in your life — and tell us why it should inspire others.

Full list of 36 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • Add to resume: window dressing..: Metro – Danish jobseekers put themselves in the shop window
  • Showing compassion to the underclass? Unthinkable!: Metro – Best school ever? Teachers give students day off to enjoy ‘Sun Day’
  • Suddenly, everywhere the child wants to go has to be near a tube station..: Metro – Baby born on underground gets free travel for life
  • It seems to me that, despite all limits that might exist, those who wish to do war will manage just fine..: ParaPolitical – The Limits of Interstellar War
• No Closure for Disclosure:
  • It seems strange that anyone would assume this is somehow an American “problem” to begin with..: Open Minds – UFOs in Chile, France and Russia — Citizen Hearing Transcripts
  • Gee, it’s too bad they can’t find any credible witnesses — aside from all the credible ones, that is..: The Epoch Times – Over 900 British Police Have Witnessed UFOs
  • The full 5-day digested summary.: The Huffington Post – Citizen Hearing On Disclosure: Pilots Testify To UFO Encounters (Live Updates Day 5)
  • … and just what did they think of it all? Generally, impressed.: Open Minds – Former congress members impressed with UFO testimony
  • One of the presenters laments that they didn’t convince one of the representatives..: A Different Perspective – Citizen Hearing and Merrill Cook
  • Sometimes, it can appear that “Uncle Stan” tries to be a substitute for everyone, but I’ve always found it frustrating when getting people to express themselves, too..: High Strangeness blog – OMG! Citizen Hearing on Disclosure — Part 2
  • It’s difficult to tell if he’s lampooning the critics or the show!: Herald-Tribune – Pass the popcorn
  • 25 signs someone is either disinforming you – or being a troll on the Internet..: Ghost Theory – Dis-Information
• Sensory Deception:
  • When will we stop bothering to call them “phones”?: New Scientist – App turns smartphone sensors into weather stations
  • Forget the zombie runs! *This* is the way you get in shape — and make a little money, too!: Who Forted – Monster Bait Needed: Group Offers Top Dollar to Human Bait in Chupacabra Hunt
  • I’m going to guess, “no” — but they might “perceive” them.: Smithsonian – Do Blind People See Ghosts?
  • So… bigfoot sounds like an angry drunk, does he?: Bigfoot Evidence – Listen Carefully: Sierra Sounds (1975) vs Ontario Sounds (2013)
  • (EXTRA) Unfortunately, no one knows who replaced all the visible orbs with numbers, in every photograph..: io9 – Archaeologists Uncover Hundreds of Mysterious Orbs in Ancient Temple
  • (EXTRA) This article describes them as made of “clay”, not metal.: The UK Daily Mail – Mystery of the Mexican ‘goldenballs’ cave: Scientists baffled by hundreds of spheres found in hidden tunnels
  • (EXTRA) Or, at least some rocks with a poorly-worded paper have been found..: MIT Technology Review – First Tunguska Meteorite Fragments Discovered
  • (EXTRA) It’s not exactly the “peer review” that papers normally go through, but it works in this case!: Sattrackcam Leiden Station Blog – No, fragments of the Tunguska object have not been found – or at least there is no real positive proof of that
  • Surprisingly *not* a mistranslation..: Metro – Fancy a cheese-and-onion flavour chocolate bar?
  • Yeah, but is it deep-fried?: Orange – Restaurant offers cancer – with chips
  • I wonder if all language conventions are really misspellings and mondegreens from the original language..: New Scientist – European and Asian languages have one mother tongue
  • (EXTRA) Uh, I’m not sure my router can float, let alone battle aquatic cryptids..: The Guardian – Has the internet killed the Loch Ness monster?
  • (EXTRA) She doesn’t look a day over hundreds of years old!: Yahoo!/Best of Great Britain – Look for Loch Ness Monster as Nessie Craze Turns 80
  • (EXTRA) … and now the Internet has done exactly the opposite of killing someone!: Bubble World Service – Twitter Verifies Bigfoot Account
  • (EXTRA) Should we be less disociated from death so that we recognize the transformations it makes to bodies?: Stuff.co.nz – NZ ‘sea monster’ carcass whips up overseas media
• If You Build It:
  • It’s what could be the most exciting job in the solar system — although it might turn out to be a dead-end job. Is it still worth it?: Orange – Thousands apply to settle on Mars
  • Have no doubt: Mars will kill us. So did every other new place we discovered, of course..: New Scientist – Toxic Mars dust could hamper planned human missions
  • (EXTRA) Forget fingerprints — we can now identify you by recreating your whole head!: Orange – Sculptures created from discarded DNA
  • Maybe just in time for a trip to Mars?: New Scientist – Turning Star Trek’s medical tricorder into reality
  • Discovery antigravity would give a whole new meaning to “enlightenment”..: BBC – Antigravity gets first test at Cern’s Alpha experiment
  • (EXTRA) I have a bad feeling about this..: New Scientist – Sticky-footed robot gets high using hot plastic
  • Really, all these problems start with knowledge, which might explain the real reason that education isn’t as good as it could be..: New Scientist – 3D-printed gun’s first shots spark calls for ban
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) This story was made of Internet.: Metro – Japanese firm dresses cats like sushi in cute photo collection
  • (EXTRA) It’s always better when you don’t have to clean up after things, and can just visit..: Metro – Cat caf? in London moves a step closer as thousands wait to be first through the door

This resulted.

Enjoy!

(For a bit longer explanation and the full text of A Geek Prayer, go see my post on Encaffeinated!.)

• Front Page
• Science Friction
• Mistaken Hide Entity
• Extras

CQ: What impact, if any, would you think that the confirmed discovery of Bigfoot, alien beings or perpetual motion devices have on everyday life?

Full list of 29 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • Finally! A space ship which *looks* like a proper rocket ship!: New Scientist – SpaceShipTwo goes supersonic on first powered flight
  • How much would you give for money?: Orange – Staff offered pay rise to get company tattoo
  • It’s no less ridiculous than when women wear this stuff — or is it?: Orange – Frilly lingerie launched – for men
  • Does the process matter? Is art more meaningful when outrageous methods are use to create it?: Orange – Artist uses jet engine as paintbrush
  • WANT. ARRRR.: Orange – Pirate ship up for sale online
  • File this under: “things already invented, built and now already discounted”.: Orange – Designer creates steel ice cubes
• Science Friction:
  • You just can’t count on anything these days..: NBC Science – Speed of light may not be constant, physicists say
  • Are we on the edge of a thrilling discovery — or is this merely a miscalculation?: Simons Foundation – Perpetual Motion Test Could Amend Theory of Time
  • Precis form by io9.: io9 – Physicists believe it’s possible to build a perpetual motion machine
  • More scientific exposition directly from the scientist, rather than the convoluted documentary.: Cryptozoo News – Dr. Nolan on Ata: Not Alien But Human
  • (EXTRA) A high-level meeting is held on UFOs — smoke and mirrors, or genuine ground-laying for real disclosure?: Herald-Tribune – Brazil on the brink?
  • A week-long spectactle with a who’s-who of UFOlogy — but does it matter unless the aliens are there too?: The Huffington Post – Citizen Hearing On Disclosure: UFO Believers To Testify At Congressional-Style Hearings (LIVE UPDATES)
  • Is any belief an unalienable right? The only truly irrevocable thing should be truth, based on evidence, although unactionable beliefs seem pretty innocuous, too..: The Calgary Herald – Abel: Belief in UFOs is an inalienable right
  • (EXTRA) It helps if you are already one, apparently..: Ghost Theory – How To Become A UFOlogist
  • (EXTRA) It’s a lot like software continuing to run on a USB stick, after it’s unplugged..: Wired – Consciousness After Death: Strange Tales From the Frontiers of Resuscitation Medicine
• Mistaken Hide Entity:
  • Sometimes, the surveillance society can do some good..: KPLU – Northwest professor turns to drones in quest for Sasquatch
  • (EXTRA) Don’t be silly: Nessie isn’t going to collide with herself! : Inverness Courier – Company insures against Nessie collision
  • (EXTRA) While they have their reasons for doubting it, my favourite is: “they didn’t follow it?”: Ghost Theory – Freaky Sea Monster Caught On Video
  • (EXTRA) A new terrifying twist: can they leap 9 metres from standing?: Inexplicata – Puerto Rico: Chupacabras – The Night Siege
  • If the only colours you define are “blue” and “not-blue”, you may never see that purple is really a shade of blue..: OpenMinds – Scientists discuss invisible alien life on Earth
  • (EXTRA) And this is *not* an “alien big cat” how, exactly?: The Vancounver Sun – Potential evidence of surviving “British big cat” proves to be imported Canadian lynx
  • There is no real standard for life, because every time we set one, it defies it..: The Guardian UK – Life on Earth… but not as we know it
  • (EXTRA) Another extremophile found in a remote location. When do we start to wonder why life *isn’t* in some locations?: New Scientist – Deep life: Strange creatures living far below our feet
  • (EXTRA) Maybe life isn’t really such a great idea after all..: New Scientist – Humans’ indelible stamp on Earth clear 5000 years ago
  • (EXTRA) Maybe they were afraid of the mess they’d made..: LiveScience – Ancient Europeans Mysteriously Vanished 4,500 Years Ago
  • (EXTRA) Just what the ancient peoples were running away from..: New Scientist – The early turd: Our history is written in poo
  • Could “anti-aging” pills be viable possibility?: New Scientist – Age-defying: Master key of lifespan found in brain
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) “I’ll take the party suite, please.”: STV – Seven more skeletons discovered on site of medieval knight’s grave
  • (EXTRA) Hoaxes are like a turd in a pool: even when you remove them, they make everyone quesy about what’s left behind, even if it is pure.: Stuff.co.nz – New Zealand space balls had everyone fooled

• Front Page
• From Down Here
• From Within
• From Up There
• That’s Entertainment
• Extras

CQ: What would you put in a 10-year time capsule — and how does that differ from what you would have put a decade ago?

John Mierau’s Walk the Fire anthology, Volume 2 Kickstarter

Full list of 62 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • I know its something I often say first thing in the morning..: Orange – Canada starts the day with Holy Crap
  • Probably also could be called “Holy Crap”..: Metro – Ears to that! Japanese beer made from elephant dung sells out in minutes
  • Hoo boy, even *window shopping* has gone up in price!: Metro – Shop in Australia charges customers $5 ‘looking fee’
  • I guess the force will be facing paper-cut-backs..: Metro – Are cardboard cut-outs the traffic officers of the future?
  • Metal showers bring May flowers..: Orange – Black Sabbath ‘make flowers bloom’
• From Down Here:
  • The problems of applying an observational (but not actual!) law to an entirely different field are exponential, and double every time someone reports on it..: MIT Technology Review – Moore’s Law and the Origin of Life
  • Hubris or responsibility?: PhysOrg – Reverse extinction: Should we redo the dodo?
  • (EXTRA) Massive die-offs happen every year, and many aren’t directly man-made. Should we allow them to happen?: Wired – Manatees Dying in Droves on Both Coasts of Florida
  • (EXTRA) Given the resurgence in apparent cases of bird-flu, this might seem more disconcerting..: Arlington Voice – Dead birds litter Pioneer Parkway
  • (EXTRA) Not every animal apparently needs — or possibly even wants! — our help to survive..: Orange – Sheep survive 23 days covered in snow
  • So, this is *one* way to solve the “chicken or the egg” problem.. (Captain Kirk’s solution?): Metro – Does it cluck or quack? Chicken is fathered by a duck in ‘Jurassic Park’ breakthrough that could bring back extinct animals
  • From everything I’m hearing, it sounds like it was an afterthought..: The Huffington Post – ‘Sirius’ Documentary Reveals DNA Test Results On Ata, The ’6-Inch Alien’
  • .. a little bit of detail (one bit Ata time..): The UK Daily Moil – Is this really human? DNA tests on six-inch skeleton of ‘alien-looking’ creature with over-sized head prove it was actually human claim scientists in new documentary
  • … and a somewhat hilarious second-hand running commentary (not likely to be included on the DVD).: Ghost Theory – Sirius UFO Documentary: Sirius-ly Bad
  • “Safe” for whom?: Phenomenica/PTI – $1 million prize for ‘safe’ capture of Bigfoot
  • (EXTRA) While speculation runs rampant about why a society living in huts would create a massive stone monument, I look toward all human monuments and say, “What’s the difference?”: CNN – Mysterious structure found at bottom of ancient lake
  • I suppose “care and feeding” is one way for the “safe” capture..: Who Forted? – Prime Spot Bigfoot: “Sasquatch Habituated” Land for Sale in Georgia
• From Within:
  • (EXTRA) I wonder if he got it from a real deer..?: Metro – Finding your inner deer: Man wears deer head mask every day for five years
  • (EXTRA) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — although they may need glasses.: Metro – Mexico’s Queen of the Elderly beauty pageant is national hit
  • (EXTRA) Which may be to say: “They’ve been watching us forever; so long, that our DNA has responded..”: The UK Telegraph – Feeling of being watched ‘hardwired in brain’
  • (EXTRA) Of course, if you’re like me, you’ll then be stuck thinking of bad anagrams all day (or trying to).: Metro – Lady Gaga tune stuck in your head? A tricky anagram will get rid of those annoying ‘earworms’
  • (EXTRA) Finally! Someone showing that video games are *good* for your eyes!: Orange – Doctors use video game to treat lazy eye
  • (EXTRA) Oh, to have the biological excuses of a teenager again..: New Scientist – Why teenagers really do need an extra hour in bed
  • (EXTRA) The exact opposite of “out-of-body” experience?: New Scientist – Mindscapes: The woman who was dropped into her body
  • We check in with the status of Avatar A, which is to say: nothing new.: Sydney Morning Herald – Russian billionaire wants to create cyborgs
  • Um.. since it takes one hand to use the app, I don’t think they come out ahead here..: Orange – New bionic hand is controlled by mobile app
  • If you can think it, they can build it..: New Scientist – Robot builders deliver architects’ dreams
  • This drum machine just might got some soul!: Orange – Robots form heavy metal band
• From Up There:
  • (EXTRA) Do the rest just *know* it?: The Atlantic Wire/Reuters – 12 Million Americans Believe Lizard People Run Our Country
  • (EXTRA) Well, they might have, but they went back in time and destroyed it..: ABC – Iran: No, We Don’t Have a ‘Time Machine’
  • (EXTRA) Stanton Friedman is an eloquent speaker with a remarkable wealth of details at his instant command. But it does feel a bit like when parents fight, here..: Gralian Report – Bad Astronomy: Stanton Friedman Offers a Rebuttal
  • (EXTRA) Can we please put RFID chips or something in sky lanterns? This is getting a bit ridiculous!: OpenMinds – Sheriff’s dept. investigating fireball UFOs near Houston
  • (EXTRA) We now know definiitively that.. um.. The official records say that it couldn’t have been an official plane?: Ghost Theory – Phoenix Lights: New Evidence Emerges…Sort Of
  • (EXTRA) They’re a little sensitive to glowing orbs over their cities right now..: Who Forted – Huge “Blazing Orb” Appears Over Russian City, Causes Alarm
  • (EXTRA) Probably a big-ass sky lantern, right?: Who Forted – Mysterious Burning Object Falls From the Sky, Wounding Two
  • (EXTRA) Are the sky booms starting again?: The Illinois Southern – Unexplained boom baffles experts, residents
  • (EXTRA) And by “unexplained”, I think they mean “why does the Earth shake?”..: Who Forted – Bad Vibrations: Unexplained Tremors Shaking Up South Jersey
  • (EXTRA) Even when we know what it was (earthquake), does it make it any less interesting? (Well, maybe a bit..): Discovery – Mysterious Boom in Wisconsin Identified
  • (EXTRA) Oh yeah?!? Well, when *I* was a kid, the school didn’t *have * to stage UFO crashes! They just pointed to the real ones! : OpenMinds – UK schools still using staged UFO crashes in curriculum
  • (EXTRA) Wait.. the aliens will reveal themselves if.. we ask?: OpenMinds – Petition asks ETs to disclose their presence
  • (EXTRA) Will you sign the petition to force the aliens to reveal themselves, by the power invested in the raw, optional, bureacratic juggernaut?: change.org – The Extraterrestrials: To DISCLOSE A.S.A.P.
  • (EXTRA) A copy of a memo retelling the story of a person who read an article in a newspaper written by someone who overheard the story being re-told?: Philly.com – UFO memo is FBI’s most viewed
  • (EXTRA) I hereby dub thee, “Planet Woot Woot” and “Planet Wassup?!?”: New Scientist – First neighbouring planets that are both life-friendly
  • (EXTRA) I’m still waiting for some crazy bazillionaire to build a space elevator. Then, we can make space eleveator music!: New Scientist – Antares rocket launch heats up private space race
  • It’s like TV emulating.. TV!: PhysOrg – Dutch reality show seeks one-way astronauts for Mars
• That’s Entertainment:
  • (EXTRA) It’s probably some deep commentary on the current decline of our decadent Western civilizations that we find any activity we can to take to the “extreme” edge.. Or maybe just boredom. Either way.. : Orange – Extreme unicycling comes to Britain
  • (EXTRA) While the lens distorts the distance the rider is to the ground, it still can’t really distort the stupidity (or, frankly, the bravado).: Orange – Man rides ‘Stoopidtall’ bike through LA
  • (EXTRA) Just be glad that he wasn’t going into the itching powder business instead!: Orange – Man sends bosses resignation cake
  • (EXTRA) That kinda tops the “barber with a beer” offer downtown..: Orange – Customers flock to topless barber shop
  • (EXTRA) Is this the emergence of teledildonics into the mainstream?: Orange – Fundawear lets couples ‘touch’ online
  • (EXTRA) Obviously, “Funderwear” is also going to be banned in that country..: UPI – Man jailed for watching cartoon pixies have sex
  • (EXTRA) Definitely nuts. It’s not like they were spending their time on worthwhile pastimes, like really tall bikes with only one wheel!: Orange – Norman nut copies Bayeux Tapestry
  • (EXTRA) Since gambling is largely random, what difference does it make how you get your hunches?: Orange – One hundred and nighty
  • (EXTRA) Most of the time, my fortune cookies only correctly predict that I will, at some point in my future, have another fortune cookie.: Metro – Fortune cookie predicts trio’s million dollar lottery win
  • (EXTRA) I was going to say “almost the most unlucky”, myself..: Orange – Is this the luckiest man in the world?
  • (EXTRA) Some people need to sit down and have a conversation..: BBC – Punxsutawney Phil ‘indicted’ in Ohio over spring prediction
  • (EXTRA) Wanted: rock manager. Must be friendly to druids.: Orange – Stonehenge seeks manager to talk to druids
  • (EXTRA) Soon, there will be a movie made about his life. Then, a theme park will be built to allow visitors to sample what it feels like to build a theme park. And it will be hosted by Johnny Depp.: Metro – Russian Jack Sparrow builds Black Pearl hotel for prospective tourists
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) Triangles kill. : Orange – Essex school bans triangular flapjacks
  • (EXTRA) No one could have seen this coming. Or going.: Metro – Scientists develop Harry Potter-like invisible cloak
  • (EXTRA) She’s a real monster, then?: The Christian Post – Girl Discovers Dinosaur: New Species Named After Girl – ‘Vectidraco Daisymorrisae’
  • (EXTRA) … and not doing the backstroke, either..: NY Post – 1,000 ducks, 16,000 pigs found floating in Chinese rivers

So, I won’t be producing any new shows in April, unless whimsy and/or madness takes me. (That’s possible..)

I figured I should post something here to let people know, because if I don’t, people seem to get worried.

Also, summer begins soon, and I will be making at least 3 trips: I’ll be at Balticon in Baltimore, MD at the end of May, at NCRC in Winnipeg, MB in June and a happy return to Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA in September! So, there will associated outages with those, but perhaps other opportunities to record.

We shall see!

• Front Page
• By Any Other Name
• Extras

CQ: What is the best or worst lesson about living life you’ve ever gotten from fiction (books, TV or movies)?

Please donate to our radio station, and support great community radio! chsrfm.ca/donate

Full list of 32 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • At first, I was hoping for “the world’s strangest coffee”, but it’s not produced from a rodent’s rectum..: Orange – The world’s strongest coffee
  • Please tell me that there’s a real bed in there, tho..: Metro – Cake hotel opens up for sweet dreams in Soho for one night only
  • What if there is some news that you just can’t face?: Metro – The new face of bad news? The avatar that can deliver your messages
  • Aside from using keyboards and mice, that is..: ydr/Slate – Researchers explore connecting the brain to machines
  • It’s no different than fearing a cake made from more than one type of flour..: New Scientist – Don’t fear babies made with genes from three parents
  • Everyone is encouraged to make babies, whatever way we need. Although make a few less, please?: New Scientist – Make three-parent babies, UK government told
  • Right response: “The evidence does not appear to suppor the claims, so it is inconclusive.” Wrong response: “We should stop looking because you haven’t found overwhelming evidence.”: The UK Daily Mail – Is this alien life? Controversial scientists publish second paper claiming they have found ‘extra-terrestrial fossils’ in meteor fragment
  • (EXTRA) Sometimes, I need nothing more than the title to be intrigued..: The UK Daily Mail – ‘I have sex with aliens who sneak into my room at night’: Psychic appears on live TV claiming to have ‘out-of-this-world orgasms with octopus men and cat people’
  • Some ideas are worth sharing, even if (especially if!) they are controversial..: Daily Grail – TED Deletes Talks by Rupert Sheldrake and Graham Hancock
• By Any Other Name:
  • I think they already did the million-dollar-movie version of this..: The Examiner – Huge Florida mosquitoes: 20x larger than average insect
  • Forget mechanical drones! Maybe they’ll mount them to gallinippers..: BBC – Drones may be used to target ‘illegal hunting’
  • A long winter makes reality a little harder to distinguish from snow..: Orange – Snow sculpture car gets parking ticket
  • Innocent action, or potential vampire threat? (Probably innocent..): Huffington Post – Teacher Lets Students Taste Her Blood At Norway Kindergarten
  • Oh, no! Not “raunchy” photos! Soon, they’ll be jumping in mudpuddles!: Orange – Teacher let pupils see raunchy photos
  • Soon, that may be the only thing libraries are used for, so we might as well accept it..: Orange – Librarian sacked over Harlem Shake video
  • (EXTRA) Oh… if ONLY… *sigh*: New Scientist – 3D display could bring ‘Princess Leia’ hologram to life
  • (EXTRA) Soon, we’ll be watching things that watch us watch them..: New Scientist – How vast advertising displays will grab your attention
  • (EXTRA) The ultimate grow-op..: Orange – Farmscrapers take eco-living to new heights
  • (EXTRA) May the Force be With You, I know pronounce you man and wife.: BBC – Jedi could perform marriages, says Free Church of Scotland
  • (EXTRA) Where does it cross the line from parody to mean mockery?: Orange – Pastafarians launch legal challenge
  • (EXTRA) Why do people want to always say “Spiderman” when they mean “Daredevil”?: Metro – Real life Spider-Man called Mustang Wanted fearlessly performs stunts high above the ground
  • (EXTRA) The life of a superhero is tough.. Especially without the “super”.: Metro – Salford ‘superhero’ hangs up cape after being punched in face in Manchester
  • (EXTRA) Gotta hand it to her..: BBC – Doctor ‘used silicone fingers’ to sign in for colleagues
  • (EXTRA) Whatever gets you the distance, I guess..: Orange – Sex toys help singers hit the high notes
  • (EXTRA) Food shaped like people was never a problem with ninja cookies, but baby heads may be a bit far..: Orange – Marketing stunt goes pear-shaped
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) A good grounding.: Doubtful News – Media Guide to Skepticism
  • (EXTRA) Yeah.. but it wasn’t a unicycle..: Orange – Man cycles up 2,754 stairs
  • (EXTRA) Someone maaay be reading a bit too much into this..: New Scientist – Planck shows almost perfect cosmos — plus axis of evil
  • (EXTRA) I want to wait until all medical scopes are extremely tiny..: New Scientist – World’s thinnest endoscope is width of a human hair
  • (EXTRA) Bummer.. All I found was a dime..: STV – Grave of medieval knight and monastery site found under car park
  • (EXTRA) I wish they hadn’t died out.. I’d love to see a 4-winged bird!: NBC News – Four-winged birds? First fossils identified
  • (EXTRA) We’re kinda disgusting, really..: New Scientist – The body: Your curious behaviours and what they reveal

• In Between
• Front Page
• Life
• Death

CQ: Is a world in which “equal pay for equal work” is a _universal_, world-wide right a possibility or a pipe-dream?

Full list of 35 articles after the jump!

• In Between:
  • It basically amounts to hiking: pay taxes, take pictures, turn in strange pictures to a government authority. Well, depends on where you go hiking, I suppose..: Slate/The Vault – The American Government’s Advice for Yeti Hunters, 1959
  • Last week, the AVRO flying disc was mentioned. This week, it is refuted as only a flying disc of human origins, not an alien craft. (But I’m sure they *wanted* it to be!): Ghost Theory – Never A UFO
  • Ah, the bible.. a sacred text with words often taken literally as the only way of believing. To others? “S**t my God Says”.: Orange – Church leaders angered by loo roll Bible quotes
  • Ah! So is _that_ what it means for the party to go BOOM!?: Metro – Marijuana cannon used to hurl drug parcels over US border seized by police
  • My reaction ran from “awesome” to… No, it just stayed on “awesome”.: Orange – Woman recreates Hogwarts – in Lego
  • My heart weeps for the 11-year-old who saw his own miniature apocalypse..: Metro – Lego bricks spill on to West Virginia highway causing major delays
• Front Page:
  • First, the meteorite was suggested to be a weapon; now, it’s the target of a weapon?: The UK Daily Mail – Did UFO ‘hit’ Russian meteorite blasting it to smithereens? Conspiracy theorists’ extraordinary claim after new footage emerges
  • Or so he says..: Metro – Man plants entire forest in northern India ‘by himself’
  • Probaby doesn’t include “planting trees”.: Orange – The best jobs in the world
  • The world continues to astonish.: The UK Daily Mail – The coolest beach in America: Hundreds of giant ice boulders weighing 75 POUNDS wash ashore in Michigan
  • Some look and see “Oh, no! A storm!” Others: “An opportunity!”: New Scientist – Reap the whirlwind for cheap renewable power
  • So.. more temperature change in the last 100 years than a few thousand? Must be a coincidence! Right? :/: New Scientist – True face of climate’s hockey stick graph revealed
  • Leading to the “Google Camo” print.: New Scientist – Google Glass app identifies you by your fashion sense
  • Steve Mann has seen the future of Google Glass — by living it for the last 40 years..: CBC – Google Glass is just the beginning
  • Moreover, he believes they’ve visited _and_ abducted us.: The National Post – Q&A: Retired McGill University professor convinced ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ that aliens exist
  • Space laser? Intergalactic pot-shot? Natural phenomenon? : ABC Australia – Mysterious light blamed for circle of fire
  • (EXTRA) Should we have an automatic and fair reaction to be skeptical about what skeptics say?: Daily Grail – James Randi Responds to ‘Social Darwinism’ Controversy
  • (EXTRA) Does all the good that you do erase the stupid things you have said? (I kinda hope so..): Doubtful News – James Randi responds to Storr’s ‘Social Darwinism’ quote
• Life:
  • Hey, that crap has to go somewhere — why not put it to use?: New Scientist – Mars trip to use astronaut poo as radiation shield
  • The four main problems are: leaving, getting there, being alive while getting there, and getting back..: New Scientist – Solve four big problems to get people to Mars by 2018
  • “Tests have shown that, suspicious or hostile, their lives need not be shortened. Truth be told, they can live a long, long while.” – “Scared”, The Tragically Hip (from Day for Night): Science Daily – Pessimism About the Future May Lead to Longer, Healthier Life
  • (EXTRA) I admit: when I thought of “evolution”, I considered it mostly in the “predator/prey” sense, not in the “forming of social bonds to create mutual solutions” sense..: New Scientist – Old dog tricks: The survival of the friendliest
  • (EXTRA) Well actually, it seems to say more about redefining death than the transition from non-living to living..: Discovery News – New Book Suggests Return from Death Possible
  • (EXTRA) Well, aside from cutting her bangs..: The UK Daily Mail – ‘I’m addicted to my hair!’: Chinese woman, 44, hasn’t cut her 6ft 7in locks in 11 YEARS – and standing just 5ft tall, her tresses are longer than she is
  • Not so much “mummified” as “stored in a box, in separate cities from the rest of his body”. Like a vampire?: BBC – Richard the Lionheart’s mummified heart analysed
  • Should scientists be heros? Or should they be collaborators?: New Scientist – Our $3 million prizes will turn scientists into heroes
• Death:
  • (EXTRA) Still wondering if there is the potential for an internal world of caves under the surface..: The Sydney Morning Herald/AP – Florida man swallowed by sinkhole
  • (EXTRA) Science died in a fire..: New Scientist – Fire destroys the City of Science in Naples, Italy
  • (EXTRA) I suspect much of ancient texts are really the Fortean Times of their times, chronicling the tremendous oddities to inform people and warn them..: Arutz Sheva – Egypt Struck by Swarm of Locusts Ahead of Passover
  • (EXTRA) The bad side: lots of people running into things, as they check their cell phones to see if zombies surround them..: New Scientist – Need to get fit? Try running from zombies
  • (EXTRA) Or maybe it’s a cover-up plan for a Sasquatch invasion?: The Gralien Report – Zombie-UFO Crash Landing: A New FEMA Exercise?
  • (EXTRA) Really, it’s not the size of the official, it’s the amount of sneering superiority to watch out for..: Orange – Short fat cops to be taken off the streets
  • (EXTRA) And in some places, the short, fat guy in a funny suit is a hero!: Metro – The Dark Knight: Bradford Batman says criminal days are behind him
  • (EXTRA) The saddest short story, redux? (“For sale: pair of baby shoes, never worn.”): The Pakistan Daily Times – Shoe-dunnit? Archaeologists determined to solve the mystery
  • (EXTRA) Just reminds me that the world is far stranger than any fictional horror story..: The Huffington Post – Joshua Miner And Alisa Massaro Had Sex On Top Of Corpses They Allegedly Murdered: Police

• Back Page
• No Intelligent Life Found Here
• That’s Enter Main Tent!
• Extras

CQ: It used to be that money and distance were the limiting factors for entertainment. Now, it seems like time is the prime concern. What do you use to filter and select the entertainment you consume, now that the world is at your doorstep for cheap?

Full list of 45 articles after the jump!

• Back Page:
  • : The UK Daily Mail – The secret code used to bury bad news in the Bible: Researchers uncover the ‘Genesis Death Sandwich’
  • : New Scientist – Arctic thaw may be first in cascade of tipping points
  • : New Scientist – (O) Biofuel rush is wiping out unique American grasslands
  • : New Scientist – (O) The computer that never crashes
  • : New Scientist – Multilingual dictionary keeps humans in the loop
  • : BBC – (O) Lab rats ‘acquire sixth sense’
  • (EXTRA) : Sydney Morning Herald – (O) Cannabis may help reverse dementia: study
  • : The National Post – Human sweat may hold key to next generation of antibiotics: study
  • : New Scientist – (O) New retinal implant gives sight to nine blind people
  • : Metro – Scientists create SpideySense suit that can ‘detect danger like Spider-Man’
  • : New Scientist – (O) Doctors would tax sugary drinks to combat obesity
  • : Bubblews – (O) Cavemen Had Better Teeth Than We Do
  • : Nature Genetics – (O) Sequencing ancient calcified dental plaque shows changes in oral microbiota with dietary shifts of the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions
• No Intelligent Life Found Here:
  • : CBC – Mars voyage in 2018 planned by U.S. non-profit
  • : New Scientist – First private Mars mission aims to launch in 2018
  • (EXTRA) : New Scientist – Curiosity’s spills add thrills to the Mars life hunts
  • (EXTRA) : New Scientist – Newly spotted comet to buzz Mars in 2014
  • : New Scientist – Russian meteor traced to Apollo asteroid family
  • : The UK Telegraph – Large meteorite fragments found in Russia
  • (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – Bosnia ‘meteor’ intrigues new generation in wake of Russia strike
  • (EXTRA) : Phenomenica/ANI – (O) No aliens found in SETI’s search
  • : STV – (O) Aliens would receive a ‘warm and peaceful’ welcome from Glasgow
  • (EXTRA) : New Scientist – Giant laser creates an artificial star to clear the sky
  • : Orange – (O) Actress set to be first porn star in space
  • (EXTRA) : Mysterious Universe – (O) Crop Circles: ET’s Art? Nah. . .
  • (EXTRA) : Popular Mechanics – Declassified: America’s Secret Flying Saucer
  • : The UK Daily Mail – (O) Could it be Nesski? Russian scientists claim to have found remains of ‘Siberian Loch Ness monster’
  • : The Voice of Russia – (O) Russian scientists say they discover jaws and skeleton of ‘Siberian Loch Ness monster’ deep down remote lake’s waters
  • (EXTRA) : Sky – Snake Island To Be ‘Bombed’ With Poison Mice
  • : Doubtful News – Ketchum uses April Fools paper as reference (Updated: Melba responds)
  • : Bigfoot Evidence – Dr. Melba Ketchum Addresses Hoax References, Damage Control On Full Alert
• That’s Enter Main Tent!:
  • (EXTRA) : The Elm – (O) Behind You: The Cultural Relevance of Slender Man
  • (EXTRA) : The Guardian – (O) Americans love zombies because they remind us of the Wild West
  • (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Restaurant gives family discount for ‘well behaved kids’
  • (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Fawlty Towers experience at Dorset B&B proving a surprise hit
  • (EXTRA) : Metro – Cat caf? to open in London after public donates ?100,000
  • (EXTRA) : Metro – Montana passes law allowing motorists to eat animals they kill with cars
  • (EXTRA) : Metro – Mexican priest with comic book robe sprays congregation with holy water gun
  • (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Toy makers defend bank robbery game
  • (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Japanese women rent out thighs to advertisers
  • (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Art lovers strip off for naked exhibition
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) : RT/RIA Novosti – Bad karma: Moscow ‘wizard’ held over serial photo-model killings
  • (EXTRA) A meagre $15,000: Kickstarter – (O) X-Wing Clone
  • (EXTRA) Cresting $5000,000.: Kickstarter – (O) Crowdfunding Rebel Alliance X-Wing Squadron
  • (EXTRA) Still at 300,000 pounds.: Metro – (O) Star Wars fans raise ?75,000 to build a Death Star

• Front Page
• Monstrous, Inc.
• Floss of Truth
• Extras

CQ: Are we living in a decadent age, with things a bit too easy, right on the edge of societal collapse? Or is this just the worry of those adjusting still to a modern world?

Full list of 46 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • Imagine that this is entirely fake.. Can you? How can you tell the difference?: Metro – Family photo taken by Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke discovered on Moon’s surface
  • Who wouldn’t? Only those who are anti-geek. (Fools!): Metro – Training for Jedis: Star Wars fans sign up to lightsaber classes
  • Finally! A practical (?) use for all my used coffee grounds! Unfortunately, it will be another idea sidelined by the coffeepacolypse..: Metro – The Bean Machine: Coffee car grinds out world speed record
  • To be fair: the Brits _do_ seem to have a knack for coming up with bizarre last names..: The UK Telegraph – Goodbye Mr Chips as study highlights surnames facing ‘extinction’
  • Maybe we can give them some of the names no longer in use by the Brits?: New Scientist – We need to rethink how we name exoplanets
  • The timing.. it’s almost like they _planned_ it..: New Scientist – New satellite will be first asteroid sentinel in space
  • Remember that scifi from 40 years ago? IT’S TRUE.: Phenomenica/ANI – Sun-powered lasers could vaporise asteroids before they get close to Earth
  • Do we have some sort of Fractional Orbital Bombardment System in operation? (Oops.. That’s a *Russian* idea..): Meteor – Meteor ‘was new US weapons test’, claims Russian MP
  • Ever feel like the unvierse was just a moment away from tilting?: New Scientist – Higgs may spell doom, unless supersymmetry saves us
  • Bird flu in your Angry Birds? War update in your Command and Conquer?: New Scientist – Insert real news events into your mobile game
  • It’s that kind of sharp, cutting humour that severs my attention..: The Huffington Post – World Sword Swallowers Day 2013 Is Anything But Pointless
  • Sounds good, until you realized that many of the couples didn’t know each other, or speak the same language.. Then again, maybe that will lead to successful marriages!: Metro – Mass wedding in South Korea sees over 3,000 people hitched
  • I’m surprised they haven’t just jumped to velcro already..: Orange – Designer invents zip-up tie
  • Currently 298,778 pounds (USD $455,367) of 20,000,000 pounds.: Kickstarter – (O) Kickstarter Open Source Death Star
  • (EXTRA) Currently $488,907 of $11,000,000: Kickstarter – (O) Crowdfunding Rebel Alliance X-Wing Squadron
  • (EXTRA) Currently at $18,492 of $2,000,000: Kickstarter – (O) X-Wing Clone
• Monstrous, Inc.:
  • Putting the “oh!” in “Oklahoma”..: NewsOn6 Oklahoma – Oklahoma Man Dies In Fire, Spontaneous Combustion Not Ruled Out As Cause
  • (EXTRA) It looks like a double-exposure or fake to me.. But then again, wouldn’t the real thing _also_ look like that?: Orange – ‘Ghost’ caught on CCTV camera
  • (EXTRA) Apparently, it was just a minor outbreak..: Reuters – That “zombie apocalypse” warning in Montana? It was fake
  • (EXTRA) Zombies have fallen to the one thing that is even more slow-moving and dangerous: bureaucracy.: The Globe and Mail/CP – Quebec cancels zombie-themed emergency training
  • (EXTRA) I know seeing the dead walk reminds me more of mornings than sandy vistas..: The Guardian – Americans love zombies because they remind us of the Wild West
  • (EXTRA) What if the hoaxes are actually just a *different* phenomenon?: Mysterious Universe – Crop Circles: ET’s Art? Nah. . .
  • (EXTRA) It’s sounds truly horrible! Imagine: the whitewashing..: TVNZ/Reuters – Bird invasion brings real-life horror to Kentucky city
  • (EXTRA) Maybe just a mischevious porkergeist..: Metro – Fireman Ham: Pig recruited to help fire crews catch escaped animals
  • (EXTRA) What happens when you create a modern myth?: The Elm – Behind You: The Cultural Relevance of Slender Man
  • (EXTRA) It’s kinda the ancient marble set..: PhysOrg – 4,000-year-old shaman’s stones discovered near Boquete, Panama
• Floss of Truth:
  • (EXTRA) Turns out, it’s what you eat, not what you brush with..: Bubblews – Cavemen Had Better Teeth Than We Do
  • (EXTRA) It’s the article the previous article talks about, but with “scientifical” language obscuring direct interpretation..: Nature Genetics – Sequencing ancient calcified dental plaque shows changes in oral microbiota with dietary shifts of the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions
  • (EXTRA) I think they should try the same thing for other drugs..: New Scientist – Doctors would tax sugary drinks to combat obesity
  • (EXTRA) Make snacks out of EWW if you really want us to slow down on eating them..: Good Food – Scorpion with a side of bee larvae: insects go from pests to protein source
  • (EXTRA) We really don’t have a good handle on that “sustainability” thing, do we?: New Scientist – Biofuel rush is wiping out unique American grasslands
  • (EXTRA) Eventually, it will likely run apps and have Siri installed..: New Scientist – New retinal implant gives sight to nine blind people
  • (EXTRA) This is likely to make it very difficult to do tests, and they will know what’s happening ahead of time… (Oh, not *that* sixth sense..): BBC – Lab rats ‘acquire sixth sense’
  • (EXTRA) Obviously, it was Central Heating..: New Scientist – How was Earth’s life kindled under a cold sun?
  • (EXTRA) What makes you think a cold, wet rock could hold life? Oh, wait..: Phenomenica/ANI – Jupiter’s moon Europa ‘most likely’ place to harbour life
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) Surprisingly only slightly above what I expected..: The Huffington Post – Haunted Mirror Sells For $155 On EBay
  • (EXTRA) … although they are really still of the “doodle” quality level..: New Scientist – 3D-printing pen turns doodles into sculptures
  • (EXTRA) Sometimes, things are art. Other times, they are a giant, “HA HA! YOU NEVER SOLVED THE RUBIK’S CUBE!”: Metro – Wall of Rubik’s Cubes is a world record with a twist
  • (EXTRA) It’s how I imagine the Russians invading..: Metro – Russian soldiers march to SpongeBob SquarePants theme song
  • (EXTRA) It might get meta: admiring the nude who’s admiring the nude..: Orange – Art lovers strip off for naked exhibition
  • (EXTRA) Proving that people are insane. Also: that there is sex even in the frigid parts. Of the world.: Orange – Siberian snowboarders strip for cameras
  • (EXTRA) It’s the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, only sexier.. (It will likely be a sexy film next year.): Orange – Couple’s naked protest causes gridlock
  • (EXTRA) Because obviously teachers never, ever have anything like sex or sexual thoughts..: Orange – Teacher turns star lingerie model
  • (EXTRA) That’s a bit unfair! “I’m only looking at the ads!” is likely to *still* get you slapped!: Orange – Japanese women rent out thighs to advertisers
  • (EXTRA) The more complex computers get, the more simple the things we get them to do.: New Scientist – Harness vast power of quantum computers… for sums
  • (EXTRA) I’m sure he feels like people are watching… his work..: disinformation – Why Biologist Rupert Sheldrake’s Work is So Interesting for Fans of Mixed Martial Arts and Occultists