Mecha in real life...

As many of you know one of my primary interests is Mecha. I believe there is a future to this sci-fi dream of writers like myself. We see things in our heads that make sense to us and we think why not. I continue to research the topic and figured I would share two of bolder attempts by individuals to build these massive machines.

Granted these examples are crude and wouldn’t last 30 seconds on a battlefield, but then again the first automobiles were jokes by today’s standards too.

The first is one that was built in here in Alaska several years ago by an ambitious fellow; I have tried to track him down but haven’t had much luck. The flamethrower is kind of cool effect but with I would have liked to see it walk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhs7t70_YVg&feature=related

The second was built in Japan and is much more functional from what I can see. Though it really can’t walk at this point it does manage to slide through the movements well enough. The crude air weapons are a nice touch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c2ZjEflcps&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtovadY4lYk&feature=related

Regardless of their current rough state I can tell you that we will continue to see improvement in the related technologies and in time these will become viable. Until then I will just have to keep writing and dreaming, with the rest of you.

Top 10 Strangest Things in Space... uh don't they mean 11... ;)

Well after a bit of a hiatus... I am back with another slide show of interest from Space.com folks. I love their site.

It is entitled the "Top 10 Strangest Things in Space", oddly enough though there are eleven slides... Oh well inspite of thier obviously questionable ability to use their fingers and toes to count the list is quite cool. One I am going to incorporate into my sci-fi story, Azmathia.

Enjoy!

Rumors of my untimely demise...

Contrary to the rumors circulating I am indeed still alive; just working two jobs... Hence the decrease in actual blog time available to me. I have mostly adjusted to this new schedule and I hope to be able to post once a month from this time forward. If you are wondering why this is the case I suggest you stop by my financial councilor's website . It is all his fault as he has modivated me to get out of debt FOREVER! Hence, I actually have need of a breif burst of income to help move my debt snowball downhill faster.

THE SPACE EDUCATORS' HANDBOOK

I just stumbled across a really cool site. It has tons of stuff from the archives of Space history. Especially pleasing to me was all of the cool concept sketches from the early days of the space race. What a treasure trove!!!

I am sooooo hungry I could eat a HIPPO!!!

I know I have said it before! But I know I didn't mean it. Appearently, this snake didn't know the serious side effects of such a meal... WOW!

This is one of those videos that makes you realize that the creatures we often don't give much thought to just might eat us if we are not careful.

The Planet Formerly Known as Pluto

When the International Astronomical Union's 2500 members voted to demote Pluto from our ninth planet to a founding member of the subclass of dwarf planets, I was initially annoyed. Over the ensuing months I have reconsidered my annoyance. While it is true that the solar system order has changed on one level of classified thinking, it is also true that this change is for the betterment of our under standing of the vast vacuum that surrounds this blue paradisaical marble in space. It pompted a discussion about the solar system with my oldest son and that is always a good thing. Hence, I too have joined the club of folks who now recognise the planet formerly known as Pluto, as a planet no more but as a dwarf indeed. Especially, in the light of new observations that show us just how lucky Lowell was when he discovered the large frozen rock of Pluto.

here is an interesting article that confirms Pluto's place as the first of the Kuiper Belt objects. Eris is actually larger than Pluto and in the coming months and years the other objects being tracked will also emerge from the blackness and who knows maybe one of them will be even bigger still.

Trojan Armor System

This is the second time I have written this post today. I was 95% complete when I saved it and exited the system figuring to polish it up a bit more before posting. I was greatly surprised to find that the only version of the post that existed was missing the entire text of the post previously written. Garrr!!! So let the bell ring! Here goes round two for the Trojan Armor post.

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I discovered a cool site called technovelgy - where science meets science fiction. A quirky name but the site is chalk full of cool stories of the sci-fi world of tomorrow becoming the science world of today.

I began exploring with Armor the first section listed on the site and my there are quite a few others. One article jumped out at me; it was titled "Exoskeleton Like Halo Suit" - The subtitle gave me the clue that it was the latest from Troy Hurtubise it read, "If you can build a suit to fight with bears, you can build a military exoskeleton with some practical experience built in. " (Technovelgy, 2007) . I clicked the link and was pleased by the image of armor before my eyes. I seemed practical in and it did indeed have that MJOLINAR-esque look to it. Towards the bottom I found the link to the reference article from The Hamilton Spectator titled, From bears to bullets. I learned more and figured there had to be more so I googled "Trojan Armor System" and "Troy Hurtubise" several other combinations looking for additional information on this cool armor prototype. I found these few choice items for you my loyal readers.

First there is a good YouTube Video of a press release session by Troy. It is worth watching and has some fun antidotes concerning his inspiration and motivation for designing Trojan.

Second is another blog called Defense Tech there is some good discussion on the Trojan Armor vs Dragon Skin body armor. Several good points were made here and I would recommend the read to you all.

Third is a bit of information from the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner concerning the critical holes in the existing body armor system in use by the United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Which when examined in connection with this post and the Defense Tech blog's points on body armor it make Troy's commentary on the Military Brass and Politicians all the more scorching in my opinion. There are good men and women dying because they are being forced to wear substandard armor that the OAFME has clearly shown to be deficient in areas that both Dragon Skin and Trojan seem capable of defending with their armor. Why serious effort by the US Armed Forces haven't done more with these two options I have no

Take a look at the graphic below and draw your own conclusions.


OAFME Armor Analysis



Finally this next bit is a strong editorial observation. The deprivation of improved armor systems is nearly as criminal an act when committed by the Military Brass; as is the failure by political leaders to properly mobilization of the army. REMF'ers should never dictate front line policies. PERIOD!

When one sends out the Armies one is supposed to do so in accordance with Sun Tzu's most practical instruction found in The Art of War; I will paraphrase it rather simply as "Stay out of your General's hair once you engage the Army. "

Ultimately the Army has one purpose and one purpose alone, for some this will seem harsh but it is truth and truth must never be ignored. That purpose is TO BREAK THE WILL OF THE LIVING ENEMY AND TO KILL ALL ENEMIES WHO WILL NOT BE BROKEN. And the way to do that is as Patton said "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." If winning the war is not the reason you are sending forth these brave soldiers then it is unconscionable act, of shame and possibly even murderous treason. The soldier is to be respected especially by the politician; it is the soldier who supports the politician. There reverse should be true. Insuring that our soldiers have advanced armor is critical to this effort because it grants your troops the tactical advantage to carry out that wise observation of one of the greatest military generals of all time; 'Old Blood and Guts' himself!

A look at Mars Exploration, Google Style...

Google Earth is a wonderful tool for viewing the imagery collected by satellites and aerial photography. BUT did you know that there is the same option available for Mars to be viewed. It is admittedly in its BETA development phases due to the lacking nature of imagery available to Google at the moment but someday soon it will be just as useful to the planetary researchers a its Earth centric predecessor.

The following link is to a view of all the spacecraft that have either landed on Mars or crashed attempting to land on Mars. By clicking on the links on the side it will highlight the site with a text bubble and a picture. Then if you click on the picture it will take you to a page where you can read about the probe.

I learned something today that I was unaware of previously. The USSR sent three probes to Mars before the USA. All save one crashed on landing and the Mars2 only transmitted for 20 seconds after landing. This seems typical for what I have learned of the Old Soviet Era, it was ever the quest for quantity and never the heartfelt concern for quality. In sharp contrast the Viking 1 probe not only landed but also operated for 6 years; similarly Viking 2 remained operational for 3.5 years after landing.

The probes of this decade have had their own slough of failures and successes though none seem to be as unexpected as the two rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) that are still operational and sending valuable information back.

http://www.google.com/mars/#lat=2.108898&lon=-153.28125&zoom=2&q=spacecraft

Combat Armor Concepts

I have done considerable research on my own on suits of armor and other armor systems, for my epic sci-fi adventure story, I figured I would comment. On the latest combat armor imagery I have been exposed to as a result of the media blitz surrounding the roll out of Starcraft 2 by Blizzard.

I watched the Starcraft 2 Cinematic with the suiting up of a space marine; Tychus Findlay. I enjoyed it immensely. I love the sequence! It is unique and inventive. And I would never want the process done to me.

The whole process raises several serious concerns in my mind. First, if you ever needed to escape your armor to save your life. Being welded into it you have no where to go. Though I grant you that the sequence seems to hint that the Terran Marines are impressed criminals rather than voluntary civilians. Thus welding the convict into their armor is a way to force loyalty as it is a sort of prison cell that the commander would doubtlessly have a kill switch for emergencies. Thus it would be the commander's way or they die in the suit. It would be effective I suspect though that would explain a few issues I have always had with the Terran Space Marine.

Second, it seems highly impractical to have to have this processor anywhere you needed marines. Sure it could be done but why? It is very energy intensive and the process seems in efficient some how. I will grant you that sequence seems plausible enough.

The other oddity is the proportions of the armor. It seems to not be a good fit in this respect. Since we know from the video that the hand is inside the gauntlets and the feet are at the bottom of the boots. Take a look at this image from Blizzard's website. Once you have watched the cinematic this oddity appears. Oh it is after all just a game, a highly desired and well loved game in the end but this is one of those little details that I have always noticed. Take a look and tell me what you think.



Don't get me wrong I love the sequence. I am just noting items that seem odd to me with the this design.

Additionally, I noted with interest that there is some from of internal interface plug in bedded into the convict marine. Though I am not certain of its purpose in the whole scheme of things. Perhaps it is similar to the heart plug used by the Harkonens in Dune to control Thufer Hawat.

The gauntlet was a particularly smooth sequence. I liked the hand interface it seems simple and very practical. Kudos to the design team and the modeling team there at Blizzard.

Again I am IMPRESSED by this video and its quality. My comments are simply observations on the combat armor itself.

I'll be wandering off now... ;)

StarCraft 2 website

What a cool look and feel to the www.starcraft2.com site! I look forward to playing this game. I haven't done that in nearly five years! The thing that has me even more excited is that this time I will have my seven year old to play with from time to time. I look forward to that one. My sweet wife isn't much on the video games because it is a waste of time. She is right but at least now I can waste it with my son! =D


If you don't know what I am talking about then let me just refer you to the original game's website ( http://www.blizzard.com/starcraft/ )read through its accolades and then know that it has been a full decade since the original appeared on our radars in some cases. We all loved this game and begged for years on numerous sites and forums for a second installment that continued the story we were abandoned with at the conclusion of the Brood War Expansion Pack ( http://www.blizzard.com/broodwar/ ). Now our hopes are realized and the graphics are AWESOME! WOW! I have watched it again.. Okay actually a few more times then that... and I am really looking forward to this game. Blizzard put it quite well on their website intro: HECK YAH!!!!

I have many friends and relatives who I used to play with over Battle.net and I hope that we all will enjoy many more hours of pure enjoyment this coming holiday season... Since I am convinced that Blizzard is going for the Christmas season release on this game there by completing the ten year cycle.

Blizzard's Rip Van Winkle moment...

I know we have all been waiting for this moment... Starcraft II is now an officially announced and far into development game. If I know Blizzard they will be trying to mirror their schedule from ten years ago. Hence, the game should be released around Christmas time. I have watched the video and looked at all of the screen shots and all I can say is WOW!!!!!!

I will add more once the smoke clears and more details are available. Until then, the best source for information is IGN.com's reporter on the ground Charles Onyett. His article is here: http://pc.ign.com/articles/788/788627p1.html

YEE HAW!!! I feel like playing a little Starcraft for a few days.

The "Conspiracy" seems to be no more...

The Face on Mars Conspiracy Theories seems to now be sufficiently debunked by this image, released by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on April 11th 2007. The face has lost its mysterious allure in many ways as the quality of the imagery improved. from the original Viking images. Farewell to a fond dream of many... Though it wasn't ever really a dream of mine. As a Map maker by trade I have seen many aerial images that at one resolution looked remarkable and a higher resolution assumed the ho hum of reality. Though I am certain there will yet be some folks who have much invested in the "face" that claim it is still visible and that it is the visage of a deformed "grey"... That will require that they stretch it a bit but hey anything for a good story is fair game in the realm of Sci-Fi!

Entanglement

No it isn't a knot tied by my five-old daughter... Though heaven knows she is a master at entangling shoe laces chairs and toys in to one combined entity. That is in deed entanglement after a fashion.

I am actually talking about the Quantum Theory Entanglement. I am currently listening to Amir D. Aczel's Excellent book on the subject. Which is appropriately titled, Entanglement: The Greatest Mystery in Physics .

If you have no clue what I am talking about then perhaps this short definition will only deepen your confusion on the matter because the reality is for us as mere mortals and not having an ability to truely comprehend infinity it is difficult to grasp the twists and turns that Quantum Mechanics presents.

Perhaps though the following simplified version will help. It was written by Justin Mullins back in 2000.

"Certain objects can become linked by a mysterious process called entanglement.
Particles that become entangled are deeply connected regardless of the distance
between them. If they become separated by the width of the Universe, the bond
between them remains intact. These particles are so deeply linked that it’s as
if they somehow share the same existence.

Physicists do not yet fully
understand the nature of entanglement but there is growing evidence that it is a
fundamental property of the universe. Unfettered by the restrictions of space,
entanglement may be the ghostly bedrock upon which reality is built."

(Justin Mullins, 2000).

Justin mentions one of the first links I found when writing this as well; that of the definition provided by Wikipedia.

"Quantum entanglement is a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which the quantum
states of two or more objects have to be described with reference to each other,
even though the individual objects may be spatially separated."

(Wikipedia, 2007).

I really enjoy the simplity that Amir has manage to weave into such a complex topic in his book. I would strongly recommend it to everybody. If you like the traditional tactile experience Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Entanglement-Greatest-Amir-D-Aczel/dp/1568582323) obvious first stops; Or if you prefer the audiobook then I highly recommend Audible.com as your source to procure this wonderful book.

Sales plug here for Audible.com from a loyal listener of nearly five years. It is a very easy to use service that makes digital audiobooks a joyous experience. I highly recommend their service to you.

I have to tell you about an amazing Web site where you can download and listen
to thousands of great digital audio programs. There are best sellers by top
authors like Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Stephen King, Dan Brown, and more;
audio magazines like Forbes and Scientific American; audio newspapers like The
New York Times Audio Digest; and even radio shows like Car Talk and This
American Life!
It's called audible.com and they'll let you try a free 14-day
trial of the Audible Listener Platinum plan, which includes two free digital
audio downloads. You'll also get other benefits like free audio samplers and a
30% discount off the non-member price on all digital audio purchases. You can
cancel anytime and keep your free downloads.That's a $22.95
value-free.
Audible.com is the Internet's
leading provider of downloadable spoken word audio programs. You can listen
right from your compatible digital audio player (such as the Apple iPod), your
computer, or on CDs you burn. Listen on your commute, at the gym, or anywhere
you go! CNet.com and PC World recently named audible.com one of the best
consumer sites on the Web.

Right now there is a special of 50% off the Gold membership and you get 3 audiobooks for 7.49 for your first three months. That is a steal of a deal if you buy audiobooks.

http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/offers/learnMoreMembership.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

If you do decide to join I hope you will do this Audiobook junkie a favor and enter my username in as the person who refered you to Audible. Why? Because if you like it as much as I do I will get a free audiobook on your anniversary. That is a nice bonus in my book. My username is iceworm72.

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Reference Links
Wikipedia, (2007), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement

Justin Mullins (2000) http://www.justinmullins.com/entanglement.htm

Antarctic Aliens...

I just closed the windows and the last one was MSN and the rotating banner had this beauty steering me in the face... Proof that we know less than we think we do 90% of the time. Especially when it comes to this AMAZING PLANET and the DARK WATERS BELOW...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18704209/?GT1=9951

I did see one image that I liked very much. The sea spider is very cool and I am going to find a way to weave a much larger version of this creature in a story someday.

Greetings from the Molecular Level...

Welcome to my humble blog dedicated to the wonders of SCIENCE FACT AND FICTION!I love Science!

I love Science Fiction! It has fascinated me from an early age. I am certain that it is due to my viewing of Star Wars at the age of four, that has forever gripped my mind. Since then I have spent long hours drawing spaceships and aliens; writing an epic Sci-fi novel that I will never publish; watching and rewatching corny sci-fi movies that I call classics and my wife just rolls her eyes at when the Netflix envelope arrives barring yet another classic Bonzi movie; and still more hours listening to audiobooks about Science Fact and Fiction.

To start this all off I have a link to an article that captured my imagination just the other day. In addition to the advanced computing power this SCIENCE FACT article illuminates, I can envision cool armor systems based on this technology as well... I suspect this hasn't eluded DARPA either, since they are partially funding this project. I could be wrong but I would be surprised if they missed the importance of building armor from the molecular level.

Give it a read. Tell me if it tickles your imagination like it did mine.

http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Californian_Chemists_Take_Important_Step_Toward_Building_Molecular_Computers_999.html

Well, The Wandering Iceworm is signing off to see what else of interest I can find!