| October
2003 Offworld Report: Weird Science
Why the US military want to unleash a new fleet of robot-controlled
aerial vehicles, Arthur C. Clarke talks at the Los Alamos Space-elevator
Conference, plans for a bacterial battery, Erich von Däniken wants
a Themepark of the Gods, and why Cold Fusion scientists feel unloved.
 A
prime crop of weird science gems found offworld the 'Nest for October
2003, in this month's monthly round-up of the 'best of the rest'.
Help
Me Obi-Wan
Two firms tout devices that project images into thin air
like the R2D2 hologram in the first Star Wars.
SETI
Extension
Jupiter or Mars-like planets beyond our Solar System should
be considered targets for life, claims an astrophysicist.
Spaceguard:
The First Five Years
NASA wants the Spaceguard project (which aims
to survey 90% of the near-earth objects, including those that might pose a potential
collision risk) to search for even smaller risks than a one-kilometre ELE rock.
But are the tiddlers worth tracking?
Go
Robot Air Corps, Go
By 2010, the Pentagon wants a massive fleet of
robot-controlled aerial vehicles flying for the USAF.
Jupiter
Probe Nears Fiery End
The Galileo space probe is to be destroyed in
Jupiter's clouds to prevent bacteria contaminating local moons.
Early
Mars Frozen, But Habitable
Early Mars was cold, says the NASA Ames
Research Centre, but it might have held life all the same.
Up
and Away for Clarke
Sir Arthur C. Clarke gives the keynote address
at the Los Alamos Space-elevator Conference.
Nanotubes
Surprise Again: Ideal Photon Emission
Two University of Rochester researchers
add another feat to the nanotubes' list: ideal photon emission; applications such
as quantum cryptography and single-molecule sensors predicted.
Infrasound
Linked to Ghosts
Scientists say low frequencies may be behind ghost
sightings.
Asteroid
Light
One day, lasers could be the last line of defence for the Earth.
Methane:
the Great Dying?
Methane catastrophes could account for mass extinctions
in the past.
The
'Bacterial Battery'
How a newly discovered bacterium could form the
basis for a sugar-powered battery.
The
NASA Commute
NASA's plans for an Orbital Space Plane it wants complete
by 2008.
Taking
Flight
The Chairman and Executive Director of the Planetary Society
interviewed about interstellar flight.
Life
On Europa?
New thoughts on life on Jupiter's moon Europa, from the
University of Colorado.
Cold
fusion Scientists Don't Get No Respect
Why scientists at the 10th International
Conference on Cold Fusion think, "Many people in the scientific community
feel we should be shot."
Discovering
New Worlds
How the transit method is helping the search for new worlds.
Meteor
Red
Why the Red Planet's colour is down to meteors, not water.
Themepark
Of The Gods
Why author Erich von Däniken is planning a themepark
based around his Chariots of the Gods books.
Life
on Venus?
Why Venus's hellish climate may be relatively recent, leaving
many billions of years for life to have developed there.
Brown
Dwarf Detectives
The search for the ever hard-to-find Brown dwarfs.
Mars
Trip Not a Goer
NASA loses the will to send manned missions to Mars.
Rocket
Reaches Space Station
A Russian cargo rocket docks at the International
Space Station (ISS), carrying vital supplies to the astronauts on board.
Look
To The Stars
NASA's newest satellite observatory aims to investigate
the cold dark areas of the universe via infrared.
Extinction
Postponed
Astronomers play down the chances of a newly discovered asteroid
destroying Earth in 2014.
The
Limits of Life
Dr. Rocco Mancinelli of SETI wonders what the environmental
limits to life are.
Time
Travel by Spam
Spammer Robby Todino turns to mass e-mailings in his
search for time-travel technology. He's now waiting for the right alien to come
through for him. 
| |
OTHER CONTENT - October 2003
The Horror of Hamilton
Laurell K Hamilton on the eleven Anita Blake novels she has written to date, and why the series is a regular visitor into the upper reaches of the New York Times bestsellers list.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Navigating the Aldabreshin Compass
Fantasy author Juliet E. McKenna interviewed about her new series, The Aldabreshin Compass. Will fans enjoy a ripping yarn set in a tropical climate with its roots far from the northern European staples of the fantasy genre? You bet.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Seeing Mars from Uppsala
Ken MacLeod ruminates on his trip to Sweden's national science fiction convention, Swecon 2003, and finds a home away from home at SF-Bokhandeln - the Swede's main SFF bookshop.
(COMMENT)
October 2003 Offworld Report: Science Fiction and Fantasy
Spider Robinson blasts the genre and asks 'why are our imaginations retreating from science and space, and into fantasy?', Kir Bulychov dies, plus interviews with Jerry Pournelle, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Bob Eggleton, Robert J. Sawyer, Ben Bova and Vernor Vinge.
(NEWS)
October 2003 Offworld Report: Weird Science
Why the US military want to unleash a new fleet of robot-controlled aerial vehicles, Arthur C. Clarke talks at the Los Alamos Space-elevator Conference, plans for a bacterial battery, Erich von Däniken wants a Themepark of the Gods, and why Cold Fusion scientists feel unloved.
(NEWS)
October 2003 Offworld Report: RPGs and Gaming
Half-Life raises its game, Futurama gets onto the PC, the howlers to avoid when designing RPG adventures, plus reviews of rulebooks for Unknown Armies, Twilight of Atlantis, and Dungeons and Dragons: The Dungeon Master's Guide.
(NEWS)
October 2003 Offworld Report: Comics, Anime and Manga
CrossGen is heading for the seven seas with their new pirate comic, El Cazador, the difference between fans and fanboys is examined, a look at reality in Anime, and 'Scooby-Doo Meets Batman' is reviewed (yes, really).
(NEWS)
Spirited Away
Frank finds Spirited Away an opulent and emotionally moving Japanese children's animated adventure that's sure to capture the intrigue and imagination of moviegoers of all ages.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Freddy vs. Jason
In an interesting yet sordid way, the invention of wanting to put together a couple of the big screen's most prolific slayers and have them duke it out for warped fun definitely had its advantages. After all, who wouldn't want to see the morbid mayhem between Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13's Jason Voorhees?
(FILM REVIEWS)
Jeepers Creepers 2
Since useless sequels that no one was particularly clamoring for have bombarded the summertime, why break with tradition now? Frank finds himself exposed to the latest in a long line of unnecessary follow-ups with the release of Victor Salva's flavorless scarefest Jeepers Creepers 2.
(FILM REVIEWS)
The Xindi
In the first episode of the third season Enterprise, Evan discovers 'The Xindi' is not only a decent payoff to the second season finale, but it has some wonderful setups for the future. Trek on.
(TV REVIEWS)
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