Monday 30 December 2013

A Quote on Science

Here is a nice quote from Marie Curie about how science contributes to our lives.

Saturday 28 December 2013

Man vs. Nature Part II

The fight between the fence and the tree continues. Still unable to determine who will prevail.

Looks like the tree is upset with the struggle with this lighting.

Saturday 21 December 2013

Jupiter Ascending

I'm one who enjoys a good science fiction movie, especially if it's set in space or bears the signature of The Wachowskis. Combine these together, add a little genetic engineering and you get Jupiter Ascending.

I don't know about you guys but I've marked this one on my 2014 calender.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoCyL_Pqzu8

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes or World War 4: A Multi-Species World War?

After seeing the trailer for this upcoming science fiction movie, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the immediate thought that came to my mind was Albert Einsteins famous quote: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."


Could this movie be a reinterpretation of this famous quote? What are your thoughts about this?


For those of you who haven't watched the trailer yet, you can watch the trailer form this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0wP5ZkaUGg

Saturday 14 September 2013

The Future of Gold

One of my favorite TV-shows for this summer was Bering Sea Gold. A show about dredgers hunting for gold in the Bering Sea during the summer. Whilst watching the show, I couldn't stop wondering what the future of gold mining would be and what kind of documentaries about gold hunting would we see in the future. After doing some research, I found two areas where gold mining may become popular in. Space and nuclear transmutation.

Mining celestial bodies such as asteroids, moons and other planets for rare elements is slowly becoming a reality. Companies like Planetary Resources are working on designing and constructing different spacecrafts to examine and mine asteroids. Other companies are working on creating cheaper methods for leaving Earth (such as the space elevator).

Turning lead into gold, transmuting it, was thought to be no more than Alchemy, fiction. However, in the twentieth century, it was proven that certain isotopes of certain elements, like Mercury 196, can be turned into gold in a nuclear reactor. This process is called Nuclear Transmutation. As new technologies for radiation safety and energy systems develops, we can expect nuclear reactors to become smaller, cheaper and easier to make for people who want to make one at home (DIY nuclear reactors).

In theory, we might see TV-shows about the challenges people undergo whilst trying to make a living by mining for or transmuting gold in the future.




Sunday 8 September 2013

Happy Birthday Star Trek!

On this day of 1966, the first episode of Star Trek was aired. Ever since that day, Star Trek has inspired hundreds of thousands. Happy Birthday and "Live Long and Prosper"!


Above: The original crew from The original series.



Sunday 18 August 2013

A Pale Blue Dot Among the Stars

Sometimes, I look at pictures of Earth taken by the exploration satellites (the Voyagers, Cassini, New Horizons...), to remember that in the great void of the universe, we are nothing more than that pale blue dot among the stars.