The business end of the “Deep Impact” Messiah spacecraft CAD model for Fantastic Plastic is coming together.
Every now and then on Wikipedia and elsewhere I see renderings of the Earth like this:
Does anyone know of a model of the Earth that is an accurate representation of the continental outlines, as on a 3D globe? You’d think that’d be easy, but I’ve been looking and haven’t found one. Something I can plug into AutoCAD or Rhino. It doesn’t even need to have a “solid” Earth; I could just chop off the unwanted backside/antipode, and it’d give me what I was after.
A 25-year old guy – undoubtedly known to his family as a “gentle giant” – recently decided it would be a jolly good jape to take a machete and chop the head off of an 82-year-old woman. Also two cats.
Nick Salvadore, suspect for beheading of Palmira Silva, is would-be cage-fighter and Muslim convert
Isolated incident, to be sure. The idea of a British Muslim beheading people is too ludicrous to ever occur more than once.
And in the “How about NO” department:
British jihadists now want to return home
One thing I don’t get is the idea that the UK and US government should try to prevent home-grown jihadis from venturing off to ISISland. I say let ’em go. hell, set up a fund to help pay their way. Just don’t let them come back.
Ever.
Something that occurs from time to time in science fiction is that someone winds up in a vacuum without the benefit of a space suit. Think:
“2001” Astronaut Bowman without his helmet
“Outland” Several people blow up like balloons when pressurization is lost
“Star Trek: TNG” Bev and Geordi survive a few seconds in a depressurized cargo bay, long enough to hit the “close the damn door and turn the air on” button
“Mission to Mars” where Mr. Tim Sarandon opens the visor of his helmet and promptly freezes solid.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” where a few character wind up floating outside like a couple of jackasses
But what *really* would happen to someone? Fortunately, Geoffrey Landis has a page devoted to just that question:
Human Exposure to Vacuum
The short form… you have between five and 12 or so seconds of useful consciousness at best. In ninety seconds, your heart stops and you’re dead as disco. Do you freeze solid instantly? Nope. Do you pop? Nope. Does your blood boil? Nope. You just turn blue, your eyes get bloodshot, you flail about for a few seconds and then you die. Not nearly as dramatic as generally depicted.
If you are a sci-fi writer, you now have no good excuse for getting it *really* wrong. Of course, if the victim’s blood is loaded with anti-bacteria Buckeybombs, I guess it’d be okay to have ’em pop in a vacuum, so long as there’s a valid link between the vacuum and the detonator…
Over the past week I have been sloooowly developing a cough. Came with a change in the weather (and also a spate of housecleaning, with all the dust that that entails). It’s still not bad overall, but the mornings suck, and perhaps perversely, my temperature is in the 96-97 range (rather low).
It seems as if a case of bronchitis is lurking just over the horizon. Joy. I’m going in to the doc in a little bit to see what he says. If it is bronchitis again, I’d as soon try to jump on it early. But it sure would be nice to go a year without an illness that makes me feel like death…
Cool, but with a potentially unfortunate ending…
[youtube YoB8t0B4jx4]
Betcha thought “well, they can’t cure a bacterial infection.” Think again!
Tiny buckybombs could make bacteria explode
I suspect precision delivery might be a bit of an issue just yet…
Individually they are interesting. Put them next to each other, and you can imagine some sort of interesting developments…
British ex-boxing champion Anthony Small defends ISIS beheadings
A British convert to Islam posts videos extolling the virtues of chopping off heads because they are “infidels” and warning that Brits should be aware that they are all valid targets of that sort of thing at home. He also posted a video titled “Why Muslims have no sympathy for Lee Rigbys son!”
And then there’s this:
Police ask victims to do ‘DIY’ investigations of some crimes
Where we learn of the widening issue of British police forces who can’t be bothered to even *try* to solve crimes, including not even showing up. Interesting quote: “some offences, such as criminal damage or stolen vehicles, are on the verge of being decriminalised by police forces which had given up investigating them.”
Say, that’s neat. At the same time a death cult is gaining in power and adherents in the UK, the British police are deciding that that whole “crime investigations” thing is just too much trouble. What could possibly go wrong?
Although… one might suggest the possibility of a deeper, more devious plan here. As things currently are in Britain, Islamism/Jihadism can grow and increase in Britain, imposing sharia over an increasing fraction of the land until it eventually either takes over or results in civil war. The current political system permits no opposition. However, by pulling the cops back from enforcing the law, this means that if Brits decide to Do Something About It themselves… who’s to stop them? It might be better to have a civil war of sorts *now* than later after the UK has already lost much of it’s blood and treasure to the forces of dumbth and darkness.
Issues 09 and 10 of US Bomber Projects is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #09 includes:
- Boeing Model 464-33-0: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
- Consolidated Army Bombardment Flying Wing: A ground attacker with an extreme mode of attack
- GE Supersonic System 6X: A Mach 3 nuclear-powered bomber
- Convair B/J-58: A supercuising version of the Hustler
- Boeing model 484-2-2: AB-58 competitor
- Northrop 464L: A blended wing/body spaceplane
- Martin Model 223-9: a 1944 step on the road to the XB-48
- Boeing Model 800-15A: A Mach 3.5 hydrogen fueled design of incredible range
USBP#09 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:
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Issue #10 includes:
- Boeing Model 464-34-3: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
- Martin Model 192-5: A medium-sized flying wing
- Republic Mach 7: a relatively small high-speed design
- Convair WS-125A: A large nuclear powered supersonic design
- Boeing model 484-415: A jet-powered supersonic flying boat
- Boeing 464L: Boeings first Dyna Soar
- Martin Model 223-10: a 1944 step on the road to the XB-48
- Lockheed CL-1301-1: A very small VTOL ground attacker
USBP#10 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:
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