By Jessica Roy 7:28am

Linkages

(Photo: Cosmos Mag)

Booting Up: Elevators to Space Edition

It costs $35 million to send an HD video via text while roaming on AT&T. Not a bad deal. [Ryan Kearny]

New Yorkers are surprisingly polite on Twitter. [NBC]

“Have you heard that early Groupon investors are bailing on the company? Well, some of them. Maybe less than half. But one of them is a big name, so it must mean the entire Internet sector is screwed.” [Fortune]

Is Google actually considering ditching its current patent system? [CNET]

Going up! Meet the dude who wants to eschew rockets in favor of elevators to space. [BBC]

By Kelly Faircloth 8/14/12 1:00pm

Space the Final Frontier

That's some lonely country.

Would You Sign Up for a Reality TV Show that Offered a One-Way Ticket to Mars?

Elon Musk isn’t the only entrepreneur with his gaze fixed firmly on the horizon of the Red Planet. My Fox New York reports that a Dutch company named Mars One wants to put humans on the alien world’s surface by 2023. Not only that, they’ll be a very special brand of human: Reality TV stars.

No, the company is not simply strapping Jill Zarin to a rocket and waiting for the inevitable rating success. Think of their proposal as more like an Astronaut Idol, or So You Think You Can Dance (On the Surface of Mars). The aim is to create a “global media spectacle” and thereby fund the project commercially: Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 8/10/12 3:06pm

Space the Final Frontier

SPACE, YOU GUYS.

What’s NASA Done For You Lately?

Maybe, despite a week of SPACE FEVER, you still aren’t sold on the idea of NASA. Maybe sexy mohawk-rocking scientists and sick panoramic images of an alien planet leave you cold. After all, it’s not like we’re sending real-life human astronauts anywhere anytime soon.

Well, oh ye of little faith, behold wtfNASA, a single-serve site devoted entirely to answering the question, “What the fuck has NASA done to make your life awesome?” Merely one example of many: inspired the design for your Speedo bathing suit. You’re welcome.

However, it appears the creator of this entertaining little site has neglected a very important contribution to American pop culture for which NASA is at least tangentially responsible: I Dream of Jeanie. We demand more Major Nelson.

By Jessica Roy 8/10/12 7:59am

Linkages

<3 (Photo: Domain Gang)

Booting Up: A Good Look Around Mars Edition

Craigslist has taken a step back from becoming the Internet asshole, dropping exclusive license to all posts. [EFF]

How your tech story promotion sausage gets made. [New York Times]

Here’s a 360 panoramic view of Mars taken by the Curiosity rover. It is riveting. [Wall Street Journal]

No surprise here: self-driving cars are better at driving than actual humans. [The Atlantic]

Oh good, you can now live without breathing. [Gizmodo]

Maybe the Singularity isn’t coming, after all. [Cognitive Social Web]

By Kelly Faircloth 7/20/12 4:33pm

Space the Final Frontier

enhanced-buzz-2540-1323366291-4

In Happier News, It’s the 43rd Anniversary of the Moon Landing

So: Today’s been pretty crap, huh? The news is depressing; the weather is miserable. However, in the spirit of last night’s event at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, we’d like to take this moment to remind everyone that today is, in fact, the 43rd anniversary of humanity taking its first steps on the moon.

Naturally, there are many celebrations scattered about the Internet. At 11:51 p.m, tonight, Kottke will rebroadcast Walter Cronkite’s coverage of the historic event. Here’s a nice personal remembrance of the Apollo 11 program. Here’s a listicle of moon-related iOS games, because why not. In the event you’d like to feel a uneasy combination of compassion and respect for Richard Nixon, here’s the speech he planned to give if Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin hadn’t made it back. Read More

By Jessica Roy 6/06/12 2:10pm

Geeking Out

bill nye

One Hour With Bill Nye the Science Guy

Last week, we learned that we would have the lovely opportunity of interviewing Bill Nye–yes, the Science Guy, that bow-tie-wearing, zany engineer whose PBS show taught the majority of twenty-somethings much of what they know about magnetism, the circulatory system and electricity. Most kids who grew up in the 90′s were shown at least one of his videos in a Friday afternoon science class. Mr. Nye occupies a specific corner of our collective nostalgia, his kooky presence and love for science hearkening back to a simpler time when getting an A on a test was our biggest worry.

When this reporter woke up for the interview this morning, she found herself struggling to find something to wear. (“All my lab coats are in the wash,” we tweeted.) Turns out that we should’ve opted for a bow-tie, as Mr. Nye showed up to our interview in Bryant Park in that signature sartorial choice, a green paisley one tied around his neck. On the lapel of his jacket, a Planetary Society pin gleamed in the sun. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/22/12 10:29am

The Final Frontier

Mr. Musk.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Cargo Ship Finally Achieves Liftoff

Fellow science fiction nerds, it’s a new day. The space shuttle might be a relic, but that doesn’t mean we’re stuck here permanently. (Well, provided you’ve got some cash lying around.) After last weekend’s none-too-impressive failure to launch, Elon Musk’s ride to the stars finally made it into orbit this morning. The commercial spaceflight company’s cargo ship, the Dragon, is now headed for the International Space Station. Your move, Facebook mafia. Read More