“A group of students from the University of Cambridge who plan on launching a rocket into space for less than £1,000 have taken the first steps towards achieving their ambitious goal. Carl Morland, Henry Hallam and Robert Fryers, all from the Department of Engineering have successfully sent a bundle of equipment to the edge of space using a helium balloon.
The tiny payload, no bigger than a lunchbox, flew to nearly four times the height of Everest before descending by parachute, taking photographs throughout the flight, including dramatic images showing the curvature of the earth.
In the long term, their project - dubbed ‘Project Nova’ - aims to pave the way for the launch of small payloads for commercial research organisations into space. The method would be very cheap, costing a matter of several hundred pounds, instead of the six-figure sums currently required.”
“SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital spaceplane currently under development by The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Scaled Composites and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group of the UK, as part of the Tier 1b program. The Virgin Galactic spaceline plans to operate a fleet of five of these craft in passenger-carrying private spaceflight service starting in 2008. The first spacecraft to be completed will be named VSS (Virgin Space Ship) Enterprise in honor of the Starship Enterprise, and have the FAA registration number N400K (refers to the target altitude of 400,000 feet, approx. 76 miles, or 121.92 kilometers).”
“It’s happening again. You shouldn’t be surprised. You know how successful they’ve been - how deeply ingrained they’ve become. You knew it was only a matter of time before they, the Pokemon, mounted yet another invasion. Now it’s happening again, and you’d do well to prepare yourself.
The fourth generation in the Pokemon series debuts in Japan this week, with the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo DS. The new adventures follow the long-established Pokemon RPG formula, adding new monsters to catch and new ways to interact with other players - like Nintendo Wi-Fi support. The games are expected to sell millions in Japan, as well as here in the States - but American gamers will have to wait. Diamond and Pearl won’t be coming to other markets until next year.”
On September 29th, 1996 (ten years ago) the Nintendo 64 was released in North America, this video follows a bunch of gamer fanboys playing with the new system:
“This highly detailed Life size Swimming Warrior Alien is hand sculpted by a fully qualified prop artist and this rare prop itself took almost three months to complete involving intotal five person efforts for the production of this one Alien prop. This Life size Swimming Alien Warrior comes in 10 parts/sections : head, upper torso, lower torso, back tubes, mid & lower tail, left arm, right arm, right and left legs. This life size prop is well-thought plan designed for easy installations and also safer shipping & handling for both parties.”
“Russell T. Davies, executive producer of the BBC’s hit SF drama Doctor Who, told SCI FI Wire that the show’s upcoming third season will again introduce a famous character from British history, in this case the author of Hamlet and King Lear. “William Shakespeare [played by Dean Lennox Kelly] is going to be in one of the episodes,” Davies revealed in an interview in London.”
“ROGER MOORE’s son is set to reprise his father’s role in hit 1960s TV series THE SAINT. The former JAMES BOND star told producers GEOFFREY MOORE would be a perfect replacement for PIERCE BROSNAN as 007, but they decided to cast gritty British actor DANIEL CRAIG instead. And 40-year-old Geoffrey is now in the running to play SIMON TEMPLAR, and is “much more talented than me”, according to his dad. Roger says, “The rights have been optioned by various companies and are now with Geoffrey and his business partner. Watch this space”.”
“Radiation encountered on extended trips to the Moon or Mars could harm astronauts’ brains, experiments on rats suggest. The space farers could face problems with spatial learning, memory and stress.
Astronauts aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station are largely protected from space radiation by the Earth’s magnetic field. But the crew of a mission to Mars could spend three years outside this protective bubble. So NASA recently awarded funding for 12 projects that will investigate how long-term radiation exposure in interplanetary space could potentially cause health problems in astronauts.”
“Take your blasting skills to the extreme with this two-in-one blaster! This blaster is more than three feet long and can launch foam arrows up to 35 feet away! Aim with accuracy and precision using the targeting scope. Two quick-reload clips hold a total of 12 STREAMLINE DARTS. There’s even a fold-down bi-pod to help you steady your aim for important shots. Looking for a quick shot at close range? The blaster has removable parts to give you one-handed freedom with a single-shot blaster! In either mode, load up, aim, press the trigger and watch the darts go the distance!”
“In mid-1998 Steve moved into what would become known as Rancho Obi-Wan. The previous occupier, a furniture equipment manufacturer had vacated and had left a large industrial warehouse and good-sized storeroom on the premises. The property itself totaled up two and a quarter acres, giving Steve the space he needed to house his collection, and additional space for storage.”
This is a very very silly game - even the opening theme song is great, it’s a parody of an 80s “Tears for Fears” song (I also love the Terry Gilliam art direction too):
