the rabbit hole » science

Brooklyn NYC BSG Panel and Event – A Blast!

Shane — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:29:06 +0000

This past Sunday, the August 30^th, 2009, I went to my first ever Battlestar related event and to top it off, I was one of the panel members when discussion took place. The event which lasted just over 4 hours at the *HiChristina* art gallery.

While the panel was one aspect of the event, it was not the only thing going on. Let’s recap the night activities in which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Arrival & Start

The Amrosia and Algae Snanks

I myself arrived and found myself to be one of the first people there minus John Brooks, the host, John’s finance Courtney (Update 9/2/09), and Laura Lee. Snacks (Green Covered “Algae” Chocolate Pretzel Sticks and Cupcakes) and homemade Ambrosia was available to all guests for the event. I think the pretzel sticks where the best part of the entire feast.

In any case… my job when I can get there was to review the trivia questions that John had produced for the triva part of the gathering. Let me tell you this.. if you had no idea what the questions were ahead of time, you would have never guessed them. I made my suggestions and even created the tie-breaker question if it ever came to that… which it did not. John even asked me where I can find quotes from the series. Naturally I gave my answer: The Battlestar Wiki Quotes Project. People started trickling in around 6pm and we started the festivities off about 30 minutes later.

John and Laura were our co-hosts (Update 9/2/09) for the evening. Laura was the only person who dressed the part coming in officer casual wear. No strip Racetrack style though.

Fun Science Fact: Ice does not sink.

Shane — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:03:46 +0000

I watched G.I. Joe last night. I liked it a lot, but the film could have used better acting. A lot of the lines were cookie cut from the comics which are good for comics. Not movies since they are supposed to be free-following dialog between the characters.

Dennis Quad, who plays General Hawk, lines where very “stale” and had no “meaning” to them. Other than that the movie was good. The cinematography seems like it was also not fluid. Now like every comic movie, the movie did set it self up for more squeals, but the overall film could have been done better.

Oh yeah. The women in this movie were just HOT! Rachel Nichols and Sienna Miller can come haunt me anytime.

Rating: 7 out of 10. / Women Rating: Off the charts!

A car that gets 106mpg

Shane — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:44:26 +0000

I was reading the technology news this morning and there was an article on a car that could go over 100 miles on one gallon of gas. The trick? It would used compressed air along with gas to power some of the same engine components.

According to the article on CNN it can still hold 6 passengers, top 90mph, and meet all US highway safety standards. The catch. The car does not exist yet and is in prototype mode only. It will be at the Automotive X Prize later next year, so if it does well we might see it on the streets by 2010. That’s a year and half away folks.

SpaceX Falcon Rocket, Attempt #3 Failed

Shane — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:06:33 +0000

For the third time in a row, the privately funded rocket Falcon by SpaceX, has failed to reach orbit. While the launch was fine, the insertion into low-earth orbit failed and had to be blown up 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the flight. Usually I would say that the third time is the charm, but maybe we will see it on the 4th attempt.

The billionaire backer, Elon Musk, of PayPal Fame, has two more rockets left to prove that private space launches are possible. This way there will be no US gap of non-US launches to the ISS during the US Space Shuttle retirement to Orion spacecraft. I wish him the best for the next attempt and God Speed.

Hottest TV Shows of the Summer

Shane — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:18:22 +0000

Summer television is always fun because they always bring up new exciting shows, and even bring back previous series from season past. Most of my favorite shows are on USA Network. In no particular order…

In Plain Sight – Show about US Marshals, WITSEC Program.
Burn Notice – A spy who got blacklisted, and tries to figure out who blacklisted him.
Monk – OCD Detective who can solve the most impossible crimes (Sub Plot: Trying to figure out who killed his late wife – a six finger man)
Psych – Two “detectives” who are “fake” psychic and their “abilities” are utilized by the Santa Barbara Police Department. Great support cast!
Eureka - A show about a town that is full of science an innovation.

All these shows have good stories. I am fan of all of them.

Update: I forgot Eureka! – 7/29/08