Transparent Aluminum

I watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in the movie theater when it was first released in 1986. I enjoyed the movie because it was humorous, smart, and didn't take itself too seriously while at the same time included time travel and the issue of whale extinction. One of my favorite moments in the movie was when Scotty needed transparent aluminum to build a tank for the whales they were going to transport on their spaceship. That sounded like such a interesting idea: transparent aluminum!
Much to my delight I was reading today about experiments being conducted to create transparent aluminum.
From the article at Science Daily:
Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. ‘Transparent aluminium’ previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.

And further along in the article:

Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds – it demonstrates that such an exotic state of matter can be created using very high power X-ray sources.


What an exciting and interesting line of study into different exotic states of matter!
Once again, what seems unusual and unlikely in science fiction may be a thought or line of study that is going on or may go on in the future and the creativity of scientists can be used by science fiction writers to open our minds just a little into the great possibilities that exist in the world.
HERE is the entire article and a clip from the movie.

District 9

What would you do if aliens landed on Earth today to make first contact with humans? Do you think the nations of the world would become a united front and behave ethically and respectfully towards the aliens to understand their reason for coming to Earth? Or would fear and suspicions rule our behavior and everyone would mistreat and distrust the new visitors? I like to ponder these types of questions because throughout history it seems nations have mistrusted each other which many times has ended in violence and war. If to this day, countries of the world still do not want to understand each other, fight and try to manipulate and control each other, I doubt our behavior would change dramatically towards creatures from another world.
A new movie is coming out this August entitled "District 9" which will explore those very same questions. Based on the movie trailer it looks like the movie will include a lot of action so I wonder how deeply these questions will be pondered, but at least it is up for discussion. I hope one day people can learn to understand and respect individuals from all over the world despite our differences in culture, language, and lifestyles. That would put us a lot closer into evolving emotionally as more mature and responsible human beings.
Here is a look at the movie and I hope it will be as interesting as the trailer appears to be!

Stargate Atlantis Music Vid

You have to be a die hard fan to write lyrics and music for your favorite television show and that is exactly what this fan of Stargate Atlantis did to try to get a part on the show. The video is fun and interesting and the music is pretty good! What is amazing about the whole thing is the singer Zach Selwyn did get a 2 second part on Stargate Atlantis, grant you that he has worked on other television shows in the past, but he was such a fan of Stargate Atlantis when it aired that he made the video in hopes of being on an episode and he did it and good for him! He was on the episode called Tabula Rasa in 2007. Way to go!
Enjoy the video!



I like the response to the video:

Space Exploration and Health Benefits

I read the most interesting article about the medical benefits we have received from space travel. The story can be read in full at CNN and I will link the story at the end of this post but I wanted to share my favorite medical applications.

1. Dialysis pumps and filters.
Purifying and recycling water for astronauts has been applied to kidney dialysis machines and allows for more mobility of the patient, less water used, and uses less electricity.

2. Ingestible Thermometer Pill.
A space suit is required to withstand great fluctuations in temperature so a pill was devised to be swallowed and measures the body temp. of the astronaut. Veterinarians use this pill to monitor pets body temperature during surgery and the pill is being used to understand better an athlete's core body temperature.

3. The I-Garment
This suit is equipped with monitors and sensors that are capable of monitoring the location, body temp, heart rate of fire fighters working on extinguishing a fire.

A lot of times, space travel seems very far removed from our everyday lives. To read about how the scientific studies done aboard the space shuttles affect us in very real ways is truly amazing. It is nice to see the practical applications of these inventions that improve our health and quality of life. I look forward to seeing more of these scientific inventions in the future.



You can read more HERE.

Zero Point Energy, Stargate Atlantis, and Gerald Celente

Image via Wikipedia

The television show Stargate Atlantis, has a curious device called a Zero Point Module(ZPM) that is small enough to hold in your hand and yet manages to power the entire city of Atlantis with clean efficient power. The recurring problem in Atlantis is that the ZPM is almost depleted and the crew is constantly in search of a new one in order to continue to power the city and contact Earth once again. Over at the Blog Science Not Fiction, he explains how the concept of the ZPM was based on the idea of Zero Point Energy and that scientists have been looking into creating such energy but how lack of money has stopped such research. Now, more than ever, with the economy in such bad shape, I doubt we will see the invention of a new type of energy any time soon even though my favorite trend forecaster sees the need for a clean, new kind of energy to meet all of our energy demands. Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute gave an interview about the state of the economy and mentions the need for new energy at the end of the video.
I wish more private and public investment could be made in scientific advancement but right now I think people are more concerned with having a roof over their head and food on the table. Science fiction shows seem far off into the future more than ever in terms of technology, but I still hope one day we can get there.
Enjoy the video!

Stargate Universe

Stargate Universe is going to begin airing in the States the Fall of this year and I imagine it will air here in Latin America next year or so. It will be interesting to see if they are going to get too far out with the stories not unlike what happened to Star Trek Voyager in which their only mission was to reach home. I am glad that a new series will start and I hope they can be creative with the stories and the actors. The trailer still has me wondering what I am looking at and it does seem a little dark, but I know myself, I will wind up watching every episode no matter what!

Here is a peak at the trailer and enjoy your day!

Life is Good!

I love science fiction that takes a hard look at human behavior and presents us with the best and worst of such behavior. I get down sometimes thinking of how behind some of us still are and how cruel we can be to other humans and animals. Then I read this wonderful post at the Livingstrong and Healthy Blogger and felt more positive about everything and how I could improve myself each day to add to the positive changes I look forward to in the future. Here is part of the post from Livingstrong:

In the past few weeks I had been feeling quite disappointed at the human race and the way we all handle social, political, financial, ethical and moral issues in the world, and I wanted to make a post about all these feelings and thoughts that were making me angry and wanted to rant and rave here.
But yesterday I woke up, watched the Tour de France on TV5 Monde, watched Lance Armstrong give his best, the rest of the cyclists were out there also giving their best and enjoying the tour, the fans were screaming of happiness watching their heroes go by and taking pictures.
You can read the rest HERE.
It is worth it to read it all because it is a great reminder to be thankful for what we have and enjoy each moment in life.
Enjoy your weekend!

Dark Matter (2008)

Image via Wikipedia

I came across the movie "Dark Matter" last night as I was channel surfing and read the description and decided the plot sounded intriguing enough to watch. The movie is very loosely based on a Chinese physics student, Gang Lu, who attended the University of Iowa and shot and killed four faculty members, one student, and seriously wounded another student before taking his own life.
The movie was interesting and well acted, but I find it hard to believe it is based on the real life person Gang Lu because of how the main character is portrayed. They did change the name, which is good, because the movie tries to invoke a sense of sympathy for the killer and portray the faculty as trying to hold him back in his studies. It is almost as if the killer was justified in what he did and you feel sorry that he committed suicide. I think movies like this should be considered fiction and not based on the life of someone. The real life student wrote five letters in the months prior to the shooting explaining why he planned on shooting and killing the faculty members. This was not some rejected and depressed person being held back but a vengeful and calculating cold blooded killer, in my opinion. So if they are going to base a movie on a real life person, they should portray them as they really were and not some romanticized caricature.
So while the movie was artistic and very interesting, I am disturbed that a mass murderer is painted as the victim and the victims were deserving of what they got.
I would recommend the movie with the caution of do not take it as a biography of someone but rather a pure work of fiction.

Catch a Glimpse of the Space Station this Weekend!

Over at Space.com there is an article explaining that this weekend of the Fourth of July there will be several opportunities to see the ISS. You can view the station much easier using binoculars because it will pass by so rapidly. This weekend will be perfect because a lot of people like camping in the woods and getting away from the city is the best way to view the night sky. I remember one summer many moons ago when I went camping at the Sequoia National Park in California and at night a group of us met with a ranger for a night walk and he explained the sky and the constellations, etc. It was an amazing experience, you know, one of those moments in life that stay with you forever, how the air felt, what the sky looked like, I even remember the rangers voice. It is moments like that one among many, that make life so fun and meaningful.
Here is the ARTICLE about viewing the International Space Station.
Enjoy your weekend!

The Best of the Hubble Telescope

I found on YouTube an amazing video that is a collection of various images taken by and of the Hubble Telescope. When I look at these pictures of the stars and planets in the the universe it blows my mind away how much we still need to learn about space and at the same time how much we have learned about the universe in a relatively short period of time. The video is a little over eight minutes long but worth viewing because it is well put together with beautiful music added.
Enjoy the video!