Science/Technology



Medical Tricorder X-Prize In Development + Microsoft Applies For Holodeck Patent

Star Trek’s future is getting closer and closer and today brings news of two pieces of "Treknology" that could be on the drawing board soon. First up the X-Prize Foundation has started to design a new "Tricorder X-Prize," and then there is Microsoft that has applied for a patent for something that looks a lot like a holodeck.



Science Saturday: Einstein’s Warp Proved + Starship Ideas Request + Human/Neanderthal Link + USA/China Mars Mission?

This week Science Saturday reports how Einstein was right, again. In addition this week brought the first hint that the US is considering teaming up with China to go to Mars, DARPA began looking for input on man’s first interstellar starship, and a common ancestor to humans and Neanderthals has been identified. All that plus a $25 computer, a cool nebula image and the VSS Enterprise took another step to space.


Science Saturday: Moon Base + Commercial Mars + SETI On Hold + LeVar @ NASA + Universal Translator/Browser

While Kayla is busy in Germany, your humble editor takes on Science Saturday starting off with renewed hope for a Moon Base. We also look at commercial plans for manned trips beyond Earth, visit NASA with LeVar Burton, find out why SETI has is putting aliens on hold, get ready to say goodbye to Endeavor, and see how Google turns your browser into a universal translator.


Science Saturday: Easter Egg Chemistry & Robots + Commercial Spaceships + Underground Telescope + Binary-Star Flora + Sunspot Evolution + more

Welcome back to another exciting edition of Science Saturday. Celebrate the vernal equinox with the chemistry of Cadbury Creme Eggs, peer beyond the Big Bang with an underground telescope, imagine life on alien worlds, see the latest from SDO solar observatory, and check out four possible commercial manned spacecraft. All this and more plus an Easter Egg Gadget and our DIY gadget of the week: Phi wall art!


Science Saturday: Laser Weapon + Space Flutes + New Shuttle Homes + Jupiter Bound Ship + more

This week, witness the Navy’s newest laser weapon, visit the retiring space shuttles (and the Enterprise), prep for spacecraft Juno’s upcoming launch, and hear the first ever Earth-Space flute duet in honor of Yuri Gagarin, first man in space. All this and more plus your gadget of the week: NAVI (Navigational Aid for the Visually Impaired).



Science Saturday: Giant Rocket + Virgin Submarine + Torn-apart Star + New Particle? + more

This is a big week for science, with a giant new rocket unveiled by SpaceX, Richard Branson going from Galactic to Oceanic with a cool one-man submarine, FermiLab physicists discovering a new particle (or maybe a new ‘force’ or something they aren’t sure), and NASA telescopes spotting a star being literally torn apart by a giant black hole. We have all that plus a do-it-yourself cannon, and the birthday of the Internet (maybe).



Science Saturday: NASA Cuts + Mercury First + Saturn Storm + Super Moon + Solar Death-ray + Floating Car + more

This week’s Science Saturday dispatch looks at how Washington budget cuts could be bad news for the future of human spaceflight, but NASA’s robotic efforts showed promise this week with a first around Mercury and showing us a cool storm on Saturn. We also are getting a close look at the ‘super moon’ for the weekend and watch Germans simulate weightlessness by dropping stuff. All that plus an Archimedes death ray and floating cars! 


Science Supplemental: Breathtaking Saturn Video From Real Cassini Photos + Why Carolyn Porco was a Great Trek Science Advisor

A new breathtaking video of the Jewel of the Solar System, Saturn, and her moons has been circulating the internet today. Saturn is gorgeous, we all know this. So what makes this video so special? It was made using ONLY NASA/JPL photos taken by the Cassini Spacecraft. No CGI, no 3D models. Just photographs.



AUDIO: William Shatner Provides New Voiceover For Star Trek Shuttle Wakeup + Shatner Still Wants In To Trek Sequel

This morning William Shatner gave the crew of Shuttle Discovery a special surprise with a newly added voiceover to the Star Trek theme beamed up for their wakeup call. You can hear that below, plus the latest Shatner news (yes he still wants to be in the Star Trek sequel), plus he is hosting the Canadian Genie Awards on Thursday.


Science Supplemental: Has a NASA Scientist Found Alien Life in Meteorites? Not Likely…

Have we made “first contact” with fossilized alien microbes? A recent study by astrobiologist Richard B. Hoover of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center says “yes”. Pretty much everyone else says, “no,” or at the very least, “I’m skeptical.” If the claim is indeed verified, it will be a turning point in human history; If not, just another item in the list of unresolved questions surrounding the search for life beyond Earth.


Science Saturday: Laser Tractor Beam + Cancer Detector App + Missing Sunspots + Hi-Res Moon + Jetpack Skiing

Welcome to another edition of Science Saturday. This week: how to use a laser like a tractor beam to pull objects, detect cancer with a very Trek-like smartphone app, look inside the sun to find the missing sunspots, and see the most beautiful, hi-res photo mosaic of the moon ever created. All this and more, plus our gadget of the week: jetpack skiing!


Science Saturday: Discovery’s Final Flight (w/ Star Trek Music) + Soviet Space Sale + Head In Particle Accelerator + Anti-Shark Suit

Welcome once again to Science Saturday! This week: Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off for the last time (plus, Star Trek theme will play on board!), buy a 1961 Soviet space capsule, the man who survived a particle accelerator to the head, and how atomic oxygen can restore works of art. All this and more, plus our gadget of the week: Neptunic’s super shark suit.




Science Saturday: Return of Apophis? + Renting a Launchpad + Finding Exoplanets + Patrick Stewart Promotes Euro-Science + more

Welcome to Science Saturday on it’s new day of the week! From now on, your favorite science column will be on Saturdays, not Fridays. This week: how Apophis WON’T hit Earth, how to rent part of NASA HQ, how astronomers find exoplanets, plus watch Sir Patrick Stewart’s intro to the latest European mega-science facility. All this and more plus our gadget of the week: The sudoku solving photo app.


Science Monday: Astronaut Dilema, Spray-on Skin, Robonaut, Funding the Final Frontier + More

Welcome back to Science Friday! It’s been a long hiatus while I was away on field work in the great white south, but I’m back in action. So, be on the look out for regular Science Fridays again! This week, on a special Monday edition, Astronaut Mark Kelly makes a tough decision, heal burn victims in days with a new spray gun, and give a send off to Robonaut 2 as it prepares to launch into space. All this and more plus an infographic, image, and gadget of the week!


TrekMovie Science Antarctica Update: Live Audio Interview From Mount Erebus

Greetings once again and a happy new year from Mount Erebus, Antarctica! Your humble science editor is reporting once again from the southernmost active volcano in the world. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ira Flatow, host of NPR’s Science Friday radio program, to celebrate the end of 2010 at the end of the Earth. Hear the short interview (below) to learn about my research here in the Great White South.


Science Friday: Arsenic Life Controversy + Piccard’s Solar Plane + Real Sonic Screwdriver + Commercial NASA Launch + more TrekMovie in Antarctica

Welcome back to another Antarctic edition of Science Friday. But, before you travel south, learn about why NASA’s new arsenic-based life form may not be real, hear the latest on Captain Piccard’s solar plane, and get your own sonic screwdriver. All this and more, plus last week’s Antarctica questions answered as well as some new photos.