Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
Is Space Travel Covered?
Russia sent 5 geckos, amongst other small creatures, to space in order to study the animals sex habits in zero gravity. The satellite was recently brought back and the geckos were all dead, possibly due to freezing. Ok, first, if you are studying sexual activity why send an odd number of participants. Second, who did not know it is too cold for geckos in space? Yeah, yeah, they knew, but they sure didn't prepare for it sufficiently. Thirdly, were they insured by Geico??
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 01, 2014 -
Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Goofs and Screw-ups
Star Crystal
)"A new form of life--and DEATH!"
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 13, 2014 -
Comments (4)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Science Fiction, 1980s, Fictional Monsters
Major Mudd
Major Mudd, one of the TV heroes of my youth.
Any WU-vies want to share memories of their own lesser-known regional TV icons?
Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 20, 2013 -
Comments (11)
Category: Regionalism, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Television, Children, 1960s, 1970s
Sending meteorites back home
Artist Katie Paterson is planning to send a meteorite back into space. I like this idea. The universe has been flinging rocks at the earth for billions of years, so it's high time we start flinging them back.Paterson writes that the meteorite has been "cast, melted, and then re-cast back into a new version of itself, retaining its original form." I'm not sure what the point of all that was, but it's art, so I'm not sure we're supposed to understand. I'm also not sure whether the meteorite will ever make it further than the International Space Station, or whether there are plans to fling it deeper into space. [wired.com]
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 27, 2013 -
Comments (0)
Category: Art, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
GI Joe in Space
After his old-school sedate debut in 1967 (first video), GI Joe's outer space adventures turned decidedly weird in the 1970s, thanks apparently to the influence of Stanley Kubrick.
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 15, 2013 -
Comments (8)
Category: Movies, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Toys, 1960s, 1970s
Ready to Go to Mars?
If you have heard the latest buzz about going to Mars and are thinking about the trip, you should probably visit this website first.http://www.distancetomars.com/
You get to go 3 times the speed of light for most of the trip, and the earth is 100 pixels wide. When you finally arrive at Mars, only 53 pixels wide, you will have an appreciation for just how far away Mars really is.
This amazing website by David Paliwoda and Jesse Williams will give all of us some perspective on those who decide to go.
What would you take for the trip? (Remember, it may be a one-way ticket.)
Posted By: gdanea - Mon May 13, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
No Death Star For Defense Department
After an online petition to build a planet-destroying "Death Star", the U.S. government has decided against building the "Star Wars" weapon.
The government response even uses some Star Wars language, "This isn't the petition response you're looking for." You can check out the document here.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking
Here's the link to the Twitter response by Darth Vader, which begins with "A serious mistake, Mr. President" --
http://twitter.com/darthvader/statuses/289920155851563008
What could you build for $850 trillion? Or is it $850 quadrillion? Pretty soon you're talking about real money.
Posted By: gdanea - Mon Jan 14, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
This Is Kirk—Report
When the commander of the star-ship Enterprise requests a response from space -- he might not get it from his communicator.Just from Twitter.
When William Shatner tweeted Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, inquiring if he was in space, he received the reply:
"Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we're detecting signs of life on the surface," from the International Space Station.
Here's a picture of the two from a 2D encounter, which was also discussed.
Click here to read the invitation for Shatner to go to Canada for a live interaction.
http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/01/04/16348921-william-shatner-tweets-at-astronaut-who-replies-from-space?lite
Why can't they just beam him up?
Posted By: gdanea - Mon Jan 07, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
Follies of the Madmen #196
This is a particularly egregious cut and paste job, even for the pre-Photoshop era. Never mind the far-fetched association of lady astronauts and booze.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 26, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1960s, Alcohol
Life, The Universe and Everything
A mind-blowing four plus minutes!! At about :40 a series of circles puts us all into perspective as the longest zoom out ever shows our place in the universe.I feel pretty insignificant after all of that.
A quick zoom in at about 3:00 reverses the process, then examines the sub-atomic world -- but I'm not sure what the stuff at the end could be. Guesses or actual explanations are welcome.
Posted By: gdanea - Sat Dec 08, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |