Matthew S. Williams's Blog, page 177

Three Scenarios for Life on Mars

As usual, the Red Planet is capturing the imagination of scientists and people all over the world, thanks in no small part to ongoing discoveries made by Curiosity and her predecessors. At the center of all the speculation is the big question: was there ever life on Mars? Recently, Curiosity Scientist Ashwin Vasavada sat down with the good folks from thinkrtv to discuss that questions and present some viable scenarios as to what that life might have looked like.

According to thinkrtv, this video is the first installment in an ongoing series called EPIPHANY which “invites impassioned thought leaders across all disciplines to reveal the innovative, the improbable, and the unexpected of their worlds.” Based on that description, I’m thinking they will be moving onto places like Europa, Titan, Dione and Enceladus next, all moons in our Solar System which may boast or be capable of supporting life.

Cool stuff, and some rather intriguing ideas presented here. Click on the video below or follow the link to see Vasavada’s interview:

Source: thinkrtv

How Prometheus Should Have Ended

I came across this video some time ago on the HISHE website, but hesitated to post it with the others. For one, I liked the movie, and these guys, in their signature, trademark way, dealt it some pretty smarting blows. But of course, all they were doing was highlighting the plot holes which were pretty clear to anyone who has seen Alien and remembers the particulars of that classic. For one, the Engineer/Space Jockey was discovered in the pilot’s seat, was he not?

But then again, the planet where the Derelict was discovered in Alien and the Sulaco returns to in Aliens was LV-426, not LV-223 where the Prometheus traveled to. So… what gives? Clearly, this is not the planet where Alien took place, but that just raises more questions, questions which are rumored to be answered in subsequent prequels. Now didn’t they say that Prometheus would be the movie that answered all these questions?

Yeah, basically I feel that enough time has passed that I can raise these plot holes and not worry about spoiling the movie for anyone. And this video is a pretty good start. In addition, it’s also quite funny. Enj0y!

Arcology in Popular Culture

Hello and good evening. Welcome to the third and final installment in my Arcology series, addressing the use of the concept in various popular culture sci-fi franchises. After researching the term and learning all about Paolo Soleri and the concept he created, I’ve come to see that his vision of future cities where the needs of ten of thousands of inhabitants could be met in sustainable ways helped to inspire the a great deal of speculative fiction. Here are just a few examples that I can recall or have been able to find.

Chi-Town:

Many years ago, some friends of mine came to me with a new RPG by the name of RIFTS. A sort of sci-fi/fantasy crossover, the game was set in a post-apocalyptic world where inter-dimensional gateways, known as “Rifts” had led demons, monsters and mythical creatures into our universe, where they began wreaking havoc. After many years, several new nations emerged, the most powerful of which were the Coalition States, a dictatorship dedicated to fighting the invasion and reestablishing order.

The seat of this government is a large arcological city known as Chi-Town, which was built on the ruins of Old Chicago (hence the name). A self-contained city, the structure is somewhere between a pyramid and a rectangle in terms of shape. And of course, its hierarchical structure mirrors the social divisions at work within. The lower levels are the most densely populated, have the most indigents, and experience the most crime, while the upper levels are more spacious, opulent, and well-maintained.

In addition to being a fortress city and a safe haven for human beings in the ruins of the United States, Chi-Town is also a fitting example of an arcology. Within its walls, all things, including water, air, food and energy, are providing by internal systems and subject to recycling and treatment. Again, the issue of quality is dependent on where someone finds themselves within the structure, but the principle is still the same. In a world that has been devastated and rendered inhospitable, the response was to create a mega-structure that could both shield and provide for its many, many inhabitants.

Coruscant:

Fans of the Star Wars franchise are certainly familiar with this planet-encompassing city, even before it was featured in the prequel trilogy. As the capitol of the Old Republic, Empire and New Republic, respectively, it has a very long history of habitation, and a very sizable population! As a result, its architects and engineers had to get very creative with the use of space on this planet, and several massive buildings were the result.

In truth, Coruscant was not so much a single city as thousands upon thousands of interconnected arcologies that ran across its surface. These various mega structures measured roughly a kilometer in height, dwarfing even the nearby mountain chains, and housed hundreds of thousands of residents each. In addition, the need to feed and provide for the staggering number of inhabitants required that every structure come equipped with a massive network for recycling water, waste and food.

Officially divided into megablocks and levels, every section of the city had its own means for providing food, water, and manufactured goods. This in turn required the presence of internal systems for processing air, drinking water, food waste, human waste, and industrial waste from its manufacturing warrens. In addition, in the sub-city where natural light did not reach, holograms and artificial lights were also built in to the environment to provide its inhabitants with illumination. In addition, it is also indicated in a number of sources that agricultural operations were housed in various sections and relied on recycled water and either artificial or filtered light.

Though food and waste still required a great deal of shipping and processing, which resulted in a staggering amount of transport traffic, much of the cities needs were taken care of by means of these internal measures. This ensured that the roughly three trillion inhabitants of the planet would never become wholly dependent on outside sources of food and goods, as well as ensuring that pollution and harmful waste wouldn’t accumulate to disastrous levels.

Habitats:

In the works of Peter F. Hamilton, particularly the Night’s Dawn Trilogy, much attention is given to the kinds of futuristic living spaces humanity will someday occupy. For starters, there is planet Earth in this future setting, which is so overrun by human beings that all cities have evolved to become self-contained arcologies. On top of that, there are what’s known as “Habitats”, floating megacities which exist out amongst the stars.

One of the most notable of these is Eden, the first ever habitat to be created, and in orbit around Jupiter. As the closest thing to a capitol in the Edenic culture, it was built using Bitek – aka. Biotechnology – which resulted in a living structure that was psychically linked to its inhabitant through a process known as affinity.

Here, as with other Habitats, the structures are massive, measuring several kilometers in length and width. In addition, each is entirely self-supporting, providing food, water, electricity and artificial gravity to its inhabitants. The latter is created through the rotation of the whole structure around its axis, while a central light tube which runs the length of the station provides light. Food and water are produced via biological processes and are recycled to ensure minimal waste, which in turn is also processed and converted for later use. In addition, interstellar material is frequently intercepted by the habitat and converting into any and all goods which its people require.

Ultimately, the only thing a habitat needs is a supply of external matter which it will use to grow and mature during its formative cycle, and an external power supply to maintain its functions. This is last necessity is provided by a series of external conductor cables which grow on the outer hull of the structure where they are positioned to pick up charges. Due to the rotation, these cables then cross the electromagnetic flux of the nearby gas giant and thus produce electrical energy. All is provided and nothing goes to waste. A true future city!

Urban Monads:

The setting of Robert Silverberg’s fictional study in overpopulation, The World Inside occurs almost entirely within the hyperstructure known as Urban Monad 116. As the name implies, this massive, three-kilometer high city tower is but one of many on the planet, which have become necessary now that war, disease and starvation have been eliminated, but people still continue to procreate without restriction. During the telling of the story, which takes place in 2381, the total population has reached 75 billion.

Much attention is given in the novel to how urban monads (or “Urbmons”) are arranged and meet the needs of their 800,000 respective inhabitants. For starters, groups of these skyscrapers are arranged in “constellations” so that one’s shadow does not fall upon another. Each Urbmon is divided into 25 self-contained “cities” with 40 floors each, in ascending order of status, with administrators occupying the highest level with population and production centers sequestered below.

In order to see to the needs of this rapidly expanding population, all arable land not currently occupied by Urbmons is dedicated to agriculture. However, within the Urbmon communities,  resource management still counts for a lot, with all foods and goods being held in common and the people expected to share them. Beyond that, however, sustainability is not exactly the name of the game, as the right to engage in free expressions and sex and reproduction are considered the highest forms of activity.

Hence, Silverberg’s Monads break a few of the basic rules of arcology, but the basic premise is still there. Designed to house a rapidly expanding population that threatens to overpower the Earth, Urbmons take advantage of the concepts of megastructures and 3-D planning to ensure that every living soul is housed and provided for. Now if they could just stop reproducing so much, they’d be in business!

Tyrell Corp Building:

Though not specified as an arcology in the strictest sense, I couldn’t possibly make this list without including the infamous Tyrell Corp building. I mean just look at the thing. Imposing, Gothic, and very, very big! And let’s not forget highly symbolic, as the design, size and scale of the thing was meant to evoke the feeling of awesome power that the corporation held.

Though not much is made clear of what life inside the building is like, it was clear that it was made up of many, many levels and sections, each of which fulfilled a different purpose. At ground level, the building was protected by automated systems which “fried” one of the story’s Nexus 6′s when they tried to break in. Farther up are various industrial areas that are dedicated to the production of the company’s Replicants, as well as office spaces and administrative areas. Another Replicant was detected in one of these sections, right before it shot the man who had detected it – Detective/Blade Runner Holden.

At the apex of the building is the living area for Tyrell and Rachel, the experimental Nexus unit that was modeled on his niece. This level is accessible only by elevator which runs along the outer edge of the building, and can only be accessed by authorized personnel. Here, Tyrell lives amidst opulent surroundings, vast marble floors, stone columns, and even an aviary for his pet owl. Although it is not explicitly said, it appears that Tyrell spends all of his time here, never venturing to the outside city or to another domicile. Hence, we can only assume that all of his needs are seen to here, even if everything he consumes is flown in and all the waste produced is shipped out.

Mega-City One:

The setting of the Judge Dredd franchise, Mega-City One is essentially a massive urban sprawl which stretches from the Quebec-Windsor City corridor to the peninsula of Florida in the south, growing out of the Northeast Megalopolis to occupy Southern Ontario the entire Eastern Seaboard. And in addition to stretching so very far and wide, this city is also made up of arcologies in order to see to the needs of its roughly 800 million inhabitants.

These arcologies come in the form of huge apartment blocks which house roughly 50,000 people each. Within each block, citizens are attended to by automated systems which recycle everything, waste, water, and even food. As for manufactured products and consumer goods, these too are largely created in industrial warrens that housed within specific blocks.

This system of every need being handled by automated systems and machines was designed to ensure that the survivors of the nuclear holocaust (aka. The Apocalypse War) would be tended to. However, it had the unwanted side-effect of also leading to rampant unemployment and listlessness amongst the population. This is one of the main reasons why Mega-City One is awash in petty criminals and organized crime syndicates. This, in turn, is what led to the creation of the Judicial System and its army of Street Judges.

Trantor:

Perhaps the first example of a ecumenopolis appearing in fiction, Trantor went on to become a source of inspiration for many science fiction franchises. And according to Asimov, it represented what he believed would be the end result of industrialization and human technology, which was an encapsulated population living in cities that spanned entire planets.

Consisting of buildings that reached deep into the ground and reached several kilometers above sea level, Trantor was home to roughly 45 billion people at the height of the Empire. It’s overall population density was 232 per km², and just about every human being was dedicated to the administration of the Empire or the needs of its population. Though by the time of Foundation, most of the population’s needs were met by importing food and basic necessities from every major planet in the region.

However, according to Prelude to Foundation, Trantor’s basic food needs were once fulfilled by the planet’s vast system of subterranean microorganism farms. Here, yeast and algae were produced as basic nutrients, which were then processed with artificial flavors to create palatable food sources. These farms were tended to entirely by automated robots, but their eventual destruction during an uprising forced the planet to turn to external sources

The Sprawl:

Also known as the Boston-Atlanta-Metropolitan-Axis (or BAMA for short), this mega-city is the setting for the majority of William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy. Encompassing the classic cyberpunk tales of Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive, the concept of arcology is raised on numerous occasions in reference to the massive apartment blocks that make up the city.

On such building is Barrytown, an arcology in the projects which is the setting for much of the second novel. Throughout the novel, it is indicated that the people here generate their own food, such as the catfish farms that exist near the top of the building. Trees are also grown on specific levels to generate oxygen which is then fed into the building’s air recirculation system. And finally, mentions are made that there are air turbines on the roof of many project buildings which generate electricity for the inhabitants.

Being such a massive, futuristic city, the Sprawl features many such structures, all of which are described as giant skyscrapers that house tens of thousands of people within their tall frames. And ultimately these are all contained beneath the a series of geodesic domes which encapsulate the city and generate peculiar weather patterns consistent with micro-climates. In this way, the BAMA itself is one massive structure, containing hundreds of millions of people under a single roof.

Zion:

The last remaining free city that humanity could still call home, Zion was not a megastructure per se, but nevertheless fit the definition of an arcology to a tee. An underground habitat that was home to roughly 250,000 men, women and children, Zion was the picture perfect representation of a self-contained living space that handled all the needs of its inhabitants internally.

As Councilman Hamann intimated in Matrix Reloaded as he and Neo walked along the Life0-Support Level, all of Zion’s needs are attended to by machines. These provide power, heat, water, and are constantly recirculating and recycling them.  Meanwhile, food seems to be either grown in special hydroponic areas, or synthesized in bio facilities dedicated to that purpose.

In terms of its internal layout, Zion is ovoid in structure and consists of many levels, each with its specific purpose. At the apex rests the Dock, where Zion’s army of hovercrafts are stationed and automated defenses protect against intruders. Beneath that are the Gathering Spaces, where new arrivals who have not yet been assigned permanent quarters are temporarily housed.

The middle section is entirely dedicated to habitation, made up of family quarters, and the Council Chambers which houses Zion’s ruling council. The lower levels consist of the Meeting Hall, Life-Support Level, and Geo-Thermal Generation, where the cities power and heat are supplied from. At the very bottom lies the Temple, a large cavern where religious gatherings are held and people gather to hold celebrations and mourn the dead. This area also serves as a last defensive position in the event that the automated defenses were destroyed and the Dock overrun. This of course became the case in Matrix: Revolutions when the machines attacked Zion and nearly destroyed it.

___

What did I tell ya? Clearly, the idea has made the rounds since Soleri’s time. And in all likelihood, we are sure to see the concept popping up more and more as the problems of overpopulation and environmental impact become more acutely felt. There are some who might express disgust and even fear at the idea of living an encapsulated existence, but given the growing need for sustainability and places to put people, will we really have a choice? One can only hope!

Whiskey Delta – Chapter 28

“The enemy is most vulnerable when clustered. In this instance, multiple kills with a minimal expenditure of ammunition is your goal. Aim for the heads and hope for optimal penetration.”

-WD Survival Guide, 1st Ed.

They drove for maybe one hundred meters before anyone said anything. And it was Dezba of all people, curiously. From his seat, the nav console began to beep, accompanied by beeping coming from his suit.

“The Reaper is in the ballpark and online, sir.”

“About time,” said Mill. “We could have used some of that firepower last night.”

“We did just fine,” said Saunders with a devilish grin. Braun had never seen a woman who approved so highly of pyrotechnics. He got up from his seat and came to Dezba’s side, eyed his console.

“Interfacing with it now, sir.  Confirming ID…”

An unnecessary precaution, Dezba knew. Whiskeys didn’t command drones. But protocol was protocol, and since they’d come to notice that other assets were in the field, it didn’t hurt. If HMS was sending their own aerial vehicles in, who knew what they might do to them?

The details began to scrawl across Dezba’s screen. It’s model and registry number, indicating that it was attached to the 29th Attack Wing, and property of the USAF and Air Combat Command. Then came the basics:

Its mission (Recon), flight heading (NNW), destination (LA), and loadout. Dezba eyed this last detail and emitted a low whistle.

“Oh yeah… who likes having twenty pound augmented charges at their disposal?”

“I do now,” Braun said, leaning in closer. “Can you bring up the camera feed?”

Dezba hit a few buttons on his terminal and brought up the image being fed to them by the Reaper’s camera. It was black and white, grainy and full of glowing patches, the building faces that were currently facing towards the sun. Braun pointed to the screen and was about to ask him to switch the display modes, but Dezba was way ahead of him. The image changed to live video, all color, no thermal imagining.

The buildings looked almost real on the screen, like they were staring at them through a window instead of through a remote camera. However, the drone was still several klicks out, looking at the skyline from a distance, much as they had been yesterday.

“Rotate it around, let’s get a panoramic.”

Dezba obliged and began fiddling with the joystick attached to the right side of his terminal. The camera panned right, left, down and back up. The skyline was marginally closer, and the shadows ever so slightly longer.

“Angel on our shoulders,” Whitman said. “Now can I get some damn coordinates?”

Braun looked back at Saunders. “How are we Corporal?”

“Target is three klicks, bearing north-north east.”

Dezba had already switched his screen back to the navigation function. He wondered if their talk had was having a bolstering effect on him, as he seemed to be thinking even more clearly today. He also seemed a little more eager to please. The mixed effects of confession…

He spotted a route up ahead, pointed to it.

“Take a left on that turn up ahead, Private. Bring us around a full two-seventy and start heading east.”

Whitman started the turn as soon as they reached the turnoff. A few cars marked the intersection, another accident which must have happened while people were still trying to flee. They pushed passed these obstructions and proceeded down the ramp. The navigation screen began to shift in order to keep pace with their movements and change in position.

Braun looked back at their passengers. They still appeared to be coming out of their stupor, a few more hours and they would be uncomfortably lucid. He noticed Kobayashi was watching them as well. Eventually, their eyes met and they found their thoughts being mirrored by the other. Braun gave him a cautious nod, conveying wordlessly to be ready, but to do nothing for the time being.

He could feel a slightly nervousness coming over him and decided a routine weapon’s check might be in order.

“We’re on a fixed course for awhile now, Sergeant. How about we check that turret?”

Dezba sighed as he switched the display yet again. The gun camera came on and gave them a street-level view of highway ahead. A few minutes and they would be going through another overpass. A few cars lined the top and made for some pretty conspicuous targets. Dezba positioned the crosshairs over one of them, selected the M151′s main gun, and pressed the fire control.

A quick stream of white hot bullets streamed from them, the faint sound of thumping coming through the roof. On the screen, sparks and tiny bits of debris flew from the target vehicle. When they stopped, only a shattered husk remained, broken windows, blew out tires and several large holes punched in the side doors.

“Good shooting,” Braun said. Dezba lowered the crosshairs to the road and sighed.

“Gonna be hard to coordinate fire from here and the Reaper, sir.“

Braun slapped his shoulder playfully. “Lucky for you then we’re not busting her out until we’re deployed.”

“Ah, which means I don’t get to fly her after all?”

“I figure Cobb can do it, he tested well.”

Dezba scoffed. “Hate that damn display function,” he said. “But I love me some twenty-pound explosives.”

“Don’t worry, you can watch the show. Hell, if you got time, you can patch in to the camera feed while Cobb guides her missiles in.”

Dezba nodded. That prospect seemed to please him. He always did prefer shooting a machine gun to guiding a drone craft, and any chance he could get at this point to kill Whiskeys pleased the hell out of him. Another strange by-product of their talk last night, he now understood with terrible clarity why he hated them so. Everyone had their reasons, but watching his loved ones turn right in front of him, it must have filled him with a hate so bad…

“Just remember not to shoot until you see the milky whites of their eyes.”

Dezba’s left hand tightened into a fist. Braun could see a slight tremor in it and began to regret saying that. However, that went away the moment Dezba spoke again.

“Nobody’s getting in our way, sir. Papa Zulu won’t know what hit him.”

Braun slapped his shoulder again. It was good to have his Sergeant back, and it was good to know his emotions could be properly channeled now, rather than threatening to snap him in two. Still, he felt the need to remind him of one crucial fact.

“Just remember, we need the head intact.”

Dezba chuckled and began moving their turret about. “He shows up, I’ll aim for the neck.” He moved the crosshairs in a perfectly horizontal line. “Bring his head clean off.”

Braun felt a slight shiver go up his back. Yes, it was good to have the Sergeant back in working order, and safely on their side. He felt a pang of sympathy for any of the poor undead bastards who crossed their path. One had to wonder, in the midst of all they were learning about their enemy, if they were actually capable of fear. Perhaps, though it really didn’t matter. All the evidence they had on them said they were capable of feeling pain, and he knew that was good enough for Dezba.

He looked back to Saunders again. He didn’t even have to ask.

“Two klicks, sir. Dead east now.”

Dezba called up their map and panned in that direction. At two klicks from their present location, there was a large green space, with what appeared to be some residential developments and a stadium nearby.

“That’s the Elysian Reservoir,” he said, pointing to the labelled green area.

“So our boy’s hiding in the forest.”

“Must have been drawn to the area by the wildlife. I’m betting lots of Black Tails and other critters descended as soon as the towns folk moved out.”

“Yeah,” Braun said warily. “And I’m betting several more had the same idea.”

He promptly turned around and addressed everyone in the rear. “Lock and load squad. Five mikes to deployment.”

Every member of the team loo0ked to their weapons and popped the magazines, checked the ammo, and reloaded, making sure to have a round chambered. Anyone packing a grenade launcher opened the breach and made sure they had a M203 ready too. Next came the visor checks, ensuring that their HUD’s were in working order and had plenty of battery life. PDA’s and any incidentals came last, with Saunders making sure that her laptop had enough battery life.

He looked to Kobayashi next. Once the big man made sure his drum launcher was fully stocked, he waved him to the front of the cabin and shared a private word with him.

“Alright, Private, I want your medical opinion, straight up. What are the odds of these men being able to sit through an exchange without becoming a total liability?”

Kobayashi shook his head. “Not great, sir, if the Stryker has to pull into position and offer covering fire. You saw how they reacted last night, and that was a hell of a lot farther than they’re gonna get from the inside of this tin can.”

Braun nodded. “Yeah, I thought you’d say that. Guess we have no choice.”

Kobayashi reached into his pocket. The syringe was still in its protective casing, but he had clearly ripped it from the kit just so he could have it on hand. Braun nodded again.

“I’ll give you the nod before we reach out stop. You spike em quick and let’s hope they sleep through the worst of it.”

“That’d be a blessing to us all, sir.”

Yes, Braun thought. Hopefully it would be the first of many.

Hilarious Game of Thrones “Birther” Video

In spite of their annoying tendency to cling to stupid, conspiratorial notions that are quite racist in nature, the so-called “Birther” movement is at least good for a laugh or two – especially when their antics inspire videos like this one. Using Game of Thrones as their subject matter, the political satirists from Mother Jones Video have produced this movie which questions King Joffrey’s lineage, as well as blame him for everything that’s gone wrong in the kingdom. Enjoy!

The Most Ambitious Skydive in History

Skydiving is something that just about everyone contemplates at some point in their existence, but few of us really get around to. In fact, I’d wager that just about every “Bucket List” that has ever been made has skydiving on it, most likely in the top ten. However, just about all of these “controlled descents” involve a tandem jump with an instructor, and rarely exceed ten to fifteen thousand feet.

But imagine, if you will, that a certain extreme athlete named Felix Baumgartner sought to attempt the most ambitious skydive in history by jumping from a staggering 120,000 feet. That would place him at the very edge of space, making it an stratospheric HALO jump and the longest freefall in human history to boot. As the culmination of Red Bull Stratos Project, the jump will involve a balloon, a space suit, and a chute which will not be deployed until he is well withing Earth’s atmosphere.

Already, Felix has performed his test flight, jumping from a staggering 96,000 feet to test out his suit, the ascension balloon, and all the assorted equipment that is making this jump possible. However, the 120,000 feet will be distinguished by being the jump that breaks not one, but four world records.The first three were all set by a U.S. Air Force Captain named Joe Kittinger, who accomplished the highest skydive, manned balloon flight, and longest freefall in human history back in 1960.

However, Felix’s jump will also accomplish something which no human being has ever accomplished. In the course of his jump, his body will accelerate to to supersonic speeds, making him the first human who has ever broken the speed of sound without the use of an aircraft. Even NASA scientists say that they have no idea what effect this will have on a human body, though it is assumed that his spacesuit will protect him from the worst effects of it. And by the time he reaches the lower atmosphere, wind resistance should slow him down enough that by the time he pulls his chute, his organs won’t be turned to pulp from the sudden deceleration.

The big jump was scheduled for this morning; unfortunately, the jump was aborted at the last minute due to weather. For this jump to be successful, Felix must be jumping into conditions where there can be no clouds, storms, and wind speed closest to the ground are no more than 3.2 km/hour. Seems kind of finicky for a man risking life and limb to break so many records, but what do I know? I’m not an extreme sport, HALO jumping daredevil!

Check out the footage from Felix’s test jump below, and stay tuned for more updates on this historic jump:

Source: CTV.ca, IO9.com

Shogun Tango

Welcome to the future of racing! Here we have a new conceptual movie, the product of director Christopher and modeler Greg Desantis, which features high-tech racers blasting across the California flats. The purpose of the fictitious race, which is known as the Bonneville Classic 5000 (but as Shogun Tango amongst its participants), is all about testing the most powerful vehicles in the world.

One look and I think you’ll agree, the look of the video is pretty damn spectacular. You got racing hovercars, monitoring satellites, and what appear to be called “jump gates”. Sound like any futuristic video games you’ve played lately? According to Greg, the team “made the movie in our spare time over about a year. A few people have asked if it is a viral for Virgin, it’s not. We just thought the film would be cooler with real logos, than with fake or generic logos.”

Check out the video below, or go to shoguntango.com.

Source: IO9

Moving Skyscrapers

Behold, a building measuring some 73 stories, roughly a third of a kilometer in height. Now imagine that it has a twist of 90 degrees built into its frame, basically forming a corkscrew or the shape of a piece of fusilli. Now imagine, on top of all that, that it rotates, thus ensuring that the twist in the frame is perpetually twisting. Located in Dubai, the Infinity Tower is not only part of that city’s extensive building program. Once completed, it will be the tallest the building in the world to be helical in shape and to rotate.

And Infinity is hardly the only one of its kind, being very similar in concept to the HSB Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden. At 190 meters and 54 stories, this helical building, is the tallest building in Scandinavia, and the third tallest in Europe. Similar projects have been under construction in Doha and elsewhere, where twisting structures have also been proposed.

Yes, the age of dynamic architecture appears to be upon us ladies and gentlemen. Buildings that move, either in their entirety, or from floor to floor, are now seriously being proposed. What’s more, they present an opportunity to incorporate green technology – such as solar panels and wind turbines since any dynamic building would require its own power source.

Check out the video below for some cool footage on Infinity and other dynamic building concepts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whiskey Delta – Chapter 27

“You are remembered for the rules you break.”

-Douglas MacArthur

The white-blue flame sent more sparks flying as it hit a particularly large nub in the grillwork. Standing just a few feet away, Braun kept his visor down, a precaution against the intense glare. The lovely HUD’s had come equipped with a auto-resolution system that mercifully dimmed whenever the bright light got too intense. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly bored and antsy at the moment. The beeping of the hardened laptop and the stench of the lot was beginning to get to him.

He keyed his comm. “Mill, how much longer is this going to take? We got a job to do!”

Mill didn’t speak back into the comm but raised a finger. Just one, and a polite one at that. Braun sighed and tried to martial his patience. It was a testament to his and Whitman’s welding work that they had sealed themselves in so well the night before. No Whiskeys were getting in, but at this rate, Braun feared they might not make it out before sunup.

He keyed the comm again. “Whitman, what’s our fuel status?”

“We got a good three quarters, LT,” he replied. “More than enough to get our boy and get to the LZ.”

“Yeah, about that…” Braun said, taking a second to choose his words. “Sergeant, check the nav console and tell me the range to a location in Orange County.”

Dezba came on the comm a second later. “Got a specific location, sir?”

Braun took a deep breath. “Designation follows, USMC Air Station, Sierra Echo Tango.”

He waited while Dezba punched in the name on the console and got a location. It took another second for him to figure the distance and fuel consumption.

“That’s another seventy klicks from our current position, not much of an expenditure. Why sir, we changing the dust-off coordinates?”

“Might have to.”

“Our new passengers,” Dezba said knowingly. Braun would have nodded we they standing together; but luckily, no words or gestures of confirmation were needed. There wasn’t a soul amongst them who didn’t understand that their mission had changed drastically since they had come upon their nest of friends several floors above. Nor was anyone particularly confident about bringing them with them. Even with the knowledge that they were being saved, Beaumont and his men seemed dangerously close to the edge. Kobayashi had even suggested they be sedated for the return trip. Braun had responded by saying he would consider that a final resort, but after what they saw last night, there didn’t seem to be any way around it.

Thinking of it in terms of last night was a bit of a stretch, he knew. Not a single member of his squad had slept a wink after their confrontation with the local Whiskeys. It was more of an occurrence that had happened earlier that morning. Cobb was the first to find them, but quickly radioed for assistance. It was the kind of “sensitive situation” that required the presence of someone a bit more… senior.

“What happened?” he came as soon as he arrived on scene. All of them were huddled in the same position, arms wrapped around their legs, heads to their knees. The same horrid wail was rising from them all.

“They’ve been like this since I got here,” said Cobb. “They keep howling and saying the same thing over and over.”

Braun listened in. All he could hear was the incessant moaning and wailing. Not a discernible thing at all.

“What did they say?”

Cobb stepped towards him so he could be heard over the noise. “Soon us,” he said in a low voice. “That’s what they’ve been saying over and over since I got here. ‘Soon us, soon us!’ What do you think that means.”

He kept listening to them as they rocked back and forth. A terrible feeling began to creep up on him as the familiarity of it became clear to him. The pained, rumbling noise, the distant low growl. The only thing missing was the occasional blood, curdling roar. But he didn’t imagine they were possessed of much anger at the moment.

“They think they’re turning,” he said. They’d been fighting to keep them back for weeks. Every night, the monsters came for them. Eventually, after all that time, it began to seem like their was no point in fighting them off. In their minds, they were already turning.

Crazy, he knew. Completely irrational. A sure sign that they were losing it.

“What was that, sir?”

“Nothing,” Braun said, and removed his pistol. He fired a shot up in the ceiling, and Beaumont and the others seemed to snap right out of it. All at once, they shot him a look of terror and complete awe. Now it was Cobb’s turn to yell. His visor had been up and he had barely time to plug his ears before Braun had fired.

“A little warning, sir!”

“Sorry, Private,”  Braun said, then looked back to Beaumont and his men.

Strangely, they seemed to look a lot better. Nowhere near where they needed to be, but at least they weren’t rocking back and forth on their haunches and crying out for help. The monsters’ wailing was what had been infiltrating their minds, overpowering their wills and erasing all traces of their humanity. He had reasoned, correctly it seemed, that the loud thunderclap of a bullet would silence the noise in their heads. Bullets were what they used to silence the monsters, after all. It didn’t seem odd that something familiar bring them back.

After that, their only recourse was to sedate them and let them get some sleep. When morning came, they were sluggish and dull, but not apparently too panicked. Alas, he knew it was only a matter of time before they came upon another company of Whiskeys and Beaumont and his men would be tested again. If they showed any signs of reverting to their compromised state, Kobayashi would have hit them with them with a hefty dose of Diazapam again.

He had hoped there would be another way, that perhaps they would begin to feel safe once they realized his squad had them covered. In his weaker moments, he even hoped they might be able to pick up a weapons and provide a little cover of their own. But now he doubted they’d ever pick a weapon again…

Braun snapped out of it when he realized Mill had stopped cutting. The last of the welding points was clear and the piercing light of the torch snapped off. Kobayashi moved forward to help him raise the gate, and both began collecting their equipment once it was all the way up.  The Stryker rolled forward a second later and stopped in the street. The ramp began to drop, letting the three of them inside.

Braun flipped up his visor and looked around the cabin. Beaumont and his companions were seated, though they didn’t appear too comfortable. Mainly, their eyes looked glassy and pained, the apparent effects of the sedatives that were slowly wearing off. Cobb and Saunders were looking ready, the hardened laptop open on her lap and beeping away noisily. He stopped by her side first.

“How’s our target doing?”

“Changed it’s position by about a click since yesterday. But he’s still in the ballpark. North by North East, four and a half clicks out. Shouldn’t take us but a few minutes to find him.”

Braun nodded and moved up ahead. Whitman and Dezba were both strapped in their seats and ready to go, the former with his hands poised on the driver’s wheel while the latter was monitoring the nav console. At the rear, Mill and Kobayashi were now loaded up and the ramp had retracted. It was time!

He slapped Whitman on the shoulder to grab his attention. “Alright, Private. Bring us about, heading north on this boulevard. We’ve got a Pappa Zulu to capture.”

3D Printers Now Available for Retail Purchase

For those familiar with 3D Printing, there’s some good news to be had. It seems that the New York-based manufacturer MakerBot recently announced the creation of a retail version of the technology. Known as the Replicator 2 (a clear shout-out to Star Trek), this new model is an improvement on their prototype, and will be affordable enough for your average corner store to stock.

Selling for $2,199, the Replicator 2 costs about as much as high-end Xerox machine, but can do so much more. According to factory specs, it boasts a 100 micron printing resolution, a build volume of 410 cubic inches (11.2 inches long by 6 inches wide by 6.1 inches high) and comes in a powdered steel frame. Those specs are clear upgrades from those of the older model, which had a 250 micron print resolution, a wooden frame, and a 300-cubic-inch build volume.

Naturally, I imagine that some people are wondering if this in fact the beginning of Replicator technology. Sure, it’s a far cry from a matter compiler that can create food, drinks, and consumer products from scratch, but it is a start, isn’t it? And if what we’ve been told about the cultivation of organic material for printing 3-D meat is true, it won’t be long before various edibles are on the menu. 7-11 is likely to be backed up then, huh? Selling, Slurpies, milk, candy and fresh-printed meat! Oh, the future is… weird!

And for those unfamiliar with 3D printing, check out this video below. It is sure to impress!