Sounds good, but this bite sure is depressing

If we went to the moon this way, we would have been on Mars by now. But we didn't and we aren't," Greason said.

D'oh!

Orbital Gas Station Puts Moon, Mars in Reach: Discovery News

A German designer cribbed from the slot cars we loved as kids to come with a cool idea for extending the range of electric cars. Instead of relying on an electric motor under the hood, Christian Förg suggests putting an electric motor under the road.

Magnetic Slot Cars Could Solve Our Transportation Woes | Autopia | Wired.com

The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

[ But do they have a soul? -k]

SPACE.com -- Vatican: It's OK to Believe in Aliens

Scientists in Maryland today said they had built from scratch an entire microbial chromosome, a loop of synthetic DNA carrying all the instructions that a simple cell needs to live and reproduce.

The feat marks the first time that anyone has made such a large strand of hereditary material from off-the-shelf chemical ingredients. Previous efforts had yielded DNA strands less than one-twentieth the size, and those pieces lacked many of the key biological programs that tell a cell how to stay alive.

On the basis of earlier experiments, the researchers believe the new, full-length loop would spontaneously "boot up" inside a cell, just as a downloaded operating system can awaken a computer -- a potentially historic event that would amount to the creation of the first truly artificial life form.

Synthetic superbugs, here we come! Everyone got their space suits ready?

Md. Scientists Create Full Chromosome of Synthetic DNA - washingtonpost.com

“To get back to a reliable system, it’s going to cost more money — meaning higher ticket prices,” Mr. Atkinson said.

Or, we could build some fucking trains.

http://www.issues.org/19.4/rote.html

Even a Pilot Thinks It’s Time to Crack Down on Airlines - New York Times

in Brisbane I end up meeting and greeting some record label people, who are pleasant enough, and one of them is a sales guy, so I say "Why is this [Year Zero being priced much higher than other new releases] the case?" He goes "Because your packaging is a lot more expensive". I know how much the packaging costs -- it costs me, not them, it costs me 83 cents more to have a CD with the colour-changing ink on it. I'm taking the hit on that, not them. So I said "Well, it doesn't cost $10 more". "Ah, well, you're right, it doesn't. Basically it's because we know you've got a core audience that's gonna buy whatever we put out, so we can charge more for that. It's the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy it. True fans will pay whatever". And I just said "That's the most insulting thing I've heard. I've garnered a core audience that you feel it's OK to rip off? F--- you'. That's also why you don't see any label people here, 'cos I said 'F--- you people. Stay out of my f---ing show. If you wanna come, pay the ticket like anyone else. F--- you guys". They're thieves. I don't blame people for stealing music if this is the kind of s--- that they pull off.

Straight talk from Trent. And I actually am now sorry that I paid full price for Year Zero. I want to support artists, so I buy from iTunes and i buy new release CD's for stuff I care about enough. This fucking sales guy makes me sick. I understand the free market well enough to know that the price for a good will be what the market will bear, and established artists tip that up. What pisses me off is that the balance ISN'T SUPPORTING THE ARTIST. I'll pay Trent Reznor more for his music than I'll pay someone I've only heard one track of and might sorta, kinda like. Of course I will. But I want to pay Trent, not these fucking self-congratulating suits without an ounce of integrity. Fuck them indeed.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails | Herald Sun

] He has been described as a conservative, intellectual
] clone of the late pontiff, and, as the dean of the
] College of Cardinals, he was widely respected for his
] uncompromising - if ultraconservative - principles and
] his ability to be critical.
]
]
] As cardinal, he had shut the door on any discussion on
] several issues, including the ordination of women,
] celibacy of priests and homosexuality, defending his
] positions by invoking theological truth. In the name of
] orthodoxy, he is in favor of a smaller church, but one
] that is more ideologically pure.

[ I believe he'll get it. -k]

Cardinals Elect Joseph Ratzinger as New Pope

] For a quick and entertaining look at the benefit that perpendicular
] recording delivers, view our animation “Get Perpendicular”

And I may end up working for these people...

[ Says Engadget : "Your host, the “lonely little DAP,” leads you through this anything-but-dry musical adventure — let’s just say it involves disco and backup singers. We’d really like to humbly request that all companies send us press releases in this format in the future."

it's pretty surreal, but i'm all for it. -k]

Hitachi Perpendicular Recording

] By selecting Edwards, Kerry went with the smooth-talking
] Southern populist over more seasoned politicians in hopes
] of injecting vigor and small-town appeal to the
] Democratic presidential ticket.

[ I think this was the right choice... Edwards appeals to lots of people, for a variety of reasons, and I think this will provide more excitement than any other pairing.

Incidentally, Fox NEWS' first story on this was one which highlighted all the "bad" things they said about each other during the primaries. Insightful journalism or low-hanging fruit? -k]

RE: Kerry Picks Edwards!

] Has the entire Goddamn universe become snared by the
] siren song of City of Heroes? Everywhere I look, monitors
] glow with bobbing superhero ass. I played it, and it was
] great at what it did - Diablo plus Unprecedented
] Character Creation. I declared it inoffensive and moved
] on. And now, I'd say eighty percent of my friends can't
] pry themselves from that superteat.

[ No one beats PA for telling it like it is, that's for sure... i love those guys. -k]

Tycho on City of Heroes