If you haven’t stopped by recently, the Planetary Society website has undergone a facelift and added all sorts of content, including a report about Planets around Alpha Centauri. They don’t have an answer yet as to whether our nearest stellar neighbor has anyplace we might land on, but the report does go into details of the technology being utilized for the search that I found very interesting.
If you are anywhere near DC this weekend the USA Science & Engineering Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday. The schedule includes exhibitions, stage shows, and a monster book fair, with literally hundreds of events and exhibits taking place. A few of the events I am looking forward to are the Stargazing Party at the Air and Space Museum with Bill Nye and a team from Celestron, and of course the Mythbusters presentation. I am really going to have to restrain myself at the Book Fair, or you might find me collapsed under the volumes as I try to get them home using the Metro. Visit the Plan Your Day segment of the site for more details.
Yes, and not just once… a lot of folks have made Periodic Table of Cupcakes, some much more creative than others.
Happening tomorrow on x-mas eve at 9PM eastern on BBC America we have The Nerdist: Year In Review, hosted by Chris Hardwick. I am not quite sure how Chris became the definitive American nerd for BBC America, but we could be represented by a much less able spokes-geek and I for one am satisfied. The program includes guests Nathan Fillion and Will Wheaton talking about Firefly, a review of Neil Gaimon’s favorite Doctor Who moments, as well as David Tennant and Simon Pegg. Including the results of a two way competition for the Nerd of the Year Award, where you submit a video with your vote embedded in it. What makes it two way is the fact that three of the best videos (best as defined by a combined criteria of most convincing argument and overall geekery) will be featured on BBC America before the special airs.
Chris Hardwick is using the platform given him by BBC America to host a two way competition for the Nerd of the Year Award, where you submit a video with your vote embedded in it. What makes it a two way competition is the fact that three of the best videos (best as defined by a combined criteria of most convincing argument and overall geekery) will be featured on BBC America before the special airs. Which pretty much means this weekend, so build and upload your videos now; deadline for entry is 11:59PM EST on Sunday, the 18th. The actual winner of the award will be announced during the Nerdist Year In Review special on x-mas eve. The show also features Wil Wheaton, David Tennant, Simon Pegg, Nathan Fillion, and Neil Gaimon covering topics ranging from Doctor Who to Firefly.
If you are lucky enough to live in or near the 9 cities the event is going to be held in, then know tomorrow night, November 10th, you could attend the Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011. This is part of the new Live Viewing Japan network they are starting to build at various movie theaters in the US, and the event will kick off at 7PM local time across North America, just to minimize confusion. They already have more events planned, and with luck they will be able to expand the number of theaters in their network soon. Note that every one of the nine cities they started off with hosts one of the major Anime Cons every year; good choice to start building your fan base, since you know they gather there.