Sample some Schroeder online, weld with ice bullets, NASA asks the UK to join it in space, mindreading wheelchair…

• 1 – Queen of Candesce by Karl Schroeder

  First chapter or so up for free on the Analog site. If it’s as good as the last book, you’ll want to be reading this.

  (tags: story sf scifi fiction science chapters sample free trilogy Virga Suns Sun Schroeder Karl)

• 2 – Give away the music and sell the show

  “Meanwhile, the one thing that you can’t digitize and distribute with full fidelity is a live show. That’s scarcity economics [...] in an era when digital products are commodities, there’s a premium on experience.”

  (tags: entertainment Tail Long economics commodities scarcity experience live premium content digital free industry music)

• 3 – Ice bullet welding

  “High-velocity ice bullets could someday be used to weld everything from car parts to industrial components. The trick could provide an alternative to heat, electric arcs or bulky hydraulics for precision spot welding.”

  (tags: patent process bonding metal alternative clean manufacture bullets ice welding)

• 4 – The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines

  Does what it says on the tin.

  (tags: resources metasearch directory 100 top list tools internet engines search)

• 5 – Virgin Galactic Strikes Deal with Swedish Government

  “…an agreement with suborbital space-tourism company Virgin Galactic that Swedish officials believe will lead to midsummer and mid-winter flights of Virgin’s SpaceshipTwo vehicle to observe the Aurora Borealis from Sweden.”

  (tags: Borealis Aurora flights Sweden suborbital tourism space Branson Galactic Virgin)

• 6 – Nasa urges Britain to join it in space

  “Agency’s chief to outline proposals in Davos speech · UK scientist expresses doubts about plans.” A curious development – why do they want the UK on board so desperately all of a sudden?

  (tags: proposals collaboration Britain UK development space NASA)

• 7 – Does evolution select for faster evolvers?

  “…bacteria and viruses constantly exchange transposable chunks of DNA between species, thus making it possible for life forms to evolve faster than they would if they relied only on sexual selection or random genetic mutations.” Whoa!

  (tags: theory speed rate development transposition DNA viruses bacteria science evolution biology)

• 8 – Second Life Sketches: A Night On The Grid

  “I stand atop one of the island’s lovingly-designed bombed-out modern buildings, watching a giant fox bound down the street clutching a sci-fi weapon the size of a dinner table.” Intrepid metaverse reporter, Warren Ellis.

  (tags: column Ellis Warren reportage journalism sketches worlds synthetic metaverse Life Second)

• 9 – A Wheelchair That Reads Your Mind

  “Spanish scientists have begun work on a new brain-computer interface, or BCI, capable of converting thought into commands that a wheelchair can execute.”

  (tags: neurology interface thought brain wheelchair assistance technology disability)

• 10 – International Alchemy Conference

  “Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet and work with practicing alchemists from around the world! Practitioners will share both practical and spiritual techniques in this intensive, multimedia event.” Only in Vegas, baby – via BoingBoing.

  (tags: philosophy occult convention magick Vegas conference alchemist alchemy international)

• 11 – The Last Samurai Agent

  If I ever make it to the world of being published, I want this guy negotiating my contracts.

  (tags: samurai story short humour editors agents books novels publishing writing)