Elon Musk recently unveiled SpaceX's impressive new Dragon V2 capsule...
'In a carefully choreographed event that felt more like an pop music awards show or an Apple product launch than anything we're used to with space flight, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tonight unveiled the newest edition of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
'Dragon V2 is designed to carry up to 7 astronauts to space. In the archived livestream of the unveiling event, below, Musk explains what's under the hood. Described by its chief designer as "a true 21st-century spacecraft," the DragonV2 flight could achieve its first unmanned flight as soon as late 2015, and its first crewed flight as soon as mid-2016.' (BoingBoing article).
I've always been a sucker for a good doomy Black Sabbath-esque riff, especially when it's accompanied with powerful female vocals (the greatly underrated Sumo album by The Superjesus springs instantly to mind), but what makes Rooftop Revolutionaries unique is the air of political activism that is present at the forefront of all of the band's lyrics.
Amongst all the tasteless, wishy-washy, celebrity obsessed posturing of much of today's musicians, it is so refreshing to stumble upon a young rock band with a purpose other than to become famous and make a shitload of cash.
The following track 'Folk Devils' sealed the deal for me and I instantly bought their album Resolute from huge corrupt corporate retailer Amazon after hearing it (I haven't 'bought' an album in ages - unfortunately sometimes you gotta use The Man to get the message out I guess)...
'Comedy series in which Charlie Brooker uses a mix of sketches and jaw-dropping archive footage to explore the gulf between real life and television.
'Ever wondered why life doesn't measure up to those youthful lofty expectations? From love and money to fear and progress, Charlie Brooker explores a different universal theme each week as this six-part series attempts to explain where it all went wrong and just how wildly the TV and movie ideal differs from life's grim reality.
'Marking the point where the mad daydreams of TV and the sorry reality of real life collide, the series employs a mixture of archive footage, sketches and interviews that will have you wiping away tears of laughter while nodding in recognition, which means you’ll probably have your eye out if you're not careful.'
A fine documentary about how the 'Me, Me, Me Generation' are little more than a bunch of unintentional corporate shills being exploited through their use of social media...
'Thanks to social media, today's teens are able to directly interact with their culture - artists, celebrities, movies, brands, and even one another - in ways never before possible. But is that real empowerment? Or do marketers still hold the upper hand? In Generation Like, author and Frontline correspondent Douglas Rushkoff (The Merchants Of Cool and The Persuaders) explores how the perennial teen quest for identity and connection has migrated to social media - and exposes the game of cat-and-mouse that corporations are playing with these young consumers. Do kids think they're being used? Do they care? Or does the perceived chance to be the next big star make it all worth it? The film is a powerful examination of the evolving and complicated relationship between teens and the companies that are increasingly working to target them.' (The Pirate Bay magnet link).
'Biologist & writer Rupert Sheldrake explains how each species of animal has a collective memory, his definition of the Science Delusion, how living in India helped develop his theories, why he particularly enjoys 3-way conversations, and how he's never met anyone as lively and fun to be with as Terence McKenna.'
Brian Limond is probably one of the most underrated comedians on the planet. Here's a playlist of just about everything he's done to date as far as his series Limmy's Show is concerned.
If you're not Scottish then the language might be a barrier to you, but stick with it and watch it all. This is some of the best observational comedy I've seen to date...
'The world's first Cosmonaut; everyone knows his name, but few people ever knew the man. Some say Yuri Gagarin's iconic first spaceflight was the product of immense good fortune. Others believe he was destined for greatness. With the 80th anniversary of his birth drawing near, RT meets some of Gagarin's friends and family, who tell the more personal and untold story of the first man ever to venture into space.' (Russia Today documentary).
'Abby Martin takes a look the state of media today, highlighting instances of journalists who have gone against the editorial lines of their respective networks. Abby also speaks with investigative journalist and former CNN reporter Amber Lyon, about her experience with media censorship and the topic of journalist integrity in a time when disinformation is abound.'
I've been anticipating the arrival of this documentary series for months now. Finally it is here...
'Like David Attenborough, Carl Sagan’s success as a presenter came from a sincere and unrivalled passion for his subject. As he proved with his BBC lectures in the 1970s, he didn’t need props or special effects to be interesting; he spoke as well interacting with a group of school children as he did strolling along a beach, or standing next to a cardboard cut-out of what was supposed to be a spaceship.
'Yet even when these devices were employed, such as in his landmark series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, the project upon which Sagan’s legacy still rests, he himself always remained effortlessly fascinating.
'When he died of pneumonia in 1993, it seemed extremely unlikely that there would ever be a follow-up to the series, or whether a worthy successor to carry on in Sagan’s place would ever be found. But now, thirty-four years after the original aired, it returns, this time hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, presenter of PBS’s Nova ScienceNow and one of Sagan’s close friends during his lifetime.
'Gone this time around are the cardboard cut-outs and what Tyson calls “mutton chops” - i.e. scenes in which historical events are acted out by actors in tights and wigs; in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey such stories are told through graphic novel-style animation and narrated by Tyson, who sits aboard an expensive-looking CGI spaceship, his face illuminated by flickering buttons and the kindly light of distant galaxies.' (On The Box article and Pirate Bay magnet link).
You've got to hand it to NASA for taking the time to answer this little kid's questions and potentially inspiring him to pursue a path of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the future.
I wanna know where this kid is in 20 years. I bet he's on Mars. Doesn't take much to encourage a positive future. Just take the time...
'A British schoolboy was over the moon when NASA responded to his space questions in a personal video.
'Lucas Whiteley, from Wrenthorpe, West Yorkshire, recorded three questions for the US space agency with the help of his dad.
'NASA research engineer Ted Garbeff recorded a ten-minute response, thanking the four-year-old for his questions and giving him a virtual tour of a base in Mountain View, California.' (Metro article).
That said, the NASA engineer - at the end of the video - doesn't explain how to get on with your classmates if all your classmates are fucking assholes. But otherwise this is a very inspiring video methinks.
Probably one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. If you haven't seen Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa yet then you're in for a treat. Some of the pranks are bust-a-gut hilarious, particularly the 'Beauty Pageant' scene, which takes everything that is wrong with child beauty pageants and adds a whole lot more 'wrong' to it in a way that had me on the floor in tears of laughter at the weekend. (The Pirate Bay magnet link).
An investigation into the long-obscured mystery of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a molecule found in nearly every living organism and considered the most potent psychedelic on Earth.
If you're a complete space geek like I am, have got 40-odd hours of free time to spare, and want to learn everything there is to know about the Space Shuttle (from its design to its operation), then this is the video series for you...
'Course Highlights
'This course was administrated by shuttle astronaut and MIT Professor Jeff Hoffman and Professor Aaron Cohen, who was the Space Shuttle Orbiter Project Manager. Guest speakers provide the majority of the content in video lectures, discussing topics such as system design, accident investigation, and the future of NASA's space mission.
'Course Description
'16.885J offers a holistic view of the aircraft as a system, covering: basic systems engineering; cost and weight estimation; basic aircraft performance; safety and reliability; lifecycle topics; aircraft subsystems; risk analysis and management; and system realization. Small student teams retrospectively analyze an existing aircraft covering: key design drivers and decisions; aircraft attributes and subsystems; and operational experience. Oral and written versions of the case study are delivered. For the Fall 2005 term, the class focuses on a systems engineering analysis of the Space Shuttle. It offers study of both design and operations of the shuttle, with frequent lectures by outside experts. Students choose specific shuttle systems for detailed analysis and develop new subsystem designs using state of the art technology.' (MIT video lectures).
This wonderful series of videos by Callum Sutherland is based on Carl Sagan's documentary series Cosmos and his book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision Of The Human Future In Space. Excerpts from the audiobook and documentary are edited together with pictures and videos set to a blend of different music. (YouTube playlist).
'Banshee Chapter is a 2013 horror film and the directorial debut of Blair Erickson. The film had its first screening at the Fantasy Filmfest on August 22, 2013 and released on video on demand on December 12 of the same year. Banshee Chapter stars Katia Winter as a journalist who is trying to discover what happened to a missing friend of hers. The film is loosely based on the H. P. Lovecraft short story "From Beyond" and the 1986 film From Beyond.
'On the trail of a missing friend (Michael McMillian) who had been experimenting with mind-altering drugs, a young journalist (Katia Winter) - aided by a rogue counter-culture writer (Ted Levine) - finds herself drawn into the dangerous world of top-secret government chemical research and the mystery of a disturbing radio signal of unknown origin. A fast-paced thriller blending fact and fiction, Banshee Chapter is based on real documents, actual test subject testimony, and uncovered secrets about covert programs run by the CIA.' (The Pirate Bay magnet link).
'Kickstarter-funded, 80s-inspired action movie Kung Fury has released its first trailer, which gleefully throws realism out the window and has been described as "the greatest trailer of all time".
'The film centres on an eponymous cop who travels through time in order to destroy the ‘most dangerous kung fu master criminal of all time’, one Adolf Hitler.
'Police cars are flipped with skateboards, henchmen are riddled with bullets from the roofs of mid-air sports cars and vikings ride on dinosaurs in the incredible wacky trailer, which is delighting viewers with its shamelessly over-the-top antics.' (Metro article).
'Earthrise, a photograph considered by many to be one of the most important photographs ever taken, has until now been only a photograph. But, for the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission that yielded the photo, NASA has digitally recreated the moment when astronaut William Anders captured it using CG imagery and audio from inside the Apollo module itself. "The video allows anyone to virtually ride with the astronauts and experience the awe they felt at the vista in front of them," writes NASA in its announcement blog post.
'It will be at least another few years before Elon Musk and Richard Branson fly us to the moon for weekend trips, but until then, NASA's latest video is as close as you can get to seeing the dark side of the moon - and the Earthrise waiting on the other side.' (The Verge article).
'The bot, named "Cubli", contains three internal wheels that spin faster or slower to give it the momentum to remain balanced, even if the surface it sits on becomes tilted. They can also be abruptly halted to give the cube the oomph to jump up to a balanced position from flat on the surface.
'The principles are similar to those used in satellites to stabilise them in orbit, so they don't end up spinning around uselessly. It's thought the technique could also be used to build robots that are able to explore other planets, or self-assemble.' (Wired article).
Block advertisements on YouTube, Stickam, and BlogTV with this easy edit of your hosts file. This trick will also block many malware programs from infecting your computer because the hostnames that distribute them will be blocked.
'On this episode of Breaking The Set, Abby Martin remarks on the absurd news that two environmental activists in Oklahoma were charged with staging a terrorism hoax after unveiling two glitter covered banners in protest of the Devon Energy oil company's fracking practices. Abby then speaks with gender studies expert, Dr. Jackson Katz, discussing the underlying forces of gender politics and the role of masculinity when it comes to violent crime. Abby then comments on a recent announcement by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline that the firm will no longer spend millions of dollars annually to pay doctors to promote their drugs. BTS wraps up the show with an interview with British Parliamentarian George Galloway, discussing his upcoming film The Killing Of Tony Blair, and his brand new show on RT, Sputnik: Orbiting The World With George Galloway.'