Watch this:

TAM Panel – Our Future in Space from JREF on Vimeo.

Then read this.

Pirates and science. Hey, it is about more than just sporting an eyepatch. Check it out.

I have been meaning to post this for months now. It is a cool story about some researchers who are finding surprising and distinct stuff in our belly buttons.

Kind of gross, but neat too. I signed up for a kit and sent it in but haven’t heard anything about it yet.

For more info, check out the Belly Button Biodiversity website.

Apparently scientists are finally getting a human-machine translator chip in the works. Granted, this might be scary news but it will probably make a huge difference for those needing prosthetics or in delivering medical care to remote communities.

Also, IBM is making chips that are ever-more-so cognitive in nature.

Sure, this may all lead to Terminators and the end of mankind.

OR…

We might just be at the dawn of a whole new and better set of tools for our species.

Optimism. Try it.

The Matrix Argument.

Granted, I give the whole “we’re living in a simulation” premise about as much weight as the whole Mayan calendar end-of-all-things prediction, but it is still an interesting read.

Your tax dollars truly at work.

I know there are a lot of these articles out there, but one look at the shuttle’s legacy, both good and bad.

Frankly, if not for Vietnam and the Nixon admin pushing to keep manned flight in the public eye, we’d probably have done the whole Moon and Mars base thing by now. That’s not even really a criticism, just how things went.

Oh well, maybe we can thing bigger than how not to pay taxes and still get government benefits. But we’re going to need to change a lot of the dialog to do it.

Here’s my take on this. If baggers don’t believe in science in the first place, why do we care whether they complain about the particulars of a DNA test on Osama’s corpse?

So the other days I heard this story about 3D printing of skins and potentially organs.

Pretty neat, huh? I mean, I just want a 3D printer so I can make some toys for Gabriel. I didn’t think you could score a kidney this way.

Here’s a TED lecture on doing just that.

Five boys had urethras grown from their own cells. After six years, all are doing fine.

Of course, our populace has been frightened into electing Republicans again so expect all these scientific advances to go unfunded, be outlawed, or debunked by some “intelligent design” shill. These scientists will be replaced by alchemists trying to finally grow a heart for Cheney that won’t try to self-abort on contact with his slimy soul.