News

Bacterium transforms sand into sandstone in proposal to stop the Sahara's growth. Could the cat be put back in the bag if used? Could this be used to terraform sandy planets? The bacterium in question is all around us and has been the subject of other proposals. Click the title for more.

Kindle 2 and iPod Shuffle do a scene from Bladerunner. Video included. :-) Click the title of the story to view and hear how these devices actually perform.

Click the title for information about a cool way to reuse those old machines in your basement.

Click the title for links to sites with wild mythological and otherwise imagined animal art.

J.G. Ballard died yesterday, 19 April 2009, at a bit over 78. Particularly known for dystopian fiction, it is unlikely that he will be forgotten any time soon. Click the title for more information, including links to his web site, an obituary/memory/farewell page, and the Wikipedia entry about him.

Click the title for more info.

Wicked cool Star Trek the Next Generation style desktop theme for OSX. Click the title for more information.

A species of Amazonian ants has only female members and reproduces by cloning. Click the title for more.

The April meeting went well with three new attendees, though few people had read the Nebula nominees. Those that did discussed them and why they liked or did not like them. We also discussed why people aren't reading the magazines the way they used to and what factors might be involved in spec. fic. readership. Click the title for more information.

Member Steve Carper posted this information to the R-SPEC Google group. Here it is with the table it contains in a slightly more readable format. Click the title to see it.