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2013-06-18 17:38:51 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Join us in 20 minutes (Tuesday June 18 at 11 a.m. Pacific), as we take on  Reinventing Climate Management with scenario thinker Jamais Cascio, author of the book Hacking the Earth: Understanding Geoengineering. He will lead a terrific group of scientists and other innovators (plus me… for comic relief) wrestling with this issue in this roundtable. Join in with your questions and ideas. 

Managing the climate in the face of global warming is a wicked problem that requires getting almost every independent nation highly coordinated. What would a system of global governance look like that's up to the true challenges ahead? And how do we start thinking about whether we need to take more desperate steps in the form of geoengineering?
h... more »

2013-06-18 05:37:33 (11 comments, 9 reshares, 40 +1s)

Michio Kaku at his very best: " How does science fiction influence scientific research?"

 http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/science-fiction-influence-scientific-research

2013-06-17 22:51:44 (9 comments, 7 reshares, 29 +1s)

San Diego-based Torrey Pines Logic is developing the Beam 100 Optical Detection System for the military; it sends out pulses of low power lasers that can detect various lenses out to roughly one kilometer. Returning pulses are analyzed for signatures indicative of optical glass, discarding noise from other glass, like bottles, windows.   In other words... the lens-detector I wrote about in EARTH and in The Transparent Society.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-05/laser-scanning-device-can-detect-faraway-optical-lenses-let-troops-know-who-watching

2013-06-17 17:28:54 (8 comments, 3 reshares, 14 +1s)

Join us this Tuesday June 18 at 11 a.m. Pacific, as we take on  Reinventing Climate Management with scenario thinker Jamais Cascio, author of the book Hacking the Earth: Understanding Geoengineering. He will lead a terrific group of scientists and other innovators (plus me… for comic relief) wrestling with this issue in this roundtable. Join in with your questions and ideas. 

Managing the climate in the face of global warming is a wicked problem that requires getting almost every independent nation highly coordinated. What would a system of global governance look like that's up to the true challenges ahead? And how do we start thinking about whether we need to take more desperate steps in the form of geoengineering?
h... more »

2013-06-17 05:02:41 (14 comments, 5 reshares, 22 +1s)

Crowdfund a cyborg insect: control a living cockroach from your cell phone.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/backyardbrains/the-roboroach-control-a-living-insect-from-your-sm

2013-06-16 22:53:22 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 18 +1s)

This year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel went to Adam Roberts for JACK GLASS: THE STORY OF A MURDERER, published by Gollancz:  Congratulations and well done! The Lifeboat to the Stars Award went to my pal Kevin J. Anderson and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for Best Short Story went to Molly Gloss for "The Grinnell Method."

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/05/finalists-2013-campbell-and-sturgeon-awards/

 All happened at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend. http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/campbell-finalists.htm. 

Oh, and LL Soares just won a Stoker!  Congratulations all around!

2013-06-16 20:46:52 (3 comments, 7 reshares, 27 +1s)

Videos (round one) are now up and available from the Starship Symposium at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination, with speakers Peter Schwarz, Freeman Dyson, Patti Grace Smith, Geoffrey Landis, Neal Stephenson, Robert Zubrin and Chris Lewicki, about the prospects for some child born today to possibly becoming an interstellar voyager.

http://www.starshipcentury.com/blog/videos-of-starship-century-symposium/

2013-06-14 21:57:52 (6 comments, 4 reshares, 32 +1s)

Okay, here's an IQ test. Dig this... the silly people foisting this "Lone Signal" stunt upon humanity  just wrote to me asking that I remove the image of their "private invitation" from my posting... and they made this request without a scintilla of irony.  Um... pause and reflect.  Does that make any of you chuckle? Or even guffaw?

These folks plan on shattering our own privacy by altering a major trait of our planet by many orders of magnitude, based on assumptions they refuse to put up for discussion, exposing our descendants to small but plausible risks that they refuse to examine openly with colleagues and the public... yet I'm the unreasonable one?

Come on folks, fine those street theater people in New York and the Bay area! Get something going. 1% because these silly people should be confronted over serious questions... and 99% for fun.  Viral it.For... more »

2013-06-14 19:10:00 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

My latest posting elaborates on the latest silly effort to "beam messages" at ET... and a call for  folk in New York and the Bay Area to consider having some fun at their expense.  On a sober side, I link to evidence that these "METI" efforts are at best unscientific and rude.  I live with the alien all my life.  The dullard lack of imagination of people claim there can be only one answer is appalling.

http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/06/calling-all-flash-mobs-defend-planet.html

2013-06-14 03:33:01 (18 comments, 3 reshares, 24 +1s)

Science 2.0 interviews the people who plan to beam "messages to ET" starting on Monday. Read their profit-and-ego-centered rationalizations, then scroll to the bottom and see the announcement of their opening party in New York City on June 17. 
http://www.science20.com/brinstorming/meti_should_we_be_shouting_cosmos-114283

Oh, wouldn't it be fun to get a flash mob to picket the event? New Yorkers, think about it, will you? Half-serious and half in jest? But aimed at getting real discussion going.
http://www.science20.com/science_20/lone_signal_meti_teams_citizen_science_try_and_make_first_contact-114657

(And you SF Bay Area street theater folk… there's an opportunity for you too! (See below.)

For background from the "dissident" community, see what i09 says about it:... more »

2013-06-13 00:10:31 (22 comments, 21 reshares, 22 +1s)

Another fan emailed: "This link reminded me of your disturbing story "Piecework" - Woman wants to give birth to a shark!  Eeek! I'm not sure I want credit for that prediction…

http://www.odditycentral.com/news/meet-ai-hasegawa-the-woman-who-wants-to-give-birth-to-a-shark.html

2013-06-12 23:35:10 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 18 +1s)

One more for the Predictions Registry!  Or for the predictions wiki some of you keep, tracking my veracity.  First, one fellow wrote in "Saw this and thought of your story 'Natu-Life'!
A Terrarium for growing Edible insects in your home.

http://inhabitat.com/mansour-ourasanah-designs-a-vessel-for-farming-edible-insects-at-home/

2013-06-12 18:00:55 (12 comments, 18 reshares, 30 +1s)

Bites from a voracious tick known as the Lone Star are leaving some suddenly allergic to red meat.  Unlike most food allergies, the symptoms typically set in three to six hours after an affected person eats beef, pork or lamb—often in the middle of the night. The bite that seems to precipitate it may occur weeks or months before, often making it difficult for people to make the link.

Gee Whiz one could come up with a dozen sci fi scenarios behind this one. Hm. Villainous, crichtonian PETA conspirators… honey, call agent! 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324634304578537203916053308.html

2013-06-11 02:59:37 (1 comments, 29 reshares, 45 +1s)

kewl stuff!  Tracking sci fi predictions can daunt us author chaps.  But my own readers set up wikis and track and score me relentlessly.  Grrrrrr.  ;-)
David Brin   - http://www.davidbrin.com

2013-06-11 02:43:45 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 17 +1s)

My new posting starts with Iain Banks then goes on to happier sci fi news in a potpourri of SF-related topics, from KS Robinson and Harlan Ellison  to cool old shows, worldcon and write-a-thons!  Drop on by.

http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/06/science-fiction-lament-then-optimism.html

2013-06-09 22:37:38 (41 comments, 30 reshares, 109 +1s)

Though expected, the passing of author Iain Banks comes as a shock and a blow.  I knew him when I lived in London in the 1980s and we were both brash young newcomers.  I respected his literary fiction but deeply admired his science fiction, especially the last two decades.  His Culture Universe was among the few that confronted straight-on the myriad hopes, dangers and possibilities faced by a humanity-that-succeeds.  One that grows up and scales heights that we ancestors can barely conceive, but that we still wish for our descendants to conquer.  Won't they - even rich with success - have interesting problems, anyway?  

It's trivial to provide protagonists with pulse-pounding jeopardy and action, if you first toss them into a cookie cutter dystopia or post-apocalyptic hell.  Banks considered it quite another thing to picture our descendants having prevailed over all ourpetty-... more »

2013-06-09 01:22:08 (3 comments, 12 reshares, 30 +1s)

Tune in as the inimitably unique Harlan Ellison, does readings of two science fiction yarns, first bringing to fire and life "Using it and losing it," by Jonathan Lethem... then narrating my own little intergalactic tale of stark fate and long range destiny -- "Bubbles."  But of course the star of the performance is Harlan's peerless showmanship.  

http://skyboatmedia.com/june-8-harlan-ellison/

2013-06-07 21:11:57 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 13 +1s)

My podcast radio appearance on Virtually Speaking with Jay Ackroyd can be accessed now!  We start with transparency and secrecy and all that but go on the sci fi and SETI and other big picture talk-a-thon topics.  

http://virtuallyspeaking.us/virtually-speaking-with-jay-ackroyd/2013/6/6/david-brin-vs-with-jay-ackroyd

2013-06-07 05:17:39 (6 comments, 6 reshares, 18 +1s)

In case you missed me on the show "STAR TREK: SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE" - (a fun romp through the range of speculative sci & tech the help propel the fabulous Trek franchise) -  you can go watch it here.

http://www.history.com/shows/star-trek-secrets-of-the-universe/videos

2013-06-06 22:39:02 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

 I’ll be on Virtually Speaking with Jay Ackroyd at 6 pm PT tonight discussing many topics ranging from Transparency to civilization to SETI to Science Fiction... to mining asteroids.  

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2013/06/07/david-brin-virtually-speaking-w-jay-ackroyd

Simulcast on Second Life!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colonia%20Nova/218/138/701

2013-06-06 16:35:37 (32 comments, 4 reshares, 20 +1s)

The Interstellar Starship Congress will be held in Dallas August 15-18.  It aims to "bring together the interstellar community to foster discussion and generate tangible action. Our ambition is to move humanity toward becoming an interstellar civilization, with a broad campaign of exploration and migration to begin by the year 2100."  Speakers will include Dr. James Benford and other experts on newfangled systems that should at least open up the solar system and possibly the galaxy.

http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/congress-announcement/

Have a look at their Kickstarter campaign, too!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/397175064/icarus-interstellar-starship-congress-2013-confere

2013-06-06 01:15:07 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

I’ll be on Virtually Speaking with Jay Ackroyd 6 pm PT tomorrow, Thursday, June 6 discussing many topics ranging from Transparency to civilization to SETI to Science Fiction. Simulcast on Second Life!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2013/06/07/david-brin-virtually-speaking-w-jay-ackroyd

2013-06-04 20:42:10 (34 comments, 17 reshares, 54 +1s)

Have astronomers found "bruises" or traces of past collisions with other universes? 

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/421999/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-other-universes/

2013-06-04 05:57:48 (7 comments, 7 reshares, 22 +1s)

A wonderful, inspiring commencement speech delivered a week ago by my friend Larry Brilliant, who helped to eradicate smallpox and to challenge many injustices and to help the internet age bend its moral arc toward justice. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-brilliant-md/post_4834_b_3360016.html

2013-06-01 01:34:44 (137 comments, 7 reshares, 30 +1s)

My latest posting discusses the news that both violence and poverty have been plummeting worldwide, and why both left and right are sure to misinterpret this. Also, some new fools plan on "METI" shouting yoohoo! into space, beckoning aliens on our behalf. Anyone care to represent common sense at their news conference in NYC on June 11?  Also some choice miscellany and interesting items from media, arts and the news!  All at Contrary Brin.

http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/05/is-world-improving-despite-our-grouchy.html

2013-05-30 20:39:32 (14 comments, 3 reshares, 22 +1s)

Another METI - (Message to Extraterrestrials)  - stunt appears to be underway, pushed ahead by fools who claim an arrogant right to speak for humanity, without ever even discussing the issue in open debate with colleagues or the public.  One group will be announcing their planned Yoohoo Shout at a news conference in New York City on June 11: 1pm at 500 Broadway (2nd fl).  

For background see: http://www.davidbrin.com/shouldsetitransmit.html

Here is their rationalization, based (the Benford boys assure me) on fallacious physics.  http://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.5540.pdf

 Out of all the members of our SETI dissident's group (arguing that there should be discussion involving top people from many fields, before small groups arrogate to go screaming into the cosmos on humanity's behalf, based on faulty assumptions) none of us are able to attend the news conference on shortnoti... more »

2013-05-30 05:37:03 (7 comments, 6 reshares, 43 +1s)

A feel-good public relations move that just might do some good… Coca-Cola has set up hyper-window vending machines in India and Pakistan that let you meet, play games or dance with folks in the other country, then toast them with Coke. I hope this isn't a one-off and that they will deploy dozens.  Also, I hope the screens are Gorilla Glass viz the inevitable hate attacks.  Clearly they must be set up in affluent and highly supervised shopping malls.  Still… what fun.

http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/beautiful-video-coca-cola-brings-india-and-pakistan-together/

2013-05-29 20:38:20 (7 comments, 4 reshares, 16 +1s)

The Planetary Society has made it very very easy to write a message to your congresscritters re supporting planetary research.

https://secure3.convio.net/planet/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=119&autologin=true&AddInterest=1061&JServSessionIdr004=ovx6bgfai5.app338a

2013-05-29 19:03:14 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 20 +1s)

View the Planetary Resources news conference on the Arkyd spacecraft and big plans to hunt asteroidal treasure.  See also the Kickstarter page where you can learn about cool donation bennies, all the way up to having an asteroid named after you. (Believe me, that feels cool!)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1458134548/arkyd-a-space-telescope-for-everyone-0?ref=PeterDiamandis

2013-05-28 02:44:22 (41 comments, 9 reshares, 34 +1s)

My latest posting delves into the "97%" of top atmospheric scientists who credit human-wrought climate change, and whether science can have "consensus." It then offers a potpourri of fascinating science news... oh, and congratulates Kim Stanley Robinson and Nancy Kress for their Nebula Awards... and links to my face appearing on page one of the Dan Diego Union-Tribune.  Drop in and share the wonders!

http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/05/consensus-science-and-more-science.html

2013-05-27 04:56:27 (2 comments, 5 reshares, 17 +1s)

My former student, Ron Drummond, performs an insightful and dramatic 40 minute reading of the semi-nonfiction/sf'nal "The First Woman on Mars."  Informative and vivid.
http://vimeo.com/65779278

2013-05-27 03:12:48 (61 comments, 9 reshares, 36 +1s)

On May 29 at 10:00 a.m. PDT in Seattle, and also streaming live, please join Planetary Resources’ Peter Diamandis, Eric Anderson and Chris Lewicki, as they announce (from Seattle) an unprecedented project that will change the way humanity explores the cosmos.
http://www.planetaryresources.com

Later in the day at 3:30 p.m. PDT an additional live streaming event will occur at the Museum of Flight with Brent Spiner, Hank Green, Chris Lewicki and other Planetary Resources members.

http://www.planetaryresources.com/livestream/

2013-05-26 20:44:59 (46 comments, 15 reshares, 50 +1s)

Just to be clear, although I consider right wing craziness to be CURRENTLY more dangerous, this kind of astonishingly stupid, indignant left wing twaddle proves that the phenomenon of dogmatic insanity infests both extremes. Both want us stoked on hatred and excuses for addictive, self-righteous sanctimony. The thing both extremes loathe is the pragmatically progressive campaign of incremental social and self-improvement that has taken us so very far... and that the Doctor represents.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2330872/Discriminate-Discriminate-Doctor-Who-branded-thunderingly-racist-academics--conquers-Daleks-slavery--likes-cricket.html

2013-05-25 02:27:30 (5 comments, 6 reshares, 27 +1s)

I am interviewed in the San Diego Union Tribune and its online site about SETI... the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence.  By coincidence, after the recent Starship Century Symposium at UCSD, we had the honor of hosting Dr. Freeman Dyson and Dr, Jill Tarter (head of the SETI Institute) at our home.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/May/21/extraterrestrial-life/?#article-copy

Bonus! See the archived video from the Starship Conference (fascinating stuff!)
http://imagination.ucsd.edu/starship/

And about the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination.
http://imagination.ucsd.edu

2013-05-25 02:21:51 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Tomorrow is the International Space Development Conference in La Jolla which you should consider attending!  I speak 10 am on Saturday.  See:

http://isdc.nss.org/2013/schedule-sat.shtml

2013-05-22 05:20:31 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 17 +1s)

The Starship Century Symposium at the Arthur Clarke Center will be streaming a second day of fascinating panels and lectures live, this  Wednesday (May 22) starting at 9:00 Pacific time. Browse the agenda... http://imagination.ucsd.edu/starship/agenda.html

… then on Tuesday join the live stream by clicking near the top of: http://imagination.ucsd.edu/starship/

2013-05-20 20:58:09 (19 comments, 4 reshares, 31 +1s)

Wow, media sure have picked up on the Mars One endeavor... and my application among 40,000 who are (tentatively) interested in the mission to the Red Planet.

http://www.blastr.com/2013-5-20/why-david-brin-wants-go-mars-even-if-its-one-way-trip?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

2013-05-20 05:36:28 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

The Italian-language sci fi blog Noctutnia interviewed me about writing, science, literature and all of that.  

http://wwwwelcometonocturnia.blogspot.it/2013/05/david-brin-lintervista-completa.html

2013-05-19 22:29:31 (11 comments, 7 reshares, 41 +1s)

If you do home auto repairs, then you know the Haynes Manual for your make and year and model.  Now see Haynes Manuals that aren't for cars... but for wonderful spaceships of the future! Lovingly detailed, these are all for Space Force and alien ships from the 1950s Dan Dare comic books.  Vivid and remarkable.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2326510/Dan-Dare-Car-repair-manual-publisher-releases-nuts-bolts-guide-comic-hero-Dan-Dares-spaceships.html

2013-05-19 20:00:39 (7 comments, 3 reshares, 23 +1s)

Tens of thousands have signed up as preliminary candidates for the Mars One Project, aimed toward sending a high risk and one-way "first colony" to the Red Planet.  This NBC story gives an overview by profiling three applicants -- an 18 year old college student, a 71 year old retiree… and yours truly.   You can also view our 1 minute video sales pitches. In a year, the public may get a chance to help vote for the final team.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/19/18305415-why-sign-up-for-a-one-way-mars-trip-three-applicants-explain-the-appeal?lite

2013-05-19 03:02:15 (18 comments, 10 reshares, 48 +1s)

A TV network has posted an edited snippet I gave them. Getting a bit lyrical and big-picture, I describe how we are in a race to cross a dangerous zone…into the future.

David Brin (US): How do you see research and innovation making a difference ...?

2013-05-17 18:17:18 (6 comments, 3 reshares, 26 +1s)

My latest posting - "Mixed News From Space" discusses the near-certain demise of our planet-hunting ace, the Kepler telescope, and why this mission should fill us with ambition to do more.  Also, the new "barnstorming era" in space may include private trips to the moon and so much more!  I discuss the weirdest aircraft you ever saw or imagined. Plus a range of news that tells us that we aren't done, out there.  We've barely begun.

http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/05/mixed-news-from-space.html

2013-05-17 00:47:08 (10 comments, 15 reshares, 38 +1s)

The age determination of a deep-drill core from the Pacific Ocean showed that the supernova explosion must have occurred about 2.2 million years ago, roughly around the time when the modern human developed. Isotopic inspection of bacterial fossils containing tiny crystals of magnetite (Fe3O4) show some iron isotopes that would have decayed by now if not caused by a very recent supernova. We know lots more about the (pre-Noah) past than some folks allow into their philosophy, alas.  In this case, it makes you envision our australopithecine forebears staring up, in wonder.  And changing.

http://www.tum.de/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/short/article/30832/

2013-05-16 18:04:32 (15 comments, 6 reshares, 45 +1s)

One of my heroes, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates (a Republican who served both recent presidents and may have saved us all, under one of them) is interviewed about Benghazi and the Arab Revolutions, offering the views of a genuine grownup.

http://www.kbtx.com/news/headlines/Gates-Some-Benghazi-Critics-Have-Cartoonish-View-of-Military-Capability-207111921.html?ref=921#.UY_PUJVAKgw

2013-05-16 03:47:34 (7 comments, 3 reshares, 45 +1s)

In a little over an hour - 10pm Pacific - I will join other talkative folk + special effects wizards on History Channel, talking about Star Trek and all that!

http://www.history.com/shows/star-trek-secrets-of-the-universe

2013-05-15 05:50:44 (31 comments, 10 reshares, 55 +1s)

My novel EARTH (1989) portrayed hackers in the 2020s deliberately tweaking this "Nuremberg-ware" so that it would do the opposite.  Instead of helping people only see and hear and read what agrees with them, the hacked relevance algorithms would let through different and provocative points of view.  Breaking folks out of the group-think "nuremberg rallies" of memic sameness.

Stay contrary! ;-)

David Brin
http://www.davidbrin.com
blog: http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/

2013-05-14 01:36:49 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 16 +1s)

My latest posting starts with announcing my appearance on Wednesday (on the History Channel's show STAR TREK: SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE. This blog then goes on to tell about the "reinventing Space" online panel I just hosted online, with NASA scientists plus entrepreneurs, exploring and explaining the new "barnstorming era in space."  And the Starship Century Symposium... and so much more!  Like news about the Campbell Award nominations for best science fiction novel of the year... plus snippets on science, singularities, bold new Hollywood SF flicks... and more!

http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/05/news-about-space-and-science-fiction.html

Are we entering the second phase of humanity's adventure in space -- the Barnstorming Era? One characterized by many more private sector initiatives and a profusion of entrepreneurial energy. The role of government needst... more »

2013-05-12 18:20:15 (12 comments, 2 reshares, 22 +1s)

I'll be on the show "STAR TREK: SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE" this Wednesday at 10pm on the History Channel.  A fun romp through the range of speculative sci & tech that serve as foundations and help propel the fabulous Trek franchise to realms of vast imagining and hopeful possibility.   
      Then -- May 21 and 22 -- the “Starship Century Symposium” at UCSD will be devoted to an ongoing exploration of the development of a real starship in the next 100 years.  I'll be there too.

http://www.history.com/shows/star-trek-secrets-of-the-universe/videos/star-trek-secrets-of-the-universe--sneak-peek?cmpid=MRSS_Google_HIS#

http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/uc_san_diegos_arthur_c_clarke_center_for_human_imagination_lifts_off_with_public_events?utm_campaign=thisweek&utm_medium=web&utm_source=tw-2013-05-09-web

2013-05-12 04:41:39 (75 comments, 13 reshares, 30 +1s)

Sign a petition opposing sale of Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune to the Koch Brothers.  Can you believe that we are even in this position?

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/08/local/la-me-tribune-times-koch-20130509

Petition: http://democracyforamerica.com/pages/768?t=bernie

2013-05-12 01:10:25 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 16 +1s)

My new blog covers X-Prizes and Grand Challenges and asks for ideas: what do you think would make a great tech-prize contest?  Also would you sign up for the "Mars One" notion of a 2025 one-way trip to Mars? Interesting tradeoffs. Followed by my regular potpourri and science, technology and enlightenment news! Come feast.

http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/05/grand-challenges-x-prizes-and-mars.html