Having been inspired up by some of the hard science in Babylon 5, I can't help but think back now and wonder about the similarities to the movie and book 2001: A Space Odyssey. Examples I've noticed include rotation-based artificial gravity, inertia-realistic spaceflight, and the design of Earth spaceships. Did 2001 (book and/or movie) have a significant inspiration on you during the creation and production of Babylon 5?
First off, I want to say thank you for your work on Babylon 5! It was one of my favorite TV programs growing up, and it definitely helped influence my getting into the sciences as a profession. I always saw that show as a good example of "hard" science fiction, versus other programs at the time. I never saw rotation-made artificial gravity on Star Trek!
Babylon 5 had some pretty intense story arcs, especially apparent in seasons 3 and 4, so it required a lot of forethought and planning prior to production. What influence has this sort of "arc planning" had on your more recent projects, and in what way do you see the influence of Babylon 5's level of writing on scfi-fi programs in the near future?
This is very interesting - I just finished reading The Link by Colin Tudge, et al (You can get it here. I definitely recommend reading it if you are even vaguely interested in paleontology). In it, they discuss Ida, a specimen found in Germany's Messel pit, which is believed to be closely related to the first common ancestor between anthropoids (Old & New World apes, hominids) and other simians (lemurs, tarsiers, etc). If the claim made in the article is true, the discovered species would be contemporary with our ancestor living after Ida but before hominids separated from apes. A really great find! I wonder what a comparison between Ida and this new species will reveal. Mind you, that may never happen, since Ida is a very complete fossil and all they found here were teeth and fragments.
Babylon 5 was great on many levels, but I enjoyed the most for its well-thought-out story and as an example of true science fiction. It contained many elements that were based much more in fact than in fantasy, something that was rare for its time, and even more rare today. What research and/or advisers did you have to go on when writing/producing for the show? What do you foresee for the future of science fiction television (or streaming or online) content in terms of using real-world science?
Dr. Horner, you have inspired me to engage in the sciences ever since I was a little kid. Although I didn't go into the field of paleontology, I did study computer science and became a software developer for an education company. In my field, we are always trying to find ways to engage kids in the STEM fields to help develop the next generation of engineers, programmers, biologists, and even paleontologists. In your opinion, how do you see the future of your field within the next generation of scientists, and what steps should we take to help kids become more interested in the sciences?
I liked it better when it was called Fallout. Seriously, did nobody else notice the similarities between the two when Fallout 3 and Borderlands 1 were released so close to one another?
I'm going to go ahead and surrender to Godwin's Law here. Giving a whole lot of political parties an equal voice is exactly what happened in 1930's Germany. There were so many parties running with candidates, the leading candidate for Chancellor only needed a small minority of the population to vote him in. The result was that an extremist radical was elected, despite only a (relatively) small number of people voted for him. The more parties you have, the less people need to agree with you in order to be voted in. So, a two party system may not seem like the best way, but it at least weeds out all the radicals and keeps us somewhere near the middle of the political spectrum.
Re:Windows 8 seems like a solid product
on
Windows 8 Is Ready
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· Score: 1
Later on I went to buy some jewelery and I was like...Hannoush?
The reactor casing has corroded down to 3/8 of an inch, but was not continuing to corrode. That 3/8 of an inch corresponds to the stainless steel layer within the casing, and thus is resistant to the boric acid corrosion. Now, stainless steel WILL corrode over time, but at a much slower rate. TFS makes it seem like if the corrosion continued, we were only 3/8 of an inch away from a meltdown. Actually, the reactor would have continued fine until that steel casing failed somehow, which would have to be due to some other cause.
Universities are investing millions in software for 'massive online open courses' or MOOCs, but unless they can figure out how to make their material fun as well as instructive, Khan may have an insurmountable lead.
Slashdot Mirror
Isn't this the sort of thing that the ISS collaboration was supposed to prevent?
Having been inspired up by some of the hard science in Babylon 5, I can't help but think back now and wonder about the similarities to the movie and book 2001: A Space Odyssey. Examples I've noticed include rotation-based artificial gravity, inertia-realistic spaceflight, and the design of Earth spaceships. Did 2001 (book and/or movie) have a significant inspiration on you during the creation and production of Babylon 5?
Thanks for B5, and all your other works!
First off, I want to say thank you for your work on Babylon 5! It was one of my favorite TV programs growing up, and it definitely helped influence my getting into the sciences as a profession. I always saw that show as a good example of "hard" science fiction, versus other programs at the time. I never saw rotation-made artificial gravity on Star Trek!
Babylon 5 had some pretty intense story arcs, especially apparent in seasons 3 and 4, so it required a lot of forethought and planning prior to production. What influence has this sort of "arc planning" had on your more recent projects, and in what way do you see the influence of Babylon 5's level of writing on scfi-fi programs in the near future?
Thanks for having an interview with Slashdot!
This is very interesting - I just finished reading The Link by Colin Tudge, et al (You can get it here. I definitely recommend reading it if you are even vaguely interested in paleontology). In it, they discuss Ida, a specimen found in Germany's Messel pit, which is believed to be closely related to the first common ancestor between anthropoids (Old & New World apes, hominids) and other simians (lemurs, tarsiers, etc). If the claim made in the article is true, the discovered species would be contemporary with our ancestor living after Ida but before hominids separated from apes. A really great find! I wonder what a comparison between Ida and this new species will reveal. Mind you, that may never happen, since Ida is a very complete fossil and all they found here were teeth and fragments.
Shut up, meatbag! Bender's the best one of the bunch!
Babylon 5 was great on many levels, but I enjoyed the most for its well-thought-out story and as an example of true science fiction. It contained many elements that were based much more in fact than in fantasy, something that was rare for its time, and even more rare today. What research and/or advisers did you have to go on when writing/producing for the show? What do you foresee for the future of science fiction television (or streaming or online) content in terms of using real-world science?
And thank you again for Babylon 5. :)
Actually, it seems it was a DDoS, as admitted by the people claiming responsibility:
we used a 7kbotnet running hoic 100 threads each. 80servers in botnet and a 16gbps booter
(From the update link in the summary: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/01/31/amazoncom-website-offline/?test=latestnews)
Dr. Horner, you have inspired me to engage in the sciences ever since I was a little kid. Although I didn't go into the field of paleontology, I did study computer science and became a software developer for an education company. In my field, we are always trying to find ways to engage kids in the STEM fields to help develop the next generation of engineers, programmers, biologists, and even paleontologists. In your opinion, how do you see the future of your field within the next generation of scientists, and what steps should we take to help kids become more interested in the sciences?
God dammit, Towelie, you're the worst character ever.
The exact list of affected stores can be found here:
http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/press_releases/10_23_12_Important_Customer_Notice.html
That's a great pizza analogy!.... ....Ah-haha, I see what you did there.
I liked it better when it was called Fallout. Seriously, did nobody else notice the similarities between the two when Fallout 3 and Borderlands 1 were released so close to one another?
...appreciate the transcript posted on the bottom. I hope this will be a new standard feature!
Did you warn them about WWI and WWII???? No??!! You bastard!
I'm going to go ahead and surrender to Godwin's Law here.
Giving a whole lot of political parties an equal voice is exactly what happened in 1930's Germany. There were so many parties running with candidates, the leading candidate for Chancellor only needed a small minority of the population to vote him in. The result was that an extremist radical was elected, despite only a (relatively) small number of people voted for him. The more parties you have, the less people need to agree with you in order to be voted in.
So, a two party system may not seem like the best way, but it at least weeds out all the radicals and keeps us somewhere near the middle of the political spectrum.
Later on I went to buy some jewelery and I was like...Hannoush?
It's a Stetson. I wear a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool.
Hindsight rationalization, anyone?
Your sir are a fucking idiot.
That. Is. HILARIOUS.
...and left out the word "says" in my mind. I thought, "Oh no! I hope he'll be okay!"
The reactor casing has corroded down to 3/8 of an inch, but was not continuing to corrode. That 3/8 of an inch corresponds to the stainless steel layer within the casing, and thus is resistant to the boric acid corrosion. Now, stainless steel WILL corrode over time, but at a much slower rate. TFS makes it seem like if the corrosion continued, we were only 3/8 of an inch away from a meltdown. Actually, the reactor would have continued fine until that steel casing failed somehow, which would have to be due to some other cause.
Universities are investing millions in software for 'massive online open courses' or MOOCs, but unless they can figure out how to make their material fun as well as instructive, Khan may have an insurmountable lead.
Universities: KHAAAAAAAAAN!!!!
NOPE.
105 Chuck Tesla
*I* care! That is OUR word! You are not allowed to use it.
Not a Santorum campaigner, I presume?