Miscellaneous Links (11 June 2009)

Astronomy and Science:
Spirit Encounters Soft Ground on Mars

Spokes Reappear on Saturn's Rings

One Armed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4725 (Of all the recent APOD pictures I liked this one the best.)

A Dusty Iris Nebula

High population density triggers cultural explosions

We Knew Black Holes Were Massive. Now Double That.


Comics:
Dilbert ("Is there some sort of rule against collecting money for your own birthday?" Why didn't I think of that? ;) )

Luann (Typical American fair food: "Chocolate-dipped deep-fried donuts on a stick!")

One Big Happy


Others:
IZ Reloaded: The 40 Second Electric Toothbrush (And Ladies, Father's Day is right around the corner! ;) )

Photoshop Disasters: Hugo Boss: All This And No Brains Too (Low-brow modeling. ;) )

Kennedy International: Mobiusbiking! (Who's first?)

Strange Maps: 391 – Ireland As 100 People

Strange Maps: 389 – America’s Mean Streak

Strange Maps: 388 – US States As Countries of Equal Population (Singapore = Colorado!)


Science Fiction:
MIND MELD: New SF/F Recommendations for the Golden Age Reader (The post is a little long, and science fiction lends itself to subjective differences in tastes; however, the mind map at the bottom of the post, giving suggestions to different themes within SF/F was rather interesting - and with some good choices.)

Science Fiction And Interest In Space Exploration ("Does the predominance of Harry Potter over science fiction bode well or ill for the future of public spaceflight support? What science fiction and non-fiction books would you give to a child or teenager to inspire them about space exploration?")

1,001 Science Fiction Story Ideas

Ten of the Most Classic Science Fiction Movie Scenes

Star Trek ("How plausible does SF have to be? Not in terms of "ideas," but in terms of human behavior.")

Mary Robinette Kowal - The Worst-Dressed Women Warriors in Fantasy

The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi (Characters, not writers - unfortunately.)