Sky@Night

July 30, 2005 5:25 AM

The Sky At Night Every episode of the BBC science series made since the end of 2001 viewable online. Anything I know about the universe I learnt from Patrick Moore.
posted by feelinglistless (17 comments total)

Wow!

Now that is a great site.

Does anybody know of sites devoted to the development of the Holodeck?

The Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois has been researching and developing the Holodeck for over a decade, and the Digital Computing Laboratory has had a prototype for at least as long.
posted by Shouting at 5:39 AM on July 30, 2005

Patrick Moore is a god amongst men.
posted by i_cola at 7:14 AM on July 30, 2005

This is really cool. Thanks for the link.
posted by OmieWise at 7:27 AM on July 30, 2005

Thank you for a great link!
posted by bjgeiger at 8:09 AM on July 30, 2005

Wow.
posted by srboisvert at 8:31 AM on July 30, 2005

Very cool. Here's a link for those curious about how they're handling their rights concerns. I have tremendous admiration for the BBC's willingness to share their material this way. Good news, this. Thanks for the link.
posted by Empty Planet at 8:41 AM on July 30, 2005

Dear BBC: Thank you for your generosity. This is wonderful stuff. For the benefit of mankind, please knock it off with the fucking Real streaming. Thanks.
posted by majick at 8:53 AM on July 30, 2005

Now THIS belongs to the Best of the Web. Somebody at the BBC understands the power of the web. 300kbps connection required, it looks like.

Anybody know any good utilities for OS X or Windows that will capture streaming Real video/audio files? (This would allow people with slower connection speeds to download and play they them.)
posted by spock at 9:40 AM on July 30, 2005

Patrick Moore gave me my love of things distant and shiney. i_cola got it right.
posted by veedubya at 10:02 AM on July 30, 2005

Whatever about his flirtation with racist politics, Moore is perhaps the coolest monocled TV personality in the world. And then there's the famous fly swallowing incident where, given his narrow time slot and determination to speak as quickly as possible, he apparently refused to stop speaking even as a huge bluebottle fly visibly entered his mouth. Faced with a choice between pausing to extract the fly, taking up precious seconds, or to press on, he did what all great TV presenters should do, swallowed his pride, and swallowed the fly.

Early editions were transmitted live from the BBC's Lime Grove studios, which allowed for the occasional unforeseen event. Moore once swallowed a fly live on air and, on another occasion, he had to think on his feet when a Russian guest turned out not to speak any English; the interview went ahead in pidgin French.

It's a pity we don't get direct links to some of the more choice episodes...
posted by meehawl at 10:10 AM on July 30, 2005

[Don't forget to thanks us UK TV licence payers! Something I'm only to happy to pay due to the continued brilliance of the BBC. They might not get everything right but they ensure that the UK has the best TV & radio in the world.]
posted by i_cola at 10:28 AM on July 30, 2005

"Flirtation with racist politics" is a strange way to describe attempts to limit Muslim immigration to the U.K.

Twice within the last month, Muslim terrorists have bombed the subways in London.

You might want to read about the many radical Islamic mosques within the U.K. that openly promote terrorism.

You can agree or disagree with immigration policies, but to describe attempts to limit immigration as "racist" reveals a political agenda on your part that has little to do with reality. In fact, I suspect that you've slandered this man.

One of the unfortunate aspects of the internet is this ability to slander people anonimously. I'd urge you to exercise restraint.
posted by Shouting at 10:36 AM on July 30, 2005

Shouting, you should exercise restraint.
posted by asok at 11:09 AM on July 30, 2005

Ignore Shouting ... MetaTalk.
posted by ericb at 11:35 AM on July 30, 2005

BBC...the best TV & radio in the world...

The BBC is mighty impressive. While here in the States we can only get BBC America as a cable television channel and BBC World broadcasts on public radio - at least we get some of it!
posted by ericb at 12:06 PM on July 30, 2005

Patrick Moore is a god amongst men.

Plus he plays a mean xylophone...

(C'mon, someone had to do it.)
posted by Katemonkey at 12:24 PM on July 30, 2005

I've never seen this show before, but I follow astronomy and I am in LOVE with this old queen and his eccentric and breathtakingly uncomfortable set! What's with the taped-up cat picture, yo?



Thanks for the great link. I'll be watching all of these.
posted by squirrel at 9:25 PM on July 30, 2005