MetaFilter posts by lucien

Geothermals make me sleepy...

lucien — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 04:05:22 -0800

Sci-fi writer and Marine Biologist Peter Watts puts his first two novels, Starfish and Maelstrom online under Creative Commons license. Behemoth to follow shortly. The most original and starkly vivid account of a dystopian future that I have read for years, made all the more enthralling by Watt's scientific background and knowledge. You will find some of his short stories at the link as well. Via BoingBoing

The Human Penknife

lucien — Wed, 13 Nov 2002 04:37:23 -0800

Taking the adage "be prepared" to the next level Eric, a thirty year old electrician from Lyons, France, has made the record books for having the "most practical suit of clothing". Often dubbed "The Human Penknife" Eric has no less that 1,300 useful objects, ranging from a humble toothbrush to a soldering iron, arranged in carefully designed pouches sewn into his clothing. What won't you leave home without?

lucien — Fri, 25 Oct 2002 13:21:08 -0800

The Compact Disc turns 20.

lucien — Sun, 22 Sep 2002 02:16:17 -0800

Computer gaming ,which once seemed in danger of being entirely trounced by the popularity of console games, now seems healthier than ever, with new game engines taking advantage of speedier processors and the improved capacities of the new age 3D cards. A mere week after the launch of the demo, the PC game Unreal Tournament 2003 has gone gold. Also being launched in the US is "The Thing" which picks up on the story from the John Carpenter movie of the same name. Gamers are also eagerly anticipating "Thief 3," "Doom 3," "Unreal 2," and "Deus Ex 2"

lucien — Sat, 13 Apr 2002 17:18:52 -0800

Cats in Libraries A searchable map of libraries from around the world that have a cat in residence.
from ResearchBuzz

lucien — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 07:45:35 -0800

Could this new digital camera technology finally spell the death of traditional emulsion-film cameras? According to inventor Carver Mead, the X3 photographic sensor chip "delivers two to three times the image-producing power of today's digital cameras." Although not the first to try to bring this promising technology to the market place, Carver believes his new start-up company "Faveon," has made the breakthrough necessary to usher in the age of affordable 35mm film quality digital photography. link via techdirt

lucien — Fri, 08 Feb 2002 05:45:35 -0800

Scientists in Australia have discovered a new gene. Called BRCA3, this genetic mutation causes up to 10% of the breast cancer cases which run within families. This breakthrough completes the search for the trilogy of gene mutations. The first two gene mutation markers were discovered in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

lucien — Wed, 19 Dec 2001 11:06:02 -0800

That new car smell can make you sick Sure, it might have lost twelve thousand the moment I drove it out of the show room, but you just can't beat that the smell of a new car.