Doctor Who Worlds Of Wonder exhibition

Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder exhibition coming here to the National Museum of Scotland in December! Looking at the science of the series, as well as some monster visiting.

Earth Day

Happy fiftieth Earth Day. Save the world.

John Muir

John Muir, born April 21, 1838, is known as Father of the National Parks.

Hubble at 30

The Hubble telescope has been in operation for thirty years. NASA celebrated with an online search by date for the archive by date (though not year) asking “what did Hubble see on your birthday?”

In my case, Seyfert’s Sextet.

The Haunting Of Villa Diodati

“Definitely a hand!”

The Haunting Of Villa Diodati comes weighted with expectations. The Year Without A Summer is one of those stories that science fiction, horror and fantasy fans know very well, from the resulting Frankenstein and The Vampyre to Ken Russell’s Gothic and many more.

I did it in The Door In Time too, drawing ideas from Frankenstein’s Womb by Warren Ellis and Marek Oleksicki, and I suggested it as a historical setting for the Frankenstein-inspired Chronicles Of Darkness RPG Promethean: The Created.

This includes audio and comic Doctor Who. So the TV version is not the first, but as the one that gets on TV it will be the definitive Whovian take for many.

Mary Somerville

A Google Doodle celebrating Mary Somerville, mathematician, geographer and astronomer, who worked out that Neptune must be there.

Nikola Tesla’s Night Of Terror

Considering Goran Višnjić was one of its stars, this felt much less like an episode of Timeless than most of the historicals last year.

Guest stars

One-time Doctor Sir Lenny Henry, Stephen Fry, Goran Visnjic (recently in Timeless) possibly as Tesla so check that historical character off the list...

Apollo 11

Tonight at 3.56 a.m. local time it will be fifty years since human beings walked on the Moon.

Google talked to Mike Collins for their front page animation. Even in this brief interview I learned something - the “barbecue roll” to control the temperature of the vessel as it was in constant sunlight through the voyage.

Media coverage included a BBC Stargazing special talking about what NASA plans to do next, including a test drive of a prototype Mars rover.

Also today, three travellers arrived at the International Space Station.

Look back, look forward, and look up.

Yuri's Night

Tonight in 1961, a human being went into space.

Neural Net Titles Of The Daleks

One solution for a lack of new Who in 2019 - get a computer to write it!

... Maybe not.

Thanks to Adrian Tchaikovsky via Paul Cornell on the Twitter for the link.

Although I’m amazed nobody’s actually done The Daleks Of The Daleks.

My 1500th post here!

Google at 20

Many happy returns! Don’t be evil.

Stephen Hawking's time travel party

Stephen Hawking held a party in 2009, but the public invitation went out the day after, inviting time travellers. He said none showed up... but why did they miss it?

To add another theory, obviously they knew to stay away because history records that they did...

International Women's Day

Among other celebrations of International Women’s Day, Amelia Earhart is now available in Barbie format. Now to run Doctor Who adventures starring others in the range like Frida Kahlo (who has already appeared in DWM), Katherine Johnson (featured in an episode of Timeless), Ava DuVernay (director of A Wrinkle In Time), Olympic boxer Nicola Adams...

Wilder Penfield

A Google Doodle we didn’t get here: the 127th birthday of Wilder Penfield, Canadian immigrant neurosurgeon, famous for this work on mapping the brain and its sensory functions.

His method for treating epileptic seizure was made into a short film that kicked off “I smell burnt toast!” as shorthand for oncoming brain trauma and a fairly standard joke about the subject - I used it myself a couple weeks ago, because I did actually smell burning.

From Another Star

Scientists have confirmed that this asteroid came from another solar system. Any resemblance to any alien probes from any SF stories is completely, um...

Marie Curie

Marie Curie was born 150 years ago today.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

A Google Doodle today honouring the birth, 107 years ago, of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, founder of astrophysics.

Big Finish audio adventures on Spotify

Thirty hours of Doctor Who, among other things, now free to listen to on Spotify, including their first Eighth Doctor story Storm Warning and the classic The Chimes Of Midnight.

Thanks to Steve Ironside for the link!

Yay Cassini!

Fly on.