Veils of technology and speculation

At Public Books, N. Katherine Hayles on narratives of human extinction by Neal Stephenson and Kim Stanley Robinson.

Space tourism

Drinking whisky in space.

Linkage

Trying to gear up for a run - have already curtailed notion of a long one, now just need to get myself out the door for something. Residual fatigue is an obstacle, and hay fever season is upon us; also, not as warm as one might think in April - but really all this just means that I am still very tired!

Miscellaneous linkage:

E. L. Konigsburg has died. I loved so many of her books so much, including the iconic Mixed-Up Files, but I think my two absolute favorites must have always been A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver (what an amazing title aside from everything else - though as someone who has recently felt a bit scathed by 1-star Amazon reviews, I feel slightly relieved to see the vitriol being spilled on this lovely book and its title!) and Father's Arcane Daughter, which I am sorry to see has been retitled My Father's Daughter in the reissue - one of the things I loved as a child about Konigsburg's books was that they made no concessions to imagined notions of children's vocabularies!

At the Guardian: Sebald on Rousseau, Wood/Sinclair/Macfarlane/Self on Sebald.

This is uncanny. (Via Charles. Whole site is very compelling.)

Best thing I saw on the internet this week. (Courtesy of my dad.)

Soviet aerialism

Courtesy of Marina H., a lovely piece by Chloe Aridjis on time spent in  East Berlin researching the early Soviet space program:

One tome suggests applying the four humours to the process of task selection: the choleric individual is quick to learn but, prone to impatience, makes mistakes – therefore best for special assignments rather than routine ones; sanguine types flourish under variety and constant excitement rather than repetition (Gagarin was apparently one of these); phlegmatic types, on the other hand, are recommended for systematic activity; and melancholic types . . . cannot become cosmonauts due to their nervous, fearful temperament, and are best suited to be scientific advisors on ground.

Cooking with Fernet Branca

The influence of space exploration on terrestrial food. (Via Alexis Madrigal.)

"If we were in Andromeda"

Via the Tor blog, an absolutely lovely slideshow of the winners of the 2010 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

Dogsbody

Dogs in space.

Space oddities

Torie Atkinson on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 13.

Jorden Ellenberg on why taking a chance on O-rings is Bayesian Roulette rather than Russian Roulette.

Sex in space

Susan Raizer reviews Laura Woodmansee's Sex in Space:

As many astronauts have found, acclimating oneself to weightlessness very often brings on a sickness akin to motion sickness that might last for several days. Once conditioned, the tourists will then be able to pursue more sophisticated activities, including sex. The conditioning will take a lot of practice as was found by a participant on a hyperbolic flight who tried to embrace a fellow traveler only to rebound! Through the use of small crash dummies, the author demonstrated different positions that might be experimented with. The major difficulty in a weightless environment is the need to anchor the partners or they will float in opposite directions. Once the mechanics are learned, experimentation will provide a unique experience. While the use of the crash dummies was successful in the visualization of these activities, they are not appropriate for viewing by minors.

Interstellar cheese

"I am driving back from High Wycombe with the cheese now."

College fight songs, Vol. 2

Via Lou Anders, the catalog of books, TV/movies and music available for recreational use at the International Space Station (PDF alert).

(I am guessing people bring their own iPods...)

"Nuclear is the answer"

Euan Ferguson has a good Observer piece about James Lovelock, who at age 90 is booked on the inaugural flight of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic...

Able Baker

Plaintive space monkeys (via BoingBoing).