Tuesday, January 14, 2014

2014 Breakthrough Prizes, Terraforming, A Garden On The Moon, And Honesty


Nerds Just Want To Have Fun

Okay, getting back to my roots. The following are three topics will help form the platform of my blog this year, along with other Science and Sci-Fi stuff:
 
What To Watch: Science Channel has been named the official broadcast partner of the inaugural 2014 BREAKTHROUGH PRIZES, a one-of-a-kind global event which rewards and recognizes some of the greatest minds in the science world. Hosted by actor Kevin Spacey, and celebrities like Conan O'Brien and Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s greatest thinkers as they pay tribute to the brilliance, hard work and leadership of world-renowned scientists.
 
The world premiere special 2014 BREAKTHOUGH PRIZES will premiere on Science Channel on Monday, January 27 at 9 PM ET/PT.
 
The 2014 Breakthrough Prizes are awarded to those who make major breakthroughs (I love that word) and contributions that represent significant advances in our fundamental knowledge of the world. At the ceremony, seven prizes (six for life sciences and one for psychics) of $3 million each will be awarded for a total of $21 million.
Fun Fact: NASA Hopes To Put A Garden On The Moon. Neil Armstrong may have made a giant leap forward for mankind when he landed on the moon more than 40 years ago, but scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in California are looking out for plantkind. The Lunar Plant Growth Habitat project is hoping to put some basil, flowers and turnips on the moon in late 2015.
 
In addition to the goal of an ever-so-slightly greener moon, NASA is also looking to make this an educational opportunity. The agency also has plans to send replica habitats to schools across the country so that the experiment can be repeated in the classroom. READ STORY HERE
 
Did You Know: Terraforming is the process of transforming a hostile environment into one suitable for human life. Once just the subject of science fiction novels, it is now becoming a viable research area. The famed astronomer and Pulitzer prize winner, Carl Sagan, says that there is enormous promise in the search for ancient life on Mars. If life was once sustainable on Mars, it is important to know what caused Mars to evolve into the cold and lifeless planet it is today. With this knowledge, we can possibly in a few decades terraform Mars by reversing the process. REFERNCE
 
Did You Know Part Deux: Could we terraform our moon? No. The moon is too small and therefore does not have enough gravity to hold an atmosphere necessary to terraform it.
 
Carrie Butler: Carrie has revealed the cover art for HONESTY. And she redesigned her blog look. She also created the badge for Wormfest 2014. Carrie is seriously talented!
 
Finally: If you haven’t already, take a moment to check out Monday’s post regarding my release date for Escalation and sign up for Second Annual 2014 National Wormhole Day Blogfest.

20 comments:

  1. 2014 Breakthrough prizes sounds interesting. Wishing you every success with Escalation's release!

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  2. Psychics? That does surprise me. I like the idea of terraforming and very much believe it will be the way of our future. Not that I will be around to see much of it, but having seen so many ideas come to fruition in my life time, I firmly believe these things will also come to pass.

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  3. Hi Stephen .. it'll be good to have your science series back .. and hearing more about scientific developments ..

    Cheers Hilary

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  4. Three million dollars is one heck of a prize.
    So soon we'll have moon flowers?

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  5. I wonder if there's anything in science fiction that we won't at least have a go at trying one day? I sometimes get this weird feeling that I'm actually living in the 'future' and it's a bit disorientating, to be honest.

    $3? Wow...

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  6. Its not just our world here on Earth that we're changing in incredible ways. But also our solar system. Maybe not today. But between governments and private industry, it will be a race to see who exploits what as soon as possible.

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  7. Plants on the moon! That's sooo awesome! I wonder if they're working on it right here in Houston. I would love to see that :)

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  8. DUDE! How did I miss Carrie's sign up? Yikes. I must be living under a rock.

    Plants on the moon, teraforming... Um, yeah, I'll take my lovely little plot of earth out back, thanks. =) LOL!

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  9. Wow! So much to read and take in. Here's to that release! I'd never heard about Terraforming, so thanks for the new knowledge. If there's a garden on the moon, I'm signing up for the first seat available. Love Carrie's new cover!

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  10. Thank you for making this science stuff not only understandable but interesting for me (no easy feat). And now...I must help my son study for his biology final. Bleck.

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  11. This is what NASA is doing. I'll be covering much of what private industry is doing. That's where the real fun is.

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  12. That's fascinating! I do wonder if not long after they'll start sending plants to Mars. (Though there would be other problems making sure the plants lived long enough to get there!) I haven't heard about the awards on Science Channel. I'm marking it on my calendar. Thanks! :)

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  13. Thanks for the shout-out, Stephen! :)

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    1. A well deserved shout out! I gave you one on the previous post too as a caption for the badge.

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  14. Lots of interesting tidbits Steve.

    .....dhole

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  15. I'm all signed up for the wormhole blogfest . . . was lots of fun to think about last year :-) YAY for your almost release day!

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  16. You really caught my interest with the Terraforming. I need to read more on that. Thanks.

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  17. You caught my attention with Terraforming. Had never heard of it. Will tuck it away in my mind for future use.

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  18. A garden on the moon? How interesting. I'd like to learn more about that.

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  19. Off topic: Stephen, sorry to be so late replying to you. I've been out of town. I would have loved to have a screen shot the day you ran The Frugal Book Promoter as your week's fave. And I love how you've done your blog. Thinking you might like to submit a Blog Tip of the Month complete with a link to your fave post (specifically for writers) for my newsletter. If that's too much, even one such a tip. You're doing so many things right. Find me at hojonews (at) AOL (dot) com.

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