No, a Chinese Rocket is Probably Not Going to Fall On Your Head

Yes, China needs to do something about massive 5B boosters falling back to Earth in an uncontrolled manner.

No, it's unlikely it will land on your head.

There is a fairly high chance, though, that it will land somewhere in the U.S. The debris will reenter the atmosphere on...well, some time on Saturday, or maybe Sunday. That's the real issue. We don't know.

It could also land in Africa, India, Brazil...

But the risk of it landing on your head is far, far lower than the risk of being struck by lightning. Please ignore the Daily Mail.

(Actually, always ignore the Daily Mail. Except to mock them).

Underground, Overground, Wombling free...

 ...the Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we.

If you aren't familiar with those lyrics, then you're probably not a Gen-X Brit. First aired in 1973, The Wombles was a stop motion cartoon based off of a series of books by Elizabeth Beresford. It ran for only two seasons (but 60 episodes because they were short)...but was re-run many times.

The cartoon featured a group of pointy-nosed, fluffy (vaguely hedgehog-like) creatures who lived beneath Wimbledon Common by collecting and recycling litter. It had a not at all subtle "Reuse and recycle" message, a catchy theme song, and a narrator.

The Wombles didn't even have voice actors. All of the characters were voiced by one man. Sadly, the show is not currently available to watch legally and appears to be out of print in DVD. Britbox, come on, you're falling down on the job. A couple of additional episodes were made in 2016 with actual voice actors, but it doesn't appear to have gone anywhere.

So, why am I dredging up this nostalgia-fest?

The one man who did all the voices for The Wombles was Bernard Cribbins. He started his career on the stage at the age of 14.

He ended it in the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary special where he was seen reprising Wilfred Mott in a wheelchair.

He was also well known for narration work in the long running series Jackanory (in which the wombles were first introduced) and played a role in several of the Carry On movies. He was even in a couple of episodes of The Avengers and played bit parts in the 1967 Bond parody Casino Royale. He was in one of the forgotten Doctor Who Dalek TV movies.

Bernard Cribbins did the 60th anniversary in a wheelchair and died today at the age of 93. I do believe that was a fine note to go out on for an actor who is not nearly as well known as he deserved.

Making good use of the things that we find

Things that the everyday folks leave behind

We Just Found Where To Put Our Moon Colonies

 There are apparently pits and caves on the moon where the temperature stays at about 63 degrees. You know, comfortable for humans.

And some of them may have caves that could also be a stable temperature. This also indicates that it would be easy to build habitats with similar characteristics.

One of the issues with the moon is wild temperature swings. These pits and caves fix that.

It's Not Aliens...Right?

 Right.

A meteorite found in Diablo Canyon in 1891 has been analyzed and turned out to contain an interlocking form of graphite and diamond, never seen before, that forms a layered pattern with stacking faults.

And if we can duplicate this in the lab we can create a material that's light as a feather, strong as a diamond, transparent, highly conductive, and has adjustable electronic properties.

That's so useful one has to wonder about the origin of this meteorite.

It's probably not aliens. It may well only have formed when the meteorite hit.

But this could be used for targeted medicines, tiny tiny electronics with fast charging speeds and bendier screens.

Want a smart tattoo?

RIP David Warner

 We just lost an icon. I think that's the best word, because let's just list some of David Warner's performances:

Alpha in Men In Black: The Series

Spicer Lovejoy in Titanic

Lord Agon in Beastmaster III

Archmage in the Gargoyles series

Ra's Al Ghul in the 1990s animated Batman series

Chancelor Gorkon in Star Trek VI

St. John Talbot in Star Trek V

The Evil Genius in Time Bandits

Ed Gillinger/Sark/Master Control Progam in TRON

Duke Richard of Lionsgate in The Legend of Prince Valiant

Jack the Ripper in Time After Time

He also played at least three kings of England (George III, Edward II and Henry VI) and showed up at least once in so many places: The Omen, Remington Steele, Perry Mason, Twin Peaks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Lost World, Tales From The Crypt, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Star Trek: TNG, Murder, She Wrote, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Babylon 5, the Beastmaster movies, Freakazoid!, the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, Winnie the Pooh, Total Recall 2070, The Outer Limits, the 1990s Superman animated series (as Ra's, so it was presumably a crossover), Star Wars, Baldur's Gate, Batman Beyond, Buzz Lightyear, Planet of the Apes, Scooby Doo, the Hogfather movie, Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders, Penny Dreadful, Mary Poppins, Teen Titans...

He mostly played villains and I think we will all remember how much scenery he consumed. I certainly won't forget his performance as Gorkon.

David Warner died this week at the age of 80.

I think we just found the Vortex

 

No, this isn't the new Doctor Who title sequence even if it does have a blue box in the center...uh oh.

We're...doomed.

Does Reality Exist?

Remember the old saw about if a tree falls in the forest and nobody's there, did it happen? (Bad example, because the trees are there, the various forest critters are there, a forest by definition can't be empty, but it's the one everyone likes).

Physicists in China have come up with a quantum parlor trick called the Mermin-Peres game that demonstrates that if you use a specific set of measurements, you will always win.

Measuring reality appears to create it.

Philosophically, this implies that the universe can't exist without observers and from what we know, observers have to be alive.

So, what was alive right after the Big Bang? Or are we...or some other sapient species...creating the universe by observing it even though we can't exist without the universe? Eek, quantum headaches.

(You could also use this as a reasonable argument for the existence of God...or at least of some kind of Prime Mover. But I don't think the system requires God).