Already appeared in Gattica, but deserving of other appearances. The central building at Cal Poly Pomona 30 miles east of Los Angles.

"Here's what IBEX data suggests that outermost region looks like from behind:"

Actually the war did happen and Kahn won and does actually control more than a quarter of the world's population. His empire is known as "Starbucks."

The Chevy company found a way to make the Citation hatchback exciting - slap a nice luxury interior in there, change the name, and, most importantly, put an engine under the hood that breaks down constantly and has such unusual parts that it is expensive and nearly impossible to repair in a timely manner. Such was my…

I have been around lots of very intelligent people and it seems that there does come a point at which intelligence goes from a blessing to a curse, if for no other reason than their brains can move so fast that other people have trouble keeping up. That seems to lead to frustration, anger, and alienation. Plus also,…

My grandmother drank Schaefer, but mostly because it only cost $1 per sixpack at the Bi-Lo grocery store. No other reason.

As an old war philosopher once said, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.

It would seem like a very poor plan to drive our solar system to visit another solar system as Fred Zwicky suggested, given that the consequences of two stars meeting in space would be a trifle unfavorable to the earth and our unlucky equivalents that might be living near that other star. It would be kind of like…

What worries me is that it will turn out that we are ourselves living inside a vast computer simulation, so this IS virtual reality. Well, actually, that is not what worries me. Rather, I am worried that the real world outside this one might turn out to be duller and more vexing that the one in which we are living and…

And the other universe was all drunk and took off after the collision and probably didn't have insurance anyway, so we're all stuck paying for the repairs. Thanks, Other Universe.

The Drake Equation has always made me vaguely uncomfortable. I guess the person quoted in this piece has a point in the sense that the equation is a way of organizing thinking about a problem rather that a way of solving the problem, which is fine (kinda like Philosophy). And yet, I have never been able to shake the…

The 1984 Dune. Which pretty much gutted the book and made the elements it did preserve seem utterly, comically nonsensical.

I really wanted to hate Warm Bodies, but it was actually kind of a fun movie. But of course, once a genre becomes the topic of a RomCom/Satire, it is over. Bye bye Zombies.

"Without it, physicists face the harsh prospect that those laws are just an arbitrary, messy outcome of random fluctuations in the fabric of space and time."

Does the Marine Layer make my ass look fat?

Yeah, but it makes me profoundly stupid. One good hit and I am gone, gone, gone, done for the night. I guess I am acutely sensitive or something.

I encountered a plant yesterday that should be added to the list, though I cannot decide whether it is hideous or awesome as a baby name - the tenacious aquatic weed "Ludwigia," pronounced like Ludwig (as in von Beethoven).

Already there. Been doing it for years, though not always well (but sometimes)

Curiously, my ideal drug has already been invented: It makes me happier, wittier, and all together more attractive, then it facilitates an excellent night's sleep. It's known by its street name "beer." And I am willing to pay a lot for it.

Seems like the Empire in Star Wars is a good model (leaving aside the storm troopers' convenient inability to hit important targets) - it has a space fleet of diverse ship types, from nimble short range fighters to hulking star destroyers and a Death Star or two. It has land forces that are equipped and for a variety…