X PRIZE five year anniversary

by | Oct 4, 2009 | Blog, Uncategorized

On this day five years ago, Brian Binnie won the Ansari X PRIZE by hurtling out of the atmosphere faster than a rifle bullet. It was the second time in less than a week that SpaceShipOne made the trip from Mojave Airport, fulfilling the prize requirement for a...

Transhumans in Woodstock

by | Oct 3, 2009 | Blog, Uncategorized

I love this town. Last night, just down the road from my office on Tinker Street, in the same studio where I recorded this video, a group of world-class thinkers in applied science fiction came together to talk about what it means to be human. Ray Kurzweil, James J....

First poet in space

by | Sep 30, 2009 | Blog, Uncategorized

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté blasted off for the International Space Station this morning aboard a Russian Soyuz space capsule.He’ll spend a week and a half in orbit on what he’s calling the first poetic social mission from space. The event will...

SpaceX preps for Falcon 9 launch

by | Sep 24, 2009 | Blog, Uncategorized

SpaceX has been busy since my visit to company HQ for my recent Popular Mechanics article.I’ve just received a progress report from the company, including some gorgeous photos of vehicle assembly and testing in progress.The Falcon 9 launch vehicle is getting...

It’s a wrap for DARPA audio book

by | Sep 23, 2009 | Blog, Uncategorized

I’ve just finished reading the audio version of my book on DARPA, The Department of Mad Scientists, for Random House Audio.My director, David Rapkin, seemed particularly taken with the chapter on the Urban Challenge, DARPA’s autonomous vehicle race.David...