Facing Easter

“Life only demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible — not to have run away.”

Dag Hammarskjöld

Klassiker och omstarter

En intensiv vecka i den svenska rollspelshobbyn.

1. Riotminds släpper nästan samtaliga gamla Drakar och Demoner-produkter som gratis-PDFer (länk >>>)

2. Fria Ligan tänker reboota Mutant i en ny utgåva: Mutant År Noll (länk >>>). Planerad utgivning 2014.

Nytändning 30 år efter guldåldern? Jag, som var med på 1980-talet, kan i alla fall hoppas.

För två år sedan skrev jag tio bloggposter om hur det var då. Här är en länk till den första i serien >>>>

More on ancient Mars

The Curiosity rover has found strong indications that ancient Mars was a more hospitable place for life than what scientists previously have imagined, e.g. the presence of liquid water with pH7. (Link >>>)

“Reality” TV meets space exploration

I am no fan of so called “reality TV” shows, finding them tasteless, ludicrous and/or denigrating. Now a Dutch entrepreneur is raising the stakes of this entertainment niche by proposing to go to Mars for real and turning the expedition into a TV show to cover a part of the costs. He is looking for reckless volunteers for a one-way trip to the Red Planet in the next decade or so. New York Times writes more about here >>>

The website of his Mars One colonization project is located here >>>

The Wikipedia article about the project (link >>>) contains its timeline plus a few acerbic quotes by space technology experts about its unrealistic ambitions.

And here (link >>>) are somewhat more sensible thoughts on how to the same thing, inter alia by former astronauts.

Private enterprises going into space

Since the 1950s, space flight has been the domain of governments due to the associated huge costs and nil profit. But technology is getting cheaper and private ventures are looking for suitable space niches. That is probably a beneficial development, because high-tech companies tend to be more nimble than government agencies. Los Angeles Times has published a brief article on the subject (link >>>)