Patrizio Raffa ENTEG Institute, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Email: p.raffa (at) rug (dot) nl Download PDF Since its release in 1990 by Lucasfilm Games, The Secret of Monkey Island has become a classic … Read more
TL;DR I claim that modern science is synonymous with open source software. This post explains why, why it matters, and what you can (and should) do next. Why do you care about (open source) software? – Everyone I spend a … Read more
Last year Christopher Reynolds started to worry that his space telescope was going to be killed. The mission had started taking shape nine years earlier, a billion-dollar orbiting observatory that would look back in time into the early universe to … Read more
For centuries, science has been a top-heavy enterprise. A vanishingly small number of field-leading experts has the propensity to shape knowledge. They who win the Nobels. They who secure the multi-year, millions-of-dollars grants. They who rewrite the textbooks. Other workers … Read more
By Matthew Claxton Written science fiction is dying. Long term trends see fewer books making their way to shelves in the sci-fi section. Although sci-fi looks healthy from a perspective of films, video games, and TV, written sci-fi has long … Read more
Tons of words have been written about the Trump Administrations war on Science in Universities. But few people have asked what, exactly, is science? How does it work? Who are the scientists? What do they do? And more importantly, why … Read more
Today I’m releasing the XR2000: A programming challenge with extensive science fiction backstory. This is a project I’ve long wanted to make, and it has slowly come to life in the last few years. I love a good puzzle or … Read more
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For other news from February, see my previous grapevine. This report is available free to the public. If you like my writings on genre issues, consider backing my Patreon. Big 3 Magazines Update My report three days ago revealing the … Read more
Walk into any American kitchen, and about 95% of them contain a microwave oven. As do most break rooms, and even many gas stations. Why? Because they do their job, and do it well. Microwave ovens are fast, reheat leftovers … Read more