Valleys and Troughs

NASA's Puffin concept not quite a flying car, but still awesome.

We've long considered the greatest disillusionment of adulthood to be the realization that we will not likely live to see flying cars (if anyone ever will) as promised so often in our youth and discussed here before. Yet NASA refuses to let the dream wholly die, and if their latest incarnation of the personal flying machine isn't quite what we had in mind, we're not exactly going to split hairs. And so we have the Puffin:

The Puffin is something of a personal V-22 Osprey, complete with vertical-takeoff and landing capability (but minus the squad of
Marines). But rather than tilting the rotors forward for horizontal
flight, the whole craft -- cockpit and all -- pitches forward, meaning the pilot flies from a prone position. During takeoff and landing the tail splits into four legs that serve as landing gear, and flaps on the wings deploy to keep the aircraft stable as it lifts and descends.

Let's be clear about this. We are completely behind this effort, and believe wholeheartedly that anything which brings us closer to personal, everyday flight is a major step toward the pinnacle of human achievement. And with a theoretical top speed of 300 miles an hour and a maximum altitude of 30,000 feet the Puffin, at least in concept, is formidable. But it's really more of a miniaturized helicopter than an actual flying car. This is a delicate but significant distinction. Flying cars are sleek, they are round, one operates them as one would a car that is simply not at the mercy of gravity. To wit:

This is of course one of countless fictional incarnations of the flying car, but it's a fairly true representation of what we're looking for. And we know we're not alone in this. Whether or not NASA's vision of the flying machine is a stepping stone on the path to realizing our dreams remains to be seen. We can only hope that in the future toward which we are going, we won't need roads.

VALLEY?

via popsci

Dolphins second only to humans in intelligence, for all the good it does them.

One place we've never felt remotely comfortable is the ocean - we've spoken about this several times - but one thing that's always assuaged our fears of the deep blue sea is the implicit alliance that has always existed between man and dolphin. And according to new research, our faith in our hairless marine counterparts may be well-justified:

New MRI scans show that dolphin brains are four to five times larger for their body size when compared to another animal of similar size, according to Lori Marino, a senior lecturer in neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University, and one of the world's leading dolphin experts. Humans also possess an impressive brain-to-body ratio.

Marino admits that "size isn't everything," naturally, but points to the complexity of the dolphin neocortex and the exhibition of human-like ability to learn as indications of substantial brainpower. And just to ruin everyone's good times, she points out that "scientific evidence on dolphin sensitivities reveals that they are vulnerable to trauma and suffering when forced to live in the confined context of marine parks." So once again science has taken away something we love and replaced it with guilt and shame. And we wonder why people would rather watch Jersey Shore than read Science Magazine. They both make us feel bad about ourselves, but at least one of them is entertaining.

TROUGH

via Discovery News

To get us started on the right track: gratuitous photo of Vikki Blows (our new favorite color is yellow).

It's been a while, clearly, but as we said, we intend to get back on the horse here. And what better way to ease back onto the internets than with photos of the greatest exotic woman there is?

Yeah. Pretty hard to imagine waking up and seeing this, but then that's why we sleep with our laptop at arm's length. And just for good measure, and because we love what we do and feel as though it should be celebrated, the following:

Well. Not much else to say except that we are back, and (hope to be) better than ever. Thank you, and Godspeed.

VALLEY, big-time.

via fanpix

Of forgiveness.

Negligence:

Main Entry: neg·li·gence
Pronunciation: \ˈne-gli-jən(t)s\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 a : the quality or state of being negligent b : failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances
2 : an act or instance of being negligent

Not much to say in our defense other than the following: we have been away for some time, physically as well as otherwise, and in this time have wrestled with creative ideas and impulses and other such insufferably boring notions nobody ever wants to hear about. It is enough to say that going forward there will once more be posts, though perhaps not as many as before. Unless of course people like you start sending us money, or food, or allow us to sleep in your homes. Still we offer this apology: we are sorry, we hope this never happens again, and we love you all.

VALLEY, once again.