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My favourite quote of his, stolen from a news site today: Interviewer “You’ve stated that you believe there could be an infinite number of parallel universes. Does that mean that there is a universe out there where I'm smarter than you?” Hawking: “Yes, and also a universe where you’re funny.”

I come from the 80s TV series (I have it on DVD) and have heard bits of the original radio series. (And there was one of those groovy black plastic discs, which I heard once). I also read the books for 3 & 4, but personally I think they went on a bit too long! (Agrajag was the only character I...

"Do you want source with that?" (sorry - only robotics pun I could come up with at short notice. I was going to say "Do you want PI's with that?" but PID would be the minimum practical, and didn't rhyme.)

It always amazed me that those were the days when a person could do elite level athletics in spare time, then give it up a few years later and go on to a "proper" career. (Medical research in his case.)

I heard a quote years ago (with no supporting evidence) that if someone left a mobile phone up there, it would be more powerful than any natural radio source in space. (It's not a fair comparison, as there are lots of other artificial sources in - and now around - the solar system, but it...

For some reason, that picture of the "guy" in the non-functioning car makes me think of the end scene in Dark Star. :)

More on the (mechanical) rollercoaster here I think: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-42797173/k-nex-builds-toys-rollercoaster-you-can-ride-in-vr (Yes, I kind of fancy one.)

Ouch, not permanent I hope. As long as it's not your middle finger. ...how would we drive without it? :)

Now THAT adds a whole new meaning to Eckythump! :rofl: (Obscure '70s TV reference. It's almost as if they knew...)

A British building site in January. Not a lot of work going on I see! :)

You're quite right, it's a very far-out concept that might work in theory but would be incredibly costly. I think of these things as a really interesting bit of engineering speculation, done when the world was very different, and of course in the 40 years since we know a lot more about our own...

There's a "1983 O'Neill OMNI Interview" at this location: http://www.askmar.com/Massdrivers/ On page 6 of that PDF he talks about food a little. He likes the idea of agriculture being separate to allow a lower oxygen concentration, different temperature/humidity etc. Also there's a NASA...

There were various tales of his dislike for orange juice too :) (On Apollo 16 a microphone was left open by accident, and in the LM John Young was complaining to Charlie Duke about the nutrient-spiked citrus concoctions they were forced to drink. I don't remember the exact words but there are...

Apparently Young was in charge of the astronaut office at the time of the first shuttle flight, and selected himself for it! He did a lot of interesting things, but the first shuttle flight gets my attention - a lot of sources have said it was probably the most audacious test flight of any...

Somewhere on the web is a very large PDF version of the early design studies. I saw is a few years ago. They include basic mechanical stresses on the hull, arrangements for the hydroponic gardens, etc... Edit: this might be the one I'm thinking of (a bit slow to load)...

This is probably not allowed, but I'd like a name in honour of Clyde Tombaugh. A (very) small sample of his ashes are on board, so theoretically he's getting there long before anyone else will...

"Not because it is easy, but because it is hard" It's a real pity there were never any good quality film made of the longer-lived launch attempts, it must have looked fantastic as it got off the pad (I mean of course those tests where it did successfully get in the air.) There are many old...

According to this catalogue, 3727 at the moment (may not all be confirmed though?): http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/

That's a real mess! I wouldn't even want to witness something like that, let alone be involved in it...

I googled for speed of sound at Saturn and found this which covers the four gas giants (the author acknowledges it isn't complete, but it is interesting anyway): http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz/soundspeed.pdf Figure 6 seems to imply a minimum of 600 m/s for Saturn, but that minimum is...