Basil

Re: Jokes Ah, but is the palindromedary unphrased? Dr. Infamous is unavailable. For now. But there are plenty of supersonic telepathic mechanical penguins with laser eyes around. Dr. Infamous and the s.t.m. penguins w/l.e.'s are products of Basil Twisted Imagination Incorporeal. All rites rehearsed.

Re: A Game Of Questions Are you talking, not typing?

Re: Answers & Questions Q: I hear you went in for one of those "stomach staple" surgeries. How did it go? A: Everything was great, until they attached the thread to a dot-matrix printer.

Re: Astronomers detect mystery flash

Re: "Neat" Pictures While following various links from recent pictures at APOD, I came across this terrestrial treat. Volcano, clouds, and stars. Explanation/discussion here.

Methane gas, that is! Article Big picture. Perhaps it's merely geologic in origin, but I'm hoping it's caused by life!

Have you ever read something where the author is trying to explain Saturn's low density, and he says something like "if you could find a body of water big enough, Saturn would float in it."? Well, I think that's exactly what happened some time in the distant past. You can tell, because Saturn lost its bath sponge! OK, so it's "merely" Hyperion. Not that Hyperion's in "merely" anything. Odd place, that's for sure.

Re: Martian Airplanes? The atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars varies significantly, but can be approximated as .01 that of Earth. The surface gravity is about 0.38 that of Earth. If the area of wing needed is inversely proportional to the atmospheric pressure and directly proportional to the gravity, you would need a wing 38 times as large on Mars as on Earth, to lift the same mass of engine, cabin, controls, etc. (note, MASS, not weight). Such a wing is, itself, of significant mass, so that starting from a given terrestrial configuration, you not only need a larger wing, you now need to lift that more massive wing, which makes the wing even bigger, which is yet more mass to lift, needing a bigger wing, which means.... Thus, the design starts "chasing its own tail." I don't know if one can eventually "catch up," or if it simply isn't possible. I'd bet it can't be done. Mind you, putting wings for control on, essentially, a rocket, might very well be workable.

Re: Skycar! Thank you so much for that link. Repped!

Re: A Game Of Questions How far back is that?

Re: Jokes There's only one way to explain left and right to a palindromedary. You need... A Bacandforthtrian! Dr. Infamous will soon get to work on breeding a Bacandforthtrian, right after he gets the Enig-Maw working right. Dr. Infamous, the Enig-Maw, and the Bacandforthtrian are all the fault of Basil's Twisted Imagination Unrecuperated. Or something like that.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat

Re: A Game Of Questions And, wouldn't they know what your problem is, and just blurt out the solution?

Re: Normal Human Dr. Infamous wishes to purchase 25 "Normal Humans," but only if they can be reprogrammed to obey him, and instructions are given for how to reprogram them in the future are included. If the 25 "Normal Humans" in this order work out, Dr. Infamous may be ordering more in the future. Oh, and they better be compatible with Dr. Infamous's patented supersonic telepathic mechanical penguins with laser eyes! Meanwhile, The Mallard is checking teapots, looking for the one this tempest is in Dr. Infamous, The Mallard, and the supersonic telepathic mechanical penguins with laser eyes are just some of the fine products of Basil's Twisted Imagination, Unincorporated. All rites performed.

Re: Various goodies... Narratio: in the words of Bill the Cat PHBTBTBT! Now, behave yourself or I'll send The Infamous Dr. Infamous after you! j/k Dr. Infamous is another fine product of Basil's Twisted Imagination, Unincorporated. All riots reserved

Re: Skycar! Jet pack across the Channel?!? Tell me more! Please!

Re: A Game Of Questions Can I join the "blueberry pie is tasty" club?

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares Big Trouble in Little China Road Big Trouble in Little China White

Re: A Game Of Questions Do you think I can't hit my own head?

Re: Two pictures Interesting. I remember a similar idea in something from Flying Buffalo. One in the establishments in one of the Citybooks. (The Citybooks are about halfway down that page.)

Re: Another Possible HPA In The Works: Born To Be Wild

Re: A Game Of Questions He says his location is inside my mind; does that mean I have to hit myself?

Re: Answers & Questions Q: A: "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh"; sounding just like snow-pants.

From National Geographic's website: First: Stars going places fast. Second: New findings regarding the magnetosphere. Third: Artist's impression of a pulsar. Fourth: Private space-flight marches on. Fifth: Another picture of Enceladus. (Perhaps the most interesting place in the Solar System. Aside from Earth, of course.) Last but far from least: Seems NASA is going for balloons in a big way. (OK, not so big. But it's encouraging.)

...from National Geographic's website. First, a poisonous mammal! And it's a shrew! (I didn't know there was any other than the platypus.) Next, ten archaeological sites. All kinds of neat stuff for your I. Jones homage to find. Last but not least, a pharaoh's mother's tomb and remains. I hope these inspire.