This Week in Geekdom

Happy weekend everyone!  Just a quick post this time around and hopefully, hopefully getting back to real posts again soon. This past month has been unexpectedly tough in a whole bunch of ways BUT May is nearly upon us and, with a new month, there shall be new nerdy awesomeness!

Science/Technology

So 3-D printing has been a legit thing for a few years now. So why isn't the price of the technology coming down so we can, you know, have access to and use it? Here's your answer.

Magnets, how do they work? Well, aside from generating that meme, that question has perplexed quite a few physicists when they attempt to "project" magnetic fields over a given distance. A magnetic field can be extremely powerful and useful, but was effectively limited to its polar bases until these researchers developed a type of "hose" to project fields pretty much wherever they wanted.

60 Years ago this past Thursday four intrepid scientists concluded that DNA generally assumes a helix shape. This is the story of their paradigm-shifting discovery.

What if your college professor gave you full license to cheat on his exam? How would you react? Check out the story of one UCLA professor who presented his students with exactly this scenario.

Frustrating: typing on your handheld device with your thumbs or index fingers. If this is frequently the case for you, fear not, a new keyboard layout may not be too far away.

Holy thermodynamic adherence! Earlier this week, astronomers spotted a galaxy with the ability to convert ambient energy into stars with nearly 100% efficiency.  

Games

In what will almost certainly not be the last of THQ-published franchises to be snapped up by other developers at a bankruptcy-necessitated bargain price, Gearbox Software announced this week that it had acquired the beloved strategy franchise, Homeworld. The purchase came on the heels of a failed crowdfunding attempt bring the property into the hands of its most devout fans.

Since EA couldn't possibly allow for a stable and enjoyable gaming experience, they released the first major patch for Sim City this week. And...yeah...about that. 

Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concert series has released a smattering of new tour dates. Check out the updated schedule to see if they're coming to a venue near you.

TV

Though we try to write this off as another "hiatus", it appears that Futurama may be gone for good this time. On Monday, Comedy Central announced that they would not renew the animated series for another season. The show's producers are in the process of trying to find a new home for their creation but, unless there's a massive response from the fans, they seem content to let the series come to an end on September 4th.

Less saddening, but still disappointing was the announcement that the upcoming season of the Venture Brothers has been pushed back from its original release in mid-May to midnight on June 2nd. There was no official reason given for the rescheduling, but we will, in fact, have new Venture Brothers this year.

I leave you with this excellent interview with Clark Gregg (aka Agent Coulson)...because we're not already excited enough about the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.