This Week in Geekdom

Hi everyone! Hope December is off to a great start for you all. Now that the holiday season has transitioned from entirely too early corporate-sponsored creep to legitimate year-end juggernaut, let's revel in some festive nerdery. Behold, Captain Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise "singing" Let It Snow.

Science/Technology 

There's no shortage of ideas regarding sources of renewable energy, but some of them are decidedly more feasible than others. In the Far-Fetched-But-Cool-Sounding camp is this plan proffered by Japanese architectural and engineering firm Shimizu, which calls for the construction of a solar power plant on to be constructed on the moon.

Amazon.com's recent announcement that it seeks to one day deliver packages via unmanned drone elicited a whole spectrum of reactions ranging from outright fear to "man, technology is amazing." Some of the most important reactions regarding this and other near-future innovations are those of legislators. This thoughtful piece looks into the murky, often thorny issue of crafting regulation for technology that may not come into use for a generation or more.

The artificial heart is a decades-old technology at this point, but this life-saving device has changed little since its debut. Researchers and engineers at the Texas Heart Institute endeavor not only to improve upon the existing model, but to reconfigure how we conceive of artificial organs as a whole.

While artificial hearts are the inspiration for some, researchers at Tsinghua University Beijing are preoccupied with gaining a better understanding of the real deal. Using gallium as a contrast agent, Qian Wang and Yang Yu have designed this set of 3D x-rays that make it possible to glimpse even the smallest of blood vessels.

The Cassini spacecraft has sent some incredible images back to Earth for our perusal. Fresh in from Saturn are these pictures of the planet's hexagonal mega-storm that astronomers believe may have been buffeting the gas giant's surface for 200 years or more.

Speaking of space, what ever happened to the comet ISON? At this point, scientists are still unsure, but this is what we know about the fate of the celestial wanderer.

It has taken data from 11 different spacecraft, but researchers now agree that the direction of our galaxy's interstellar wind has changed direction over the past 40 years. Here's the science.

Games

On Monday the much chatted about MMO based on Jane Austen, Ever, Jane,achieved its Kickstarter funding goal. Those Regency period enthusiasts out there can still contribute if you'd like to help 3 Turn Productions reach their currently unfulfilled stretch goals.

It's no secret that Cards Against Humanity is insanely popular. As one of the all-time best party games, it's not likely to fall off any gamer's radar any time soon. So how is it possible for such a title to generate more buzz? Turn the concept of a Black Friday sale on its head and profit.

The guys at Dorkly compiled this list of the Most Annoying Gamers on the Internet. So funny and so true. 

TV

Battlestar Galactica has been off the air for several years now, but that hasn't damped the enthusiasm of its fan base. This brilliant tribute video will give you your fix of space refugee drama in just 4 minutes.

General Awesomeness

Italian architect Luigi Prina has an impressive passion for model-building, but not just any models, mind you. This gifted, imaginative gentleman has constructed over 200 stunning models of airships. See some samples of his beautiful work here.

Designer Scott Park loves him some robots (because, really, who doesn't?). He put together this amazing poster of well known mechanical inhabitants of various TV and movie franchises. Bonus: the poster is available for sale!

I leave you with this gift idea for those Super Mario enthusiasts: this re-imagined map of the New York City subway system. You can get prints of the map, or the Legend of Zelda version, Donkey Kong, or Super Mario version of the Chicago subway system here.

As always, best wishes for an awesome week ahead!