This Week in Geekdom

The calendar says it's Spring, but our surroundings make us inclined to disbelieve. Can you guess it's snowing again? Seriously winter, you had your time...now make like a landspeeder and move along. Lingering House Stark mottos notwithstanding, we're working on all sorts of good stuff for you guys here behind the scenes. The coming weeks will see more fun games, the return of cosplay-related posts, and at least one (hopefully fun) contest. All that goodness is on its way, but, for now, lets get down to the Week in Geekdom.

Books

The final novel in the late Terry Pratchett's Discworld series will be published this coming October.

Comics

Image: Archie Comics

Archie Comics, after revamping both Sabrina the Teenaged Witch and Afterlife with Archie, will be introducing a new all-horror imprint.

This past week there was much gnashing of teeth and internet screaming concerning a certain variant cover for Batgirl. If you missed out on this here's a summary of what went down.

Games

The feud between Kojima Productions and its publisher, Konami, looks like it's reaching an ugly head. Earlier this week the publisher confirmed that Kojima would be leaving Konami's purview after the release of Metal Gear Solid 5.

Valve's Gabe Newell talks about his company's new VR headset and the likelihood of them ever making Half-Life 3.

Speaking of VR, it's no secret that the technology is on the cusp of breaking into mainstream video gaming. If Valve's forthcoming headset isn't enough to get you excited, here are 10 VR games poised to make off with all your free time.

It's getting increasingly difficult to be able to play older PC games and, in this article by Escapist, we learn why this issue is only going to get more pervasive over time.

There's no shortage of examples of video game Kickstarters that have yielded vaporware or colossal flops, but here is the story of Harebrained Schemes (makers of Shadowrun: Hong Kong), one of the few crowdfunded studios that seemingly has done everything right. 

If you are both a Star Trek fan and a player of the mobile game Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff then the next month or so will be filled with awesome as the latter features a special all-Trek event.

Movies/TV

A few very driven fans of Archer may have uncovered one of the most complex easter eggs of all time.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be producing and starring in a Fraggle Rock movie.

Science/Technology

This past Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of the very first spacewalk.

Our sun was remarkably active this week and said nuclear storminess produced some impressive auroras. If you missed out, no worries, here are some of the best pictures of these geomagnetic light shows.

Nvidia has developed a $10,000 USD computer that allegedly can teach cars to drive.

Online retail megagiant Amazon.com has been given the all-clear by the Federal Aviation Administration to begin testing of their package delivery drones.

The Ig Nobels, deliverers of some of the best weird science we humans can come up with, turn 25 this year.

Google has sunk nearly half a billion dollars into the project and we can finally get this glimpse of the work produced by its augmented reality start up, Magic Leap.

It's a subject that has fascinated humanity for eons: what happens during a near-death experience?

The current issue of Nature Medicine includes a report that indicates Type 2 diabetics may be able to control their insulin levels with the help of a common over-the-counter cough suppressant.

What's (potentially) the best way to fight leukemia? Turn the cancerous cells into immune cells.

It's a frustrating phenomenon that almost everyone has experienced: you definitely know the word or concept needed in a given situation, but you can't for the life of you recall what it is. What causes these 'brain farts'? Here comes the science.

It may be a giant when compared to most of its biological counterparts, but this Octopus is no kaiju.

Microsoft really, really wants you to switch over to Windows 10 when it launches this summer. It wants this so badly that you can reap the benefits of the free upgrade even if you're currently running a pirated copy of another version of Windows.

Ever wonder what happened to GeoSites, Netscape, or Lycos? Well wonder no more.

Researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science have detailed their discovery of not one, not two, but five distinct types of transitory silica in the latest edition of Nature Communications.

What does flying a kite have to do with exploring the surface of Mars? Potentially quite a bit.

Crowdfundables For Your Consideration

Neon Sanctum is a fast-paced, richly realized RPG set in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk universe. Players use a set of custom cards to track their various abilities, allowing for fluid gameplay while also making the game highly digestible to new players. The Kickstarter for Neon Sanctum is live now and will run until April 19th.

Loot and Recruit aims to be 'a new breed of deck-builder'. In this quick and beautifully illustrated game, players are goblins seeking to lay claim to the goblin throne during the course of a fairly rambunctious festival. The campaign for Loot & Recruit is running until April 9th.

General Awesomeness/Feats of Nerdery

How much would it cost to build the Millennium Falcon? According to DeAgostini Model Space, nearly 3.2 billion GBP. If that's a tad rich for your blood, you can always go with this far less expensive 1:1 scale model.

Speaking of the Falcon, check out this incredibly detailed all-paper model that was four full years in the making.

On Tuesday lunar pioneer Buzz Aldrin gave us this epic photo of Stonehenge.

It's an amazing shot of Loch Ness, but not for the reason you may think.

It's beer brewed with yeast that went to space. Enough said.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!