src: the AoSHQ book thread

It Was Only Logical: An Asteroid for Spock

I am pleased to learn that actor Leonard Nimoy has been given a singular honor: The asteroid 4864 Nimoy has been named after him.

The asteroid is very roughly 10 km across and is in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. It orbits the Sun once every 3.9 years.

Oh, how I wish it had a seven year period!

Grace Lee Whitney, Yeoman Rand on ‘Star Trek,’ dead at 85

Grace Lee Whitney, who played Yeoman Janice Rand in the original “Star Trek” series and a handful of movies based on the series, died Friday at her home in Coarsegold, California. She was 85.

[…]

On the official “Star Trek” website, startrek.com, Whitney was described as “one of ‘Star Trek’s’ greatest cautionary tales and also one of the franchise’s most satisfying renaissance stories.” She was written out of the show in its first season and struggled with alcohol and drug problems before finding recovery, reprising the Rand role in the “Star Trek” films and devoting her life to helping others.

Nimoy was taken to the hospital earlier this week and treated for lung disease. His son told the Associated Press he died in Los Angeles.

The actor wrote on Twitter last month that he suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, despite quitting smoking 30 years ago.

Elevator Redesign Straight From the Future

With the new elevator proposed by ThyssenKrupp, elevators as we know them could be a thing of the past. While the invention of the elevator made the skyscraper possible, this new elevator could once again redefine the urban architecture and design. The new elevator would be able to go up and down, as well as side to side, and do so without any cables or pulleys, or the need to wait for the elevator in case you just missed it.

They dubbed this concept Multi and it is based on the same technology that is behind Shanghai’s super-fast Maglev train, which was built by Transrapid International (a joint venture between Siemens and ThyssenKrupp). This elevator would be propelled by a magnet-based drive, with each cab featuring one set of induction motors for horizontal and vertical movement. The tracks along which these cabs would run, would be attached to the wall, eliminating the need for cables. Furthermore, because of this novel design, there could be more than one cab travelling through the shaft, meaning that a cab could pick up passengers every 15 to 30 seconds. This would mean smaller and slower elevators, which would still get you to your destination faster.