Intelligence and some space stuff (real and fake)

Couple things. First, every five years our favorite intelligence agency, the CIA, funds a detailed forecast for the next fifteen years. Take a look at it here. Interesting reading, especially the part about the rise in economic and technological might of Asia. Surprised? Not me.

And, for you sci-fi geeks out there (me included) the new Battlestar Galactica series premieres tonight. After watching the back-door pilot for this show several times (aka the four-hour mini series), I have to say that I like the direction that the show has gone. It’s darker and grittier and seems to get into the characters quite a bit. Much more than the original series, which I have also been watching lately as Sci-Fi Channel has been running it. (don’t get on my case about the picture. that’s how they are promoting the show. sex sells baby. and this Cylon is hot)

Also, showrunner (aka big boss) of the show, Ron Moore, has started a blog where he will, no doubt, enlighten us as to his thoughts and plans as the series progresses.

The entire cast from the mini series is back and the first episode, called ’33’, picks up almost where the mini series left off: The humans are still on the run, but each time they come out of hyperspace, the Cylon armada catches up 33 minutes later … every 33 minutes. When we join the crew this has been going on for five days. Should be fun. Or, it will crash and burn in a few weeks as some shows seem to do. (sadly, many of mine did just that).

And, in other space news (the real kind) the first close-up peek at Saturn’s moon Titan brought tears to the eyes of scientists at the European Space Agency in Germany. The probe Huygens transmitted back its first packet of data today, including black and white images it captured as it neared the moon’s surface. Here it is: