News from the University of Planet: Spider Silk

As Commissioner Pravin Lal points out,

"Until quite recently spider silk had the highest tensile strength known to man. And the name silksteel pays homage to the arachnid for good reason."

Here Lal is talking about the ability of humans to weave spider silk-like chemical structures into a metal that can be used as light but very tough armor: silksteel. As it turns out, there has been a lot of research into this precise application of spider silk recently.

An article from Popular Mechanics describes it, along with five other applications:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/6-spider-silk-superpowers#slide-2

Planet Orbiting Alpha Centauri Is Found

The story conveyed in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri took one step closer to coming true recently when astronomers found an earth-sized planet orbiting the Alpha Centauri system, the star system nearest our sun.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/earth-exoplanet-alpha-centauri/

No word on whether the planet is named "Planet" yet, or whether they'll wait for the Unity ship to arrive before naming it. The planet is very hot, because it is much closer to its primary star than Earth is to the sun.

News from the Believers: Apple Computers

Miriam Godwinson insistently cautioned her followers about the corrupting potential of technology. Concerned about the growing economic importance of miniaturization, she once said

 "Already we have turned all of our critical industries, all of our material resources, over to these...things...these lumps of silver and paste we call nanorobots. And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day announce that they have no further need for us?"

Miriam would be gladdened to know that her followers in Russia are paying special attention to the hidden values of technology. A group of Russian Orthodox activists have chosen to protest Apple products as un-Christian because they claim that the Apple corporate logo refers to the forbidden fruit of Genesis:

Apple Logo Branded as Un-Christian by Orthodox Followers

Miriam lauds her followers for their ability to concentrate on the essence of the problem at hand, and overlook the fact that the apple is not specified as the forbidden fruit in the book of Genesis, as well as the fact that the apple was chosen as a corporate logo for its approachability and simplicity rather than for its biblical overtones. She is concerned that these protesters, who continue to use Apple products, believe that it is safe to do so provided that a cross is hung over the offending logo - apparently unaware that the danger is on the inside of the Apple package, not the outside.