While we wait out the countdown to the next Shuttle launch, UP Aerospace have announced the date for the first blast-off from their New Mexico Spaceport. August 14th will see a ‘Spaceloft XL’ rocket lift a payload of scientific and educational projects into orbit, and nudge the ‘port closer to getting its all-important FAA licence.

Anyone with sense is looking at ways to cut down on energy expenditure, especially big industries, who see it in terms of overheads rather than simple necessity. Hence the chipmakers of the world are very interested in a new way of ‘cooking’ their products – rather than baking them in hot ovens, they could use ultraviolet light to etch the semiconductor wafers. The details aren’t finalised yet, but the researcher behind the idea reckons his method is much more efficient.

So, you want to wander about in a huge lush VR environment, but your living room/office is only ten foot square? That clunky set of goggles is going to bruise your nose a few times…unless you hook up a pair of these ‘powered shoes’, designed to allow you to walk as much as you like in a virtual environment without going anywhere at all in meatspace. You may require a little more explanation than the picture (linked above) provides.

Those last few thousand barrels of oil can be a real bitch to extract from their underground resting places. Some scientists are suggesting using explosives to mimic the effects of earthquakes, which increase the permeability of the oil-bearing rock. It looks good on paper, but couldn’t mimicking earthquakes potentially start one off? Now there’s a Michael Crichton story scenario…oh no, hang on, he’s pro-petroleum, isn’t he?