After a long holiday weekend of good food and relaxation, I’m sure the one question that’s burning on your mind right now is “hey, how do the real consequences of a mammalian body being exposed to hard vacuum compare to the media stereotypes we see in movies or read about in books?” You ask; Futurismic delivers. Welcome back!

According to a new study published by the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), peak oil is a faulty theory. CERA argues that the world oil resource base is triple what peak oil proponents argue, and that rather than a single peak production will reach an undulating series of peaks. [kurzweil]

We’ll be upgrading the Movable Type engine that keeps Futurismic chugging along tonight, so expect some weirdness as we work through the upgrade issues.

The problems with human employees are the obvious ones – they need to eat, sleep and take various other bio-breaks, and their rights to do so are unfortunately protected by law. Well, if you’re paying by the hour, why not get real value for money? Japanese businesses can now rent robotic receptionists at an hourly rate which, at $445 for sixty minutes, isn’t going to scale to well for a while yet. But give it few years, factor in employee insurance and benefits, and the pink slips will start flying …

Heartened by their early success with the first Genesis inflatable habitat (which is still operating now, five months later), Bigelow Aerospace are busily preparing its experiment-laden successor for launch around springtime next year. But they are also looking forward further, projecting the launch of a prototype capsule capable of housing three crew with full life support by the end of the decade. If that’s not just big talk, the nation-states have a challenge on their hands.