Ray Bradbury is a name well known to science fiction fans and readers of all other types as the writer of numerous well-loved books and short stories. SciFi Weekly has an interview with Bradbury, in which he not only repeats his claim that Fahrenheit 451 is the only work of science fiction he’s ever written, but that there are actually two Ray Bradburys inhabiting the one body …

We’re still a long way from a working space elevator, but the necessary components are being developed in a piecemeal fashion. For example, an ESA project called the second Young Engineer’s Satellite (YES2) is set to launch in May of this year, with part of its mission involving the deployment of a 30km tether – which will be the longest artificial construct ever deployed in space.

Extending the human lifespan is a long-held dream of science, but there have been few concrete methods for retarding the ageing process so far. The latest suggestion from Oxford University here in the UK is that food fortified with deuterium, the ‘heavy’ isotope of hydrogen, might strengthen the chemical bonds in the cells of our bodies and give us longer healthier lives in the process. Other scientists in the field are not so enthusiastic about the idea, so aspiring transhumanists may wish to wait for further research before changing their diet.

One thing is for certain – once the wearable computing revolution kicks off properly, using keyboards and mice will be not just passée but impractical. Some UK researchers think that a shoulder-mounted attention tracking camera could replace hands-on interface devices, determining appropriate actions by watching what your hands are doing. I wonder if they need beta testers?

Enough with the serious stuff – the weekend is here. Whichever side you support in the OS wars, you’re sure to get a grin out of this post about what would happen if operating systems ran airlines. And as if caring about operating systems wasn’t geeky enough, RPG fans will love this Friendly AI critical failure table, as linked to by Accelerating Future.