Am I the only one hearing the clop-clop of coconuts when I watch this video? — Life-sized walking Tauntaun costume

“Frakme,” the cubist birch bookcase designed to double as kitchen cabinets, is next — Twilight’s emo tween-girl “fangst” is actually “a delightful and diaphanous hanging storage unit from Ikea.”

LOLCATS gone Dark Side? — May The Cute Be With You, Animals With Lightsabers

Milk’s favorite cookie needs an intervention — The Quintrigenuple Stuffed Oreo

Beware the bear finger puppet — Stephen Colbert Finger Puppet is Packed Full of Truthiness

I think one of them has jazz hands – The Secret Lives of Stormtroopers

What’s nutty this week? Goths in hot weather, Darth Kindle and Luke iPod, and Snachismo. Oh my.

–Vampotato…now with glitter. Spudward wasn’t like the other potato boys. Who will be his next victim? Darth Tater? (Check out these Darth Tater puns…Trust your peelings, Spudward.)

–The longtail of publishing. Galaxy Express’ Heather Massey provides a weeklong discussion of promoting the Science Fiction Romance niche market.

–Yes, Ma’am! Right away, Ma’am! Tor Author Deborah Teramis Christian blogs about women who write military Science Fiction.

–Another Big Bang? Bright Flash in Heavens Has No Earthly Explanation

–The publishing industry must sink or swim. The Sky Is Falling. Will Publishing Innovate or Deteriorate?

–Science Fiction Romance Goodiness. 10 Hella Sexy Discoveries in The Outback Stars

–It’s a little bigger than the fun size. Milky Way 50 Percent Larger, Astronomers Discover

–MSNBC Science Editor Alan Boyle talks in Symmetry magazine about the fear and popularity of the Large Hadron Collider. Fear Factor

–Is it time Jenny got her own show? Why This Doctor Disappoints

–Now with a gentle warming sensation. Quantum lubricant could keep nanomachines rolling

–Has BSG jumped the shark or will Moore connect all the Bob Dylan dots? Jayme Lynn Blaschke vents (and I commiserate) about the writers of Battlestar Galactica Making Stuff Up.

–Girls really are just fine at math and science, thank you. Wired Science’s Dr. Anna Kushnir examines why female scientists go from a 7 to 1 women-to-men ratio in grad school to roughly 1 to 7 in professorships.

–Olympian bodies, mommies edition. Salon Broadsheet highlights how the physical changes after motherhood helped make three Olympians better athletes.

–Women do talk about things other than men and babies. Science Fiction author Charlie Stross ponders Bechdel’s Law. Also, take a gander at io9′s examination of the Bechdel Law (or Ripley’s Law as it were).

–No, she’s not the Keymaster. IO9 Spoilers wonder if there might be a female Ghostbuster in the new movie.

–Boys, reading books about girls won’t give you cooties. In the article “Women Writing Science Fiction: Some Voices from the Trenches” Susan Elizabeth Lyons asks 31 women science fiction writers four questions: when they starting reading SF; how they broke into the genre; what they think has changed since then; and general feedback on gender bias in the genre.

–Grrrl power, indeed. A post wherein John Scalzi talks to his wife.

–Epic awesome. John Ottinger profiles 9 Awesome Heroines of Epic Fantasy.

–Grrrl crush. Salon Broadsheet points out reason no. 678 why Amy Poehler rocks.

–Grrrl power? ScFiGuy provides a tramp stamp roundup in urban fantasies (via SBTB).

–Notice that Wonder Woman is in a class all by herself. IO9 reports on how “a handful of superpowered grrrls stack up to their male counterparts.”

–Hang this right next to your Duran Duran Rio poster. IO9 showcases a “Crazy 1980s ‘New Wave’ Princess Leia Poster.”

–Go kick some writing butt. Romance Divas host a workshop on writing kick-butt characters.

–She’s no regular jilly. Show Me SciFi profiles gunslinger Aileen from Stephen King’s Dark Tower Treachery #2.

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Higgs Boson Here. The rap video above comes via Popular Mechanics, whose article shows off “Kate McAlpine and crew, who took to the tunnels under CERN to bring us the most entertaining explanation of physics we’ve seen since Schoolhouse Rock.”

Someone’s got to save our skins! The 9 Most Badass Women of Star Wars

I’ve found Leoben’s reviews of Tauron Morning coffee to be indispensible. Wired finds 11 fake Twitterers ripe for the takedown.

Infinite diversity in infinite combination. Lou Anders blogs about the difference between propaganda and the examination of the diversity of socio/spiritual-economic points of view in science fiction.

Star Wars is dead, long live Star Wars. SFFlare’s Eoghann Irving talks about how the Lucasverse needs to adapt in order to maintain its audience. The article also includes a link to SF Signal blogger JP Frantz’s post on the same topic.

It’s 4:20 somewhere. Scientific American talks about how several substances found in cannabis kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Your Lexus might be killing your sperm. New Scientist writes how heated seats in luxury cars may disrupt the sperm production process.

Put your listening gloves on? IO9 cites new scientific developments where genetically engineered cilia in the ear may help some deaf people hear again. Or maybe we’ll just starting listening with our hands.

Synthetic Type O has a weird oaky aftertaste, doesn’t it? Wired covers HBO’s new vampire series, True Blood, about Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels.

It’s going to be one long Cure album. Edward James Olmos tells TV Addict just how much of a downer the ending of Battlestar Galactica is going to be.

–Red is so your color. Stargate producer Joseph Mallozzi is entertaining the idea of a “Red Shirt Diaries” episode of Stargate: Atlantis.

– What color is a chameleon in a mirror? In my next story, I might have to write about Chameleon class spaceships that use this technology. A color-changing skin could help spacecraft maintain “comfortable temperatures without the bulk and expense of normal cooling equipment.” The less than half a millimeter thick silicon-coated skin is “an electrolyte sandwiched between two gold-coated polymer sheets” that reflect a large proportion of the sun’s visible and ultraviolet radiation. When charged, the skin turns from transparent to green.

–No more free orange juice. The first red blood cells have been grown in the lab, potentially eliminating the need for blood donations with an inexhaustible Type-O supply.

–A stellar river runs through it. Astronomers have discovered nearly a dozen new stellar rivers—strings of moving stars—over the disk of the Milky Way. By the way, the original title of my novel AVATAR was RIVER OF STARS.

–Not quite the Vitruvian Man. What makes Michael Phelps such a good swimmer?

–We can rebuild him. How to write a better Science Fiction villain. IO9′s Charlie Jane Anders talks about how, in Science Fiction movies at least, we don’t want shades of gray villains, but instead baddies we can conquer, the real world being just the opposite.

–Help! I’ve plummeted to my death, and I can’t get up! Five funniest episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

–”Steampunk is the new black.” Galaxy Express’ Heather is a guest commenter over at Grasping for the Wind discussing Urban Fantasy and the Next Big Subgenre. She talks about the emergence of everything Steampunk these days, and highlights how Romance has been creeping into Science Fiction:

[T]he current trend from romance publishers is toward more SF elements and grittier stories and characters. These aren’t your momma’s futuristic romances anymore…there’s a trend for many SF books these days to routinely include a romantic subplot, even if it doesn’t follow the structure of a typical romance novel (what many folks refer to as “romantic SF”). Because there’s such a range of types and definitions of these stories, I expect more people are reading this blended genre than we’ll ever know.

–Lou Anders’ Pyr Books blog is now a group blog including David Louis Edelman, Kay Kenyon, and Mike Resnick among other Pyr authors.

–What a novel idea. The world’s weirdest vending machines. Yes, Virginia, there is one for books.

–Where does the 8-track tape go? Sit in Captain Kirk’s Chair for a measly $2K.

–Vader crosses the Delaware. Worth 1000 Photoshop Contest.

–Gets those bagel crumbs out of your keyboard. Viscous keyboard-cleaning goop.

–I wonder if they used “frickin’ sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their frickin’ heads?” Sadly, all they could find were sea bass. Scientific American reports on how a laser illuminates fragile dinosaur footprints.

–Have I mentioned how exhausted I’ve been lately? SciAm explores how making decisions tires your brain.

–How much you want to bet they come up with seven dwarf planets? Meet Makemake, the fourth dwarf planet.

–How did they know about my nightmare with the band feat two featuring keyboard-playing chickens?

–Why am I hearing Jaws music? Diane Sawyer gets a piranha pedicure.

–It’s more than just the shoes. Batman really does know how to accessorize.

–Whedon re-shooots Dollhouse pilot. Everyone hopes it’s not Firefly all over again.

–I <3 Seth Green. More Robot Chicken Star Wars!

–I keep my mood organ dialed to 481, thanks.* Syd Mead tells all about the “Erotic Machine” that got cut from Bladerunner.

–Create a book trailer for Shomi and Stephen King will judge it!

–FREE BOOKS, people. FREE BOOKS. It’s like a little slice of heaven. Tor is giving away electronic versions of some books to launch its new web site. Quick, go download John Scalzi’s OLD MAN’S WAR, Patti O’Shea’s IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, and Tobias Buckell’s CRYSTAL RAIN.

–RITA finalist Emily Gee guest blogs at Writers At Play.

–Dude, that’s way better than Assassin’s Creed. Molecular simulations using Playstation 3.

–Elvis didn’t die. He’s a time traveler. Second Century AD bust looks like Elvis.

–Danger Gal has one of these. And she knows how to use it too. Wasp Knife pumps killer freezing gas into unfortunate victims.

*Setting 481: Awareness of the manifold possibilities open to me in the future. Not a bad mood for when you’re saving up for a new sheep.

–The Batman in every man. Scientific American analyzes how Batman could exist, but not for long.

–Do I want to be Joan Wilder when I grow up? Dear Author takes a look at what readers get out of the Romance genre.

–Retail over Romance. Salon Broadsheet examines the brand name dropping in young adult novels.

–Remember, yellow side out. (I know, ewwwww.) Live Science talks about how nanotechnology can keep your underwear clean.

–Put away the Raid. Scientific American reports on how natural toxins in plants can fight human diseases and the telltale clue is the presence of brightly colored insects.

–Learn your ABCs, or your ATGCs, rather. From New Scientist, scientists create artificial DNA to run minuscule electronic devices.

–Obviously, I’m the ironic resister type. Slate examines all those web photo shots web sites like Facebook ask you to post as part of your profile. Y’know, on the internet I’m a six-foot-tall blond. In real life, I’m about 10 inches shorter (but, yeah, still blond).

–It’s curtains for you, Dr. Horrible…lacy gently wafting curtains. Wired checks out Joss Whedon’s new web-only movie, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

–And you thought dolphins were easily excited. This guy deserves his own Boston Legal episode.

–Don’t mock the Sci-Fi writer. Really.

–Fridgehenge! Need I really say more?

–Could have been worse. Could have named it “All your base belong to us.” Chinese restaurant called TRANSLATE SERVER ERROR.

–How long do you think until “ICD-E845.0″ shows up on a Cafe Press t-shirt or a Hallmark get well card? There’s a medical billing code for getting hit by a flying saucer.

–Lois McMaster Bujold called it! Doctors predict we’ll soon have artificial wombs.

–May The Force Be With You. The 2008 Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge finalists have been announced and the voting period is now open. George Lucas will reveal his favorite fan movie on July 24th, but go vote for your favorite.

–We can rebuild him (Sha-na-na-na). We have the technology. New Scientist outlines the most recent bioengineering developments. Check out what they did to the rabbit…

–There’s hope for my hand-eye coordination yet. A body-sensing shirt that measures muscular actions during sports activities.

–Tick tock, guys. Your little swimmers won’t be around forever. New evidence that men have a biological clock too. Turns out that after 35, fertility drops for both genders, and then again after 40.

–Can it avoid it’s own Kobayashi Maru? The Las Vegas Star Trek experience is closing.

–Just hold onto that Honda you bought 200,000 miles ago. Slate asks “Is it more energy-efficient to buy a used car than a brand-new hybrid?”

–What do you hear? Nothing but the rain. Possible spoilers on the series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

–They should call this the Athena Method. Scientists are trying to create sperm from infertile men’s dental pulp via stem cells.

-Physics is important. How did Debi Ridpath Ohi know this about me? Next thing I know she’ll be telling everyone about my secret crush on Michio Kaku. Oh wait. Frell.

-The first rule of Quarrel Club. Ye Olde LOLManuscripts.

-Godwin’s Law of Romance. They thought Shakespeare was a hack too. Don’t be a sheep.

-PZ Myers discovers befanged man-titte. The Smart Bitches reply.

-Writers Block. Part of Slate’s series on procrastination, so just read this one tomorrow.

-Do you think he lives in his mom’s basement? Church of the Jedi

-Captain Kirk Analytics. Lucy. In. The. Sky. With. Diamonds.

-LOL Movies: Star Wars. I can haz akademy?

-Why the Demetrius on Battlestar Galactica is a sweatbox. I hope someone packed deoderant.

-Because breasts weren’t already multitasking. Will they glow in the dark now too?

-Eat your green beans and remember that Moms can be nerds too.

-Strong female characters really are important. Buffy helps one servicewoman deal with The Big Bad in Baghdad.

-Get ready to rumble! Author Lynn Viehl reports in on Alton Brown’s Iron Author America. And the secret ingredient is B-Neg.

-I <3 Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. Now I can have tshirts just like his. Shazam!