The website gives us a detailed look at the club’s storied past - founded in 1909, the Harvard Aviation Club has zipped through the decades in various incarnations until its most recent one in 2007, under the visionary leadership of President Emanuel “The Flight Manual” Beica and VP Richard “Extreme Jet Thrust” Kwant. (We kid you not.) While membership may not come with monthly drinks and a snazzy e-mail address or a Canada pride T-shirt like other similarly named clubs, Harvard Aviation Club will provide you with the resources you need to learn to fly and become a licensed pilot…assuming you have $7000-$8000 lying around and time to study the 700 questions that could be on the FAA Written Exam…

If you’re slightly less hardcore, you may want to keep an eye out for Aviation Club events. Unfortunately, the website doesn’t list any upcoming ones, but the promise lingers in the air – a particularly awesome event in 2007 took students on rides through the Boston skyline in a bright yellow helicopter. (Keep us posted, Webmaster “The Extremely Speedy Dart”!)

But there is a silver lining – chances to procrastinate! (Because we need more.) The Links section of the Aviation Club’s website takes us to Flightlevel350.com, which boasts page after page of aviation videos, ranging from snooze-inducing to downright crazy.  The most popular video of the last 30 days is the thrilling “Virgin 744 Makes a very elegant arrival at London Gatwick on a sunny morning” – check out the Extreme Situations section for more rousing time-wasters.

(Image sources here and here.)

No! It's really not like that!

NetworkWorld reports on SEAS’s recent $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation to build a colony of RoboBees, which are exactly what they sound like – robotic bees that fly autonomously and can model real-life colony behavior. Why all the buzz? Harvard’s official RoboBees website explains:

The collaborators envision that the Nature-inspired research could lead to a greater understanding of how to artificially mimic the collective behavior and “intelligence” of a bee colony; foster novel methods for designing and building an electronic surrogate nervous system able to deftly sense and adapt to changing environments; and advance work on the construction of small-scale flying mechanical devices.

While we probably don’t have to worry about swarms of RoboBees descending on the Yard anytime soon, researchers do anticipate that they may be used for artificial pollination, environmental and traffic monitoring, and search and rescue missions.

Image source here

A good hipster is easy to find

Overwhelmed by all the shows in Boston this month? Noice kindly narrows it down for you. Click on the date to buy tickets, and click on the artist to find its last.fm page.

10/8 – Grizzly Bear, Beach House – Orpheum
There’s no better way to chill after turning in your first Gov 20 paper than with the gorgeous, elaborately arranged pop of Grizzly Bear and Beach House.
WHAT TO EXPECT: A classy affair/hipsterfest.

10/10 – The Psychedelic Furs, Islands – House of Blues
Perennial post-punk favorites The Psychedelic Furs and melodic-pop genre-benders Islands make a strange, but potentially great combination.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Electric sitars?! And hipsters.

10/13 – Kelly Clarkson – Agganis Arena
Dear Kelly, Our Lives Would Suck Without You. Love, Noice.
WHAT TO EXPECT: A loooot of unclaimed $280 VIP packages. Ironic hipsters.

10/15 – MIKA – Orpheum
“The Boy Who Knew Too Much” brings his bright, playful pop to Boston as he tours for his freshly-released sophomore album.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Gaydar gone haywire!

10/16 – Art Brut – The Middle East
Punk-tinged indie rockers Art Brut tour behind their Pixies-produced third album, Art Brut vs. Satan.
WHAT TO EXPECT: The jury never coming back on Pretentious or Not?

10/22 – STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) – House of Blues
Dump out all the records from WHRB, smash ‘em up, and stir to get STS9, the writhing electronica-dance-jazz-rock-hip-hop jam band.
WHAT TO EXPECT: The distinct odor of “rotting Bonnaroo wristband.” (No hipsters!)

10/27 - Metalocalypse: Dethklok and Mastodon – House of Blues
Need we say more?
WHAT TO EXPECT: …

(Picture courtesy of http://blackscientist.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/hipster.jpg)

Looks more like a microwave book machine to us.

Wicked Local Cambridge reports on the latest academic gadget to hit Mass. Ave. On Tuesday, Harvard Book Store will unveil the Espresso Book Machine , which can print library-quality paperbacks from a catalog of over 4.6 million titles, cranking out a 300-pager in 4 minutes. Harvard Book Store owner Jeffrey Mayersohn comments, “My vision is to provide our customers with any book ever written, in any format, and have it either in your hands or at your doorstep the same day,” Obscure books? Espresso? BICYCLE DELIVERY SERVICE? Noice approves.

The best part? You have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to name this bad boy! Harvard Book Store is looking for something “warm, yet snappy,” and encourages the use of puns and “silly and/or obscure literary references.” Contest ends tomorrow, so get your mind brewing!

Image courtesy of http://www.harvard.com/bookmachinecontest/