Monday, June 21, 2010

Hear, hear!

The latest astronaut (of about twenty) to speak out.  John Glenn to NASA: Keep shuttles flying.  

 A few choice quotes: 

"The U.S. for the first time since the beginning of the Space Age will have no way to launch anyone into space - starting next January.

"Our astronauts will have to be launched in Russian spacecraft, from a Russian base in Kazakhstan, to go to ... International Space Station.

"Starting at the end of this year, and probably for the next five to ten years, the launches of U.S. astronauts into space will be viewed in classrooms and homes in America only through the courtesy of Russian TV.

"For the 'world's greatest spacefaring nation,' that is hard to accept."

Monday, June 14, 2010

Kindle-ing interest

(Last updated: January 31, 2024)

Readers frequently email to ask about the availability of my writing in ebook formats. The short answer is: most books, sooner or later, come out as ebooks. The timing varies from title to title, ereader by ereader, and country to country.

Prices change, too. For example, ebook prices for a title tend to drop after release of the corresponding mass-market paperback edition.

Shop for a Kindle reader
To Google, Yahoo, and Bing (and, ultimately to you, the blog reader, who has come upon this post): here's a snapshot of my novels and collections available in the most popular ebook format: Kindle.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Let's get physical

From the world of experimental physics, two very interesting recent reports ...

Theory suggests that the Big Bang should have created matter and antimatter in equal quantities. But of course related matter and antimatter particles (e.g., proton and antiproton), when they meet, create a big bang all their own. After a while, if all were in balance, one would expect matter and  antimatter to wipe each other out.

So: how are we made-of-matter beings here to wonder about such things?