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| More dark than light |
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Always be skeptical of first reports ...
Carl Sagan had it right: "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
In that spirit, see: Astronomers Just Solved The Bizarre Mystery of a Galaxy With No Dark Matter
Monday, July 1, 2019
New Horizons, metaphorical and literal
Did you savor the Pluto closeups returned by NASA's New Horizons probe in July 2015? Of course you did -- it's the kind of thing that appeals to the kind of folk who visit SF and Nonsense.
The saga of New Horizons itself is every bit as fascinating, written (to be precise, coauthored) by the man who first dreamed of the mission and eventually became its principal investigator. The book covers the guerilla struggle to interest NASA in the mission concept, the funding wars, the mad dash (once funding was finally approved) to complete the probe while Jupiter and Pluto still had the proper alignment (celestial mechanics is a harsh mistress), the long flight, and the hectic close encounter with Pluto.
In short, I highly recommend Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto, by (the aforementioned PI) Alan Stern and fellow scientist/author David Grinspoon.
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| Fascinating! |
In short, I highly recommend Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto, by (the aforementioned PI) Alan Stern and fellow scientist/author David Grinspoon.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
It's always a pleasure ...
... to introduce myself to a new group of readers.
Hence: I'm delighted to announce my debut appearance in Future Science Fiction Digest. "The Satellites of Damocles" -- a brand-new AI PI novelette -- is hot out of the electron mines in newly released Issue 3.The cover is quite snappy, too :-)
Explore the issue online for free (wherein stories come available in stages -- my story, alas, not till July 24) or buy the entire issue now as an ebook.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Potpourri (an astronomy edition)
Because -- as if you hadn't noticed -- I'm into astronomy. And so, herewith:
The birth of radio astronomy: "Project Diana Honored With an IEEE Milestone."
"Signs of a ‘super Earth’ discovered around a nearby star." How near? Barnard's Star -- after the Alpha Centauri triple system, our closest neighbor. (Not to mention, home to the perfidious Snakes of my InterstellarNet series.)
Also, "A star is born: Astronomers witness rare birth of a baby binary."
And a new place to look for company. "Searching for ET? Look to binary stars, researchers say."
Closer to home, we have: "Asteroid Bennu is flinging rocks into space: OSIRIS-Rex’s target turns out to be very rare, and very active, posing problems for the mission."
Closer still: "Earth magma ocean ended up on the moon: New modelling resolves contradictions in Earth-moon hypothesis."
And that, surely, is enough to amuse my fellow astronomy fans for the day ....
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| The football-field-sized radio telescope so central to my Energized |
"Signs of a ‘super Earth’ discovered around a nearby star." How near? Barnard's Star -- after the Alpha Centauri triple system, our closest neighbor. (Not to mention, home to the perfidious Snakes of my InterstellarNet series.)
Also, "A star is born: Astronomers witness rare birth of a baby binary."
And a new place to look for company. "Searching for ET? Look to binary stars, researchers say."
Closer to home, we have: "Asteroid Bennu is flinging rocks into space: OSIRIS-Rex’s target turns out to be very rare, and very active, posing problems for the mission."
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| Theia bites the big one |
And that, surely, is enough to amuse my fellow astronomy fans for the day ....
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Trope-ing redux *redux* (aka, Huzzah!)
More trope-ing-ly good news ...
Trevor refers there, of course, to Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction. And as for his suggestion re how you might prudently invest your reading dollars 😉
In conjunction with last week's release of Trope-ing in a new/trade-paperback print edition (as announced last week in Trope-ing redux), the publisher has now also reduced the price of the several ebook formats.
As I've previously summarized the book:
Not familiar with Trope-ing the Light Fantastic? It's my 2018 nonfiction book exploring the scientific underpinnings of the many tropes of our favorite genre. Faster-than-light travel (from which, of course, the book takes its title). Time travel. Interstellar warfare. True (human-equivalent or higher) artificial intelligence. Telepathy. And so much more ....
And (this being a strictly commercial post), herewith three convenient Amazonian links:
(Nor do I mean to imply that your savvy-shopping options are limited to Amazon! The same new-and-reduced ebook price has gone into effect for Nook, Kobo, and iTunes editions. As for print editions, pretty much every etailer offers them, while your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore -- if you don't find this title on their physical shelves -- will always happily order a copy for you.)
" … Worth your time, your money, and your consideration, whether you’re interested in accessible science, looking to understand trends in science fiction, or -- optimally -- both."
-- Trevor Quachri, editor of Analog Science Fiction
and Fact (excerpted from his guest foreword)
-- Trevor Quachri, editor of Analog Science Fiction
and Fact (excerpted from his guest foreword)
In conjunction with last week's release of Trope-ing in a new/trade-paperback print edition (as announced last week in Trope-ing redux), the publisher has now also reduced the price of the several ebook formats.
As I've previously summarized the book:
Not familiar with Trope-ing the Light Fantastic? It's my 2018 nonfiction book exploring the scientific underpinnings of the many tropes of our favorite genre. Faster-than-light travel (from which, of course, the book takes its title). Time travel. Interstellar warfare. True (human-equivalent or higher) artificial intelligence. Telepathy. And so much more ....
And (this being a strictly commercial post), herewith three convenient Amazonian links:
(Nor do I mean to imply that your savvy-shopping options are limited to Amazon! The same new-and-reduced ebook price has gone into effect for Nook, Kobo, and iTunes editions. As for print editions, pretty much every etailer offers them, while your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore -- if you don't find this title on their physical shelves -- will always happily order a copy for you.)
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Trope-ing redux
News of the day 😊
Updated June 17, 2019 -- after being out of stock almost instantly, Amazon has the TPB edition back in its inventory 😄
Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction is newly re-released in trade paperback. The initial -- and until now, only -- print edition was in hardback format.
Not familiar with Trope-ing the Light Fantastic? It's my 2018 nonfiction book exploring the scientific underpinnings of the many tropes of our favorite genre. Faster-than-light travel (from which, of course, the book takes its title). Time travel. Interstellar warfare. True (human-equivalent or higher) artificial intelligence. Telepathy. And so much more ....
Curious? Here's what I posted for the book's initial release. And (this being a strictly commercial announcement), here are Amazon links for the:
(And if you're not an Amazonian? No problemo. Your favorite other etailer will also be carrying the book in its various editions, and your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore -- if you don't find this title on their physical shelves -- will always happily order a copy for you.)
Updated June 17, 2019 -- after being out of stock almost instantly, Amazon has the TPB edition back in its inventory 😄
Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction is newly re-released in trade paperback. The initial -- and until now, only -- print edition was in hardback format.
Edward M. Lerner has produced the best-ever guide to putting the
science in science fiction, and he’s done it with clarity, wit, and
panache.”
— Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Quantum Night
— Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Quantum Night
Curious? Here's what I posted for the book's initial release. And (this being a strictly commercial announcement), here are Amazon links for the:
(And if you're not an Amazonian? No problemo. Your favorite other etailer will also be carrying the book in its various editions, and your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore -- if you don't find this title on their physical shelves -- will always happily order a copy for you.)
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Yikes!
From this morning's Washington Post:
"It’s the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to? Apple says, 'What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.' Our privacy experiment showed 5,400 hidden app trackers guzzled our data — in a single week."
(And before Android users breathe a sigh of relief and move on ... the article eventually makes clear that Android is no different.)
In a word ... scary.
"It’s the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to? Apple says, 'What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.' Our privacy experiment showed 5,400 hidden app trackers guzzled our data — in a single week."
(And before Android users breathe a sigh of relief and move on ... the article eventually makes clear that Android is no different.)
In a word ... scary.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Antisocial networking
NOT (you may be shocked to read) a tirade about Facebook or Twitter ....
I'm being sucked down a different rabbit hole. In this era, an authorial website is -- beyond de rigeur -- essential. And so, for a bit, in lieu of blogging, I'm diverting myself onto some (long) overdue maintenance of my authorial website.
If you're after a peek at my view of things, your best bet for now might be to take a gander at that website: edwardmlerner.com.
And if you encounter that website being unavailable or contrary? Then you'll know I'm still doing battle with Wordpress ....
I'm being sucked down a different rabbit hole. In this era, an authorial website is -- beyond de rigeur -- essential. And so, for a bit, in lieu of blogging, I'm diverting myself onto some (long) overdue maintenance of my authorial website.
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| My intergalactic portal .... |
And if you encounter that website being unavailable or contrary? Then you'll know I'm still doing battle with Wordpress ....
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