What in the world(s)?

Had we but world enough, and time ...

One of the best known, best realized, most beloved worlds of science fiction is surely Dune, the centerpiece, eponym, and (in a sense) main character of Frank Herbert's most acclaimed novel. If you share even a fraction of my affection for the story/world, you're certain to enjoy " 'Dune' concept art shows the evolution of David Lynch's sci-fi vision" (for Lynch's 1984 film realization).

It IS a grand canyon

(If there is a flaw in Dune, it's homegenity: a "desert planet."  Why do I consider that a potential flaw? Because the one inhabitable world known to science is far from uniform. Check out -- everyone of 'em on Earth -- "50 of the most incredible natural phenomena you’ve ever seen.")

In the of-but-out-of-the-this-world category ...

That does not compute

Today let's consider some news in the wild, wacky world of personal (and impersonal) computing ...

If you hate Windows 8, you're not alone. If you are perfectly happy with Windows XP, you're also not alone -- and you're likely dreading the April end of support for that product. In between, of course, is the semi-XP-like Windows 7 -- only it has been scheduled to go away in October. It's noteworthy then that "Microsoft Extends Windows 7 Availability for Businesses."

(Windows 7 isn't a panacea for XP refugees. Why? Because you can't upgrade [change only the OS, leaving your data intact] when switching from XP to 7. You can only upgrade to 7 from (shudder) Windows Vista. Going from XP straight to 7 entails a clean install of 7, so you'll have to back up your files on other media, wipe your disk, install 7, and finally restore all your files.)

Tired of hassling with Windows? Frustrated that every other Windows release (ME, Vista, 8) is a turkey? Is a forced software upgrade pushing you (mutter, mutter) to buy a new PC?

Arcana and sundry

Fans of science -- and fans of SF, who significantly overlap with the aforementioned group -- are a curious bunch. Whatever our primary area(s) of study, both find enjoy a broad range of other interests. Hence ...

Internet years vs. dog years

An Internet year is pretty much the inverse of a dog year. And so, lots of companies that not long ago bestrode the Internet like giants are, well ... reduced to wee status. From PC World, see "From Netscape to Napster: Whatever happened to yesterday's giants?"

Did you ever try one of those clunky, expensive, 3-D TVs? The kind dependent upon clunky, expensive, per-viewer goggles? Probably not. Did you buy one? Almost certainly not.  From IEEE Spectrum, see "3-D TV is Officially Dead (For Now) and This is Why it Failed."

Of distant worlds

Recent years have offered a steady stream of exciting exoplanetary news. Here's a smattering of such findings I've collected since my last astro-centric post.

That dot? Beta Pictoris b.

Let's begin with (IMO) the most visually stunning item, even though very few pixels are involved: an exoplanet, 63 light-years distant, directly imaged by a ground-based telescope. See (from The Register) "ALIEN WORLD Beta Pictoris snapped by Earth's Gemini 'scope." (That's sloppy headline writing: the star, Beta Pictoris, is not viewed. It's intentionally occluded lest its glare wash out the planet. The world is Beta Pictorus b.)

How was this bit of astronomical legerdemain accomplished? With adaptive optics, a serendipitous spinoff from research into antimissile lasers. Adaptive optics is a wondrous technology.

Next up: different cleverness. The Kepler observatory identified, sans direct imaging, many an exoplanet. The method: spotting the slight dips in brightness as distant planets transited distant stars. With the failure of two reaction wheels, the orbiting telescope, alas, can no longer point steadily enough to continue making such precise observations.

Or so it was believed ...

SF/publishing update

Despite the ongoing popularity of TV and movie science fiction (no matter how atrocious the science), SF literature remains marginalized. Some of that marginalization, I'm of the opinion, stems directly from a general perception of  STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) as "too hard." But is it possible genre authors bring marginalization upon ourselves? From Locus Online, see Kameron Hurley's thoughtful essay, "Making Excuses for Science Fiction."

Look deep into my eyes (er, deep into space)

As a technologist and an SF author, I am -- no surprise -- enthusiastic about space exploration. So although American astronauts remain dependent on ever-pricier Russian transportation to the ISS, and will remain dependent for several more years, it's good to see that "These 5 far-out space projects are making science fiction a reality: From 3D food printing to warp drive." (The three projects not named in the subtitle, just to afford you a sneak peek, are: growing plants on the Moon, private mining of asteroids perhaps beginning as early as 2016, and Tokyo-based Shimizu Corporation wanting to build a giant solar-power plant across the lunar surface.)

Down a wormhole

(Many SF authors have toyed with FTL travel [sometimes aka warp drive], asteroid mining, and food synthesizers, so I claim no ground-breaking credit for my own fictional dabbling in those areas. I will, however, point out that paving the Moon with solar cells was a key plot element of my 2005 novel Moonstruck.)

Year's first potpourri

From the cornucopia of recent science & tech articles that is my bookmark file ...

Imagine a visit to a doctor where a simple blood test provides the key to your genetic code, and with that information, the doctor can base your care precisely on the treatment that will work best for you. No longer will it be one medicine, dosage, or treatment plan fits all—each patient will get the care that best fits his or her genetic makeup.

It's always satisfying to see one's alma mater do important things. Inexpensive gene sequencing from a simple blood test certainly qualifies. See (from the University of Illinois Department of Engineering) "Novel DNA sensing technology could revolutionize modern medicine."

Novel DNA sensing technology could revolutionize modern medicine - See more at: http://engineering.illinois.edu/news/article/2013-10-21-novel-dna-sensing-technology-could-revolutionize-modern-medicine?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News+from+Engineering+at+Illinois+-+December+2013&utm_content=News+from+Engineering+at+Illinois+-+December+2013+CID_933635bac16b888fa97fa3859ceaa927&utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Novel%20DNA%20sensing%20technology%20could%20revolutionize%20modern%20medicine#sthash.LutBCEvH.dpuf

Imagine a visit to a doctor where a simple blood test provides the key to your genetic code, and with that information, the doctor can base your care precisely on the treatment that will work best for you. No longer will it be one medicine, dosage, or treatment plan fits all—each patient will get the care that best fits his or her genetic makeup. - See more at: http://engineering.illinois.edu/news/article/2013-10-21-novel-dna-sensing-technology-could-revolutionize-modern-medicine?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News+from+Engineering+at+Illinois+-+December+2013&utm_content=News+from+Engineering+at+Illinois+-+December+2013+CID_933635bac16b888fa97fa3859ceaa927&utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Novel%20DNA%20sensing%20technology%20could%20revolutionize%20modern%20medicine#sthash.z8RxlQKR.dpuf

Imagine a visit to a doctor where a simple blood test provides the key to your genetic code, and with that information, the doctor can base your care precisely on the treatment that will work best for you. No longer will it be one medicine, dosage, or treatment plan fits all—each patient will get the care that best fits his or her genetic makeup. - See more at: http://engineering.illinois.edu/news/article/2013-10-21-novel-dna-sensing-technology-could-revolutionize-modern-medicine?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News+from+Engineering+at+Illinois+-+December+2013&utm_content=News+from+Engineering+at+Illinois+-+December+2013+CID_933635bac16b888fa97fa3859ceaa927&utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Novel%20DNA%20sensing%20technology%20could%20revolutionize%20modern%20medicine#sthash.z8RxlQKR.dpuf

 Sticking with biology, but looking way back, consider (from Fox News) "Evidence of 3.5-billion-year-old bacterial ecosystems may be earliest sign of life on Earth." That's about 100 million years earlier than past evidence of terrestrial life.

A major gap in global climate modeling is the omission of clouds. That's a big deal. Some cloud types trap heat in the lower atmosphere, reinforcing the greenhouse effect. Other cloud types reflect sunlight and keep it from ever entering the lower atmosphere, for a cooling effect. So what's the net worldwide influence of clouds? Unknown.

SFnal back story

I've encountered many debates about the beginnings of SF. Perhaps you have, too.

Some feel SF's roots are to be found in the novels of Verne and H. G. Wells. Others suggest we look back a bit further, to Mary Shelley and Frankenstein. Moving in a different direction, yet others declare SF as a genre began more recently, in the era of the pulp magazines, characterizing earlier works with elements of SF as pre-genre novels written for a mainstream audience.

Verne: From the Earth to the Moon

And then (from The Telegraph), there's an assertion of an SF novel from the ancient world. See: "Is this the first ever sci-fi novel?"

Interstellar warfare, travel to distant planets and alien reproduction: all familiar elements of modern science fiction. But all of them also appear in a little-known text written in Ancient Greek, in the second century AD.

In a talk at last week's Cambridge Festival of Ideas, senior lecturer Dr Justin Meggitt claimed that the first ever work of science fiction was in fact written by a Greek-speaking Syrian author, in Ancient Rome.

True History by Lucian of Samosata is ostensibly a parody of Ancient Roman travel writing. But with characters venturing to distant realms including the moon, the sun, and strange planets and islands, it has a surprising amount in common with modern sci-fi novels and films.

The article goes on to suggest other (perhaps) early SF from centuries before the usual candidates.