Alert the New Scientist editorial staff

Space drives the violation of conservation of momentum way!

I blame whoever taught this person in high school physics.

As I recall, John C. McLoughlin's now somewhat elderly The Helix and the Sword had living space ships that conserved reaction mass by recollecting it after it was ejected. It was something of an instant WSOD-killer when that little detail was introduced.

Alert the New Scientist editorial staff

Space drives the violation of conservation of momentum way!

I blame whoever taught this person in high school physics.

As I recall, John C. McLoughlin's now somewhat elderly The Helix and the Sword had living space ships that conserved reaction mass by recollecting it after it was ejected. It was something of an instant WSOD-killer when that little detail was introduced.

Alert the New Scientist editorial staff

Space drives the violation of conservation of momentum way!

I blame whoever taught this person in high school physics.

As I recall, John C. McLoughlin's now somewhat elderly The Helix and the Sword had living space ships that conserved reaction mass by recollecting it after it was ejected. It was something of an instant WSOD-killer when that little detail was introduced.

Spacing rocks on Mars

How is it that rocks on Mars' surface are spaced evenly?

Spacing rocks on Mars

How is it that rocks on Mars' surface are spaced evenly?

Spacing rocks on Mars

How is it that rocks on Mars' surface are spaced evenly?

Applying futurism to an apparently mundane genre

That's lower-case m mundane, not the benderist luddite movement.

It's not uncommon in the mystery books I read - especially the ones with PIs - for the lead to avoid such potentially plot-killing technologies as cell-phones or the internet or at least to have their access to it limited by circumstances like being too geezery to understand the net [1] or having one of those cell-phones whose battery charge is inversely related to how much it would screw up the book the author wants if the phone worked.

One way to deal with inconveniently available information is to lose in a flood of useless information. I've never actually seen a PI who missed an important bit of email because it was caught by their spam-catcher but I am sure someone has used it.

What new plot-killing technology is on the horizon?

1: Something I read too recently to mention by name has the lead panicking when they learn one of their kids has a MySpace account, which the protagonist believes may well be the first step on the road to Hello Kitty tattoos, drug addiction, teen prostitution and a horrible death at the hands of a serial killer. This goes in a hilarious direction for anyone who isn't the parent or the kid.

Applying futurism to an apparently mundane genre

That's lower-case m mundane, not the benderist luddite movement.

It's not uncommon in the mystery books I read - especially the ones with PIs - for the lead to avoid such potentially plot-killing technologies as cell-phones or the internet or at least to have their access to it limited by circumstances like being too geezery to understand the net [1] or having one of those cell-phones whose battery charge is inversely related to how much it would screw up the book the author wants if the phone worked.

One way to deal with inconveniently available information is to lose in a flood of useless information. I've never actually seen a PI who missed an important bit of email because it was caught by their spam-catcher but I am sure someone has used it.

What new plot-killing technology is on the horizon?

1: Something I read too recently to mention by name has the lead panicking when they learn one of their kids has a MySpace account, which the protagonist believes may well be the first step on the road to Hello Kitty tattoos, drug addiction, teen prostitution and a horrible death at the hands of a serial killer. This goes in a hilarious direction for anyone who isn't the parent or the kid.

Applying futurism to an apparently mundane genre

That's lower-case m mundane, not the benderist luddite movement.

It's not uncommon in the mystery books I read - especially the ones with PIs - for the lead to avoid such potentially plot-killing technologies as cell-phones or the internet or at least to have their access to it limited by circumstances like being too geezery to understand the net [1] or having one of those cell-phones whose battery charge is inversely related to how much it would screw up the book the author wants if the phone worked.

One way to deal with inconveniently available information is to lose in a flood of useless information. I've never actually seen a PI who missed an important bit of email because it was caught by their spam-catcher but I am sure someone has used it.

What new plot-killing technology is on the horizon?

1: Something I read too recently to mention by name has the lead panicking when they learn one of their kids has a MySpace account, which the protagonist believes may well be the first step on the road to Hello Kitty tattoos, drug addiction, teen prostitution and a horrible death at the hands of a serial killer. This goes in a hilarious direction for anyone who isn't the parent or the kid.