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Jun. 17th, 2011
Early MESSENGER science results: Mercury is its own planet, not Moon or Earth
And for no reason, some comments on a related matter from Stephen Jay Gould
And for no reason, some comments on a related matter from Stephen Jay Gould
The Mammoth e-Book of Mindblowing Mars SF (2009) presents 20 of the finest examples of mind-expanding, awe-inspiring, 21st-century Martian science fiction that are free and ready-to-read on the Internet.
Inspired by an upcoming novel
Jun. 17th, 2011 05:32 pmIn which the Moon is developed enough by 2085 for a lunar colony to be agitating for independence; from first settlement to independence in under 70 years (maybe much less than 70, since a moon base in the near future seems unlikely) appears to me to be a bit faster than I'd expect. I have not actually read the book yet but past experience with SF suggests to me the main model will be the American Revolution, on the grounds that that's the only independence movement American authors are likely to both have heard of and approve of. The conditions behind the ARW took time to develop - nearly three centuries from Europeans first coming to the New World to uprising in the East Coast colonies - but for some reason SF writers always want to compress the time scales in situations like this; Charles Sheffield, for example, had the whole Belt advanced enough to hold up its end of an apocalyptic war by IIRC the 2070s.
I did think of a model SF authors could use for a colony that is independent early on, but it's a different model from "developing economies decide they'd be better off not ruled from overseas". Instead it's one where independence comes from obscurity; specificially I am thinking of this idyllic island, which began as a refuge for mutineers and remained outside formal British control for decades. In fact, I think 18 years passed between the settlement of the island by the muntineers and the first contact with a passing ship.
I did think of a model SF authors could use for a colony that is independent early on, but it's a different model from "developing economies decide they'd be better off not ruled from overseas". Instead it's one where independence comes from obscurity; specificially I am thinking of this idyllic island, which began as a refuge for mutineers and remained outside formal British control for decades. In fact, I think 18 years passed between the settlement of the island by the muntineers and the first contact with a passing ship.
Last's night near-collision with a bicylist occurred at about 11 PM at King and Queen, and involved a bicyclist who was not wearing a helmet, whose bike lacked reflectors and whose near-miss with me seemed to be because he was racing to careen through a red-light.
[You know what I almost never see? Kids on bikes]
[You know what I almost never see? Kids on bikes]
Nicked from calliopes_pen