The Geek Test: What’s Your Score?
When I went to college at Rice University, I became aware of a 100 point “Purity Test” designed to determine how pure you were. Of course in college, the goal was to not be all that pure, but not to...
View ArticleProbably 1/5 Sun-Like Stars Have Earth-Like Planets in Habitable Zone
A couple of years ago, following the initial Kepler data release, I thought the numbers indicated it was at least 1/100, and likely much higher. Better statistics/analysis seem to indicate a number...
View ArticleTransformative Science Fiction Movies
A friend and I were talking over beers the other night, and discussing the handful of movies that had transformed the experience of going to the cinema. They contain unique elements not seen before,...
View ArticleWhat Personnel Are Needed on a Spaceship Exploring Strange New Worlds?
I like to write stories set in outer space on space ships, and I think a lot about stupid things like what is the necessary crew size and their expertise. There are some guides based on long duration...
View ArticleCan You Figure Out What this Science Fiction Novel is Trying to Say?
This is passed on from a friend of a friend, who is a Spanish teacher using a science fiction novel (I don’t know which one) in her class, and had this question: I’m working on a sci fi novel to use...
View Article10 More Classic Mistakes in Science Fiction Movies
I came across a kindred spirit today, finding an article titled 10 Classic Mistakes in Sci-Fi Movies. His list takes some well deserved but easy potshots at some large targets, and perhaps more tv...
View ArticleWhat are the Best Science Fiction Mysteries?
I’ve read and watched some good ones, but I’m sure I don’t know this interesting subfield as well as I should to be able to come up with a comprehensive list. Let me list some that I think are good to...
View ArticleWhat If Science Fiction Actually Involved Science?
The reason we’ve probably never seen a dramatic TV series involving scientists in the tradition of ER or CSI or Newsroom is that the actual work is usual tedious, boring to most non-experts, with low...
View ArticleTen Classic Hard SF Novels over at the SFWA Blog
I did a list for SFWA, all of which feature physics and/or astronomy. Without all the introductions and discussion, here’s the list: 1. Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement 2. The Fountains of Paradise...
View ArticleEight Science Fiction Tropes of Convenience
There are a number of tropes that I see popping up over and over in science fiction, even though they are not very scientifically plausible and border on the impossible given our current understanding....
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Ten Totally Illogical Science Fiction Premises on Amazing Stories Blog
This is a repeat of a post that just went up earlier today at Amazing Stories. I encourage you to check out the link and join the conversation over there. Feel free to comment here, too, of course!...
View ArticleCurrent/Recent News
I’m streamlining the blog, as I’m not actively blogging any more. I need to focus my energies on astronomy and science fiction, and social media has largely usurped blogs from my perspective. I’ll...
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