prof_brotherton

A Modest Proposal: Scary School

2009-12-22T23:35:21Z

People, especially writers, soak up vocabulary automatically when young. It’s a slow process and you have to hear words many times for them to stick. There are, however, exceptions.

When I was about five or six years old, I had a nightmare. Not unsual for me. I was already deep into Universal monster movies and loved them to death, although there were some occasional negative side effects.

I remember talking with my mother about one of these nightmares. I explained to her about how one dream was ending and another was starting, and there was a bit in my head that said, “Coming next…The Werewolf!” along with a still picture, like what you’d see on TV or before a movie.

She told me that was called a “preview.”

And that one time was enough to learn the word. Thanks, werewolf.

We all remember where were and what we were doing when we heard JFK was shot, when Reagan was shot, when the space shuttles exploded, when the terrorists attacked on 9/11. Moreover, we also remember everything that was going on in moments of personal crisis, from car accidents, friend’s deaths, divorces, rapes, muggings, etc. These are moments when our bodies give our brains extra power to act and the memories of those moments are indelible.

Happy times don’t seem to stick as well, which is too bad…for my students!

So I’m thinking that next fall, when I teach introductory astronomy again for non-majors, I might try a new educational approach. There are particular parts of the class that students find especially challenging. A few of these are not conceptually difficult, just a little boring as normally presented. So, maybe they should not be normally presented.

Here are a few ideas:

There is the onion-skin model of stellar structure, but onion is a bit boring. How about a brain? How about pulling one out and stripping it to the core, layer by layer?

How about making a key point about cosmology, and faking a heart attack in front of the class? Heat death of the universe anyone?

How about demonstrating temperatures on a distant outer planet by doing the bit with smashing the fake hand after dipping it into liquid nitrogen?

Killing the lights and paying a student to scream to emphasize things that will definitely be on the midterm.

Hiring theater majors to dress up as zombies and shamble back and forth outside the classroom (especially after the brain layer demonstration, probably for the topic of the death of stars).

Demonstrating stellar nucleosynthesis by lighting various combustibles on fire (while avoiding setting off the fire alarm the way a chemistry prof did this past semester).

Showing graphic illustrations about what happens if you’re exposed to the vaccuum of space (NOT! — I’d use the head exploding scene from OUTLAND and then explain that this is not how it works in reality).

Tell everyone the first day of class that their pets will die if they don’t get an A. Stupid and mean, but I bet it would make a few people study a little longer, especially the superstitious ones who need to work harder in science classes.

Other suggestions? Preferably ones that I could actually use? A few of these above might get me in trouble, and get me a bad reputation (and not a good bad reputation).

I probably won’t do any of these, but sometimes this sort of brainstorming leads to truly memorable lesson or two…

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Communicating Science: Know your Audience!

2009-12-22T09:17:28Z

All of writing hinges on knowing your audience. This is true of fiction and non fiction, and applies not only to writing, but communication of all kinds from entertainment to education.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot after reading Randy Olson’s very interesting and worthwhile book Don’t Be Such a Scientist, which is about a scientist turned filmmaker and how to reach broad audiences, and contrasting his ideas with those in Mooney and Kirshenbaum’s Unscientific America, which hits on some similar topics but is shallow and ultimately a failure. In fact, that book made me name Mooney a “stupid smart person.”

Randy Olson has really made me think about audience in a deeper way, and I’ve always been very aware of audience and made adjustments accordingly (for the most part). Still, I think he’s missed a few tricks along the way, and Mooney and Kirshenbaum definitely have.

First, Olson is right about one thing. A sizable fraction of scientists (he says 1/3), are curmudgeons who only want information and want it with as few frills as possible. Anyone adding frills is right out. And these scientists are too narrow-minded to have a broader perspective. Case in point. Passive voice sucks in writing, and nearly everyone would agree. But not that fraction of scientists. I was refereeing a paper last year, written by someone junior to me, and I made some stylistic suggestions about changing some passive sentences to the active voice (not even involving “I” or “we” — just stuff like “Table 1 shows the data…” instead of “The data are given in Table 1…”). The author told me that she preferred the passive voice in scientific articles and rejected my suggestions. You can lead a horse to water, but…

So where I am I going with this?

Well, I have been really struggling with the issue of calling a spade a spade (e.g., creationists, science deniers of other strips) or being less confrontational.

I think the answer depends on the audience and goals.

Here, my readership is a particular niche of science and science fiction fans, primarily. I am preaching to the choir most days, I suspect. A good, angry, and righteous rant can be inspirational to like-minded people. That’s a good thing, but it would be a bad thing if I was writing for a general audience. I would come across as mean, arrogant, etc., even though I would likely be totally right, and people would ignore me or even harden against me. No good.

The general audience cares less for facts and what’s right. That’s hard for the non-expert to be sure about, so they look for other clues. They look for likability, and get turned off by arrogance. They need a subtle touch, and do not weigh debates rationally. Which SUCKS. But until I can change our entire educational system, culture, and species demographics, isn’t going to change much.

Olson gets some things wrong, I think. I doesn’t like the rants and negativity on scienceblogs, for instance, but he doesn’t appreciate their niche audiences. At the same time, he admits that peer pressure, his friends in college laughing at him for believing everything he read in Reader’s Digest, changed his mind. That was not his friends being nice and understanding. That was his friends ridiculing his ridiculous position. Being negative can sway in the right context.

So, what are the issues?

Well, If your audience is anti-science, you have to be conciliatory, likable, reasonable. Unless it is the hardcore fundie who isn’t going to change, but that isn’t the target audience in most cases. In most cases it is the reasonable but uninformed person watching such a debate who will decide who “wins” based on something other than the facts they don’t yet fully appreciate. And when you’re preaching to the choir, a little bit of being an ass is okay. But for the special choir of hardcore scientists, they just want the facts and any enhancement is a negative to them.

I remember reviewing a grant proposal once that was very nicely written with some great analogies, enthusiasm, and style. And I bumped it up in my grade for that. Once of my fellow panel members, however, commented on the “extreme” writing style and wanted to put something in the comments to admonish the proposer. God, I thought this person was ridiculous with that review, but it reflected his opinion, and probably that of 1/3 of the panel.

Well, I can’t change THAT much. I’m going to write effectively as best I know how and can’t make myself do things that suck just to satisfy some of my clueless peers. I understand them, but I won’t compromise that much. They’re only 1/3, so I can still win…sometimes. But I do worry less about the presentation for scientist-only audiences. A single factual error, however…

So, I am still learning how to do this, and feel like no one knows the exact formula. Olson’s formula is to be like Carl Sagan, except only Sagan was Sagan. I will be me, trying to be Sagan-like when addressing broad audiences. He wrote science fiction, too, and I feel something kindred with him. He was also here in Wyoming for the dedication of our local observatory (with a racy story to boot, which I approve of). He somehow avoided the label of being arrogant that Dawkins has stamped on his forehead now. Personally I don’t think it’s arrogant to be right and frustrated with stupid people, but I’m in a minority on that one.

Know thyself, and know thy audience.

Randy Olson’s book, Unscientific America, scienceblogs, inspiring the choir, audience, and converting the masses when style is substance…

Science is the antithesis of style over substance, so not self-consistent in practice

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Late Sunday Night Starlinks

2009-12-21T08:13:53Z

Phil Plait’s Top Ten Astronomy Images of 2009.

Dinosaur and Loch Ness Monster on Display.

Joe Haldeman named latest SFWA Grandmaster. Yay, Joe!

50 Great Movies every Science Geek needs to See.

Wired article about James Cameron and Avatar. Really interesting. The attention to details staggers me.

The Rise and Fall of MySpace.

Who are the Climate Change Skeptics? James Randi seemed like he was one for a moment there, but apparently he just fucked up a bit .

Michigan Churches Stop Serving the Homeless because of Homosexuality. More Christian love for Christmas. When faith is founded on authority and lack of reason, it can be turned to great effect toward hate. Next religious nut who tells me that atheists have no morals is getting a kick in the balls.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Five Reasons Why People Think They Hate Science (and what to do about it!)

2009-12-20T11:28:19Z

Now, I don’t expect everyone to love everything that I love, but I do know that everyone loves the results of science even if they don’t readily acknowledge it. I mean, people love using the internet, driving cars, being warm in the winter, getting medicine when they are sick, all that good stuff. But even if they don’t readilly acknowledge this love for the roots of science, I do understand the hate. Or I think I do, part of it.

I’ve taught science to non-major students a number of years and also spend my time watching science wars on the internet (e.g., deniers of global warming, evolution, etc.).

I think that countering biases means figuring out misconceptions, confronting them, and knocking them down first thing. If you don’t hit the misconception, you don’t actually teach anyone anything. The misconceptions run strong and reassert themselves over time. So, I want to try to list the issues people have with science, rational and irrational, and want to think about how to respond to and perhaps counter these.

1. Scientists are arrogant, so I don’t like science.

Bush and Clinton are arrogant, so does that mean you don’t like politics? Simon Cowell on American Idol is arrogant, but he is popular and tens of millions of peolple like that show. Astronomers Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan don’t come across as arrogant on their TV shows, so maybe everyone can like some science.

2. Science is full of math. I’m not good at math, so I don’t like science.

Not all sciences have a lot of math (e.g., biology). Moreover, science concepts are more fundamental than the math. The science is all in setting up the equations. The math is in solving them, so you can understand the science without the math. (P.S. Math isn’t so bad, really!)

3. Science is full of negativity. Scientists are always doubting things. It isn’t just arrogance, it’s being pessimistic, skeptical doubters. So I don’t like science.

This is true, but necessary. Sometimes it’s better to have a dose of honesty, and not take everything on authority. Besides, not every idea is right out there, so let’s make a virtue out of honesty, ok?

4. My beliefs are strong, and I have faith. Science says some things contradictory to my beliefs (e.g. evolution, global warming, autism, etc.), so I don’t like science.

Well, this one is harder I think. Reality is reality. Science doesn’t care. We can be understanding about people in the past, with a different culture and educational background interpreting things as they saw them. We know better now. And science, ultimately, is less beholden to any particular belief system or ideology. Eventually it gets to the right answer, like it or not, and there’s always someone one your side and on the other side who both get bitten by science. Science is not a belief system. It reflects reality. We all have to deal with reality, don’t we?

5. Science is mechanistic and cold, so I don’t like it.

Think of your favorite robot. The Iron Giant. Bender. Data. Robby. R2-D2. HAL. Okay, maybe not HAL. But there’s at least one robot out there you like, isn’t there? Make that the face of cold, mechanical science, if you must.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Two Flaws with my Kindle

2009-12-19T01:56:53Z

OK, one flaw, and one issue that is my personal probelm.

First, if you want to give people kindle ebooks for Christmas, what do you do? As far as I can tell a gift card is the only way to go and that’s a little less personal than I like. But that’s what I’ve asked my family to do:

The second problem is that I finally realized that amazon’s whispernet, the system the kindle uses to let you browse and download, doesn’t work in Laramie, Wyoming any better than it did for my while living in Brazil last year. Ugh. I can still download through the computer, or wait until I go out of town, but definitely less convenient than I originally thought, for me personally. Anyone know other places where it doesn’t work? I believe kindle’s whispernet works over cell phone systems, and verizon is about the only one that covers Laramie, well, so, I don’t think they work with verizon.

Well, I still really like my kindle. Anyone out there who owns one of the newer competition and can recommend it?

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Why Will Vampires Never Die?

2009-12-18T07:42:48Z

I’m a science fiction guy who craves new stuff, but even I’ve written a vampire story or two.

They are immortal, I’ve finally concluded, because they are a cultural shorthand for SEX.

Vampires are not monsters or villians. They are stand-ins for romance, sex, eroticism.

They are not crude like porn or salacious like bodice rippers.

They are not even necessarily horror, or even genre, when you have “sparkly” let-me-tan-in-the-sun Twilight vampires. They’re just teenage love idols then.

So, I’m going to stop worrying about why people don’t get tired of the same old, same old. Sex is just a bit of the old in and out, and people don’t tire of it. And they won’t tire of vampires.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Why does Superman have a Muscular Body?

2009-12-16T07:59:23Z

I am such a nerd. There is no reasonable answer to my question, except for the obvious “he’s an alien, that’s why” or “shut up and stop being such a nerd!”

(Why Superman should look like a human at all is another question I won’t ask for now, as is why doesn’t anyone see through his clever Clark Kent disguise.)

Astronauts living in microgravity very rapidly lose muscle and can have problems walking when they return to Earth gravity. They have to work very hard, hours of exercise per day, to stave off the negative effects of floating around all day without having to move a muscle.

Superman, as strong as he is, should suffer the same effects here on Earth. He barely gets a workout doing anything short of juggling cars or moving mountains.

If comics made any sense at all, it should be Super Stickman.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Sunday Starlinksence

2009-12-14T04:35:11Z

The links keep piling up, so let’s clear them out again and get back to writing for the rest of the evening.

Really cool. Spacewalking astronauts spotted from backyard telescope.

Something not so cool. This applies to the UK, but I have little doubt it happens a lot in the U.S. as well. Schools not pushing gifted students. WTF?!?! They don’t want to promote “elitism.” What they don’t want to do is admit that there are people smarter than teachers, principals, and administrators in our mediocre system and encourage the best, even though the best produce 90% of the worthwhile stuff in the world. Jesus Christ. This sort of thing makes me mad. The system bends over backwards to make sure the awful students who don’t care scrape by at minimum acceptable level (pretty damn low) and don’t do a damn thing to help out the best and brightest. Of course the best and brightest tend to succeed despite of this, but imagine how much higher they could fly.

OK, back to the non story of climategate. AP “scientists” figure out that the “scandal” actually doesn’t have any impact on the science of climate change. Glad the media finally figured this out after a month. Check out what the scientists have already posted to debunk this right wing conspiracy nonsense.

Why is every scandal and pseudo scandal given a name with “gate” tacked on at the end? Why are f-ing vampires still so popular year after year? Who made liquid soap and why?

Back to cool. Giger’s skeleton bar. Way cool.

io9 gives us their 20 best sf books of the decade. I haven’t read enough to dispute the list and acknowledge that there are many wonderful books on this list, so check it out.

Barnes & Noble switches formats on their ebooks, makes it hard to even know what their selling. Slimy, sounds like to me. Not so cool.

More coolness. Sleep in a dinosaur bed. I still would. Sleep tight. Don’t let the dinosaurs bite…

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Book Chatter #17: Launch Pad

2009-12-13T05:58:51Z

The Launch Pad event last night went off quite well. Thank you, Stacey Cochran! In addition to me and Stacey, the hour featured Phil Plait, a special guest instructor, and past attendees Andy Duncan, Gord Sellar, Brian Malow, and Tara Fredette. I reveal the dates for summer 2010 and our guest instructor within. I’ll be making a big formal announcement about those, along with application dates, in the next few weeks in conjunction with an updated Launch Pad website. I still need to make some revisions there and have been dragging my heels a little as other projects have been higher priority.

The mini-reunion was a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Friday Starlinks

2009-12-12T01:21:29Z

I have some other things to post about, but I’ve gathered up a giant pile of links to clear off my list and share. Also, keep in mind the Launch Pad podcast later tonight.

First though, science fiction writer Peter Watts has apparently been beaten and arrested trying to cross home into Canada from the US. I’m upset and pissed off about this. I have little doubt that nothing was going on initially and someone overreacted and made nothing into something that is going to fuck up Peter’s life for a little while, or perhaps a long while. He’s likely to need some expensive legal aid, and while he sells more books than I do, I know he isn’t rich. Check out his donations page where you can download several of his cool novels for free.

There are a lot of people and websites doing end of year and end of decade lists. I’m resisting for the moment, but here are some others.

Mary Robinette Kowal has the ten best fantasy movies of the decade.

John Scalzi has the ten worst science fiction blockbusters of the decade.

I wonder what this says about the quality of science fiction vs. fantasy movies in recent years? There have been some good sf movies, but I think fantasy has been better overall.

SFCrowsnest has the 100 favorite sf/fantasy/horror novels of the last year. Spider Star is sitting at #26. Cool!

Askmen.com, not my favorite site usually, has the ten hottest aliens. I have to say, a pretty damn good list overall.

Ten Ways Space Travel isn’t like TV or Movies. Pretty good list. I might have a very small technical quibble over a detail or two, but nice overall.

And a really great cracked.com list concerning Five Disturbing Ways Humans will Evolve. Cool, fun, disturbing stuff. (Thanks Jon!)

The relativity of wrong, an old Asimov essay. This came up in the context of some of the various science deniers who have absolute notions and think science is like a religion. Well, it isn’t. And even thought it changes, our knowledge is continually improving and we know more about how things work, and just because old theories turned out to be wrong doesn’t mean that every current idea is also wrong.

Speaking of which, Science-gate.

A fun cartoon about that mysterious thing in the sky over Norway a few days ago.

Incredible Vista of the Cosmos (from Bad Astronomy).

Top Model Adrienne Curry likes to hang out naked and stoned playing World of Warcraft. With photo goodness. Why isn’t every woman like this? Why is it usually only the male basement dwellers? Oh, well, Peter Brady is a lucky man. Although I don’t know if she would look good with a Mr. T mohawk…

Physics hottie Maria Spirolulu lectures about the technology and science of the Large Hadron Collider. Maybe that hot particle physicist in Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons was not so unusual after all.

And finally, Harlan Ellison on God (thanks to sfsignal, and check out some of the comments over there):

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Launch Pad Podcast Friday Night

2009-12-11T08:25:30Z

Stacey Cochran who helped out with Launch Pad this past summer and did the videos for us is now hosting a podcast about Launch Pad Friday night at 11pm (EST). I’ll be on as a guest along with several other instructors and attendees from 2009.

If you want to check it out, here’s the website:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bookchatter

I plan to announce the dates for 2010 and the guest instructor, so please do join us.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Why was Snape such a Bad Teacher?!

2009-12-10T00:32:35Z

WARNING: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Spoilers

A friend of mine picked up the new Harry Potter movie on DVD and I plan to watch it this week. I was thinking back to how much I enjoyed the book, but remembered something that nagged the hell out of me when the identity of the half-blood prince was revealed.

Snape, as a student, apparently used the same textbook that he is teaching with now. When he was a student, he figured out all sorts of small improvements to make better potions more easily. He KNOWS how to do this. He figured it out already. And yet he doesn’t teach what he learned. Harry, using Snape’s original copy with his notes, outperforms his peers and has success with potions like he never had before. As far as I can tell, potion-making can be taught like cooking, and having the right recipe matters.

Snape should either be teaching his students better recipes than the ones in the textbook — because he figured them out — or, and this is akin to the difference between engineering and science — teaching his students how to improve potion recipes. What fundamental principles did he use to figure out how to improve the potions? If he has potion engineers, do the former. If potion researchers, the latter.

But Snape does neither.

He is, apparently, a really awful and stupid teacher. Which seems inconsistent to me as he is portrayed as being very smart and competent. So, I have to believe that Snape is a lazy dick of a teacher who does not care for his profession. I’m not sure that’s what Rowling intended in the end, but without assuming she wrote him inconsistently to make an interesting plot point, that’s what I must conclude.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

It’s Cold Here Starlinks

2009-12-09T06:34:49Z

I’m still fighting off this stupid cold. I usually feel pretty good during the day, then in the evening get much worse. Oh, well. It’s only a cold…I’m sure shoveling snow in sub-zero weather this morning didn’t help. Anyway, onward!

I want to punch this asshole Gary Sutton in his grinning face over his essay about why climatologists “get it wrong.” Oh, boy, another right winger going to tell scientists why they’re doing science “wrong.” Well, I want to tell this dick why he’s wrong, except he’ll just grin and not care. I’ll say a few words anyway. He’s dredging up the 1970s media hype about global cooling to say that scientists today must be wrong about global warming. Do I need to explain the logical fallacy? This is so stupid I can’t believe this guy can show his face even in a mirror without being laughed at. Then there’s a bit of that same self-revealing reasoning about how scientists must be saying this to get grants. Sheesh, like oil companies wouldn’t pay them double what they get from the government for coming up with a different answer. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

Apparently no one told the Earth it’s wrong. 2009 on track to be 5th warmest on record. Well, not here in Wyoming this month, but whatever. I’m not stupid enough to confuse a global annual average with my driveway this morning. But apparently a lot of people are. Man.

And here’s a cogent response to some of the “climategate” hacked emails non-conspiracy for those still interested:

Time magazine can only ask if climategate has been overblown, rather than saying clearly and correctly that climategate has been overblown. Stupid media.

And how about economists? Yes, let’s just do some geo-engineering to solve our climate problems rather than do anything simpler and safer but more expensive.

OK, let’s switch to Tiger Woods…I mean, Tiger Woods and physics. Apparently the fact that this rich, famous sports figure, who isn’t exactly one to emulate in other respects, reads physics books, means that people are buying his physics book. A hint to companies: don’t drop him as a product endorser! The public just doesn’t care, apparently. I should just send copies of my novels to whatever celebrity I think is going to fuck up next, or hire someone to plant them after the fact. This world makes no sense sometimes.

Now, this makes sense to me. Mickey Rourke, 57, who will play the Russian villain Whiplash in the upcoming Iron Man 2 movie, get engaged to a smoking hot Russian model, 24. The article sensibly chides Mickey, twice divorced, about making another mistake. So again, the world makes no sense. I don’t think the person who wrote the article is getting kinky with super hot 24-year-old models, especially while looking like his face is made of mashed potatoes. And more importantly, will Iron Man 2 suck?

On the issue of sequels, Spike TV has a list of ten movies, most of them science fiction, that were better than the first film. Nice list.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Best Science/Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror I Read in 2009

2009-12-07T21:28:23Z

Well, 2009 isn’t quite over, but I’m pretty busy and doubt that I’m going to get too many more books read this month (I will finish two I’ve started at least). I wanted to share the books I’ve come across that I thought were worthwhile and suggest that others check them out.

In no particular order:

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Confessions of an Alien Hunter by Seth Shostak

The Terror: A Novel by Dan Simmons

Flashforward by Robert Sawyer

Choke: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Survivor: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

The Trouble with Physics by Lee Smolin

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Crota by Owl Goingback

Contagious by Scott Sigler

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

Fleet of Worlds by Ed Lerner

The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman

Don’t Be Such a Scientist by Randy Olson

Mortal Coils by Eric Nylund

Death from the Skies by Phil Plait

What did you read this year that was really good and worth a recommendation? Let me know. That’s how I pick most of my books to buy these days. Bonus points if they are available for the kindle.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Scientific Peer Review (1945)

2009-12-05T23:49:50Z

I am reviewing two papers now and my colleague staying with me is revising a paper now after receiving comments back from his referee, so I’m really getting a kick out of this:

(Thanks for the head’s up, Sally!)

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Giant End of Week Starlinks

2009-12-05T05:16:52Z

It was the last week of classes, and the time and energy for a lot of blogging hasn’t quite been there this week. Lots of ideas, not much follow through. Should pick up now, however. I have a bunch of links and some small bits of news to share.

There are some plans for a free Star Dragon audiobook.

Once upon a time I was a member of a writing group in Austin, the Slug Tribe, which produced quite a few writers selling professional novels. One of the current members has made an amazon.com list of Slug Tribe publications.

Help science, win money, if you see a red balloon Sat. Dec. 5th.

Galaxy Zoo needs your help classifying galaxy mergers.

Dan Simmons biology is not perfect in at least one of his novels. Guess I am not the only scientist who gets picky about the science in science fiction.

Evidence of life on mars, based on the martian meteorites, gets a big boost.

There’s been a lot written recently about the “scandal” involving the stolen emails from climatologists. Want my take? Have a look at what Phil Plait says on his blog. And Phil also has a nice post about a new, supercool picture of our galaxy.

Super Earths superior at fostering life? Krypton maybe?

Remember those Hostess Pastries ads they ran in comic books about 30 years ago? I do. Stupid then, hilarious now.

Cheesy book covers. Some laughers for sure.

Citizen astronomy? Maybe…

OK, some more original stuff to come…

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

The Science Fiction in Science: Dark Matter Ramjets and Black Hole Powered Spacecraft

2009-12-01T21:13:28Z

New Scientist has an interesting article about novel methods for interstellar travel, which includes links to recent scientific articles:

In August, physicist Jia Liu at New York University outlined his design for a spacecraft powered by dark matter (arxiv.org/abs/0908.1429v1). Soon afterward, mathematicians Louis Crane and Shawn Westmoreland at Kansas State University in Manhattan proposed plans for a craft powered by an artificial black hole (arxiv.org/abs/0908.1803).

Liu claims to have his inspiration come from Bussard and the interstellar ramjet concept, but maybe he just read my novel Spider Star that has a very similar idea, at least in the sense that dark matter is used as fuel. My idea is very direct, with a “beater” that pushes around WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles). Liu’s idea is based on a theory involving how dark matter may annihilate to release energy.

I’m not the first to use black holes to drive space ships (as I did in Star Dragon using a variation on an idea that first appeared in a physics paper in the 1950s), not by a longshot, but it is always welcome to see serious efforts to develop new ideas about how to do this thing.

Also recently, Charlie Stross has made a very thoughtful post getting a lot of attention about how interstellar travel is really hard and doesn’t even fit into the spaceship paradigm, barring some series developments in physics. Well, a dark matter drive could potentially be such a development.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Two Video Interviews with Robert Sawyer

2009-12-01T04:10:43Z

First, science comdian Brian Malow interviews Sawyer for Time magazine:

Also, an interview Stacey Cochran did with Sawyer during Launch Pad last summer, up at CERN’s website.

Both feature Flashforward. Enjoy.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Adam Lambert and the Sneak Attack of Science Fiction

2009-11-30T06:51:31Z

Adam Lambert of American Idol fame ruffled some feathers at the American Music Awards recently by kissing one of the (male, OMG!) dancers performing with him during his appearance. It’s in the embedded video, a little past half-way through. I missed it the first time I watched it. Noticing the quick cutaway helps spot it:

It was fun and titillating when Madonna was kissing Brittney and Christina during live music performances a few years ago, at least from the commentary I saw, and lesbian kisses have become pretty standard fare on TV shows. Adam Lambert is apparently a huge controversy and uptight socially conservative people are whining. We definitely have a double standard, and it should be clear that this is cultural and religious, not something inherent in human behavior. In a number of historical cultures, homosexuality and bisexuality were much more common than today. It’s a learned response. And our culture is still quite discriminatory at the present time.

When you approach one of these controversies head on, as Adam Lambert did, you take shit for it. There’s a a time when it becomes appropriate to do it, and I hope we are at such a time, but it distracts from Lambert’s music, and probably cost him his chance at being the American Idol last year. It’ll cost him some record sales, too. Remember all the closeted gay performers? Freddie Mercury of Queen (an obvious hint?!) comes to mind immediately, as well as dozens of other musicians and actors who have produced some of the greatest artistic works in recent years.

Because people don’t like the gays. Or the blacks. Or the muslims. Or whoever. At least they don’t like them when they step out into the open. In every culture there’s some segment of the population that are the outcasts.

This is an issue in fiction as well as music. I remember arguing in a critique group in the early 1990s that making a character gay in a short story probably shouldn’t be done, unless that was an essential point to the story. I didn’t argue this point because I was a bigot or a homophobe, but simply because many potential readers would get hung up on that point to such an extent it would impact how they read the story. Of course, it’s always something a skilled writer can get away with (e.g., Joe Haldeman’s fine short story “Feedback” that was first published in Playboy around that same time), but why risk it, unless you’re politically motivated? It isn’t the artist’s duty to fight for every cause out there, just their own.

Science fiction, however, has some obvious ways to be sneaky here.

On the original Star Trek series they had several episodes that dealt with racism (e.g., the one with the planet full of people black on one side and white on the other — or vice versa). Politically repressed societies such as the Soviet Union had writers who could criticize their government only through indirect means such as fiction, and especially science fiction. Joe Haldeman, again, in his novel The Forever War, had a future full of homosexuals. It has a shock effect on me as a kid not much exposed to such things, and by portraying this society in the distant future it was not directly threatening.

Anyway, I do feel that the time is right to have overtly gay characters in fiction without it being a central issue. The tipping point is about here. It might still be a little early, but it might be a few years late for many audiences. Let the bigots start feeling that they’re in the minority.

The science fiction community is generally very inclusive. The social conservatives, if anyone, seem to be held in scorn at conventions, and while there is “right wing” science fiction, it seems to be in the minority. Exploring the future and aliens and issues from novel perspectives seems to be, predominantly, a liberal thing to do. At least playing honest with such viewpoints.

Anyway, science fiction is always an appropriate way of approaching these issues whether the times and audiences call for stealth, or not. Making Starbuck a woman on the Battlestar Galactica reboot was brilliant. Women’s issues are not as pressing as they were a few decades ago, but showing a kickass female fighter pilot doesn’t hurt. You still can’t do it for our existing U.S. military (or an overtly gay one), but you can in science fiction.

There is a segment of the population who are not reflective, who do not realize that some things that seem clearly right or wrong to them are culturally determined. Science fiction is a sneak attack that can get people to look at these issues from a new perspective. That’s a unique power, one that we should appreciate and wield when we’re so moved.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

I Am Thankful for Science Fiction

2009-11-27T06:20:21Z

I am thankful for the Man-Kzin wars.

I am thankful for psychohistory.

I am thankful for the World of Tiers.

I am thankful for robots.

I am thankful for artificial gravity.

I am thankful for ray guns, blasters, lasers, phasers, and photon torpedoes.

I am thankful for space elevators, bean stalks, skyhooks, and the Fountains of Paradise.

I am thankful for aliens to speak with via radio, invade my planet, and probe my butt.

I am thankful for an Alien with acid for blood.

I am thankful for novas, supernovas, black holes, quasars, gamma ray bursts, and other things that go boom in the night.

I am thankful for a peek beyond the blue event horizon.

I am thankful to take the red pill.

I am thankful for stepping disks.

I am thankful for meteor shit.

I am thankful for powered armor.

I am thankful for Starship Troopers fighting Forever Wars.

I am thankful for Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and Marc Singer.

I am thankful for the luck of Teela Brown.

I am thankful for Mars.

I am thankful for the spice that must flow.

I am thankful for Hal singing Daisy.

I am thankful for alien-human hybrids.

I am thankful for the theory of simultaneity.

I am thankful for hyperspace.

I am thankful for jaunting.

I am thankful for nightfall.

I am thankful for the Sleepless.

I am thankful for space babes.

I am thankful for the incomparable Dejah Thoris.

I am thankful for Caprica Six and 7 of 9.

I am thankful because there can be only one.

I am thankful to boldly go where no man has gone before.

What are you thankful for?

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

The Science Fiction in Science: Accretion Disk Civilizations?

2009-11-26T05:29:00Z

My friend and fellow astronomer/science fiction writer Valentin Ivanov pointed me at these abstracts saying they reminded him of Star Dragon (which has creatures living in an accretion disk):

Title: Accretion disk civilization 1: Habitable zone around accretion disks at galactic nuclei.

Authors: Fukue, J.

Publication: Astron. Her., Vol. 88, No. 5, p. 199 - 205

Publication Date: 00/1995

Origin: ARI

ARI Keywords: Galaxies: Planetary Systems, Planetary Systems: Accretion Disks

Bibliographic Code: 1995AstHe..88..199F

Abstract

The space density of stars, and therefore, the possible number of planets are expected to be high in the central region of galaxies. While the galactic nuclei may be rather wild places due to the existence of the supermassive black holes and the surrounding accretion disks. As the first step to investigate the advanced civilizations in the galactic nuclei, the author examines the equilibrium temperature and related problems of possible planets in the vicinity of accretion disks.

Title: Accretion disk civilization 2: From sunhook to photon floater.

Authors: Fukue, J.

Publication: Astron. Her., Vol. 88, No. 6, p. 244 - 253

Publication Date: 00/1995

Origin: ARI

ARI Keywords: Accretion Disks: Black Holes, Accretion Disks: Energies

Bibliographic Code: 1995AstHe..88..244F

Abstract

An accretion disk surrounding a supermassive black hole at the active galactic nuclei radiates tremendous energy. In order to utilize energy of the accretion disk system, the author investigates the configuration and stability of a floating platform - photon floater - above the accretion disk, which is supported by the radiation pressure of the disk radiation. In the case of the far-floater, which is located far from the disk, there exists a critical floating angle, where the gravitational force of the central black hole is balanced with radiation pressure. In the case of the near-floater, which is located very close to the disk, there exists a critical floating height, where the gravity is balanced with radiation. It is demonstrated that this floating height is dynamical stable. Finally, in the case of the axis-floater, which is located on the axis of the disk, the photon floater is unstable.

Now, these papers are not available online, apparently, and I don’t know the author personally, or the journal, but they sound like a lot of fun and some hard science on which to base an advanced civilization at the (or a) galactic core.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

What If the Earth Had Rings?

2009-11-24T20:57:39Z

This is a pretty cool video and makes you think about how things could be different on a terrestrial world.

If you think that’s cool, check out Mary Robinette Kowal’s story Jaiden’s Weaver, which takes place on such a world.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

False Dichotomies and Science/Science Fiction

2009-11-24T08:14:18Z

This is just going to be a short post tonight on a topic I have discussed before and will likely continue to discuss.

Politics in the United States has become so polarized that few politicians cross party lines. It is one team vs. the other, rather than real issues with real solutions that are not solved by the mindless application of simple positions.

While politics is the most clearly visible example of false dichotomies plaguing us today, we have them in both science and science fiction and they are quite similar: style vs. substance.

Too many people on both sides see it as an either or. Scientists care about getting all the substance right, and getting it all in, with little care for the style of presentation or the reception. Too often they feel like the facts, no matter how boringly presented, should speak for themselves. On the flip side, writers and filmmakers and a lot of other folks don’t worry about getting the details all right, or even mostly right, but only seem to care if the final product is cool and well received by a large number of people.

In short, the science side cares only about substances. The Hollywood crowd and most of the public primarily care about style. Both sides seem to want to pick a side, and align with it. This is somewhat ludicrous.

Why can’t we start with the premise that BOTH ARE IMPORTANT?!

A scientifically accurate presentation is fatally flawed if it is correct but boring.

A gripping, entertaining bit of science or science fiction is flawed if it is fun but inaccurate.

It isn’t either/or.

It can be both. There’s a solution in essentially every case. Flawed movies can be fixed. Boring documentaries can be enlivened.

More on the details of this coming soon as time permits, but the first step is setting aside the limiting beliefs that style and substance are mutually exclusive. That’s small-minded thinking on exhibit.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

End of the Week Starlinks

2009-11-23T03:47:24Z

I’ve had a hard time catching up with things this week, post grant proposal, and also having a visiting collaborator/house guest. I have piled up some really interesting links, however, and am passing them on now. I also feel like I’ve made some personal breakthroughs concerning science communication that I will blog about soon.

Really nice list of 15 inventions inspired by science fiction.

35 Amazing Science Fair Projects. I think most of them are even real. Scary more than amazing.

Sometimes cosmology in the news doesn’t sound so cool. Sometimes it stinks. Mysterious “dark flow” extends to edge of the Universe.

Sagan-Man! I love xkcd.

Bad sex in fiction. It’s enough that bad sex exists in real life, isn’t it?

It turns out that the Secret Diary of a Call Girl was based on the real life story of a scientist putting herself through school. A little sordid, but I approve. Scientists can be hot, too. Hot like Billie Piper.

Racist math. Yeah, I think it qualifies. I’m all for being innovative and interesting to motivate students, but still…

John Scalzi on the issue of bad science in Star Trek and science eduction more generally. Highly recommended reading, whether you agree with him or not. And JJ Abrams about Star Trek 2.

High-tech tattoos. Cool! Mood skin coming…

A story about a Stephen King appearance and his new book.

Meteor video from Utah.

Here are two io9 links about superhero comic stuff. About unfilmable stories and bad retcons.

Pictures of the surface of the sun. Cool. No, wait…hot!

A library bitch censoring Alan Moore graphic novel. Librarians are great, doing an important job, but like cops, the bad ones need to destroyed.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

How To Live

2009-11-17T23:32:53Z

I’ve been busy the last week or so revising a grant proposal for the National Science Foundation. I finally finished yesterday, and am relaxing a little. It’s fine to work hard, and it’s fine to take a breather in between. I have a lot to catch up, and if you’ve been waiting for a reply from me about something, I should get to it soon now. Feel free to bug me again if necessary.

But I need to remind myself that running around with giant “to do” lists, losing sleep over deadlines, watching shows on the DVR only because it is filling up (Damn you Prisoner!) and not because you want to and have the time, always feeling overwhelmed, and letting life control you, rather than controling your own life…this is ok once in a while but not as a way of life.

We’re here. We should be having fun. If you’re not having fun, well, go have some!

I am thinking about this today because one of my favorite teachers from high school passed away, and I just learned about it. James Alverson was my history teacher, and pretty cool. He was a scary looking bald guy with a beard and glasses, an American version of Vladimir Lenin, but with only one leg and a limp. He was often serious and appeared disconnected as he limped up a stairwell, but the truth was that he was fully engaged with the world in a deep way and cared very, very deeply about things. I remember one year he filled his room with pieces of artwork showing voluptuous women — fat, the girls then and now surely thought. And that was why. Anorexia and bad nutrion was becoming an issue and he wanted students to realize that the present ideal of beauty was a cultural artificact, and didn’t have to be the truth. He put up the paintings and sculptures, and never told anyone why until someone asked.

My favorite episode with Mr. Alverson was one day when he came late to class. He hobbled in and strangely sat on the edge of the front desk and just started making small talk. This went on for 5-10 minutes. He had a glass with dark liquid inside that he sipped from. He joked around, teased some of the students. One asked what he was drinking, as he did come off a little drunk. “You want to try?” he asked Bob, who quickly declined. Coffee was all it was, but he wanted to have a bit of fun. One of his friends had told him that he was becoming a sourpuss, being serious all the time, and needed to lighten up and enjoy things. He did, in a way I will never forget.

I lectured this morning myself, and I realize that he taught me so much that day. I go into class and I plan to teach, but I also expect to have fun. Instead of showing a slide of a map of the cosmic microwave background, I drew it. Three times. First with the dipole motion, the redshift/blueshift pattern caused by our motion. That looks like a cosmic yin-yang symbol, and I’m sure some Eastern mystics have made some bogus claims based on this coincidence. Then I drew what was left when you corrected for the motion — a lot of galaxy contamination. Finally, after subtracting off the Milky Way emission, I drew the temperature fluctations and discussed their power spectrum. I joked about my abstract art and how these scribbles were appropriate for a graduate-level astrophysics course.

I also offered to share my drink. I had a whole case of Diet Mt. Dew with me, but no takers. A couple should have, as I saw them nod off early, but I had them awake and egaged by the end of class.

I like teaching. I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m a little strange. I have fun, and that’s the best way to do it.

So please, go throw in a little fun into whatever you’re doing today, tomorrow, whenever. This is your life, and why not make sure to have some fun?

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Title:		Accretion disk civilization 1: Habitable zone around accretion disks at galactic nuclei.
Authors:		Fukue, J.
Publication:		Astron. Her., Vol. 88, No. 5, p. 199 - 205
Publication Date:		00/1995
Origin:		ARI
ARI Keywords:		Galaxies: Planetary Systems, Planetary Systems: Accretion Disks
Bibliographic Code:		1995AstHe..88..199F

Title:		Accretion disk civilization 2: From sunhook to photon floater.
Authors:		Fukue, J.
Publication:		Astron. Her., Vol. 88, No. 6, p. 244 - 253
Publication Date:		00/1995
Origin:		ARI
ARI Keywords:		Accretion Disks: Black Holes, Accretion Disks: Energies
Bibliographic Code:		1995AstHe..88..244F