Shelfie

Recently upon the intertubez there was visited a mighty wind of complaint that those of us who had many books, and posted pictures of such, were some sort of mark of elitism. (This was an evolution out of the mighty wind about the "selfie", in of itself an amusing wind.)

Bollocks, I say. Bollocks. Owning books is a mark of educating oneself, improving oneself, entertaining oneself. Thinking. Striving. Wrestling. "A man's reach ought to exceed his grasp—" and all that.

I own something on the order of 10,000 physical books and about 5,000 electronic books and a couple of hundred audiobooks. They are among my most prized possessions. They are objects of my own choice. Nobody has fed these to me in a stream of no choice (e.g., television). They take me to places where I cannot go, entertain me with stories, allow me to speak to people (authors, historical figures, fictional characters) that I'll never have a chance to meet. Elitism? Bollocks, books are the great equalizer. Spread them to the 99%, it's our greatest weapon against the 1%.

Nice to see others do not agree with the claim of elitism.

Inside the Nebula

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Horsehead Nebula inside the constellation of Orion. I've only managed to spot this a few times from my light-soaked skies!

Wit and Wisdom

The wit and wisdom of General "Mad Dog" Mattis.

A Lifelong Effort

Always be reading. Period. End statement.

Another Dimension

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a rather strange looking landscape. What happens when you take fractals from two dimensions to three?

The Circle of Economy

Buy a book. You really have no choice.

Abandon in Place

An abandoned steel factory. Likes like the setpiece for a classic Traveller adventure.

Weather Forecast

Baby, It's Cold Outside.

More Reading

Enough said. Just read.

Fictional Lives

Reading books and entangling lives.

Hah Hah History

A brief history of The History Channel. What a wasteland.

More Arboreal Aurora

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing auroral activity over Norway. Wonderous skies of frozen faerie.

USA! USA! USA!

There are people who dislike The USA Trilogy by the incomparable John Dos Passos? A pox upon them, I say. A pox!

A Sense of Loss

A very moving piece about reading, life, and the shocks that occur that throw us for a loop. The last time I tried to read Godel, Escher, Bach was in January 2002 when I suffered an attack (I now recognize it for what it was, back then nobody was very helpful) of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by the events of September 11, 2001 and days afterwards of smoke, bodies and girders. I tried many times that night in the hospital (as I was suffering symptoms of what I thought was some sort of heart issue) trying to read and re-read the book, getting further than I had been on the bus when I started to have issues (well, more issues). I couldn't make the words work and haven't gone back to that book since.

Into the Stargate

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a time-lapse sequence of auroral activity over Alaska. It puts me in mind of the stargate sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Heart Box

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us the heart of the Heart Nebula, Melotte 15 inside IC 1805.

Common Stuff

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows an aggregation of the most common element in the universe: hydrogen. Who knew such common stuff could be so beautiful? (Mouseover the image for an alternative view.)

Full View Moon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing the potato-moon of Mars, Phobos, from all sides.

Tiny Bubbles

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is Sharpless 208, a gas bubble on a cosmic scale.

Geminids

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Geminids over the deserts of Chile. "Mouseover" the image for a guide to the constellations.

Eclipsing Analemma

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows an analemma (images of the Sun taken from the same position, over time to trace the path across the sky over a long period of time) which includes the 2006 eclipse.

Full Spectrum Sol

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows our Sun in many frequencies of the spectrum, courtesy of the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Fishing the Methane Lakes

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the methane and ethane lakes of Titan, as imaged by the long-running Cassini orbiter.

Essential Operas

A list of essential space operas courtesy of monkey-man Gareth L. Powell. Note, "new space opera" (I could think of five or more classic space opera titles to add to a more expanded list.). Good books all.

Subtle Moon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows our Moon in a different light. Many different lights.

Uprights

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows light pillars emanating from parking lot lights over Finland.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jay Lake

An absolutely stupendous, moving, funny, shocking, sad and happy interview with Jay Lake, one of the best humans I know (via a few degrees of Kevin Bacon).

Rain of Stars

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a downfall of Geminids.

Jade Rabbit

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover that has been deployed by China's Chang'e 3 spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. Nice to be back on the magnificent desolation.

Europa, Europa!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows one of the four moons of Jupiter's discovered by Galileo, Europa. This view was also captured by Galileo, in this case the venerable orbiter which explored Jupiter's mini-system for several years. Europa is again in the news, with evidence that it vents (like Saturn's moon Enceladus) water into space.

Cosmic Bubbles

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day takes us to Cassiopeia, home of NGC 7635, more commonly known as The Bubble Nebula. Will it ever go "pop"?

Geminids!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a time-lapse picture showing the radiant of the current Geminid meteor shower.

Trio

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, the trio of stars that form the "belt" of Orion. Also visible are a number of nebula, including the very elusive (to me) Horsehead.

Deep Chill

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the balmy shores of some southern paradise.

Sextet

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Seyfert's Sextet, a group of interacting galaxies in the constellation of Serpens. What will result from the action on a large scale?

John Schoenherr

The Omni Reboot site takes a look at the paintings John Schoenherr did for Frank Herbert's Dune series, especially the first book. I fondly recall the Dune calendar which features these paintings, along with the original hardcover and the installments in the 1960's temporarily-larger-than-digest Analog. He really is the man behind the look of the Dune universe.

More Lovejoy

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet Lovejoy (Comet C/2013) over the skies of France.

"...listen: there's a hell of a good universe next door; let's go..."

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the top of Husband Hill by the long-lived MER Spirit in 2005. This is one of those images that you're just going to want to download and look at and expand and look at...

Nova!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a new nova which has appeared in the skies of the southern hemisphere: Take a look at Centaurus and see if you can spot Nova Cen 2013!

2,000 Days

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the gamma-ray sky courtesy of the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, recently passing through it's 2,000th day in orbit.

Number Seven

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the seventh entry in the Abell Catalog, a planetary nebula in the Constellation of Lepus (the Hare).

Hooked on Demonics

Harlan Ellison considered as a helix of semi-precious musical metal notes.

Love(joy) Framed

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet Lovejoy framed in the ruins of a castle in Sweden. Oh, for dark and clear skies!

Rho Ophiuchi

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the gaseous and dust clouds of the Rho Ophiuchi region. Off to one side is Messier 4, a globular cluster.

Ansible!

He's back! Dave Langford IS the internet!

The Weakest Link. SF clue in the US Jeopardy show: 'This French author's tomb was featured on the frontispiece of Amazing Stories Magazine for many years.' Contestant: 'Who is H.G. Wells?' [AIP]

Always a great read.

Going Mobile

(For the moment, this will serve as a placeholder until I have a moment to write an actual review.)

For some odd reason, many of the books I re-read this year dealt with travel. Or, plots that trotted the globe. They were:

Neil Gaiman: American Gods, Anansi Boys.

William Gibson: Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, Zero History.

Neal Stephenson: The Baroque Cycle (to date, only Quicksilver has been re-read).

Author's who write about travel. People who travel. Here are two interesting folks who do both: Damien G. Walter, Graham Holliday.

Beware the Cometeers!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows one of several comets in our night sky, C/2013 R1 Lovejoy. With a distinctly greenish glow, Lovejoy is having me hearken back to the Golden Age of science fiction.

Star Wars!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows astronomers at the Very Large Telescope in Chile firing lasers at the stars? Space war? No, measuring atmospheric blurring, the bane of good "seeing" everywhere.

Bare Survivor

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing the fall of Comet ISON towards the Sun. ISON appears to have survived...barely. It is significantly diminished in magnitude and even form.

Saturn

A nice gallery of of shots from the long-running Cassini orbiter: Saturn, the rings, the mini-system of moons and more.

Sun Diver

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet ISON doing it's deep dive around the Sun. Initially reported as completely destroyed, it now appears that the comet survived, greatly diminished.

Another Nebula in Orion

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows another nebular cloud in the constellation of Orion, "south" of the more famous Messier 42, the Great Nebula in Orion.

ISON

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing Comet ISON in the dawn sky. Will ISON survive it's plunge towards the Sun?

Shock and Awe

I have somehow managed to read seventy-two books so far this year (and the year isn't over).

I work with people who rarely read, some manage one book every several years. This is my own technological singularity, how the heck can you not read?

Luckily, there are still readers out there. For example, these folks who are active in the arts.

This is how I want to live. No room for books at home? Visit a library! Our future depends on people with active imaginations and well-furnished minds.

On Point

Neil Gaiman on NPR's On Point. Some good stuff here.

MotherShip

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a "cap cloud" over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The mothership is coming!

Thinner

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of NGC 4921, an "anemic" spiral galaxy in the constellation of Coma. Anemic? Such beauty!

The Missing are Deadly

George Eliot's portable writing desk is still missing. Have you seen this desk?

Multiple Bams

The Hubble Space Telescope has caught sight of a second supernova explosion in spiral galaxy NGC 6984 (located in the constellation of Indus).

Addendum: What a supernova remnant looks like. NGC 6946, known as the "Fireworks Galaxy" has played host to a number of stellar explosions.

Active Region

Glowing gas in the Sagittarius arm of the home galaxy.

Bam!

New evidence has been discovered for the presence of a jet of high-energy particles emitting (blasting) out of the supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy. It's a dangerous place out there.

Addendum: This is a view from NGC 4945 showing a view into the central region of that galaxy.

Pine Island

This Large Image from NASA shows the Pine Island Glacier in the process of separating from the continent of Antarctica. Foolish humans! How long before the Primordial Ones can escape from their frozen sleep?

Boggled

Peanut butter and jelly. It's all about the racism.

Comet

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet Hale-Bopp over the skies of Joshua Tree National Park (California) in 1997.

It's Origin and Purpose are Still a Mystery

A short documentary from 1966 exploring the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“Hwæt”

Have we gotten the opening line of Beowulf wrong, lo, all these many years?

Mr. Sandman

A gallery of Dave McKean art for Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. Gaiman and McKean discuss how Sandman came to be. Gaiman on libraries.

Reading

Susan Sontag to Jorge Luis Borges, books and more.

Eldritch Horrors

Scouting New York (a great site) discovers H.P. Lovecraft's eldritch horrors of New York City.

15 Years On

How big has the International Space Station grown since the first module was launched fifteen years ago? Take a look.

Addendum: An infographic (downloadable) of the ISS. Image from the initial stages of on-orbit construction.

Sundiver

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video taken by the STEREO-A spacecraft. Comet Encke (which has survived the trip many times) and Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) are falling ever closer to the Sun. Will ISON survive?

Daily Grind

A new book takes a look at the odd daily rituals of the writing class. Sex, drugs and rock and roll and much more.

Death and Beyond

Happy 50th Anniversary to Doctor Who! The show that was once cancelled and revived, growing in popularity in the U.S. (where you can find Doctor Who in Hot Topic) and beyond.

California Dreaming

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a portion of the sky (see the image of the Moon for a guide to how big a portion) between the constellations of Taurus and Perseus. Given sufficient light-gathering power you would be treated with this view.

Cubesats Away!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows November 19's launch of a Minotaur 1 rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia. The vehicle was carrying a cargo made up of twenty-nine "cubesats" (many built by high school students). This makes the third launch from Wallops that I've been able to see from my backyard

Addendum: And more cubesats on the way!

The Wallet Cringes

In the latest episode of The Three Hoarsemen, we help you empty the money from your wallet.

Blade Runner

Gaff: Monsieur, azonnal kövessen engem, bitte!

[Deckard gestures to Sushi Master for translation]

Sushi Master: He say you under arrest, Mister Deckard.

Deckard: Got the wrong guy, pal.

Gaff: Lófaszt! Nehogy már! Te vagy a Blade, Blade Runner!

Sushi Master: He say you blade runner.

Deckard: Tell him I'm eating.

Gaff: Captain Bryant toka. Meni-o mae-yo.

Deckard: Bryant, huh?

Blade Runner as a series of watercolors. You're welcome.

Bigger Than Worlds

A visualization of Larry Niven's Ringworld. When's the movie?

On the Edge

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an artist conception of the strange space around a black hole. 4U1630-47 displays jets of energy coming from it's poles. What causes this?

M15

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a wonderful shot from the Hubble Space Telescope showing globular cluster M15 in the constellation of Pegasus. This is one of the relatively few globular clusters you can observe in the fall or winter sky. In a "amateur" instrument it takes on the appearance of a swarm of bees or a sprinkling of diamonds.

MAVEN Launch

MAVEN stands ready on it's launch pad under cloudy skies. Luckily the clouds and some errant readings didn't prevent the countdown from proceeding and MAVEN launched on time. On the way to Mars!

Alien Landing Zone

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day could be a still from an upcoming alien encounter movie. But no, it is just aurora and unusual clouds over Iceland.

Sleep Sheep, Sleep

Do androids dream of electric sheep? What about books?

And time for the weekly debate: Are books dead?

Murray Ridge

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity settles into it's winter work area, Murray Ridge, on the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars. Opportunity's ninety-day (Sol) mission started in 2004. Think about that. That is one hell of a return on investment. I wish my car would work that long between repairs!

Arc of the Diver

Expedition 38 to the International Space Station launches from it's pad and arcs gracefully into space.

MAVEN

The Atlas V launch vehicle with NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) vehicle perched on top is lit by searchlights on this, the eve of it's first launch window.

Full McNaught

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet McNaught (the "Great Comet" of 2007) and it's highly-extended tail. Will Comet ISON rival this sight?

Comet ISON

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a "positive" and "negative" image of Comet ISON from November 15. The comet has undergone a dramatic jump in activity (and brightness) and is clearly visible with a low power/high field of view device (binoculars, for example). A bit more of a jump in brightness and it should be visible (in dark skies).

Flash! Aaa-aaa!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is another (very different) view of the recent eclipse: at the moment of totality, a diffraction grating is used to capture the Sun's spectrum.

Jets!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the World shows NGC 1097, a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Fornax. The galaxy displays four jets, all centered on the galaxies central black hole (but possibly not coming from there).

Launch Prep

The MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft undergoes launch preparations in this image from NASA. First launch "window" is on November 18, from 1328 to 1528 Eastern Standard Time.

In the Shadow of the Rings

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Saturn and it's rings. And...if you look closely ("mouseover"), Mars, Venus and the Earth-Moon pair.

Tailed Rock

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Asteroid P5 in our own asteroid belt. Which has unexpectedly spawned multiple tails. Light pressure? Multiple hits from smaller rocks?

A Many-Layered Star

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is another (unique) view of the recent solar eclipse. Images from multiple orbiting observatories (working in different spectrum's of light) are combined to show Sol at the eclipse.

11/11

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Do you know what that means?

J'accuse!

The FBI investigated Isaac Asimov. Robots, Russians, what's the difference?

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

Heart-stopping moments in outer space as contact is lost with a probe on the way to Mercury.

The Ice Between the Fires

In today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, Comet McNaught is seen between the fireworks and lightning in Perth, Australia.

Lovejoy Amongst the Beehive

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) one of four comets that you can see (given optics and dark skies) among the stars of the morning sky. Here it "zooms" past Messier 44, the Beehive Cluster, in the constellation of Cancer.

Totality

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the recent solar eclipse from Uganda. At the moment of totality, the corona and the prominences appear.

It's the Map, It's the Map, It's the Map

Jason Thompson is recreating classic D&D adventures on maps. The Slave Pits of the Undercity! The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (say that five times fast)! The Isle of Dread! Ravenloft!

High View

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the recent solar eclipse from a unique perspective: 44,000 feet high and above the obscuring clouds.

Neigh! Neigh!

So, I'm on a podcast! Actually, I've been on more than one podcast, but now I am (along with Jeff Patterson and John Stevens) one of The Three Hoarsemen (subtitled "of the Apocalypse" or "in the Balcony" at various times).

Past episodes (and a link to the feed page):

The Three Hoarsemen Cometh! Get Off My SF Lawn!

The Three Hoarsemen Ride!

Life Gets in the Way of Fandom.

And...our current episode (and our first in-depth book coverage): The Three Hoarsemen Discuss Samuel R. Delany's NOVA.

Why?

Ernst Stuhlinger tackles the question: Why (spend money on) explore space?

Shimmering

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a spectacular Halloween-night aurora in the skies of Norway.

Getting Closer

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows how good we're getting at discovering exoplanets. Kepler 78b, only 1.8 "earthmass" in size!

Ansible!

(I somehow overlooked the e-mail, so I'm posting this retroactively!)

It's Movember! Time for a new issue of Ansible from Dave Langford!

It's more than science fiction: "Sir Ben Kingsley argues that the Ender's Game film has qualities that mere sf fans won't appreciate: 'I think there's a much bigger audience than just your science fiction fans – we'll get them as well – but we'll also get people who want a philosophical journey, that journey of spirit through the film.' (Getreading.co.uk, 23 October) [MPJ]"

It's not science fiction: "Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five was cleared by the Sunday Times literary tribunal of any horrid genre taint: 'The cultish Vonnegut's part memoir, part study of psychosis and escape is not the sci-fi it's often dismissed as.' ('100 books to love', 6 October) [LC]"

Always worth a read.

New York Sunrise

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows an eclipsed Sun rising over New York City.

Double Shadow

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a composite of a 2005 solar eclipse that morphed over location from total to annular, giving different views of coverage.

Three by Three

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a recent shadow transit of the shadows of three moons (Callisto, Io and Europa) across the face of Jupiter. I've been lucky to see three shadows in one night, but never lucky enough to see three (or four!) at once.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 7841 in the constellation of Frustriaus. What's really interesting (other than the beautiful structure) about this nebula is it's location. Howdy, neighbor!

What Mad Universe

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the strange surface of an alien planet. Oh, my mistake. Our planet.

Delany's Nova

In this episode of The Three Hoarsemen, we discuss in depth the work of Samuel R. Delany, concentrating on his novel Nova.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the eastern portion of the Veil Nebula in Cygnus. Space Specter! The eastern portion of the Veil Nebula is bewitching.

A Dream Within a Dream

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the complex nebular structures in the constellation of Orion: Messier 42, the Great Orion Nebula and embedded within, the inky darkness of the Horsehead.

The Great Comet...

...of 1680 is the subject of today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Will Comet ISON develop a spectacular tail and dominate our (light polluted) skies?

A Few Less Missing

I've been beating the band about various authors or individual titles that I would love to buy as eBooks, even if I already have paper editions. Money on the table! Just sitting there!

It looks like a good chunk of what I've wanted—novels (but, alas, not the short stories—yet)—from Samuel R. Delany are about to be "electrified". Good news!

Codex

A look at the "strangest book ever published", the Codex Seraphinianus. I've never been able to get a used copy (they go for generally hilarious prices), but now it is coming back into print.

Delicate Language

An amusing look at the stock phrases of travel literature and travel reporting. Let's hear it for the romantic smiling staff!

Sungrazer

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a view from the long-running SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite that has been observing our home star since 1995. Over that time it has discovered some 1,500 comets, including many like the one pictured, a "sungrazer". Not all sungrazing comets survive their encounter with that really big gravity well!

Back to the Roots

Neil Gaiman on the new Sandman, set before the old Sandman. Addendum: For those on the west coast (US), you're closer than I to this exhibit of Sandman art.

Caroline's Rose

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 7789, in the constellation of Cassiopeia (home of many wonderful clusters). Popularly known as Caroline's Rose, it was discovered by Caroline Herschel (her brother was also an astronomer, perhaps you have heard of him as well).

Pegasus Hat

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 7814, "The Little Sombrero" in the constellation of Pegasus. NGC 7814 is edge-on to us, giving us a different view than the more commonly known spiral view.

Tall Towers and New Books

Oh, tall towers and future writing projects. Some news about Neal Stephenson and his next books.

Ride the Nightmare

Over at the Ride the Nightmare blog, a series of Halloween-related posts is running, including one on one of my favorite fantasy/horror authors, Tim Powers.

Little Sunset

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a nadir-to-zenith around-the-horizon view of sunset and the anti-twilight arch known as the Belt of Venus.

Spiralgraph

Look! Proof in today's Astronomy Picture of the Day that the universe DOES revolve around us!

Dick Head

I am not sure if this is the famous robotic head of Philip K. Dick, but it will certainly be one of the odder things you see today.

Castles in the Sky

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us how a young massive star is carving space out for itself in NGC 6357 in Scorpius.

Sandman Origins

How it was that Messers. Gaiman and McKean came to work on the Man of Sand.

Filling the Spaces

Got a few gaps in your reading? Sadly lacking in your knowledge of the classics? Here's one person's solution to that problem.

It Can't Be Real

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an over-the-pole view of Saturn and it's rings. Yes, it's real.

Galactic Sprawl

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a fantastic mosaic shot of the southern hemisphere view from 2007: the Milky Way, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and Comet McNaught. Sign of things to come with Comet ISON?

Signposts for the Heavens

What is the reason for these giant arrows across the United States? An interesting bit of aviation history here.

Jason of Star Command

The man behind Jason of Star Command, Space Academy, Star Trek: The Animated Series and whole lot of other titles has passed away. Thanks, Lou Scheimer.

Cave of Stars

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Sh2-155, The Cave Nebula, in the constellation of Cepheus. Beautiful isn't it? I wonder why more people don't look up in the sky?

How the Mighty Have Fallen

I've got a large stack of Penguin Classics. Even in the age of the eBook, where I have stopped buying mass market paperbacks and trade paperbacks, I'll buy a nice Penguin Classics edition for the art or the commentary and notes and such.

Until now. Has the shark been jumped?

The Plot Thickens

Interesting to see these statistics on how field naturalists die. Is there a lot of tension in the field?

Looking Backwards

A look back at Samuel R. Delany's Triton. I read that during the Dhalgren-esque boost to Delany's career, when books like Babel-17, Nova and more all had a unified edition along with the hot-selling Dhalgren. Need to re-read it again!

M. John Harrison

A look at the major works of M. John Harrison, courtesy of The New Statesman. Genre really is spreading beyond the bounds.

GalCen

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the evening star, Venus, along with dust in our solar system (the zodiacal light) and the center of our galaxy (obscured by a much larger amount of dust).

Triad

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows you two naked eye objects you can easily see...and a third that you might in the near future: Regulus (in the constellation of Leo) and Mars are quite close together (seemingly) at the moment. Above, Comet ISON, on final approach to the inner system.

Deep Red

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of NGC 4472, The Great Carina Nebula. The bright star near the center, to the left of the Keyhole Nebula? Eta Carinae, a very likely supernova.

Analemma

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a "analemma" (a series of pictures taken over the course of the year from the same position) showing how the Sun moves about when it is "exactly overhead".

T.E. Lawrence

Jamie James of The Wall Street Journal on T.E. Lawrence. If you haven't read Seven Pillars of Wisdom, give it a try. Wonderfully poetic writing. Lawrence was an interesting chap.

The movie ain't half bad, either.

Hanging Out in Sim City

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that Sim City is a poor digital analog to model railroading?

The Truth

Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators. (Stephen Fry)

The Issahar Artifacts

"I drowned three times and a purple octopus gave me an enema." Source? See this tale.

The Sky of Things to Come?

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet Hale-Bopp, the "Great Comet" of 1997. Hale-Bopp was a "naked-eye" comet for many months (and kept me company both walking to the bus early in the morning and walking home from the bus moderately late in the evening) for much of that time. Will Comet ISON be another "great comet"?

Stairway to Mars

Alternative missions to Mars are outlined here. I like the Stairway to Mars concept, it reminds me of von Braun's space fleets to Mars.

Python, Monty Python

What if Monty Python sold books?

Secret Histories

Tom Holland on the non-fiction of Herodotus. It's winding up, but did you know you can "follow" Herodotus on Twitter? I kid you not.

Birth Place

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows "cometary globules" (vast collections of dust and gas that might someday form stars) in this region of the constellations of Pupis and Vela.

Grist for the Mill

A hoard of jewels buried by accident? On purpose? Grist for the writer's mill. Hey, NaNoWriMo is coming...

Multi-National Suppliers, Multi-National Problems

Did you know that the Atlas V (latest version of a launch vehicle that started as a ballistic missile aimed at the Soviet Union) is powered by Russian rocket engines? What would happen if Russian-US relations were to get (more) sour?

Ansible!

Somehow I overlooked the fact that another month has come (and nearly half-gone) without looking at Dave Langford's Ansible!

As Others See Us. A self-consciously sophisticated and literary formulation of the 'if it's good it's not genre' tradition: 'We do not publish genre fiction – mystery, crime, science fiction, fantasy, and the like – but are certainly not opposed to considering work that self-consciously employs the tropes of formulaic writing for more sophisticated literary ends.' (Gettysburg Review submission guidelines) [TE]

As Others See Us II. A reminder that we are spurned all the way to the bank: 'What do the books of Terry Pratchett, the film Iron Man 3 and the video game Grand Theft Auto V have in common? The answer is that they are all regarded as "geek" pursuits, and therefore are not part of the cultural mainstream. That is bizarre. Mr Pratchett has sold more than 70m copies of his Discworld series of novels. Iron Man 3, based on a character from Marvel Comics, has the best box-office receipts of any movie this year. And Grand Theft Auto V, released yesterday by Rockstar of Edinburgh, is expected to take in more than $1bn in sales.' (Helen Lewis, Financial Times, 18 September) [MMW]

Good Eats!

Fifty years of space food and packaging for missions documented. From Mercury and Gemini's toothpaste tubes to the Skylab tray system to the Shuttle and the ISS. (Now how about a series for Russian meals?)

Tim Powers

An interview (video) with Tim Powers. Good stuff.

Dust Never Sleeps

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 891, a galaxy in the constellation of Andromeda. NGC 891 is edge-on in our perspective, giving a nice view of the dust lanes (showing her giving the galaxy a somewhat mottled appearance).

Dune, At Last

Sort of. Way back in the Dawn Times, the periodicals (mainly Heavy Metal) would bring us word of a soon-to-be film version of Frank Herbert's Dune. No, not the Lynch effort that eventually lurched onto the screen (has it's merits, but deeply flawed) but a entirely different effort. It never came to be and the legend grew in the telling. Coming soon! A documentary about a film that has never been made. It will join another documentary about another movie never made and a book about a Stanley Kubrick movie never made. It's an industry in the making.

iPad, Old School

A replica of the Roman style wax table, the iPad back in "the day". Impress your friends!

Just the Facts, Ma'm

We live in an era of incredible information flow. What is the signal? What is the noise? It seems the "mainstream media", enamored as they are on the 24x7x365 news cycle rather than analysis generates more noise than helpful signal.

So, it is nice to find a source where you get a lot of signal (concise information, sharp analysis) vs. noise. Like the podcast I am listening to as I write this: The Loopcast. The episode I have on now is a deep analysis of drones: what they are, what they are used for, costs, results and more. Good stuff. Even an occasional look at Star Wars or Game of Thrones! Recommended.

Random Penguin

Reading the Penguin Classics. All of them. Surely when you're bored you can find at least one title in here and read along?

..."seasoned with a very adult dose of horror"...

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere has been banned in a town in New Mexico. Oh, New Mexico. Get over it

Addendum: It's gone (inter)national.

Addendum: Coverage of the banning over at Tor Dot Com.

Addendum: Wot's all the fuss about, anyway? Read the offending passage. Another update, the staff strikes back.

Addendum: I'm a bad parent. I bought my 14 year old daughter a copy. She's reading it now.

Addendum: And the book is back on the shelves. Victory!

Star Lanes

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an effort by "amateur" Tony Hallas of Messier 78.

Ride, Sally, Ride

THE THREE HOARSEMEN COMETH! Yes, folks, if you've met me here or on The Twitters and wonder if I sound as drunk and confused as I blog and tweet, now you can have audio proof. The latest episode of our podcast is up at SF Signal. And if that isn't enough here are our first, second and third previous episodes.

NEIGH! You can even get us via your favorite feed or iTunes. NEIGH!

Podcastus Interuptus

Alas, the smooth schedule we had with our first few episodes got bumped by the Demon Real Life. But we came back! Here we are again!

Arp Object

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us Arp 94 in the constellation of Leo. Arp objects are galaxies and other celestial objects that, in a nutshell, look odd. The reality of what is going on differs from the theories of Arp, but he is to be appreciated for trying to have a conversation.

Origin Story

Black Gate continues the dive down into the origins of various roleplaying games with this look at the fictional inspirations for Traveller.

New Who?

There have been several rumors this year that a massive trove of missing Doctor Who episodes have been uncovered. (Backstory: The BBC, never knowing about home video, DVD's, a massive fanbase and the like, destroyed many of the early episodes. However, on occasion, missing episodes turn up because they also sent copies out to other countries, and not all of the copies were returned.) Alas, most of these rumors have been squashed. Until now. This rumor is gathering a ring of truth with this story from the BBC itself. What might be in the treasure trove? A guide.

Misguided Anger

The "danger" of eBooks. Less a problem caused by eBooks than problems caused by the publishing industry (Charging more for a library and putting a limit on the number of times an eBook can be borrowed to simulate "wear"? Give me a break.)

The Notices Are In

As mentioned previously, The Wasp Factory by Iain (no M.) Banks has been made into an opera. Here are two reviews. Ouch.

Palette

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an "amateur" shot of Messier 52 in the constellation of Cassiopeia along with other structures in the area such as the Bubble Nebula. Gas and dust, sugar powder sprinklings of stars, contrasting black areas of apparent emptiness.

On Approach

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet ISON (C/2012 S1). Comet of the Century? Too soon to tell, but watch the skies!

Structure

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us NGC 1275 in the constellation of Perseus. Debris and filaments order themselves into structures thousands upon thousands of light years in size.

Shoggoths!

Will nobody be saved?

"Two Naked Men Appear"

Boy, you never know what you'll stumble across on the intertubez late at night.

Simplicity is a Virtue

I've got one of these coffee pots. So simple. So easy to use. So durable. 18+ years and it is still going. Why over complicate the process?

Under Shimmering Skies

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows shimmering aurora under South Dakota skies.

VW Microbus

Say goodbye to the VW Microbus. I saw many of these camping over the years and even recently was stuck behind one in Princeton (California plates and it looked like it was a 1970's vintage model modified for living). Luckily, another camping icon from my youth is still around.

Crossover

This style of map interests me (and several friends) thanks to their utility and their connections with science fiction and space travel (I kid you not). The map depicted in the link has a nice added level of utility.

Cup of Joe

The man who reinvented coffee. And didn't overburden it with doodads.

Addendum: The quest for a perfect cup continues. Found on this interesting blog.

The Map is the Territory

A map showing all the buildings in the Netherlands, shaded as to when it was built. (And we're only scratching the surface of what be done with "big data".)

Progress. Or the Lack Thereof

I think I read a fair bit. I try to read at least sixty books a year and usually to better than that. How many books is that over a lifetime? Alas, a lot less than you might think, if you do the math.

Thicker Than Fleas

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a very large appearing galaxy, Messier 60 (or NGC 4649). At the approximate center of the picture is what appears to be a star but is actually a dwarf galaxy, one of the densest galaxies out there, M60-UCD1 (UCD = Ultra Compact Dwarf).

Close Up on New Worlds

In today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, Messier 106 close up. Given the frequency of planet discoveries within our galaxy, how many other worlds are we looking at?

Somebody Call AAA!

It seems MSL Curiosity has suffered some wheel wear in this image.

Tick Tock

Pssst!!! Buddy!!! Got a spare $200,000? Want a watch? Ooops! Too late!

Rainbow Spectrum

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows all the colors of the spectrum of our home star, the Sun, old Sol.

(Today's APOD is courtesy of one of a number of "mirror sites" which are keeping the stars bright during the shutdown.)

Reading List

While we wait for the government to switch over to MacOS or Chrome or whatever they're doing, how about a little reading, courtesy of David Bowie?

Savory Cake

Ah, the joys of savory cake! And even instructions for one to follow to make such a delicacy. Oh look, a book about fine dining! The blog is saved!

Blogging Interrupted

Yep, interrupted. It appears that the government shutdown has also lead to a shutdown of most governmental websites (for some weird reason) and therefore access to many of the images I post have been cut off. It appears I will be restricted to blogging about pets, kids and fine dining.

Remnants

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Vela supernova remnant. Wisps of gas stretch across the sky.

Governmental Humor

In light of the pending governmental shutdown, it's nice to see some people still have a sense of humor. These signs were up at NASA's Wallops Island facility recently.

Big Freaking Rock

Full-on Vesta. Let's go back!

Clouding Over

This is pretty interesting. We've imaged clouds.

On another planet outside our solar system.

Java Jive

Could you handle fifty cups of coffee each day? That appears to be what Honore de Balzac needed to keep himself going.

Coffee is a great power in my life; I have observed its effects on an epic scale. Coffee roasts your insides. Many people claim coffee inspires them, but, as everybody knows, coffee only makes boring people even more boring. Think about it: although more grocery stores in Paris are staying open until midnight, few writers are actually becoming more spiritual.

More here.

Clear with a Chance of Showers

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing the Perseid Meteor Shower from Hopewell Rocks in Canada. Can you solve the mystery mentioned in the text?

Oblique Strategies

Waaaayyyy back at the dawn of time, I came across a copy of Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies on the shelf of a store in New Brunswick. I cannot recall whether it was one record store (Cheap Thrills) or another (Half Thoughts, which also was a wonderful used book store), but I picked it up (and still have it many years later. Has this tool (of sorts) for music crept into the world of politics?

Into the Mist

Remember Myst? I wish there were more gaming choices like this, rather than the usual shoot-em-ups.

Borges

Jorge Luis Borges' was an interesting guy. Here you can read a number of his tales and see why that is so.

Massive Eagle

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a massive image of the Eagle Nebula, one of the more famous celestial objects imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. Make sure you scroll down to see the entire picture.

GeoSynch

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Earth from Clarke Orbit. Nice spread.

The Death Star Has Cleared the Planet

In this picture taken by the hard-working Cassini orbiter, Saturn's moon Dione appears to have been speared by a destructive ray emanating from Saturn.

Birth Pains

In this concept painting of Sgr A*, asteroids and comets stripped from their home systems orbit around that supermassive blackhole, awaiting their doom. One asteroid makes the final death spiral towards the blue event horizon.

185 A.D.

An image of what is (so far) the oldest recorded supernova (detected by Chinese astronomers in 185 A.D.).

Saturn Space

Rhea and Titan together, Titan almost ghostly in appearance. What mad solar system.

Old Moon in the Arms of the New

A glimpse of the thin crescent Moon from the International Space Station.

Vesta!

As Dawn makes it's way to Ceres (the next major stop), scientists are comparing their previous telescopically-gathered data vs. mission results.

Let's Go A Rovin'

The latest from Mars, specifically Curiosity (the Mars Science Laboratory). Der's water in dem dere hills! Bonus! A new selfie!

Pattern Recognition

Eddies and flows stand out sharply on this hypothetical hybrid wing craft being tested in a wind tunnel.

What Is Truth?

What is science fiction? Is that still a good label? Is sci-fi a better label? What about fantasticka? As a result of this posting at SF Signal by genre author David Barnett and a blog posting by genre author Linda Nagata, and then a long series of tweets by various guilty parties (raises hand for being one of them), a column by Roving Ace Reporter Damien Walter has resulted.

Addendum: One of the eyes of the storm.

Two Oceans

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the tiny smudge of the Andromeda Galaxy stretching over the Adriatic sea. One ocean at hand, one ocean almost unimaginably distant.

Final Approach

Six hours after launch, the Soyuz carrying Expedition 37 on their six-hour journey to the International Space Station, makes its final approach.

Fluctuations

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory views dramatic changes in brightness of a neutron star, IGR J18245-2452, in Messier 28.

Paired Galaxies

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows two members of our Local Group, Messier 31 (the Andromeda Galaxy) and Messier 33 (the Triangulum Galaxy). I've only been lucky enough to spot Triangulum a few times (the Andromeda used to be an easy backyard naked eye target hereabouts, but no more).

From Birth to Death

Star birth in far Centaurus A is seen in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. In this image, the other end of a star's life: Eta Carinae, on the cusp of going supernova.

Seaboard

From the International Space Station, the eastern seaboard of the United States glows at night.

Helping Hands

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov reposition the Strela-1 crane on the International Space Station in preparation for new components. Interestingly, their Orlan spacesuits are equipped with NASA helmet cameras.

Rendezvous

Apollo 9's Gumdrop (the Command Module) and Spider (the Lunar Module) meet in orbit during a test run.

Cosmic Vacuum

In this artist depiction, black hole IGR J17091-3624 siphons off lifeblood (gas) from its companion star.

John Glenn

From Friendship 7 to fifty years on. And, two crew members talk of memories on the flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery.

Rocket Company

A view of the capsule and launch vehicle production lines at the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, California. Busy!

Expedition 37

The crew of Expedition 37 at a press conference shortly before their launch. And, in this image, their launch vehicle leaps into the night skies on its six-hour jaunt to the International Space Station.

CD

The images from multiple telescopes are combined to generate a view of M60-UCD1 (getting a hint of how many different astronomical catalogs there are out there?), an ultra-compact dwarf galaxy.

Bang

The Spitzer Space Telescope peers where we cannot see with our eyes and finds a jet coming off a young star, Herbig-Haro 34.

Barred Spiral

A barred spiral (a bar being a strong "structure" apparently across the spiral) in Doradus, NGC 1483.

Youngsters

The Hubble Space Telescope provides this view of the "young" (a mere few million years) star-forming regions in the 30 Doradus Nebula.

Cluster (No Eno)

Data from multiple ground- and space-based telescopes are combined in this image of Galaxy Cluster Abell 520. New structures bridging the abysses between the concentrations of stars appear.

81 vs. 82

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a image of galaxy-on-galaxy action. Messier 81 and Messier 82, both distorted by a encounter.

Martian Layers

In this image from the Valles Marineris canyon system we see several generations of sediments.

Ikarie XB 1

Jonathan Coulhart on Ikarie XB 1. That's a film I've been questing after ever since reading a description of it in this book.

The End of an Era

No more VW campers? Man, what memories that brings back. We never owned one, but I did own a VW Matchbox car. And we saw a lot of them while camping as kids. I recently was stuck behind a VW Microbus (I couldn't tell if it was a camper or not) with California plates, definitely early 70's vintage. Great stuff, sorry to see them go.

Local Fluff

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the "local fluff", what gas clouds we have in our neighborhood. Enough for a Bussard Interstellar Ramjet?

Building the Honorverse

Over at Adventures in Sci-Fi Podcasting, three episodes posted recently deal with David Weber and his biggest creation, the Honorverse. Part 01: Building a Militarily Authentic Space Opera. Part 02: Building a Navy (featuring BuNine). Part 03: Working with David Weber.

Trip to the Station

Over at The Atlantic Dot Com, a great series of photographs centered around Expedition 36 to the International Space Station.

Pad Train

Expedition 37 to the International Space Station takes "flight" on the first leg to the International Space Station.

A Different Light

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory peered at the Sun in the Angstrom 131 wavelength and caught this view of a solar flare.

IC 342

The Spitzer Space Telescope views Galaxy IC 342 in infrared, giving a spidery view to the stellar mass.

KOI-961

An artist conception of solar system KOI-961, in the constellation of Cygnus.

Suit Exercise

Walter Schirra and Tom Stafford, crew of Gemini VI, suit up while getting ready for their flight.

Hidden Orion

The Orion Nebula shows hidden gems when probed in the infrared regions by orbiting observatories.

Cloud within a Cloud

A view of a stellar-forming region inside the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Boris the Spider

A view of the Tarantula Nebula courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Antares

The Antares launch vehicle was recently successfully launched from Wallops Island. Before that launch there were many tests and dry runs. Here's a view of one of those tests.

13

The crew of Apollo 13. Spoiler for the movie: they live.

Night Flight to Moscow

A night shot of Moscow, from the advantage of Earth orbit.

Quadrant View

A very different view of the core of the Orion Nebula, viewing through the "lens" of the Spitzer Space Telescope.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. [pause] Time to die.

100 Billion or More

How many planets might our modest home galaxy contain? This will probably be a low estimate.

Making the MAVEN

Here's a picture of the assembly process for the soon-to-be-launched MAVEN probe to Mars.

Night Approach

Here's a view from the International Space Station as the ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle lines up for final approach.

Push 'Em Out!

In this shot, an Orion boilerplate test vehicle exits its carrying cargo plane. It's all part of the landing tests for the capsule (one result being shown here). Here's another test version, being readied for acoustic, vibration and other tests.

Towards the Center

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day points us towards the galactic center, in Scorpius, for the emission nebula known as IC 4628. Does this picture make you yearn for lemon and butter for some reason?

50 Years

Click here for a huge (!) graphic depicting fifty years of space exploration.

A Day at the Office

Cosmonaut Sergei Volkov at his work place.

Chain, Chain, Chain

A view of the Snowman Crater chain on main belt asteroid Vesta.

Juno

A look back at the Atlas V carrying the Juno orbiter on a mission to Jupiter. Juno is almost to Earth! Wait? What?

Mars is a Place

A view of Endeavour crater as taken by the ever-trundling MER Opportunity. A second view of Endeavour. Gale crater, where MSL Curiosity landed, as viewed from orbit. Mars is a place.

Litterbugs

Darned Earthlings.

Test Bed

A "boilerplate" Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (please drop that, NASA) undergoes integration with its Launch Abort System for testing. Another view here.

Thin Crescent

A fingernail-clipping thin Moon as viewed from the International Space Station. Too bad we're not visiting as well!

The Crowded Sky

A view from the International Space Station, putting emphasis on "international".

Hot Pink

A view from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory showing the x-ray sky. Data from the observatory led to the discovery of "volatile" black holes that can generate as much energy (in the x-ray wavelengths) as a million stars.

Reverse View

Here's a view of a spacecraft landing that we usually don't see: the International Space Station observes a shuttle landing.

Shimmering Sky

In this view from the International Space Station, the Aurora Australis dances across the sky.

Vacuum Test

The James Webb Telescope undergoes vacuum chamber tests in this view from the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Readying the Dragon

In this shot, the Dragon capsule is being attached to the second stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

Phasing Loops

How do you get to the Moon if you don't have enough energy for a direct flight? Here's a fascinating look!

Canned Astro

A nice view of how far we've come: John Glenn enter's the Friendship 7 capsule.

Addendum: Gus Grissom climbs into the Liberty Bell 7. Just as tight a fit.

Night Flight from the Station

Atlantis touches down in the night at the end of it's final flight.

Receding View

The International Space Station moves into the distance during the final shuttle flight in 2011.

In the Belt

A comparative view of various asteroids now visited by Earth's ambassadors, from Vesta down to 25143 Itokawa.

Analemma

The Sun loops across the sky in the space of a year's worth of photographic exposures in today's Astronomy Picture of the Day.

The Hammer of War

While I have gotten many (many) hours of fun out of board games, miniatures games and roleplaying games, "rules lawyers" drive me nuts. Luckily, there appears to be a cure.

Tunnel, Chute and Seating Tests

We sure do have a bumper crop of alternative means of getting into space under development (which beats the alternative of having all our eggs in one basket). Here the Dream Chaser vehicle (in mockup) gets ready to undergo wind tunnel tests. And in this image, the Crew Space Transportation capsule from Boeing undergoes chute tests in a practice landing. Finally, SpaceX's Dragon may be a cargo vehicle at the moment, but engineers are hard at work seeing how a crew and passengers (here seven in number) could be situated.

Putting Out Fires

Data from the Herschel Space Observatory suggests that galaxies with supermassive black holes at their cores produce fewer stars than those without. Those supermassive appetites need to be knocked back a notch!

Infrared Swan

In this image taken in the far infrared regions by the Herschel space telescope of Cygnus the Swan, the star-forming regions take on amazing detail and seem on fire.

31

Look inside the image that is inside this image and you'll see the Soyuz launch vehicle preparing to take Expedition 31 to the International Space Station.

Rings, Storms, Moon

A nice image from the hard-working Cassini orbiter showing edge-on rings, storms on Saturn and one of the gas giant's many moons, Tethys.

Addendum: Another spectacular image from the Saturn system. I know where I'd want to retire!

Dragon Interior

A shot showing the interior of the Dragon cargo vessel after it had docked at the International Space Station.

Sol 2951

Here's an image showing MER Opportunity's latest travels on Mars. Sol 2951. Pretty good for a vehicle that was only supposed to last 90 Sols!

Parallels

In this image taken by NASA's Terra satellite, clouds form up in parallel rows over the Bering Sea.

Processing the MAVEN

NASA's next mission to Mars, the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft is seen here being readied for installation on its launch vehicle. Launch is scheduled for November 18, 2013.

Full Pinwheel

The light of four space-based telescopes (visible, infrared, ultraviolet and x-ray frequencies) are combined for this image of Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy.

Corpse Light

In this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, we see inside the realm of a dying star.

Wasp Factory

Now here's something I'd pay to see: Iain (no M. in this case) Banks' Wasp Factory as an opera!

Please Don't Throw It Away

What will happen to the International Space Station after the year 2020? One hopes that NASA (and the other bodies involved) don't just toss it away!

Energy

Is Lockheed's famous "Skunk Works" facility on the cusp of changing our energy future? Fingers crossed.

Run, Demon!

Harlan Ellison (in some original school shaky cam) talks about an adaption in graphic form of his classic Outer Limits episode of Demon with a Glass Hand. Wish Harlan had written his novel version of that story!

Old School

David M. Ewalt (who just happens to have written a book on the subject) argues that Dungeons & Dragons (and, by extension, paper roleplaying games in general) are better than videogames. Agree? Disagree?

Paging David Brin!

Is the Higgs boson the "smoking gun" behind the lack of Boltzmann brains in the cosmos? Where's Olaf Stapledon when you need him?

Golden Age

Courtesy of friend Winchell Chung, a website featuring several titles that Scholastic Book Services distributed during my misbegotten yut.

Rah, Rah, RAH(einlein)!

Years after his passing, Robert A. Heinlein continues to stir the pot. Here, Andrew Liptak takes a look at one of Heinlein's most controversial (and popular) novels, Starship Troopers. Patrick McCray looks at Heinlein's "harsh politics" (they evolved over his life, but does anybody end up where they start?). Brian Doherty looks at libertarianism and Heinlein.

Every few years somebody gets up on the soapbox and declares that Heinlein is dead and we ought to move on. Looks like he ain't dead yet.

Addendum: Spider Robinson's classic tribute. Worth reading again.

To the Stars

Neal Stephenson's got a new gig. He's thinking big! And bigger!

Addendum: Thinking outside the box by reading science fiction.

Conspicuous Consumption

A man charges $35.00 to sharpen pencils. Seriously.

Java Jive

Coffee's bad for you! Coffee's good for you! I'll just keep drinking same as ever, no doubt.

Atomic Attack

In light of the hysterical headlines about how North Carolina was almost a-bombed (why this is news when it is pretty well known as "history" is beyond me) (hint: if you can find it easily on Wikipedia, it's probably not "top secret") (hey, New Jersey was there first!), how about a cheerful film about New York City being a-bombed?

Classic Who

Over at Tor Dot Com, Rachel Hyland is looking at classic Dr. Who episodes (so many lost, damn it) with William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton to start.

Retirement Party

Alas, all good things come to an end. The Deep Impact vehicle, which successfully explored Comet Tempel 1 in 2005, and then was "repurposed" to a new mission, has not been heard from in over a month. The biggest shame?

After losing contact with the spacecraft last month, mission controllers spent several weeks trying to uplink commands to reactivate its onboard systems. Although the exact cause of the loss is not known, analysis has uncovered a potential problem with computer time tagging that could have led to loss of control for Deep Impact's orientation. That would then affect the positioning of its radio antennas, making communication difficult, as well as its solar arrays, which would in turn prevent the spacecraft from getting power and allow cold temperatures to ruin onboard equipment, essentially freezing its battery and propulsion systems.

Thanks, Deep Impact! You had a fantastic run!

White Paper

You know what NASA and other space agencies really need to do? Stop writing white papers and start bending more tin.

Swamp Gas

The Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) has detected no methane in the atmosphere of Mars. Indications of that molecule had been found in the past. So...false positive? Curiosity is wrong? Methane breaks down quickly on Mars? Or? The quest continues!

Off Kilter

We all have bad days. Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, apparently has had some bad eons.

Anniversary

Apparently Tor Books is one month older than my marriage. Happy anniversary!

Loopcast

Aaaaannnnnddd...here's another one! More of a current events podcast. Worth listening to, given our ever-changing wacky world.

Angry History

I listen to podcasts. I drive too much. So, I listen to a lot of podcasts while I drive. The hours of "audio stuff" consumed piles up. I add podcasts, I drop podcasts. How can I avoid listening to a podcast called Angry History?

Antares

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Antares launch vehicle carrying the Cygnus cargo vehicle to the ISS. The picture is shot in infrared, giving an odd look to the scene. Click here for some background on the Cygnus.

Drive In

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows star trails at a drive-in. Look at the screen! They're watching a movie about space!

Three Spheres

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows three celestial spheres.

Cargo Cult

One man's trash is another man's treasure. What happened to fuel tanks dropped by jet aircraft during the Vietnam War? Now, extend that to "space trash"...go!

COTS Test

Boy, that Wallops Island launch facility is getting busier and busier. From launching LADEE to the Moon they've now launched a test vehicle for the commercial space flight program, the Antares cargo vehicle on its way to the International Space Station.

Messier 45

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro' the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a nice shot of Messier 45, The Pleiades Star Cluster found in Taurus. They were well placed this morning during my morning constitutional.

The Many Appendixes N

Black Gate Magazine covers the various iterations of "Appendix N", lists of fantasy (and non-fiction) works that inspired the creators of Dungeons & Dragons and RuneQuest. Lots of good titles to hunt down for your own reading. D&D Part 01. D&D Part 02. D&D Part 03. RuneQuest.

Cargo Cult

A comparison of the Dragon cargo vehicle from SpaceX vs. the Cygnus cargo vehicle from Orbital Sciences.

Dawn

First hints of dawn from orbit.

Quiet...for the Moment

A view of Earth, pieced together to give us a nearly whole-world view in one glance. For now the oceans are relatively quiet and free of storms.

Interesting how this makes Earth look like Mesklin.

Triumph

One of my favorite pictures of the late Neil Armstrong.

One Year Ago

The Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) landing team celebrates touchdown on Mars (a bit more than a year ago).

Infall

A view of a Perseid meteor during the 2013 Perseid shower.

Command Deck

Looks like the Cupola, the room with the view on the International Space Station, has been spawning quite a few monitors and control modules.

Ellipse and Rays

An elliptical crater on Mercury, imaged by MESSENGER. The rays indicate a "young" crater (in terms of geological measure).

Reading in the Dark

A list of astronomy-related reads. Some good stuff here.

Canton Races File Miles Long

Hill Cantons is a blog about gaming. Some interesting stuff here; players of Empire of the Petal Throne or other Tekumel-based games will appreciate this entry, for example.