Spider Star
The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
Read More.Praise for Star Dragon
"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
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The Future Is Now: Terminator vs. Predator (Vision)
January 27th, 2008
Contact lenses are under development that will allow wearers to watch video and maps beamed directly into their eyes similar to the overlays from the Terminator movies. Maybe I need to add those movies to my science-based sf films….naw. I had similar technology in my first novel, and my pro-scitech stance led me to have lasik eye surgery about five years ago (still see 20/20, one of the best spent $1200 ever).
This is somewhat timely as my current topic in my Science and Science Fiction course this week is light and how it and its strangely wonderful properties are used in science fiction. I used clips from Predator to illustrate “Predator vision” — seeing in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum at wavelengths at 7-14 microns where human beings glow brightly with thermal radiation. We also looked at active camouflage used in the movie, which is also being developed. Another topic we we will discuss is how light slows down through different substances, sometimes to ridiculously slow speeds, but nothing as extreme as in the classic Bob Shaw short story “The Light of Other Days.” (It isn’t really feasible, but it is a really cool idea.)
There are a lot of different different classic science fiction stories depending on light. Some that come to mind to me are “The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke, “The Lady Vanishes” by Charles Sheffield, “First Contact” by Murray Leinster, “Luminous” by Greg Egan, and I’m sure dozens more. I’m always on the lookout for things for my class. One resource that I use, but could use updating, is Andy Fraknoi’s list of Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy and Physics. I’ve thought about making my own such list, but it seems a little daunting to do a comprehensive job.
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The book The Science in SF, edited by Peter Nicholls, meant a lot to me at the age when I started to get really interested in sf as well as science. It was already getting old back then (around 1989, the book is from 1983 and missed the whole cyberpunk thing for example), and I wish someone would make an updated version, or a similar book. It contains lots and lots of references, and not only to film but to books (as you can expect when you see the names involved). The last time I looked at this book I was less impressed by some of the explanations of physics, and I played with the idea of starting to work on it myself — but I really don’t have the time, and also lack contacts and experience. But it would be fun!
Your course seems to be fun too.
I’ll see if I can track that book down. It sounds right up my alley. I’m probably too serious to write something like that these days when books are published with titles like The Science of Harry Potter. WTF? There may be a good thought in there, teaching science to Harry Potter fans, but that’s just so far astray from reality that it’s sort of laughable.
Look here
For 30 cents, plus $3.99 shipping, one minute to click and order, it’ll be here in 4-14 business days. I like the internet.
[…] recently blogged about Terminator vs. Predator (vision) and had the post earlier this week about superpowers that included seeing in the dark. I feel […]
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