Phil Plait: 7 Ways a Black Hole Can Kill You (Launch Pad)
Sunday, July 19th, 2009Phil gives a great, funny talk: Share/Bookmark
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>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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Ruben Gamboa at Launch Pad: Computers in Astronomy (Video)
Sunday, July 19th, 2009Enjoy! Share/Bookmark
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>Danny Dale on Infrared Astronomy (Launch Pad Video)
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Enjoy! Share/Bookmark
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>Brotherton Lectures on Stars (Launch Pad Video)
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Enjoy! Share/Bookmark
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>Video of Mike Brotherton Speaking About Light (Launch Pad)
Friday, July 17th, 2009I do about 10-12 hours of lecture during Launch Pad. Here’s one of them. Enjoy! Share/Bookmark
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>Video of Joe Haldeman Speaking at Launch Pad
Thursday, July 16th, 2009Joe Haldeman speaks at Launch Pad day one: Share/Bookmark
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>Critiquing the Astrophysics of the Big Bang Theory Song
Thursday, July 9th, 2009The Bing Bang Theory Theme Song – Bare Naked Ladies Our whole universe was in a hot dense state, Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started. Wait… The Earth began to cool, The autotrophs began to drool, Neanderthals developed tools, We built a wall (we built the pyramids), Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries, […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>The Big Bang Theory on TV: A Step Forward or Backward?
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009The issue of the TV comedy, The Big Bang Theory, came up in comments earlier this week. Pros: the show is funny and gets its science and geek culture very correct. Here’s a scene about the problem with teleportation: Cons: for the most part, the characters are stereotypical nerds who lack social skills, dress oddly, […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments »>Some Thoughts on Haldeman’s Accidental Time Machine
Monday, June 29th, 2009I recently finished reading Joe Haldeman’s short novel The Accidental Time Machine and wanted to share some thoughts about it while my memory is fresh. First, there is a quality to this book I adored that makes me want to recommend it here. The main character, Matt, is a physics graduate student struggling a bit […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »>What Harry Potter Didn’t Study
Sunday, June 28th, 2009Does it bother anyone else that essentially all of Harry Potter’s education at Hogwarts was about rote memorization of spell casting and totally divorced from “muggle” education? I mean, the wizarding world need not worry about all the same things that the muggle world worries about, but come on. You’ve still got money, so math, […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »>Ten of the Dumbest Things in Science Fiction Film
Thursday, June 25th, 2009I’ve been involved in a few discussions recently where some instances of really dumb things in science fiction movies came up. I’m not talking science here so much (my usual issue to harp on) as just things that are so astoundingly dumb you got to wonder what people were thinking, or if they were thinking […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 20 Comments »>The Path to Science Fiction
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009My parents set up my first science fiction experience. They called me into the living room when I was about six (1974 give or take) and told me that they had a surprise for me. They then turned on the TV and there was Star Trek. Little did my parents, or myself, realize what happened […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »>