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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NASA Looking for Innovative Educational Ideas — About Video Games Among Other Things!
March 12th, 2010
Here’s the letter below asking for input (until March 19th). I am particularly thrilled about NASA’s questions and especially the only about video game development (question six). This is a potentially very powerful way of getting at the younger generation before college level. I wish I’d seen this sooner and had more time to participate. Things like Launch Pad and Diamonds in the Sky have been my attempts at innovative education, but I’m sure I can think bigger.
My talks out at Rock Springs went well. I had great audiences and a great time. My own attempts to educate, traditional ones. Anyway, how about some more innovative approaches?
From: NASA Education [mailto:education@nasa.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 10:19 AM
Subject: NASA Needs Your Ideas
NASA Education welcomes your ideas! For a limited time, visit opennasa.ideascale.com to provide feedback on any of the following questions, as well as general ideas you may have about the way NASA does business. The feedback that you provide will be used in important planning and development at NASA, and you may have a say in our next exciting breakthrough in education, technology, science and exploration. Hurry — this unique opportunity ends March 19, 2010.
OpenNASA Education Questions:
EDQ1: How can NASA innovate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education?
EDQ2: How can NASA improve its services in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education?
EDQ3: What innovative ideas do you have for the NASA Education website, www.nasa.gov/education ?
EDQ4: What innovative new education/mission products and materials would you like to see from NASA?
EDQ5: What innovative ideas do you have for using NASA content and materials in your classroom?
EDQ6: What types of online or massively multiplayer online (MMO) games would you like to see NASA create?
EDQ7: If you could design a NASA prize competition, similar to the Centennial Challenges and the X Prize, for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, what would it be and how would you measure the success of the competitors?
EDQ8: What can NASA do to connect you (student, educator or parent) with our missions, discoveries and education programs?
NOTE: Please enter your question code in the TAGS field of your submission at opennasa.ideascale.com. For example, “EDQ1†should be entered by those answering the first question.
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I wanted to pitch a NASA video game years ago, but found out that they couldn’t fund a non-US company for something like that.
Glad to see they’re taking that path, but I actually think MMO isn’t the best way to go. How are you going to capture, for example, the experience of being an astronaut in an MMO? I always wanted to see a really nice simulator of visiting other planets or such.
I could talk about this one for hours, for sure!
If NASA produces a video game, on the basis of space for say, how would they capture it? ok, space is large, and vast, still expanding at the very least. Would the video game expand? as we see multiple video games fail, why would this one become, and potentially be better? There is real life photography involved in space at the moment, would this be involved in the video game? If NASA produces a game that captures the right mind of astronauts and what they see, then why not start with the actual training of the astronauts? I personally think that this would be a brilliant start of the game. The actual idea of training to be an astronaut would, if not bore the gamer into quitting, but intrigue them to carry on, to start their voyage into outer space. i certainly know it would interest me into finding out what the next step of the game is.
Lewis A Stocken, St. Georges School Broadstairs, kent, CT10 2LH