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...
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"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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In the movie Watchmen, there is a scene that takes place on Mars and two large, round moons are visible in the sky. Mars does have two moons, Phobos and Deimos, but they are not large, round moons. Phobos and Deimos are tiny, with an approximate diameters of 22km and 13km, respectively, and not exactly round. […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>The Matrix is a pretty cool movie, a modern classic with an interesting premise and innovative special effects. I always had a problem with it, related to the premise. Some spoilers may follow. Here’s my problem scene: I’m not going to question the information about how much electricity or heat a human being can generate. […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 33 Comments »>I’m working on my seminar about science in the movies, and one of the concepts discussed will be what happens when you chuck someone out an airlock without a space suit. We know what happens. There was a poor guy who had an accident in a high-altitude chamber in the 1960s and lived to tell […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments »>Not every scientist has an interest in science fiction or anything resembling the ability to think like a science fiction writer. I was reminded of this again today in regard to this story about how to focus SETI searches. Basically, the idea is that it is easier in principle to find and characterize Earth-like planets […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »>This is a favorite topic of mine. I love stories and I love science, and science fiction movies combine these. Unfortunately one or the other usually suffers from the combination. Still, for the purposes of education, getting the science wrong can be as instructive as getting it right, if not more so. I have been […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 24 Comments »>OK, not quite getting away from The Watchmen quite yet. A friend pointed me at a video about the science of The Watchmen: University of Minnesota physics professor James Kakalios discusses how he was tapped to add a physics perspective to the upcoming Warner Brothers movie, Watchmen. Kakalios discusses how quantum mechanics can explain Dr. […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>Overblown title for something much more subtle, but profound and cool. Scientists have discovered evidence of several supernovas in Antarctic ice cores. The evidence is a spike in the concentration of nitrogen oxide, an expected effect from a flood of gamma rays hitting our atmosphere. Two of the three spikes found match known supernovas observed […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »>First, what does it mean to be original? Well, I guess it means to be first with something. But what does that mean? Well, maybe nothing, really. Over at Techdirt there’s an article suggesting that nothing is original. It’s the old idea that nothing is created in a vacuum, and specifically applied to our current […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>From the American Astronomical Society (AAS). It is specifically calling astronomers to action, but anyone, in the sciences or not, should be encouraged now to call their members of Congress and ask the to support science in the stimulus bill. It’s a little trickier for me bring in Brazil at the moment, but modern internet […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>Leaping off from a thread started by James Nicoll on his LJ blog where he blames Larry Niven for entrenching the idea in science fiction that a supernova close to another star can cause the second star to also go supernova, based on his 1966 story “At the Core” which underlies his entire Known Space […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 24 Comments »>Warning: this post is practical advice for the individual and risks breeding cynicism toward science. I am a tenured professor of astronomy at the University of Wyoming, a category I research university where I enjoy a relatively low teaching load and decent pay, and where I lead a research group that has brought in close […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>So, over in science blogger/skeptic land, there’s been a discussion about how to talk to the believers. This comes up for well-educated, rational people all the time. Most of my friends have advanced degrees, talk about things they know well, and don’t have totally wacky beliefs. The ones that do have wacky beliefs wear them […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>