Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
I’ve taken a momentary detour from Amaranthe to Thedas - I’m playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I don’t spend nearly as much time playing video games as I used to; writing is a full-time job, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But I’ll always play a Bioware game (admittedly, Baldur’s Gate 3 got me this year, too - it was incredible, in all the best Bioware-style ways).
Anyway, Veilguard is an absolutely gorgeous game!
So the neighborhood we moved into is brand new and very much still being built out. Last week, they finished the streets for the final block and put up the street signs - which was when we came to a glorious realization:
Our entire neighborhood is an homage to the gods of Classic Rock.
These are all the street names:
Page (Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin)
Plant (Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin)
Bonham (John Bonham, Led Zeppelin)
Daltrey (Roger Daltrey, The Who)
Entwhistle (John Entwhistle, The Who)
Lennon (John Lennon)
Clapton (Eric Clapton)
Zevon (Warren Zevon)
Frehley (Ace Frehley, Kiss)
Simmons (Gene Simmons, Kiss)
How awesome, right? It feels like a labor of love on the part of the developer. Perhaps a tribute to the music that shaped their youth.
There is one downside, though.... When we picked our lot, we didn't know the full breadth of our options, as most of the streets didn't yet have names. And now, #MrJennsen must forever live with the devastating knowledge that he missed his one chance to live on Zevon Lane....
As promised, I give you a finished (for now) library! And the best part is...we found a home for the book cover posters (with lots of room to grow). As is so often the case, it was Mr. Jennsen’s idea, because he's awesome.
By the way, has anyone seen our hardbacks of 2001 and Rendezvous With Rama? Maybe on the side of the highway somewhere Those are literally the only 2 items that we lost in the move from Montana-with-a-layover-in-an-apartment-and-storage-unit. (We finally gave up searching and ordered replacements, so they're in the pics - but those aren't the *right* copies....)
NOW it's a home.
Since many of you have inquired, the last 3 photos are zoom-ins of (1) science fiction, (2) near future scifi/cyberpunk, (3) science, computers and other nerdy non-fiction. Caveat: I've leaned pretty heavily on my Kindle these last 10 years, so my physical scifi collection is no longer as representative as I'd like it to be; I'll be working on rectifying that.
Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas (A3), captured by talented astrophotographer “Astrofalls.” I tried to get a far, FAR inferior picture of the comet the last two nights, but fall and the overcast weather it brings have finally descended upon Coeur d’Alene.
The arms that grabbed the Starship rocket booster out of midair, with people on top, for scale. You know, in case you were wondering…. O.O
Happy -262nd Birthday to Alexis Mallory Solovy Marano, daughter of Commandant and Commander Solovy, first Prevo and savior of humanity four times over.
It's a busy week for space enthusiasts (have you spotted Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS?). The long-anticipated Europa Clipper mission is officially underway. The craft launched Monday morning on a Falcon Heavy rocket, bound for that most beguiling of icy Jupiter moons, Europa. It will arrive at its destination in 2030 (!?! We seriously need faster spacecraft engines pronto - or engines that use much less fuel, thus are able to take more fuel and travel faster....)
Once there, Europa Clipper will hunt for organic chemicals on the icy surface, as well as other signs of a habitable environment and evidence for the ingredients of life. It will also characterize Europa's ice shell in detail. This work could identify good spots at which a life-hunting lander could touch down and operate - BUT IT WILL ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE.
...not yet.
In an absolutely incredible feat of engineering, SpaceX has caught Starship's Super Heavy booster in the Mechazilla arms on the first try! What a sight.
After a succesful launch and orbit, Starship itself completed a planned soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean as well. All in all, a hugely successful 5th test flight of Starship.
One day soon, this will all be routine. Like we do now with the hundreds of Falcon 9 launches and booster landings, we'll go, "Oh, did Starship launch again today? Another moon trip, maybe?" And I look forward to that day.
But for now, WOW.
It was quite a week for aurora watching in the U.S. (and in many other parts of the world, I believe). The first wave hit here at my house Monday night, and I was so ecstatic to get to see them in person for the first time in my life! I stood in my front yard and took a couple of really terrible photos that I won’t share here, because….
A stronger solar flare let loose later in the week, and Thursday night was a show for the ages. Family and friends back home in Georgia even got to see them. I’d done a bit of reading on how to take better pictures, but honestly, they were so much stronger and more dramatic, I didn’t have to do much work.
These are still horribly amateurish photos, taken with my phone without a tripod, but they’re mine. :D
Did you get to see the northern lights this week? I’d love to see any pictures you took!
Here, have 3 gorgeous aurorae - and 1 Milky Way - by Larryn Rae. Originals here: https://x.com/shadowanshadenz/status/1835141576311685254. Check out his X feed for one stunning photo after another.
The library, that is! Forgive another round of house spam.
Cassi is confused, but enthusiastic about this project and eager to help.
At some point in the future, we'd love to do floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves, but that's for later. For now, we need a library, and our books that library will house. :)
Wait, this is not Montana...is it? I mean, there ARE mountains. But why is there a lake? And far less wood paneling? A thread in which I answer these questions and more.
Tl;dr: We've moved down the road to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! (If you subscribe to my Buy Me A Coffee program and watch my livestreams, you already know this, but it’s new info for the rest of you).
The rest of the story: Actually, we moved a year ago. But we were camping out in an apartment while we built a house, and that was just so very uninteresting, I didn't mention it. But now things are exciting again.
First, why the move? A couple of reasons, but to encapsulate them, a beautiful view does not a life make (who knew?).
While wandering the woods was lovely, after a while I chafed against the isolation and lack of access to the trappings of modern life. #MrJennsen sucks at early retirement and, after two years chopping trees while wearing flannel , decided he was bored and wanted to get back in the engineering game. A series of frustrations when too much snow and impassable roads kept me from getting to the (distant) airport to travel for some family medical emergencies brought the problems into sharp relief.
Luckily, just a few hours down the road existed the equally lovely (if less wild) city of Coeur d'Alene. It, too, has mountains, rivers and lakes (Lake CDA is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen). But guess what it also has? Coffee shops and boutiques and theaters and a Best Buy and, well, people!
So here we are.
Now for a tour of the pictures!
1) My working space. The desk is a motorized standing desk, so I don't turn into a sloth while writing. No blinds? It's okay, they're getting installed tomorrow. That banner is just ridiculous, isn't it? #MrJennsen insisted on hanging it there. Swearz.
2) What I see when I'm *standing* at my desk. Gaming, comics, collectibles, science/space books, duplicates of some scifi books and, in the bottom right corner, a bit of a TBR stack. (Note: the rest of the scifi books will be going in the library - more on that soonish.)
3) The view out the window by my desk.
4) The bookcases on one wall of the main living room. I made a solar system out of my solar system glasses. :) (Close one, thermostat nemesis, but no dice! )
5 & 6) The view about 15 minutes down the road. I think it speaks for itself.
7) The patron saint of our home. Wherever Alex and Caleb live (in books), Akeso watches over.
Is this a good move? No, it's a WONDERFUL move. I have a feeling we'll stay this time.
The “Astronomy Photographer of the Year” competition never fails to impress, and this year is definitely no exception. Check out these 12 jaw-droppingly beautiful photographs of space wonders near and far: https://www.universetoday.com/168457/and-the-winner-is-astronomy-photographers-of-the-year-2024-announced/
SuperMassive Black Holes will be taking a brief break for the next few weeks. I’m moving next week (!), and the week after that, I’ll be at Dragon Con in Atlanta. Musings will resume in early September!
Is consciousness a quantum phenomenon?
"A silent symphony is playing inside your brain right now as neurological pathways synchronize in an electromagnetic chorus that's thought to give rise to consciousness." Not going to lie, the musical terminology caught my fancy straightaway.
Consciousness - defining it, measuring it, even proving it exists - has continued to stymie researches. It's a "whole is greater than the sum of its parts," je ne sais quo, "I know it when I see (feel) it" phenomenon. And pinning down its nature would revolutionize how we think about nearly everything.
The possibility that quantum mechanisms may be involved has always been rejected because quantum activity is very delicate and fragile, and our brains are hot and messy. But what if biology has figured out how to do something we haven't? It wouldn't be the first time....
https://www.sciencealert.com/quantum-entanglement-in-neurons-may-actually-explain-consciousness
And the first draft of THE UNIVERSE WITHIN is complete!!
It clocks in at 64,451 words, which is a hefty chunk considering all the [skipped scenes] and [vague notes and instructions] and [half finished chapters], lol. *motions at Alex and Caleb and all those rich, fully formed worlds and stories that burst to life wherever they go*
I don't think a story has come together this quickly since Abysm, which is really saying something. But boy, do I have a ton of work ahead of me. I was flinging brackets left and right as fast as I could type them, just to get the plot out of my head and onto the page.
So, yeah. Time to grab the fire extinguisher..
The latest from the Webb Telescope:
“NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has peered into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing new details about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole. Webb’s powerful infrared gaze produced this detailed image of the Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies against a backdrop of many other galaxies. This image provides a new view of how the Cartwheel Galaxy has changed over billions of years.”
https://www.nasa.gov/universe/webb-captures-stellar-gymnastics-in-the-cartwheel-galaxy/
Note: There are 3 versions of the image. The composite from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and the MIRI-only image are shown in the article, and the NIRI-only image is shown below and in this NASA tweet.
Well OF COURSE brain chips are going to replace phones. One of my safest "predictions," to be honest. And I love that the future is going to be weird!
““The Future is Going to Be Weird.” Elon Musk Predicts Brain Chips Will Eventually Replace Phones”: https://thedebrief.org/the-future-is-going-to-be-weird-elon-musk-predicts-brain-chips-will-eventually-replace-phones/
