Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
I made art! If you’ve read CONTINUUM, you know that Concord deserves a promotional banner at least as much as the EA, SF, IDCC & AEGIS do. More so, now that Concord is the heavy hitter in town.
See the rest of the banners on the Wiki: https://gsj.space/wiki-banners
I 💖 my org banners. If I had a single inch of free wall space left in my house....🤔
The Mars 2020 rover has a name - PERSEVERANCE!
And of course now that it has a name, it has a Twitter account, where you can follow along with its future adventures: https://twitter.com/NasaPersevere.
NASA's Perseverance rover is a robotic scientist weighing just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). The rover’s astrobiology mission includes searching for signs of past microbial life. It also will characterize the planet's climate and geology, and collect samples of Martian rocks and dust for a future Mars Sample Return mission to Earth, while paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.
It’s targeted to land on Mars’ Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, where it will join the active rovers Curiosity and InSight.
Origiinally posted on Facebook.
Dyson’s contributions to the fields of physics, astronomy and mathematics are numerous and significant, but his proposition of Dyson spheres and their variants has forever changed the way we think about alien civilizations and the possiblities for our own future.
https://www.mainepublic.org/post/renowned-mathematician-and-physicist-freeman-dyson-has-died-age-96
Originally posted on Facebook.
The biggest cosmic explosion on record has been detected – an event so powerful that it punched a dent the size of ⚡️15 Milky Ways⚡️ in the surrounding space. Even on a cosmic scale, that's a *big* dent!
Scientists' current working theory is that a massive plasma jet shooting out of a supermassive black hole in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster slammed into *something* and went boom [the technical term].
Thanks to Rebecca Hammond for the tip!
Originally posted on Facebook.
❓❓ Where, oh where, is the CONTINUUM audiobook ❓❓
What an excellent question. Unfortunately, ACX has picked this month to suffer a massive slowdown in their production and distribution process. The underlying cause of this slowdown has not been shared with their clients - the authors - but it is affecting numerous audiobooks, possibly every audiobook currently in production at ACX.
I really hate this. Pyper worked her ass off recording the audiobook in record time so we could get it to the ears of all you lovely audiobook listeners as quickly as possible. Though it's out of my hands, I want to apologize to everyone who's excited for this audiobook.
So when WILL it be available? Well, under ACX's current estimates it could be delayed until mid-March. I deeply, *deeply* hope it doesn't take that long, and I'll update everyone as soon as things start moving along.
In meager compensation: ⭐️⭐️ the first five people who comment below will receive an Audible code to download CONTINUUM for FREE when it becomes available (Audible US and UK only) ⭐️⭐️. I'd give codes to every single one of you, but I'll only receive a limited number of codes at release.
Where do you think we should go? 4 teams have reached the final selection round for the next 2 NASA Discovery missions (“small” planetary science missions costing no more than $450 million, intended to complement NASA’s larger Solar System exploration missions).
Venus, our engimatic neighbor? We should definitely check to make sure the protomolecule hasn't set up house there, right? Two of the finalists would go to Venus, one to study the surface, the other the atmosphere.
Io, a Jupiter moon with the most frenetic volcanic activity in the solar system?
Or Triton, the former dwarf planet captured by Neptune, with its frozen surface and possibly not-so-frozen oceanic interior?
Originally posted on Facebook.
Allegedly, these glasses are going to help my eyes not (almost) literally bleed by the end of heavy writing days...or generally the last month of working on a book...or definitely while formatting. The yellow tint takes a little getting used to, but the glasses are super light and comfortable. Time will tell!
https://gunnar.com/
#amwriting #amseeingsofar
Originally posted on Facebook.
Afternoon shot of Phobos over the northern limb of Mount Sharp on Mars. Taken by the Curiosity rover on Sol 613 of its stay on Mars.
From Kevin M. Gill: https://twitter.com/kevinmgill/status/1225106090196492288
Originally posted on Twitter.
From Astronomy Picture of the Day: “Sometimes, even rovers on Mars stop to admire the scenery. Just late last November the Curiosity rover on Mars paused to photograph its impressive surroundings. One thing to admire, straight ahead, was Central Butte, an unusual flat hill studied by Curiosity just a few days before this image was taken. To its right was distant Mount Sharp, the five-kilometer central peak of the entire Gale crater, the interior of which Curiosity is exploring. Mount Sharp, covered in sulfates, appears quite bright in this colorized, red-filtered image. To the far left, shrouded in a very dark shadow, was the south slope of Vera Rubin ridge, an elevation explored previously by Curiosity. Between the ridge and butte were tracks left by Curiosity's wheels as they rolled forward, out of the scene.”
Originally posted on Twitter.
From Sarah Cruddas on Twitter: “Imagine one day it is people on the surface of Mars, taking in this view. We owe it to all the pioneers who came before us to keep exploring.”
Originally posted on Twitter.
CONTINUUM paperbacks are now in stock! Get your personalized, signed paperback of Continuum (or any of my books) at gsjennsen.com/store.
Originally posted on Facebook.
Alex isn't your typical SFF heroine. Miriam and Mia are better leaders. Caleb and Malcolm are better warriors. Eren is a better antihero.
She doesn't give rousing, inspirational speeches to the troops who adore her before leading them into battle on her mighty metaphorical steed. She's introverted, cranky, impatient, dismissive, often exasperated and at times disagreeable.
But she's magnificent. Saving everyone with a grumble and a curse and damn well doing it her own way.
Why am I waxing poetic about Alex this particular morning? Because hidden deep down in the comments on the giant spiral galaxy thread, Sue Dorton gave Alex one of the best compliments she's ever received, and I just wanted to share it with the rest of you: 🥰💞
"I have read thousands of books. Met many characters that have stayed with me, but never before developed such an in-depth relationship with one that I know what her reactions would be. Alex has truly taken on a life of her own that is far beyond fleshing out her character. Now, before your new readers think I’m crazy all I can say is you just have to meet Alex💕"
*
Originally posted on Facebook.
We're probably not in a position to judge on the UNIVERSE scale, granted. But it's definitely BIG. 4x wider than the Milky Way, in fact.
One thing that caught my eye about this article is how it brings home the scale of the universe. In Amaranthe, the Asterions' Gennisi Galaxy (aka Messier 94) is 5 megaparsecs from the Milky Way, and that feels like a long way away. Using superluminal (but not wormhole) propulsion, it took the Asterions 200 years to reach it.
UGC 2885, though, is SEVENTY megaparsecs away, and it's referred to in the article as "close by." Which, when you're talking about the universe, it is. #boggle 😱
It also strikes me as a decent location for the Rasu homeworld...🤔
Download a giant high-res version of the image here.
Originally posted on Facebook.
I give you the inestimable master Raymond Chandler on Science Fiction: 🤨😂🤣
#itsfunnybecauseitsalmostsortoftrue #sometimes
Note: This is absolutely NOT an excerpt from CONTINUUM, I promise.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/they-pay-brisk-money-for-this-crap.html?m=1
I know I'm a few days late with the whole new year/new decade thing, sorry about that. I had book stuff to do.😎 But now we're in the 2020s, and this had damn well better be the decade where some mind-blowing technological advances happen. With that in mind--
Which of the following do you think we are MOST LIKELY to have in 2030:
⚡️(1) A fully functioning lunar base, where astronauts live and work on the surface for 6+ months at a time and (rich) tourists visit.
⚡️(2) Boots on Mars, and not the robotic kind.
⚡️(3) Effective anti-aging/life-extension medication or treatments - not to make us immortal (yet), but to extend our *healthy* lifespan well into the 100s.
⚡️(4) Practical brain-computer interfaces - chips in our brains, or at least subcutaneous/on-skin hardware that communicates with our brains.
⚡️(5) Discovery of microbial alien life in our solar system and/or confirmation of a clear technological signature (advanced alien life) out there.
Let me know your answer in the comments, and feel free to expound!
*
Originally posted on Facebook.
I very rarely post critical takes on entertainment fare. If I don't care for an offering, I just don't mention it. But this movie evoked so much dismay, bewilderment and frustration, I simply have to vent somewhere.
Spoilers for Ad Astra follow, I guess. ¯\_(?)_/¯
The first act of the film consisted primarily of Brad Pitt trying to out-stoic Ryan Gosling in First Man (a mistake, because no one wil EVER out-stoic Ryan Gosling in First Man), accompanied by a Blade Runner-esque voiceover that, despite being delivered by Brad Pitt, managed to be both dull and depressing.
The film spent the next hour hodgepodging all the films it wanted to be but didn't have the energy to commit to. One part Gravity, one part The Expanse, two parts Interstellar, and a disturbingly three parts Blade Runner 2049 (again with the Gosling worship). I honestly would not have been surprised if the big twist was that Pitt's character was a replicant
The first time the film got interesting was when Pitt's stoic shell cracked and he showed an iota of emotion on Mars - then it was immediately disrupted by a bizarre Bruce Lee kung fu sequence in space.🤨
Then we're briefly back to Interstellar, except Pitt got cranky because he didn't have one of those 'long nap' pods like Mcconaughey did.
For the final act, the film chose the cinematic masterpiece Event Horizon as its primary inspiration.🥺 Thankfully, a river of blood never swept through the ship passageways, but I kept expecting it to right up until the credits rolled.
Every time Tommy Lee Jones came on screen, #MrJennsen started quoting Marlon Brando...something about 'being an errand boy sent by grocery clerks.'🙄
Finally, we were treated to a couple of lovely shots of Neptune and some stoic family drama. Then Pitt returned home to be reunited with Liv Tyler like this was Armageddon or something, except without the rousing Aerosmith soundtrack to make it feel poignant.
Maybe the film is just a B-grade attempt at an Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness retelling in space, and that's all there is to it. I just know I suddenly have the urge to watch the many films that it strove and failed to be. In fact, I think I hear #MrJennsen putting on Apocalypse Now in the other room as we speak.
Originally posted on Facebook.
