What Is 'Alive'?

I came upon this conversation while working on the Rubicon hardback formatting. I took this screenshot last week - but then this weekend, I was having dinner with family, and we were talking about ChatGPT. Someone posed the question, "if something is designed by us, does that mean it can't be 'alive'?"

While no one (serious) today is suggesting that ChatGPT might be alive, there's going to come a day when we, like Alex, will need to answer this question. It's sure to be one hell of discussion.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Peregrine One

Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One is officially launching to the moon on May 4th (yes, yes, May the Fourth Be With You). This mission is near and dear to my heart, as many of my short stories will be onboard the lander! Along with the works of many other writers, artists and musicians), as part of the Lunar Codex project. I’m very excited.

Originally posted on Twitter.

SPSFC Semifinalist Kindle Sale

** SPSFC SEMIFINALIST SALE: FEBRUARY 20-24 **

My fellow authors and I are so excited to have made it to the semi-finalist round of the SPSFC competition, we decided to give away the winning books for pennies (or no pennies). (Yes, yes, Machina was already free - the sentiment is still there ).

While the sub-genres vary, from space opera to hopepunk to cyberpunk to YA to humor to military sf and more, one thing you can count on in this sale is that you will be getting an entertaining, superbly written book - it wouldn't be here otherwise. So download without fear!

Sale ends Friday, so also don't dally: https://tinyurl.com/spsfc2

Brief Haitus

I wanted to give you all a heads up that there likely won’t be many SMBH posts for a little while. I have an ailing mother, and I’m going home to spend some time with her for a few weeks. While I’m out of town, my social media posts will be somewhat sparse. But if I do post something awesome, I’ll be sure to share it with you.

Be back soon!

A Week of Finishing Things

Wednesday was a banner day! I finished all of the following:

(1) most importantly, the deep scene-by-scene edit of Duality. YOU GUYS.

(2) Cyberpunk 2077, by taking V to space. Seriously, how cool is it that this was an option? Fun game - not life-changing, but fun.

(3) The pictured beautiful yet absolute monstrosity of a puzzle. 5,000 pieces, 5 months. 3.5 ft x 5 ft. It's been glued (puzzle glue is awesome), and #MrJennsen insists he will be able to surround it with some sort of "frame," so it can live on forever somewhere OTHER than my dining room table.

Originally posted on Facebook and Instagram.

Haegemonia

Can we take a moment to appreciate this gorgeous artwork, titled “Haegemonia” by Gergely Buttinger ("Skylow"): https://www.deviantart.com/skylow/art/Haegemonia-18016851?

Is this not Alex to a T? Specifically, Alex in Transcendence, taking a small spacewalk in the middle of a dramatic battle to break into an enemy superdreadnought and turn the tide of the battle in humanity's favor? Space is exploding around her, and she's all... "I'm coming for you. Try to stop me."

Originally posted on Facebook.

CosmoQuest-A-Con 2022

I'm excited to announce I will be a panelist at CosmoQuest-A-Con this weekend! The con will take place live on Twitch and Discord, Oct. 21-23.

Watch the Twitch panels for free here: https://www.twitch.tv/cosmoquestX , or grab a ticket and enjoy the Discord panels, backstage insider fun, a bunch of vendor halls, and contests, all while supporting CosmoQuest's science and science education activities: https://cosmoquest.org/x/cosmoquest-a-con-2022/ .

My schedule:

SATURDAY:

4:30pm EDT: You Should Be Reading These Books (Discord)

6pm EDT: Writing the Future (Twitch)

SUNDAY:

6pm EDT: So Cool and Yet So Terrible (Twitch)

(A discussion of the opportunities and harm of satellite internet megaconstellations. Are the benefits worth it?)

Originally posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Webb's Pillars of Creation

Webb has captured a lush, highly detailed landscape of the iconic Pillars of Creation using its near-infrared camera.

For comparison, see Hubble's visible-light view of the Pillars. Hubble's view highlights the presence and thickness of dust around the pillars, while Webb's infrared vision peers through that dust to unveil the stars and protostars within the dust.

Learn more and download here: https://esawebb.org/images/weic2216b/.

Originally posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Duality Update

Well that was a scene and a half to edit!

On that note, if it seems a little quiet around here, with a bit less posting, that's because I'm editing. As in full-on, underwater deep-end editing. All the time. And, honestly, I'm going to be doing so for the rest of the month.

So send cookies and wine! I guess some food, too....

Originally posted on Facebook.

Boom! DART Crashes Into Asteroid

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) crashed into the surface of an asteroid called Dimorphos at over 14,000 miles per hour. Researchers are hoping that the collision will change the asteroid’s orbit, speeding it up just a tiny bit (we won’t know how successful it was for a little while).

Neither Dimorphos, nor its larger companion, Didymos, pose any danger to Earth, but the experiment is designed to test whether or not a similar impact could make a difference if scientists ever discovered an asteroid that posed an imminent threat to life on Earth.”

Via https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/26/23371372/watch-nasa-dart-collision-asteroid

And everyone was watching. We’ve got visuals from the LICIACUBE cubesat that went along for the ride with DART, as well as from both Webb and Hubble!

Originally posted on Facebook and Twitter (2).