Links for 20-03-2007
Nuclear fusion, nuclear weapons (meh), Richard Morgan interviewed, Bacigalupi on ‘futurizing’…
-
1 – U.S. Envisions A New Generation Of Nuclear Weapons
“…the United States is considering controversial proposals to produce a new generation of nuclear weapons and revamp its nuclear weapons complex…” Bloody idiots.
-
2 – Whisper to a Screen (but don’t read on one)
“I can see Doctorow’s overall point, but the problem with his argument is that he’s referring to the Novel like it’s a static, regulated thing; as if each novel were the same in content, tone and construction.”
-
3 – In Which I Complain About the New York Times
“You Times lit-snobs, get this through your heads: there is nothing wrong with writing genre fiction. And genre fiction counts. It exists, it’s real, and it’s often better than the stuff you pretend is the only fiction published.”
-
4 – Richard Morgan on new novel Black Man
“Brit SF-noir author Richard Morgan’s new novel, Black Man is a skillful blend of investigative drama, serial killer thriller and high-octane science fiction action-blockbuster.” I’ll be chatting to Mr. Morgan at Eastercon, BTW.
-
5 – Reading sci-fi for pleasure
“You see, when it comes to the genre wars, science fiction is at a very curious disadvantage. As soon as someone writes a really good sci-fi book it nearly always seems to get reclassified as something else.” The Guardian, no less.
-
6 – Futurizing
“The process of adding kick-ass gadgets, tools, and extrapolations to a sci-fi story to make it feel more futuristic so that it can fit more comfortably in the sci-fi genre. Closely related to Sense-of-Wonder Interior Designing.”
-
7 – How You Could Attend the Nebula Awards
“The SFWA have teamed up with Abebooks.com, the Internet used-books amalgamator, to run a contest that will send two lucky readers to this year’s Nebula Awards Banquet in New York.” US/Canadian residents only. Bah.
-
8 – These gas-powered boots were made for 22 mph
“Gordeyev invented a gasoline-powered boot that looks like pogo sticks that strap to your shins, and they work on the same principle as the air-cushioned basketball shoe.”
-
9 – Video — Rudy Rucker Talks About Computation
“Science fiction writer Rudy Rucker, author of the book, Mathematicians In Love, claims that any natural process can be regarded as a computation, and that computers are not ‘digital.’”
-
10 – Make your own fusion reactor
Next time you have a spare weekend, why not?
-
11 – Another Small Step Toward Fusion?
“Enter the stellarator, an alternative plasma confinement method that uses no plasma currents, but one that loses energy at a high rate because the magnetic coils that generate the field are inefficient.”
