How to Host a Big Bang Theory Party
When the tv show the Big Bang Theory first appeared, I wasn’t sure I liked it. I mean, weren’t people laughing at the nerdy scientists as often (or more often) than they laughed with them? […]
The Science Fiction Fan’s Bucket List
I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel a lot and do many things I’ve always wanted to do. Some of my opportunities have been work related (e.g. using the Hubble Space Telescope, and helping […]
Calling All Space Cadets!
Ever wanted to travel to outer space? Now’s your chance… for real. Lynx Apollo antiperspirant have launched a competition to win a trip flying 103km up into space. How do you do it? First, potential […]
Ten Totally Illogical Science Fiction Premises
Over on my own blog I wrote about eight science fiction tropes of convenience, mainly about unlikely or impossible technology or assumptions that are made not because they make sense, but because they’re convenient for […]
The Chocolate Teapots of the 21st Century
Looking back at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear disaster of 3/11/2011, I ask more questions about Japanese robotics. Baudrillard and M. John Harrison are roped in to help. Also, we bought a Roomba.
Return of the Robo-Insects
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have recently equipped moths with robotic skeletons. Why on earth would anyone do this? Not to create a tiny army of super-moths, but rather to glean clues into how […]
SF Weapons 101: An Introduction
Science Fiction from its earliest incarnations has always featured some sort of futuristic weaponry. From H.G. Wells’ martian heat-ray to the most modern charged particle beam of Alastair Reynolds, SF weapons astound, confound and amaze […]
The Difference Between Thinking Like a Scientist and a Science Fiction Writer
I was in graduate school for astronomy when I started taking writing seriously. The first stories I wrote that were any good and started to sell tended to be fantasy or science fiction with horror […]
Stranger Than Fiction: Space Miners Wanted
For my first post at Amazing Stories, I was looking forward to getting a chance to introduce myself and my background, to exploring some deep conceptual physics issues at the fringe of our understanding of […]
Burn Your Books
Welcome internet traveler. I will be stockpiling neatly organized bits into a collective known as a blog along this portion of your journey. Do not fear for your personal safety, as I will take great […]
Is Science Killing Science Fiction?
Gregory Benford shared this on facebook, asking if this notion was true: Strahan, Jonathan, “Introduction,” Edge of Infinity, Solaris, 2012. This is just a short introduction to Strahan’s latest book of short stories, but he […]
Who Let the Dog Out?
Author J. M. Barrie is best remembered for creating Peter Pan, but I’m extremely fond of his comic play The Admirable Crichton – especially when he has Ernest Woolley whine, “I’m not young enough to […]
A Kepler’s Dozen
NASA’s Kepler mission has been watching a swath of the Milky Way watching for the signs of stars being eclipsed by planets in orbit around them. This takes patience and favorable geometry, but Kepler has […]
The First Poem Written in Space
The real scandal is that it took anyone this long to write a poem in space. The solution is easy.
Fiction and the Happy Brain
STORY HORDER As a child, I was a story horder. I couldn’t get enough of them. I was very fortunate to have parents who read to me, and looking back, they were saints in this […]
The Speed of Science
Science deals with a lot of high speed phenomena, like the speed of sound and the speed of light, which can make the topic seem fast and exciting. We also see science news on tv […]
Scientists and Stereotypes
Older male (check), glasses (check), white lab coat (check). A scientist! Even without the funny hat or breaker full of red liquid, everyone recognizes the stereotype. Stereotypes can be based on a nugget of truth […]
Classic Science Fiction Science: Outland
The science fiction movie Outland has been described as a reimaging of the western classic High Noon set in space: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez2XfvN8XSc&version=3&hl=en_US] The setting is Io, which is the closest large moon of Jupiter, despite […]
Who Cares About the Science in Science Fiction?
I do! Let me introduce myself. I’m an astronomer, a professor at the University of Wyoming, and a science fiction writer. I’ve been blogging for a number of years at www.mikebrotherton.com, primarily about the intersection […]
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