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Articles, Creative Writing, General Missives, Writing Research

When is the best time to write science fiction?

By NeilA

When is the best time to write science fiction?

100,000 words a month is your minimum goal

I thought for many newbies out there that this question might be something to consider. If you’re not yet at the stage of writing 100,000 words a month (that you can use, not including discarded words) then you might still be struggling with just being able to write, let alone when.

Professional authors who make a living from ‘pages-read’ on Amazon would have to meet at least that target every month to pay the bills. Then again, if you work in any administrative capacity, that would be how many words you would write in emails and documents every month as a matter of course. Why not do it full time writing on something you love?

So, assuming that your goal is to eventually get to 100,000 publishable words a month, when is your most productive time of the day?

Circadian Rhythm

Now we get into some interesting aspects of the circadian rhythm. Not just on your energy levels, but the chemicals in your system and your state of mind, also.

It was recently proven that human beings generally have an emotional rhythm too. We’re a lot more analytical, focused and reasoning in the morning, and a lot more emotional, unfocused and unreasoning in the evening. That means that there are at least two sides to every human being on the planet! [Study of 800 million tweets finds daily cycles of thought]

Emotional in the evening, emotionless in the morning. It probably explains some one-night-stands leaving before their hookup wakes up!

And so, if we have two noticeably different states of being day to day, how will this affect our writing, and when is the best time to write what we want to write?

Morning for…

If you need to do some major editing, cutting out paragraphs, soul searching about bits you love but aren’t suitable and bits you hate that need more work, then the morning is the best time for your analysis. I would say 6am to 10am could be your peak writing period, depending on your other responsibilities.

If you’re able to write focused, with minimum breaks, delaying breakfast, then your most productive time (productivity as measured by an editor) would be that four-hour period in the early morning.

For me, it’s not. My most productive period is between 2am and 6am, but these aren’t times suitable for the average person.

Now, just think. If your goal is 100,000 words per month, and you write at 60 words a minute, that’s 3600 words per hour, 14400 words per 4 hours, 100,800 per week! After you’ve spent researching, rereading, reediting and the like, you could easily do 100,000 publishable words a month.

How exciting!

But boring!

But, would anyone read it? If the morning is your best time to be analytical, is your fiction going to end up being something staid, boring, repetitive, and featuring dull characters traveling somewhere and having basic adventures before reaching their reward?

Sadly, yes!

Evening for…

Which means you need to mix it up a bit. Your more emotional side comes out more in the evening, so you may wish to plan for using that time to write your emotional scenes. You know, the ones where you’re literally crying as you write each characters’ heart wrenching discovery/situation. You can write the emotional dialogue, the terrible conflict, the harrowing ordeals in the evening where you can use your own inner turmoil to add life to your characters.

Interestingly, social media is awash with heavy emotion in just about everything. Why? Because everyone is spending time on social media during their emotional times. If we restricted social media to the times human beings were less emotional and more analytical, we’d get a lot more civil and well-thought out responses on these platforms.

Imagine the world if every aspect of our lives took into account our emotional states at certain times? Issues that needed serious analysis of the facts and limited emotional influence would only ever be discussed in the early morning. No more emotional conflicts ever!

But I digress.

Write at different times

And so, now you know. Write your emotional scenes at night and your analytical scenes in the morning. Do all your planning and editing in the morning, and fill in the gaps at night.

You’ll soon be churning out, I mean, creating compelling fiction every month to keep that money rolling in.

To your writing.

[Edit: I’ve recently read blog posts by other authors who say they aim for a minimum of 10,000 words a day. So, your ultimate goal to making a reasonable go at it as a professional author is approximately 280,000 words a month.]

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Articles, Australian Space Agency, Research, Science, Science News, Space News

Australian Space Agency Jobs

By NeilA

Australian Space Agency Jobs

Australian Space Agency

If you haven’t heard, Australia now has an official department called the Australian Space Agency (launched 1st July 2018).

Of course, we’ve been heavily involved in space work since at least early last century. Even our tracking stations were instrumental in getting the moon landing event’s signal to Earth. The signal was received at Goldstone, Honeysuckle Creek near Canberra, and the Parkes Radio Astronomy Site in New South Wales, and then retransmitted. Without Australia’s help, the rest of the world wouldn’t have been able to see Neil Armstrong on the moon live.

So, we’ve been involved in Space for a very long time!

RAAF Woomera Range Complex

But, while we’ve had many space related disparate systems in place for decades, the RAAF Woomera Range Complex in South Australia is probably one of the longest.

Having been established in 1947 (hmm, that year sounds familiar), and also known as the Woomera Rocket Range, it’s always seemed to me to be a futuristic space port.  Military weapons testing and experimentation, and lots of reported UFO activity (well, testing of advanced technologies at the very least.)

As the complex is over 400 kilometers away from Adelaide, it is quite a forgotten and seemingly secret area. In fact, you could even say that the area could be classed as Australia’s answer to Area 51. It’s not so secret though. You can find out more about the RAAF Woomera Range Complex history here

Rocket launch 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPOK3R-JtwI

Rocket launch 1967

I’d love to work there, from a fantasy point of view. But the reality is that it is hard, dangerous work, and you need to have a certain strong mindset to be able to do it. (It is a military research base, after all.)

Australian Space Jobs

And so, the Australian Space Agency has been set up for those who want to play in the business field of space, rather than do the grunt work of putting interplanetary missiles together.

If you’ve got great management and negotiation skills, and know how to sell technology, and space services, and you’re an Australian citizen with plenty of government work experience to executive level 1 or APS level 6, you could be what they’re looking for.

Find out the latest Australian Space Agency jobs here

Launched 1st July 2018

The Australian Space Agency is temporarily based in Canberra, until the other Australian states have finalised and submitted their proposals. Personally, I’d love the agency to be close to where I live, but as this is for the future of all Australians, and the world, it should be somewhere that can generate the most business and jobs.

Here’s my take on where the first agency could be set up.

Adelaide, South Australia

Arguably, Adelaide is currently set up to be the best location for a department focused on innovation and science, as well as being so close to Woomera. There are already multiple aerospace organisations there, such as Boeing Defence, and the local government is strongly focused on making South Australia a city of the future.

Melbourne, Victoria

Melbourne would come a close second with so much research and development going on in multiple universities. Not to mention having the largest population of people interested in space in Australia. (Asgardia Melbourne Member List) With so many students in Melbourne happy to work there for free, there is ample opportunity to build it on a shoestring and expand it quickly, investing spare money into R&D. (Australian Space Agency? Work for free? What are you talking about?! I’d pay to be able to work there! LOL)

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

In regards to being an easy stop for officials, Canberra is best placed for this, and has plenty of space to expand. I think it’ll remain in Canberra for quite some time before branching out.

Darwin, Northern Territory

For having all the action in one place, and for bringing much needed investment into the area, I’d say Darwin would be a great location for not only a space agency, but also a working space port. Mainly due to it having a lot of convenience, plenty for tourists to do, a lot of opportunity for international businesspeople to make deals, and close to the equator, thereby reducing the cost of rocket launches thanks to having the already boosted Earth speed spin of over 400 kilometers an hour. However, the city is way too hot for many so if you plan to work a long time there, I hope you have plenty of melanin to cope. (I’d personally prefer a job in the antarctic rather than go anywhere near the equator again, or at the very least have my own personal refrigerator and sun protection suit!)

West Kimberley Region, Western Australia

Perth is currently too far away from everything, direct flights to London notwithstanding, and firing rockets above the Indian ocean for safety, against the spin of the Earth, isn’t financially feasible. But Western Australia generally has some great places a space port could be set up. You could have the agency in Perth, and the Port three thousand kilometers away in the West Kimberley region. A great place could be the abandoned Ellendale Diamond Mine. You could set up a space port there, and while building it, dig for diamonds – killing two birds with one gemstone! Some of those underground tunnels would be ideal for a refit as a secret underground base.

Cape York, Queensland

Then again, if money saving and safety is key, then Cape York in Queensland is ideal. Closest point to the equator, near an already built airport, not many people nearby and plenty of space either side of the peninsula for the occasional faulty rocket.

Spaceport Australia

My personal feeling is that the main location of the Australian Space Agency will end up being all over Australia. Especially as each state can offer unique benefits. I’m sure the current lobbying to get the first official location will be long forgotten when we have an outpost in every city. And with over 60,000 abandoned mines across the country, there are plenty of places where underground departments could be built for data storage, and keeping computer systems cool for launches. Every town could have a space port!

And, if we act now, we could begin converting all of Australia into one combined continent-port where interplanetary moon-sized ships could easily ‘dock’ in our million square kilometers of deserts, depending on their mass and gravity strength!

(Trivia. Yes, Australia is wider than the moon, and even if it docked with the outback, the curvature of the moon would still put it above all our cities. When we finally work out how to control gravity, we could bring it down and mine it! Hmm, I feel a story coming on.)

Update 060718. Check out this awesome article about Australia’s space exploits here from Business Insider

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Articles, General Missives, Research, Writing Research

Really Getting Into Your Writing

By NeilA

Really Getting Into Your Writing

Have you ever had one of those days when you just wanted to write a story, but had absolutely no experience about how to ‘really’ write it?

Awhile ago, I wanted to write a story about a researcher who was going to use magnets to increase his brain waves to hyperepsilon, but without having first hand experience of that, I needed to find a way to get hold of some kind of magnetic medical system to see which one would work best for the story.

Thankfully, Gumtree regularly features posts by students willing to pay a few dollars to anyone who wants to undergo some of their experiments. For science!

So, I signed myself up for whatever I could get. First, an MRI and MEG scan, followed by a TMS session.

Much to my surprise this enabled me to come up with three different stories.

The MRI

What I learnt from being under this was not only how uncomfortable it was (information easily found online) but WHERE it was uncomfortable. The rigidity of the bed, the inability to stretch for long periods of time. The position of the neck and how that put pressure on the lower back. And the brrzzzz chock chock bang brrzzz chock chock bang as parts whizzed about, recording the responses of my brain.

Each time the equipment moved, I could feel a slight heat through my skin, a mild flicker of my nerves, a burning along the side of my neck tendon, and an aching shudder through my skull. Not to mention the uneasiness of having to squeeze two tiny orange things and push them into my ears to reduce the sound, (still echoingly painful), and the restrictive helmet system that held me in place.

You can see me in the picture above. All that, and I was still freezing in there!

A positive was being able to watch a documentary on the cordyceps fungus, and how it attacked ants. This ended up in the story ExtraForrestrial. Later I was horrified to find this fungus could be bought online in capsules to eat. No thanks!

As I did the MRI experiment three times, I now have that brrzzz chock chock bang permanently engraved in my memory, but I haven’t included this experience in a story yet. Maybe soon!

The MEG

I only had to use the magnetoencephalography machine once, and I can barely remember it. Though, as it was mapping my brain, I’m sure there’s a record of those memories somewhere!

The system made little to no noise, and after the MRI, was quite relaxing. For some of it, I was even in the dark. I felt like I was in a cold plastic egg covered in lots of wires that had to be stuck on and removed. It think the initial coldness of the glue and wires was what surprised me, as well as how long it actually took to get hooked up.

I used this experience to add a bit of realism to the story Cosmic Joke

The TMS

I underwent Transcranial Magentic Stimulation three times too, over a period of several months.

The first stage was to put the skull cap on and glue all the sensors to my head. The gooeyness of the blue-green stuff that was poured into the holes in the skull cap, the scraping of the gel nozzle, as well as the vibration from the top of my skull down to my jaw whenever the scientist clicked the TMS coil, was all a bit disturbing. Imagine having things stuck in your ears, being unable to move, and someone dropping cold dollops of oil into your hair, scratching each dollop with a blunt knife, then hitting you with a tiny hammer!

The first lot of clicks was to locate the exact place in my brain to begin the experiment. To do that, she glued a sensor on the inner part of my thumb, and clicked across my frontal lobe with the TMS coil until my thumb twitched. She knew then that she had found the right spot and could begin the experiment. Sometimes it took awhile to find that exact spot, and the weird part was that I could feel the clicks within my skull. Either that was referred pain, or the vibration resonating within the skull cavity, or it was really stimulating some nerve endings somewhere inside my cerebrum.

Afterwards, she washed my hair, and it took a bit of time to get all the gel out. So, these little things, which aren’t easily found online, were the sorts of things I wanted to include in a story.

From this experience I wrote Still in Beta. 

So, if you get stuck on how to write a story, and can’t find anything on Google to help, maybe you just need to get a bit more involved!

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Articles, General Missives, Water

Previous Projects Post Two. WaterWarner.com

By NeilA

Previous Projects Post Two. WaterWarner.com

When I was doing 18 hour days at my tuition college in 2009, I realised that I could not remember to drink water. It simply didn’t occur to me. There would be a glass of water on my table next to me and I wouldn’t notice it.

Doctors have recommended 8 glasses of water a day, but for most of my life I’ve got by on just one or two (plus tea and coffee) Being only 59kg most of the time meant there wasn’t really anywhere for the water to go. Of course, on hot days, I would drink a bit more. But water tastes blurrgk. (It’s a technical term!)

Great for Writers

So, I hired a programmer to create a simple PC program called Water Water. It can sit on the PC taskbar, and be set to remind you to drink water.

Ideal if you’re like me and you regularly forget to drink, eat and sleep!

The app worked perfectly for XP, but sadly after Windows 7 came out, new settings couldn’t be stored, and I didn’t have the money to update it.

In any case, if you want a program set on default that will automatically make the sound of pouring water every hour during work hours to remind you to drink some water, you can grab it here: Water Warner.

It’s free to download and install.

To your good health.

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ADHD Writers, Articles, General Missives

Apparently, I have Adult ADHD

By NeilA

Apparently, I have Adult ADHD

Self Diagnosed

Just did a test here and got 97%

Did another one here and got ‘high likelihood of ADHD’

Actually, I did these last year and thought I’d double check. Yep, scores haven’t changed. Damn!

So, are there many writers with Adult ADHD? Apart from those writers writing books on ADHD? You bet. Quick list here

Science Fiction Writers with Adult ADHD

Are there many who write science fiction?

Jules Verne is believed to have had ADHD (ref), as has Cory Doctorow (ref), to name but two. (Actually, my Adult ADHD kicked in and I just couldn’t keep searching. Google results were disappointing.)

I’m sure there are others that either haven’t been diagnosed, or like myself, not have the funds to go and pay for an official diagnosis.

Starving artists abound.

ADHDar

When you’ve got it yourself, you can usually spot another person with Adult ADHD. Sometimes, when I’m with a non-ADHD who speaks at a much slower pace, I tend to finish their sentences for them. Occasionally, with someone with ADHD, the conversation doesn’t even get started. We might just use some nods, facial expressions, then move on. Not telepathy, just predicting what the other is thinking in that situation, and working out the ending to the conversation quickly.

It’s definitely a LOL moment.

In my 30s, my Adult ADHD didn’t really get in the way. But now, in my 40s, it’s starting to make life harder and more frustrating. You think school was frustrating, wait til you start hanging out with old people! Most of my friends are in their 20s and 30s with a scant few in their 40s, purely because those in their 40s have already started slowing down. I’m 46 and still partying, drinking, and going to night clubs when I can afford it. Occasionally, I’ll run into another ADHDer in their 50s and we’ll have a pantomath conversation, then forget each other. Most non-ADHD people my age seem to want to discuss renovations, property prices, stock market or sport.

There are a lot of ADHDers at sci-fi cons and comic cons. I get surrounded by ADHD girls in their 20s at these things as I’m older, safer (got that shy conservative look going) but kind of on their level. They enjoy being able to jump from subject to subject every third sentence and have someone follow them, and the conversation never gets boring. I learn a lot and can usually give them some coping advice too. Win win. (Yeah, most of my friends are female.)

Was on a train from Melbourne to Sydney awhile ago (listening to videos while typing a story and checking the news on my netbook and PC) when I overheard a guy strike up a conversation with the girl next to him. He jumped from story to story about his life for 3 hours and she politely listened. I didn’t think much of it at the beginning. Just another talkative guy. Then he mentioned something about forgetting to take his ADHD meds, and I rolled my eyes.

My god, we’re everywhere!

Out of the Adult ADHD closet

So, in 46 years, this is the first time I’ve publicly announced this information. You know, might as well get it out there. Never taken anything for it besides black coffee in the morning and a glass or two of wine at night to help me focus. And I found that doing things that keep your dopamine levels up are sometimes all you need. (Today’s food tends to flat line dopamine levels in ADHD people, so check out foods that can increase dopamine, if you’ve got ADHD, here )

Oh, and I found this link to 11 Advantages of having ADHD as a writer. I agree with all 11. If you’re a writer, and identify with this list, you might have ADHD too! Welcome to the club.

I love some of the stuff by Cory Doctorow – Check out Overclocked. If you know of any science fiction writers who have talked about their ADHD, please list them in the comments below and I’ll go and check out their work.

If you, or someone you know, might need help with ADHD, check out this site: Consequences of ADHD

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Articles, General Missives, Science News

My Fave Science News Sites

By NeilA

My Fave Science News Sites

A lifelong curiosity about science

Over the years I’ve read thousands of science magazines, journals, newspapers, newsletters, ezines, leaflets, books and more. Can’t remember any of them. And those that I do remember were ones I remember because they’ve just been superseded by new research.

I also used to own quite a lot of ‘science for kids’ books that gave complex information in easy to understand sentences, comparisons to soccer balls and olympic-size swimming pools, notwithstanding.

These days I get regular science news via email, and mobile apps. I still geek out a little at some awesome discovery, and when I see something new and fascinating, I either instantly think of a possible story around it, or save the link to refer to for a future scene in a novel.

I have no idea what links I have in my bookmarks now. Thousands I probably won’t revisit anytime soon. But I’m sure when I need them I’ll find them.

But, I never became a scientist

The idea of spending years researching the answer to just one thing doesn’t appeal. Numbers don’t appeal so much to me either. I disliked numbers so much I was one of the early adopters of bank cards, throwing away those old account passbooks as fast as possible, just so that I didn’t need to work out change in my head.

Of course, there are specific areas of science that don’t require numbers. No, I lied. There aren’t. Even studying the mating of the patagonian toothfish requires you to count how many fish there are in the school. So, writing has that unique feature of not requiring numbers that often (besides checking your word count, page numbers, chapter numbers, correct sizing for cover conversion, and… okay but it isn’t that often!)

But, the other reason that I never became a scientist was because there is just so much science to choose from. If I chose astrobiology, I wouldn’t be able to also do archaeology. If I wanted to work on biochemical materials for aeronautical purposes, I’d have to give up astronomy. And so, rather than focus on one and specialise, I dabble in them all and generalise!

I guess you could call me a pantomath, as I don’t have the memory of a polymath, though having the word ‘math’ in it does worry me somewhat. Even so, I love the idea of drawing on many fields and disciplines to solve a writing problem. It’s possible all science fiction writers are pantomaths. If its epic, and you can spot at least ten different disciplines underlying the science in the work, the writer can probably claim the pantomath title.

My current list of science links with free daily news

Futurism

Quick with the science news, but also ready to comment on something remotely sciency, the articles read like someone’s having a conversation with you, and are great for grabbing the gist of something while waiting for a train. Of the 100 or so emails I get every day, it’s usually the first one I read.

Cosmos Magazine

Out of Melbourne, running since late 2004, the magazine and online website are great for revealing some easily missed science stories. While many science press releases get recycled by thousands of news outlets, Cosmos brings out some original stuff that doesn’t make it into mainstream. Once I’ve checked the trendy science news, I jump to Cosmos to find other news or a different perspective.

Sci-News

and

Science News

These are best read on a PC. They’ve got a great set up with recent news down the side columns, and easy navigation. Reading them on your smart phone is okay, though I like to read a single line to decide if I want to continue, not scroll through several lines and an image. Still, these are my go to sites for deep and meaningful news with stats, equations, quotes, and a lot more detail. They also cover unpopular news stories. You could spend hours here (and I have!)

Special mention for the app Science News Daily. It’s an aggregate app so you could end up with just about any science news from anywhere. Great for surprises! Lots of ads though, and some articles require a subscription.

I also check NASA, JAXA,the European Space Agency, and other space related pages every now and then, as well as subscribe to some random astrobiology newsletters.

I also read general news, which sometimes has some science news in it.

And Some Apps

My fave general news apps are, in no particular order, (Google Play):

Google News

SBS News

Deutsche Welle

BBC News

Russia Today

Aljazeera

Al Arabiya

United Nations News

So, with all this reading, when do I have time to write?

Good point. I better get back to it!

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Articles, General Missives, Ultima Thule

New Horizons Target Object 2014 MU69 now Ultima Thule

By NeilA

New Horizons Target Object 2014 MU69 now Ultima Thule

Pluto and Neptune

July 2014 was one of the most exciting times of my life when it comes to current explorations of space. When New Horizons flew by Pluto, I could follow the whole flyby on my mobile and PC screen.

I hadn’t been that excited about space since August 1989, when Voyager 2 made its flyby past Neptune. I sat in a little room in the Power House Museum, watching the regularly updated image of the planet appearing line by line on a projection screen. It was a great 18th birthday present, and gave me such excitement and hope for the human race.

NASA has hundreds of projects on the go, and it’s impossible to follow them all, but I do make a point of checking up on New Horizons. And now, with news that it has successfully awakened from its hibernation, to check out a kuiper belt object, I’m excited all over again.

Ultima Thule?

What will Ultima Thule look like? What will we discover?

If I could just click my fingers (in a space suit?) and teleport there, I’d do it. I’d be jumping about the whole Solar System having a close look at everything, light permitting.

While New Horizons won’t get to its latest flyby until late 2018 / early 2019, we’re sure to get a few grainy images of Ultima Thule before then.

The big question is, why Ultima Thule? The name was chosen in March 2018 and I’m curious to know why, especially as this is Latin and was used to mean ‘beyond the known world’ or ‘Greenland’ or sometimes ‘Iceland’. But we know there’s an Oort cloud so it’s not beyond the known world so much, so I suspect it could be a science fiction reference.

Is it a reference to the Doctor Who Stage Play – The Ultimate Adventure?

Is it a reference to Star Trek Deep Space Nine (DS9) ?

😛

Ultima Thule Products

As Ultima Thule has such a cool ring to it, there have been numerous products released over the years with that name.

It’s probably not named after the 100+ year old glassware by Litallia Ultima Thule Glasses

Also, probably not named after a volume in the series by Chris Lowry Ultima Thule Earth Invasion

Tangerine Dreams 2016 Ultima Thule Album has some nice tracks that are ideal to listen to as New Horizons gets closer, as does Ostara’s Ultima Thule album from 2008, though probably not those either. Actually, I’ve just found another 10 albums called Ultima Thule so I think I best stop looking.

But I think the Young Poets collection Ultima Thule by Davis McCombs that came out in 2000 could probably come close to qualifying, especially with the chance that Ultima Thule will be full of caves or holes or some other mysterious areas.

Of course, Ultima Thule in Oklahoma, USA could also be a contender. It doesn’t look like there’s much there! (Please correct me. I can’t find anything online about anything there!)

What do you think?

In any case, I’ll be watching with bated breath as 2014 MU69 aka Ultima Thule draws closer.

Exciting times!

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Articles, General Missives

The Destructive Nature of Gluten Sensitivity on Writers

By NeilA

The Destructive Nature of Gluten Sensitivity on Writers

Since the 90s, there has been a growing pile of facts and statistics on the detrimental effects of gluten on the human body.

For some, Celiac disease can be quite crippling. For others like myself, with just gluten sensitivity, it can still lose you a day or two of productivity, especially when it creeps up on you when you least expect it.

Like today.

Loss of Focus

I had put aside my whole Tuesday to sit and do another 7 hours of writing, but I could not, for the life of me, focus on anything. Words were blurred, sentences couldn’t come together. I even found myself forgetting simple things like boiling the kettle then not making the coffee. Or making myself a second breakfast.

It took me awhile, the coffee helped, but I remembered that over the past few days I’d had a few things that had had gluten in them. I can have a little every now and then, but if I do it three days in a row I get gluten overload. And today, I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.

Cleaning

It took about 24 hours of not eating anything gluten related before my brain began to recover. It meant that I could finally type at least a blog post at 11pm. (This one!)

On the plus side, when I can’t think due to gluten sensitivity, I just go into cleaning mode. The sinks, dishes, toilet, bed and carpet got a bit of a work out today!

Now, if I did brick laying, or gardening or something else that can rely on muscle memory to be completed without too much focus, gluten probably wouldn’t bother me so much. It’s why there are so many people in the world who still deny that wheat based food can be bad for you. If it doesn’t affect the majority of the population, how important could it be?

Writing

But writing something where you need to make sure that a) the words are in the right order b) the punctuation is correct c) the words convey a meaning and d) there is some underlying thought under them on another level, well, gluten in your digestive tract might mean you’re just not going to be able to get past the ‘wut r wordz’ stage!

As I also do some casual teaching so that I can pay the rent, if the gluten effect was going to creep up on me like today when I least expected it, I’d probably lose my students. Gluten = ‘Er, Dunno’ ‘Er, sorry, can’t answer that. ‘Er, let’s talk about that another time.’ Lucky I lesson-plan within an inch of my life so that I can push through these situations with a ‘let’s just go on with this and get back to that another time’ system. Otherwise, I’d probably look like a blathering idiot. (Or maybe I always do, and the students are just polite!)

Confused

Now, I don’t know what level gluten really is a killer for other writers, but with something as complicated as a multiple time zone time travel story that I’m writing now, with about 10 different main characters and another 10 sub characters, all with their own motives, I think the gluten effect is just going to shut me down on the first paragraph. Sometimes, when it hits, I’ll read over something I’d written the day before and just not be able to make sense of any of it to be able to build anything further.

Thankfully, avoiding gluten is a lot easier these days, and I know how to deal with it. If you’ve always had trouble focusing on writing, why not try removing gluten from your diet for a week and see what happens? If it is not that, maybe it’s something else. Try changing your diet and see what works for you.

So, my focus is back, and I can finally get started on my novel. Yay!

Oh, wait, is it bed time already?

Posted on
Articles, The Universe

How to Destroy the Universe in Three Simple Steps

By NeilA

How to Destroy the Universe in Three Simple Steps

Explore the Universe

One of the most thought provoking concepts that science fiction can explore is the use of the entire universe in a story. Not just stuck in Earth’s galaxy, like most Star Trek episodes, or stuck in some galaxy a long time ago and far, far away like in Star Wars, or even stuck jumping from galaxy to galaxy like in Star Gate: Universe, but exploring the universe without any restriction. If the entire universe can be used, then a reader’s mind can be expanded further.

Once you’ve worked out a story line that will enable you to explore the entire universe, the next step would be to enable your characters to travel forward and back along the timelines. The third step would be for them to find a way to destroy the universe. (Keep making those ideas bigger!)

Destroy the Universe (in Doctor Who)

Using the entire universe, traveling along the timelines, then encountering a plan to destroy the universe, have been recurring themes in a British TV series called Doctor Who.

In the episode Logopolis, the universe was being kept alive by a team of mathematicians. They worked to make sure the mathematics that underpinned the physics of reality continued. A rogue character (The Master) decided to hold the universe to ransom, kill some of the mathematicians, and then begin systematically destroying galaxies. The main character, (The Doctor), had to find a solution to make sure he didn’t destroy the universe.

In Terminus, The Doctor encounters a ship that had caused the collapse of the previous universe, and so had been at the epicenter of the creation of this one. The Doctor has to prevent the alien’s ship from being started, and destroying the universe again.

In Journey’s End, a villain known as Davros created a reality bomb that could destroy the electromagnetic bonds between all particles across multiverses, thereby wiping out everything. Of course, The Doctor, and a cosmos of teams from across space, time and parallel realities, make sure he doesn’t destroy the universe.

In the episode The Big Bang, the universe does actually collapse, and the Doctor uses saved particles from the previously collapsed universe to effectively reboot it, temporarily trapping him outside of existence.

Kardashev Scale

But could it really be possible? Could humans one day reach beyond a Kardashev scale of civilization, and command the power of the entire universe?

While we might not ever be able to command the energy of the entire universe without becoming bigger than it and spreading across multiverses, we do have the ability to control its existence. A simple reconfiguration of the Hadron Collider, or any other collider for that matter, would give us the power to destroy the entire universe!

Of course, this is theoretical. You really don’t want anyone to try to prove it!

Here’s the science. The universe has a quantum field known as the Higgs Field. This field is thought to exist at a higher energy state than can be detected – a fake vacuum. (Vacuum state is when a particle is at its lowest energy level.) We can get into this field using quantum tunneling. If we send a particle through the field that is at a lower energy level and is able to retain its energy level when it exits, it will disrupt the Higgs Field, resulting in a domino effect that explosively releases the Higgs Field’s potential energy.

This is known as Vacuum Decay.

The Higgs Field and Quantum Tunneling

The Higgs Field, underpinning the entire structure of reality, would release its energy at the speed of light, like a very fast gas explosion. It would destroy the universe, and rewrite physics in the expanding area. Eventually, after billions of years, the universe would be destroyed.

Of course, quantum tunneling is essential for nuclear fusion in stars, and so this happens all the time. The difficulty is finding a way to quantum tunnel into a Higgs Field with a particle that is able to retain the same energy state when it comes out.

I’ll leave that up to you to work out how to do it.

If you can find a way to do it, it would be like shooting a bullet into a block of dynamite. Destruction of the universe ensured.

The Plan to Destroy the Universe

So, if you’re planning to destroy the universe (or planning to write a story about the destruction of the universe) here is a summary to get you started:

Step 1. Locate the Higgs Field
Step 2. Send a particle, via quantum tunneling, through it.
Step 3. Ensure the particle comes out the other side with the same energy level
Step 4. There is no step 4. Though, you may wish to laugh maniacally in the 0.001% of a second you would have before the universe begins collapsing around you at the speed of light.

I look forward to reading your ‘terrorists take over the Hadron Collider and hold the universe to ransom’ stories!

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Alien Contact, Alien Invasion, Alien Life, Aliens, Articles

Protocols of First Alien Contact

By NeilA

Protocols of First Alien Contact

What are they? Where are they?

With movies like Arrival getting a lot of attention in the mainstream press, many would like to know, myself included, what the official protocols are for first alien contact. After much searching I’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t have anything in place.

Yes, seriously! (Well, officially!)

No government agency has a formal step by step system in place. The main reason for this is that no government agency actually expects it to happen for at least another twenty years. (Best to leave it for the next generation?)

I find this very strange, as we have detailed step-by-step plans for all government officials, members of royalty and civilians for just about any eventually. Why we don’t have official protocols for first alien contact is beyond me.

After all, if the government of your country wants to make sure that you as a citizen are safe, no matter what the eventuality, pamphlets, leaflets, websites, social media, video sharing sites and more should have some easily found list of protocols for the eventuality of running into an alien at some point.

If I was Prime Minister of my country, I certainly wouldn’t want a teenage kid stumbling onto a UFO in a field somewhere, hooking up with the aliens, then going for a joyride, teaching them how cool it is to troll people, or encouraging them to blast a bully at their school. I’d prefer there to be strict rules in place, much like the safety demonstrations on air flights.

“Good morning citizens. Welcome to protocol 47. Our friendly team will demonstrate the correct way to approach a space alien, if one happens to land in your back yard…”

Private Protocols for Alien Contact

Of course, there are plenty of citizen plans out there. SETI has one, other organizations, too. But major governments? Nope. Rumor has it that the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is planning to draft a protocol soon. Nothing on their website yet. (UNOOSA)

And so, of course, if aliens are out there waiting for us to make contact, they need to make a few more cups of tea before we get our act together.

First Things First

But, assuming aliens are waiting for us to give them an official invitation, the first thing we need to do is get organized about sending a message. When famous scientists like Stephen Hawking have said it’s dangerous, and we shouldn’t contact aliens, you’ll understand why we haven’t done even that yet.

And I don’t mean a gold disk on the side of a piece of equipment thrown into space. Or a signal sent into space in ’74 by Carl Sagan, purported to have been replied to via crop circle a few years ago, and dismissed.  I mean a real, comprehensive, contact message signed by leaders of all the nations of the world.

When that happens THAT will really be the first step. Any alien race will be far more advanced than us and would probably be simply getting on with their lives, waiting for us to grow up and actually want to contact them. So, we need to send that official message on behalf of the entire human race. All countries need to get on board and agree to it.

What’s step two?

Okay, now we can get to step two, the most popular area of making first contact with aliens, but one which leaves me cold.

The International Academy of Astronautics has created the “Declaration of Principles Concerning Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence.” This was with the support of the International Institute of Space Law, according to Wikipedia. This declaration includes what to do in the event of the detection of an alien race, what level of acceptance society is at, and other factors relating to whether the message can be understood, or even revealed.

The problem with this is that it assumes that there would be a natural order or progression for this situation, and that governments would be the ones to announce it. It also assumes a detection event like a signal or even a single ship, invisible to almost everyone in orbit. Neither of these are likely. It’s far more likely we’ll get a very noticeable appearance with no regard to red tape or official procedure.

Reality?

My personal feeling is that we’ll get the ‘official’ announcement quickly through Facebook and YouTube, followed by news reports as cameras arrive on the scene.

It may take weeks before world governments get their act together and make an official announcement. And by then, the aliens would have already been having a coffee with us.

Certainly, there would be a huge number of people, myself included, who would travel to the site to make contact, without going through officials, without considering it to be a momentous occasion, without once thinking that the first person to meet the aliens would somehow be recorded in history. (Why would it matter? Aliens!)

If we followed strict procedures…

Of course, if you want to follow strict procedure, if you’re in a country that is part of the Commonwealth, the only logical person to be flown over to meet the aliens first would be the Queen (or King) of England! That would not be considered safe, nor would it be acceptable. Like Arrival, it would be far more likely that only the military would be involved. This would certainly cause problems if the aliens decide a shopping mall in the middle of a CBD would be the ideal place to land.

If we were to assume the aliens wouldn’t want to disrupt government procedures (really?) then they would simply appear above all the major government buildings, and ask to speak to the leaders.

A very advanced alien race, with more spaceships than Earth has cars, would simply position them all above the local councils as well, creating an atmosphere of ships. There would be no need for any leaders to come out and say anything.

“Thank you for your call. If you are calling about the spaceships in the sky…Yes, they are alien. No, we don’t know anything yet. No, there’s nothing you can do. Just continue with your lives until you hear an announcement from the Queen/President/Prime Minister in your area.”

SETI have their own alien contact guide which can be found here. It really does work from a perspective of detecting a signal, though.

But, many SF fans aren’t interested in boring signals. We want real solid, chunky space craft, and shaking hands (or some other protuberance) with aliens in a first contact situation.

No Protocols for Mass Landings

So, while the SETI plan for signal detection would be useful for a slow dissemination of information, it doesn’t really deal with the mass landing scenario.

Of course, science fiction writers have come up with many types of protocols over the decades, and you’ll find them in all sorts of stories. But an actual official protocol set that covers a mass landing? Nope. Nowhere.

Perhaps it is hidden in the CIA or FBI files, or maybe Mulder and Scully have it. In any case, the governments of the world are saying that humanity is not yet ready for alien contact.

Oh, aliens landing? Hang on. We haven’t done the paperwork on that. Can you ask them to come back later? Can we get an extension of time? Yeah, I know you first asked in 1947, but, just a bit longer. Hello? Hello?