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 And those that I do remember were ones I remember because they’ve just been superseded by new research.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):

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

Good point. I better get back to it!

Posted on June 12, 2018

General Missives, Writing Memes

Writing Memes

By NeilA

Writing Memes

Something To Do When You’re Stuck

When I’m stuck somewhere waiting, like in a queue, for a lift, or even at a walk sign, I might fill in those wasted seconds by checking out some memes on ImgFlip

There are a number of memes sites out there, and each caters for a particular crowd or has features that appeal to certain groups. I’ve tried a few, but Imgflip seems to be closer to the site I’d prefer to hang out at.

One of the features I love at this site is their template library, as well as the ease of creating a meme and posting it within a minute. If I’m sitting waiting for my tram to get to a destination, and have a thought that I want to share, I can call up a template, type a few words, and have it posted within a minute, all from a mobile, tablet or netbook.

Online Research

With one of my previous books, I had to research some medical statistics to make sure that the death I had planned for a character would be logical – bumps on the head not causing concussion notwithstanding. This would lead me, as random links generally do, into the warren of associated links and diseases and murders and…

After immersing myself in general mayhem and destruction until I found the information I wanted, and realising it wouldn’t work, I suddenly became aware of my internet history. If someone was to stumble onto all those pages of invasive medical procedures, what would they think?!

And so, I grabbed this template off imgflip and created this meme:

Great Minds Think Alike

When I was writing my novel last year, I was also excitedly waiting for both Star Trek: Discovery and The Orville. I made sure to finish my book before they were screened, so that anything I wrote wouldn’t be influenced by them. (There was no way I could avoid spoilers!)

My mystery story Alien Frequency, set against a binary star system in a ship that could materialize anywhere in the galaxy, I was sure would be fairly original. I also thought having a crew of slightly amusing aliens would bring humour back to an overly serious genre. There was even written an introductory scene featuring Captain Hogart introducing his crew one by one and making jokes. Pretty sure that hadn’t been done either. I was hopeful people would love my character Amy who was a greenish blob most of the time, but liked to slide around in a feminine form. (She is a reimagined version of my Alien Bob character who worked as a plant engineer on the intergalactic starship The Celestial Breeze in my ‘Alien Characters‘ series.)

You have no idea how surprised I was to find Star Trek: Discovery’s first episode was set in a binary star system. I was further surprised to find that the ship could rematerialise anywhere in the galaxy. In The Orville, I knew it was going to be fairly amusing too, a bit like Red Dwarf, but I was surprised to find that the first episode of The Orville featured the captain introducing his crew one by one. Not to mention a blobby alien character very similar to my characters Alien Bob / Amy.

I later found there were a lot of other similarities between both shows, my book and even some of my previous stories, as well as some I had working drafts for that I hadn’t released yet.

I couldn’t believe it.

There must be a collective consciousness of SF wants somewhere, and I must have tapped into it along with these writers. In any case, after lifting my head from my hands, I created this meme:

Getting Back Into the Right Headspace

I took a few months off from writing after that and focused on other things. I was so disappointed by the situation.

After finally breaking through this selfish reflective period, I got started on my next novel.

The Andromeda Effect was going to be bold, with most of it set in another galaxy, 2.5 million years ago. It was going to have time line problems, multiple characters and motives, and be light on description and rich in dialogue. I wanted it to be daring, original, and fun to write.

I set to work first with some introductory paragraphs on my set piece Space Station X-1a, orbiting Saturn.

Ingredients Needed

But starting off with a meeting was boring, so I decided to add some danger. Keep people reading but not have the pages more exciting than what was to come? What could be dangerous but not deadly? Cause enough problems for the station without actually destroying it. Space weather? What could that be?

I know. I’ll use gravity waves. No one’s done that. Let’s have an exciting first few pages with gravity waves striking the station, and all the humans and aliens running about trying to save it and themselves. How exciting!

What?

4 months after writing that (you can see the draft I put online here – Excerpt from The Andromeda Effect) I stumbled across a second hand copy of Peter F. Hamilton’s The Temporal Void. Of course, as it had the word ‘temporal’ in the title, it caught my eye, and I sat down to read the first couple of pages.

Wait! What? What’s this? A station being hit by gravity waves in the first few pages? Humans and aliens running about?

Noooooooo!

I wonder how many other books have gravity waves striking space stations at the beginning of them.

Peter’s book is now sitting on my book pile waiting until I finish writing my novel. (It was just a $1. I couldn’t pass it up, even though I haven’t read vol 1 yet. Thank you Red Cross.)

Not Stopping Again

This time, I’m going to soldier on. If I stop writing because someone else has done something similar, I’ll never write!

But, I’ll probably need some fortification to keep me going. And so, I grabbed another imgflip template and created this meme:

Now, all I need to do is scrape together enough for another $3 bottle of wine to continue!

Posted on June 7, 2018

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!

Posted on June 5, 2018

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 June 2, 2018Updated on June 2, 2018

General Missives, Rant

Current SF First Episode Rant

By NeilA

Current SF First Episode Rant

Can we have some ‘REAL’ SF please?

Alright, who’s decided they’re going to destroy live action SF?

Of course, I understand that science fiction is really something for subscribers, or government sponsored free to air TV. It certainly doesn’t lend itself to advertising too easily. Though, if marketers really were on the ball, every SF episode would be advertising the latest technology, mobile phones, apps and more. If we’re into tech we’re into SF and visa versa. VR googles and bendable mobiles would be the ideal thing to advertise.

But, what’s with the ‘accessible scene followed by plot twist’ to get those who are not so interested in SF to be interested? I think this is an old trope from the 60s, and has no place in today’s SF. Consider the 60s mentality of almost a decade getting ready for the moon landing and seeing the rocket launch.

Guys, SF fans are over that. We don’t need the lead up.

Disappointed

Anyway. Why this rant? Friends repeatedly recommended me to watch Stranger Things. First ep starts with a Dungeons and Dragons game in the 80s. Following scenes are set in the 80s, with a school. Limited budget?

Friends said I should check out Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams. Although the trailer looked a bit hodgepodge, I thought, you know, give it a go.

Started with a contemporary scene. What?

Episode 2 was better but if it is over 700 years in the future, why are they using LCD screens, and why does one of the main characters have a double row of mail pigeon holes above his desk?

Read reviews of Black Mirror. Thought, yeah, alright. Flicked through all episodes. Most were contemporary. The first episode starts with the Prime Minister sleeping in bed. <Raises eyes heavenward>

If it is on free to air TV, and the goal of the channel is to attract a new audience to sell advertising too, fair enough. I understand these have to exist and create revenue somehow. But, for something to be billed as science fiction, then made available via Netflix, Amazon video, or other pay per view portal, I would expect to pay for something, well, science fictiony!

So, I thought, well, I really should check out episode 3 of Lost in Space. Two bottles of wine got me through the first two, so surely the third will start out not so saccharin, now that the crazy Doctor Smith bitch is in residence. (Very excited. Parker Posey is going to bring some awesome scenes to that show.) But guess what?! It started with a scene in a house on Earth over food and wine. Looks like that bottle of Muscat I started drinking is going to need a sister.

Now, I’m not saying LiS was bad. It continued with a nice twist, and I love the fact that there wasn’t an explanation as to what she did next, leaving it to us simple viewers to work it out, but, still, why the ‘reality’ scene at the beginning? And why is this so common now? It’s not just the USA and the UK doing it. It’s every country that produces SF. Did someone write a manual? No, it was a dot to dot book, wasn’t it?!

Modern SF Episodes

Step 1. Write an accessible scene for those stuck on the lounge who didn’t bother to hit the remote. Let them think it’s a basic soapy story with a mystery. Make the scene as realistic and contemporary as possible, but slightly mysterious and interesting, so that they don’t think to change to something else.

Step 2. Add an interesting twist that isn’t too confronting that gets them to think that, woah, wait, WTF is going on.? Okay, I’ll watch a bit longer.

Step 3. Slowly introduce the SF element bit by bit, but always have flashbacks to reality on Earth, just so they doesn’t feel left out.

Step 4. Make the scene end on a poignant, cliffhanger note related to Earth life so that they sit in their lounge thinking about it long enough to play a tech or relationship ad.

Step 5. The next scene after the ad should also help ease them back into the series without being too confrontational or too otherworldly.

Step 6. Leave enough mystery so that they decide to watch the next one.

Tired

Was very happy when both The Discovery and The Orville started as I was sure that the writers knew how to write real science fiction. Then it turned out Discovery was about love and loyalty, and The Orville was about divorce.

Sigh.

Ok. Rant over. Overall, I love both Star Trek: Discovery and The Orville. I want more of that (just, no boxing episodes, thanks). Please powers that be, please consider some SF scripts that don’t bother with the contemporary stuff.

Why not look into what producers did in the 50s? Contacted soap producers and got their advice on how to make a show where they could sell washing soap. Or the 70s – got advice on how to create a show that would sell action figures.

Or the 90s. Created shows that would sell music.

Why not contact SF writers, producers, directors etc and ask them what they could do to create a compelling show that would increase the sale of high tech stuff.? There’s so much possible advertising revenue just begging to be matched with SF.

Mobile Phones

VR glasses

Computers

Fitwear

Relationships

Bitcoin

A.I. Investments

Robot merchandise

Alexa and Google Home assistants

Drones

The list is endless

And you wouldn’t need to start with a contemporary scene. You could start with a futuristic one using ‘ancient’ contemporary gear.

Looking forward to a new series on Netflix or Amazon video that starts immediately with a science fiction scene that only science fiction lovers will understand.

Exploding binary stars followed by non-humanoid aliens surviving and looking for help? Anyone?

Or, aliens and humans working together to solve a problem in another galaxy in the far future?

I live in hope.

At least Doctor Who didn’t bother with the whole contemporary start to…

What? Russell T. D? Why did you have Rose working in a clothing store? Steven M? Why did Bill turn up at a contemporary uni? Chris Chibnall? Is the Doctor really going to crash land in 2018 London and meet a family?

Wait. The first episode in 1963 started in a school?

OMG!

Back to reading books.

😛

Posted on May 31, 2018

General Missives, Stellar Flash, The Andromeda Effect

The Stellar Flash Center

By NeilA

The Stellar Flash Center

One of the things that has taken quite a lot of time, is setting up the ‘bridge’ of the Stellar Flash.

As many of the scenes would take place there, I wanted it to be engaging, interesting, have a number of different features and, if created into a live action video, give many people a lot to talk about.

The problem I had was that all the words to describe the white conscious connection computer panel stands were old.

Podium, lecturn, rostrum, dais. They all sounded stuffy, bureaucratic, or churchy. Not words that really fit a futuristic space / time vessel.

After much searching, I found that there are indeed podiums that look like the computer stands in the Stellar Flash Center. Here’s one of them:

I’d say this could be used in a pilot, before we upgraded to something like this one:

(I got these images from Presentashop.com after discovering them on Pinterest. Check them out. NB: The site is in German.)

It doesn’t solve my problem with what to call them. I might just keep going with ‘white interface panel’

So, as there are a few scenes with a lot of characters gathered in the Center, I thought it best to play around with the design a bit and make sure everyone can really fit there.

Here’s a rough floor plan.

The panels are a bit too big for this picture, but you get the general idea.

Now, to somehow fit in an army of dinosauroids, a Floran, the Japanese A.I. avatar, and Admiral Heartness…

Posted on May 28, 2018Updated on May 28, 2018

General Missives, The Andromeda Effect

Latest Updates from the Keyboard

By NeilA

Latest Updates from the Keyboard

Well, today has been a productive day. Woke up, heated some chilled takeaway for breakfast, made some black Moccona Hazelnut Coffee, and rewrote and deleted swathes of The Andromeda Effect. Filled in some plot holes, fixed some dialogue, added some thoughts, and made sure a new character had a motive for her actions. (Well, actually, multiple motives, but we’ll see.)

10 minute lunch was some more cheap takeaway that I’d bought as a job lot the night before, and then it was back to writing again.

Then a couple of glasses of Aldi Shiraz, the pleasant alcohol effects extending the length of time I can remain seated, and several more pages poured from my fingers.

7 hours of writing. I don’t think my back will be the same tomorrow!

The sad thing is, I’d love to be able to just write and write and write, and come up with some fantastic chapters straight from brain to board, but what usually happens is I’ll get a 1000 words in and go ‘this aint workin’ and delete it all and start again.

So, I thought, why delete it all? Why not put some of my thoughts out there. At least it won’t be wasted. I think I’ve written 150,000 words so far of this 50,000 word novella, and some of that could have been used, if the story had taken a different path.

Here are a few outtakes. Perhaps I’ll use some lines later. Not sure yet.

Alternate Prologue (too slow)

Admiral Victoria Heartness peered through her office window at the slowly turning rings of Saturn, and sighed. Six more were to die on the next mission, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her stomach was churning, just thinking about it.

Her poor night sleep, and repeated dreams of mind controlling aliens, had not helped her disposition either. She shook herself and took a deep breath. Focus.

There was a faint knock behind her and the door opened, quietly. A dark figure appeared in the reflection, not as lit as she was by the glow of the planet. “There’s been an incident,” he said.

Victoria indicated with her left hand, and the figure disappeared to take a seat.

For a moment longer, she drank in the colors of the gas giant, a massive planet that was there long before the human race had evolved, and would probably be there long after they had become extinct. Then she turned and faced the scientist, and secret services agent, Doctor John Patel, to discover what insignificant human disaster had befallen her space station this time.

Alternate Dinosauroid Family revelation (too much exposition)

“Brother,” began the lead dinosauroid scientist. “I have found the hole in space time that allowed our ship through. The blue star that the plant orbits will explode in the future, turning into an actual one. A black hole. This transformation breaks the gravity cage.”

“Impossible. It’s not a black hole yet!”

“We have long suspected that black holes exist with their own set of rules regarding time. It’s possible we are receiving its influence from the future.”

“Understood. When is it likely to happen in our timeline?”

“It could be hundreds of years, but according to my computer’s calculations, it requires a unique set of circumstances to set it off. A massive disruption to the gravity field will change the normal turbulence of various gases, and set up a chain reaction within the core, generating the explosion. The star will vaporize the plant-planet, and the web of consciousness will fold in on itself, the gravity cage will collapse, and the resulting time waves will create the opportunity.”

The commander looked incredulously at his chief scientist. “Cause and effect? Our presence here creates the situation that enables us to be present here?”

“Yes.”

“Then everything is predetermined.”

“Not exactly. Analyzing these readings suggests that if we attack the planet and explode it, the black hole may not happen, and the plant will simply regenerate, starting the cycle over again, until another opportunity presents itself, or the star simply ages enough that it happens anyway.”

The commander scratched a claw across the wall in frustration. “But it is the only plan we have. Diving into the middle of the blue sun won’t make the slightest bit of difference either.”

“We need to figure out what specifically causes the star to go supernova. Then success is assured.”

The commander grunted his assent. “Do what you have to do. I put my life in your hands.”

“Thank you, brother.”

Alternate Dinosauroid welcome (too friendly)

…and down towards the food area. He quickly showed them the food synthesizers that created sustenance for particular physiognomies, and briefly discussed the system with the lead scientist. The scientist tested the food and was first to eat it, then distributed it to the rest.

Hogart noticed that they were all wearing metal collars, with minerals implanted at various points. He asked politely what they were for.

“This is how we protect our minds from the creature. We have been able to harvest these mineral stones that the creature releases. They are spread throughout the entire galaxy and act like linking points for its gravity cage, and conduits for its consciousness. We have been able to reverse their effects so that they reflect rather than absorb.”

The dinosauroid then looked at Hogart, its lizard head turned sideways. “You are not wearing anything like them. How are you not taken over?”

Hogart pointed to his head. “A mindview system installed in my frontal lobe connected to other points in my brain. It is currently broadcasting a frequency wavelength that is disrupting the signal. Unfortunately, many others on my ship do not have this.” Hogart pointed to a chair in the corner where two of his alien crew were unconscious.

The alien dinosaur understood, then scratched a line in the table in front of him. The army around him fell silent.

“It is time, Hogart. We thank you for your sustanence. We are now ready to fight. What is your suggestion?”

More as I delete them!

Posted on May 18, 2018

General Missives

Hanging Around on Quora

By NeilA

Hanging Around on Quora

Recently, I spent some time answering questions on Quora. I was curious about how it worked, what sort of questions got asked, how people were asked the questions and more.

I found that the most distracting thing for me was that people would hunt down those with ratings in certain categories and then send them random questions. It meant I would get sent questions I would have no time to answer like What are you favorite Science Fiction books of all time?

I messed about with the settings, attempting to get the system to deliver questions that didn’t already have an answer easily discoverable via Google, before giving up.

Fun, if you have plenty of time and just want to answer basic questions like a primary school teacher. Otherwise, it can rob you of your writing time. Best taken in small doses. So, I’m just going to visit once a week. (Hmm, says the voice in my head, I’ve heard that before.)

So, here are some answers I posted on Quora.

What sound does an alien make?

If the universe is teeming with life, then any vibration imaginable on any wavelength is possible. Just look at how all the life in our world communicates. Plants communicate through electrical signals, releasing scents, and some even move to signal others nearby. Bacteria communicates with chemical signal molecules. Fish mainly use body language. Ants communicate with pheromones. The possibilities are endless, though I believe most advanced aliens would be communicating telepathically.

If you’re wanting to work out how a grey alien might sound if they attempt to speak, think about how much sound and flexibility that tiny mouth and jaw could make. I doubt even a tongue could fit in there, so it’s unlikely you’ll get more than a few bleats or basic words. Probably no English words containing ‘th’ or ‘l’ sounds.

What happened to three body dot net?

An archive of http://3body.net from 2015 can be found at Archive dot org: the most best selling science fiction in China

According to Whois, the site is still owned by HiChina Zhicheng Technology Ltd Registry Expiry Date: 2020-11-12T06:07:07Z which also owns 3body.com,

I guess they kept it to promote the movie in English on it, but since the movie has been postponed indefinitely, so has everything else.

Do the writers represent themselves in their story or they create an imaginary character of imaginary personality?

One of my goals is to write convincing non-anthropomorphic characters, and I need to figure out how they think and communicate first, before creating scenarios for them.

For that I usually have to also create the worlds they come from and their backstory, and work out their customs, how they move, even how slowly or quickly they react, depending on the gravity they grew up in (if they did, in fact, grow.) An alien that uses its mouth a lot would probably have things in it when it is speaking. An alien with two brains and twelve eyes would be processing many more things at the same time, while it is working on a singular reply to another alien. Getting those thought processes as alien as possible is crucial to a believable alien character. So, in that sense, most of my characters are completely imaginary.

However, after creating a character from scratch, eventually that character is going to have to have a conversation with another character to move the story forward. And unless I’m wanting to alienate all my readers, I’m going to have to use some of my own human 21st century personality to be able to communicate their conversation in standard English.

Why is English (language) described as “primitive” in sci-fi movies?

It’s mainly a trope to describe anything humanity-based as primitive in SF. Language, culture, customs, religions etc. All are primitive in comparison to a more advanced alien race.

Of course, from another perspective, why aren’t we all using telepathy (or telempathy) yet? This would be the natural progression of any species. In that sense, using any part of your physical body to communicate is primitive.

If you want to know specifically why English might be considered primitive, check out the movie Arrival. English is trapped in a linear progression and can’t override the timeline it’s expressed in.

Hope this helps.

Professor Orson Scott Card kindly commented on my post, and you can read it here.

My reply was: True! Unless the story is written by a linguist who uses the concept of aliens thinking English is primitive to prove to them that it is not. I personally doubt any alien race we meet will have a disparaging or condescending tone about human languages. I’m sure they’ll all be so far advanced that they’ll love everything about us, and be fascinated by the way we’ve evolved this complicated method of communication.

Is a life form in gaseous state possible?

Videos of lower Earth orbit astronauts encountering weird white blobs or globes floating near them, and an upper atmosphere experiment that brought back a flattened version of one of them, seems to suggest we have gaseous state biological organisms, with a thin bacteriological film holding them together, floating in Earth’s atmosphere.

On a more esoteric note, it is believed by some religions that everything is conscious – levels of visible awareness being identified through physical conduits capable of projecting the consciousness in an interactive form.

So, while a knife and fork could be conscious, they have no way of expressing it, whereas, a gas could potentially shape itself into a communicative form. And with the plethora of strange sea creatures still being discovered, I would suggest that no matter what form you can imagine, it’s probably a life form to some degree.

How does modern Chinese science fiction compare with the recent English science fiction?

At the risk of using a standard cliche, ‘this is a difficult question to answer.’ You’re basically looking for someone who has recently, and extensively, read Chinese and English science fiction stories. That suggests they need to be bilingual. Unfortunately, I have only read Chinese science fiction in English so I would assume a lot is lost in translation.

Having said that, The Three Body Problem is an amazing piece of work, but I doubt it is representative of Chinese science fiction writing. (It won where others did not.) I would hazard a guess that Cixin Liu won the Hugo for his impressive science, and emotive history, as well as his engaging storytelling. Other science fiction stories from Chinese writers that I have encountered seem to be bogged down in fantasy, or human stories with just a futuristic background. To me, science fiction must feature a high tech or hard science element, with limited emotional or romantic connection between the characters, and at least one alien protagonist or antagonist. Sadly, this is not that common in science fiction these days.

Unfortunately, this means Chinese science fiction has a lot of similarities with English science fiction of present. Science fiction and fantasy mixed together, no real research done to confirm legitimate science, and no detailed, well-defined aliens. I’m eager to stand corrected, and would love to read a story by a Chinese author who has written detailed alien life and worlds with as much, if not more science than The Three Bodies problem, so please list some stories in the comments.

I haven’t found any other high tech SF from China yet, but I’m sure this will change. Even so, in this day and age, we’re going through the painful period of romantic human fantasy stories disguised as science fiction. The whole world is guilty of this thanks to publishers realizing that’s what sells in that genre. I look forward to more non-anthropomorphic aliens not having romantic relationships with human starship crews in the near future, and look to China and their teams of translators to release these kinds of stories for future generations.

Why is science fiction so popular?

Sadly, it’s not true. Science Fiction is ranked as the lowest selling genre on Amazon. Publishers consider it to be the most expensive genre to produce (highest page count for lowest profit) TV channels, live streaming organisations and local community productions know it costs a huge amount of money to make, with limited advertising opportunities. (Sponsorship is available for products similar to the show that is being screened. When it comes to science fiction, what are you going to sell?)

And, yet, there are still small groups of people around the world that love the stuff, which is why, considering all these ‘facts’ I still write it.

So, yes, it is popular in certain small areas. But in comparison to the interests of over 7 billion people, it is quite a tiny area of passion. Perhaps your question would be best put as ‘Why is Science Fiction so loved?’ In which case, I will direct you to the answers of other Quorans.

Posted on May 18, 2018Updated on May 18, 2018

General Missives

Welcome to the Blog of Neil A. Hogan

By NeilA

Welcome to the Blog of Neil A. Hogan

Hey, great to have you here. Thank you for hunting down my blog. Well, one of them.

You see, I’ve been writing blogs since at least ’96. I’m sure I’ve got a hard drive with Windows 3.1 that has some message board blog posts from before that, too. The problem is, I’ve never really found a style that suits. I don’t know if you’ve had the problem? You know, you sit down, get ready to write something, then out comes all the travels you’ve been on, meals you’ve had and things you’ve written, and you get to the end of it and look at it and say something like, “Wow, that was great! I love what I wrote, just for me.” Then you step back a bit, look at it sideways, and think “Er, but is anyone actually going to read that?” then you hit delete, and sigh.

Or, you create a blog with the intention of promoting all your books. Excerpts, reviews, why people should read it, and at the end of the day realize all you’ve done is create a catalog.

There are also those blogs I began that quickly attracted trolls and stalkers, or those blogs on Facebook that garnered thousands of readers from towns in India and China (robot software) or those blogs where I was initially interested in a subject, then when I had completely exhausted it, had nothing more to say, and it was just costing hosting money year after year.

So, while I’m going to say ‘This Blog Will Be Different’ I have no idea if it’ll still be here in a year’s time. Still, I’ve now figured out the best way to write it. And perhaps, I’ve finally found the secret sauce to keep it going.

Stick around to find out more!