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Notes on Worldbuilding Part 12: Hot Life
Update (May 2023): I've amended this entry to reflect some stuff I've learned since I posted it. Specifically, the section on dusty plasma, and an expansion of the sulfur-based life section. Upper Update (December 2023): Isaac Arthur has a video up about silicon-based life. You can watch it here. So far, most of the characteristics of…
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Notes on Worldbuilding Part 11: Artificial Worlds
I wasn't exactly sure where to put this, since it could just as easily appear later in the series after I've discussed alien civilizations and technologies. But this feels like the right place. Until now we've talked about planets and moons which form naturally, the result of random planetesimals and interplanetary dust accreting and colliding.…
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My WorldCon Schedule
In two and a half weeks I'll be in Chicago for ChiCon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention. I offered to participate in programming events, and they're really making me sing for my supper this time. Thursday, September 1 (all times are CDT) 2:30 P.M.: Writing and Story Development for Tabletop Games. This is…
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Notes on Notes on Worldbuilding
I've updated the entry Part 8: Planetary Characteristics to include a discussion of surface pressure, partial pressure of gases, and how that might affect habitability by humans. Thanks to Jim Torkelson for pointing out that I'd neglected that topic.
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Notes on Worldbuilding Part 10: Weird Worlds
Most of the planets we've been talking about are analogous to the worlds of our own Solar System. But planetary scientists have come up with some planet types which might exist circling other stars. Small variations in element abundances when a system forms can lead to very exotic worlds. Carbon Planets: Carbon is one of…
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Notes on Worldbuilding Part 9: Moons!
I'm back! Let's talk about moons now. Most planets have moons, ranging from little chunks of ice or rock to planet-sized bodies like Triton or Titan. Moons can affect their primary planet — and sufficiently large moons of a giant planet in the Goldilocks Zone might be habitable worlds in their own right. How Big?…
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Not Lost in the Cosmos
For the next couple of weeks I'm going to be conducting a science fiction writing workshop for the Smith College summer Precollege Program. This means blogging will be very slow, and may not resume until the course is over. I haven't forgotten about the worldbuilding project. Have patience!
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Notes on Worldbuilding, Part 8: Planetary Characteristics
This is where we figure out the details that actually determine what it's like on the planet. Some of these can be figured pretty precisely, others are up to the creator. (For gamers I've included random generators.) Size: We know the mass (in Earths), and we've determined the density relative to Earth. Mass divided by…
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Notes on Worldbuilding, Part 7: Temperature and Composition
From here on out I'm going to concentrate on solid planets which might be home to life we can interact with. These are bodies with a mass in the range of 0.1 Earth to 10 Earths, though I will include occasional nods to "Mega-Earth" type worlds even bigger than that. My plan is to work…
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Notes on Worldbuilding, Part 6: Placing Planets
The two defining features for a planet are its mass and its temperature. Those data can pretty much predict its likely size, composition, and how suitable it is for life. Temperature is a function of the world's distance from its primary star, and how bright that star is. By "bright" I mean the star's luminosity,…
The Cambias Digression
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