• Random Encounters: Aboard the Generation Ship

    Travel between the stars takes a long time. Your ship has been voyaging for centuries, and centuries remain before it reaches the destination world. Unfortunately, over that kind of timespan, things can break down: ship systems, information storage, civilization . . . The ship is huge, with vast habitat areas containing transplated ecosystems from Earth.…

  • Those Movies We Love

    Who does Star Wars belong to? Well, legally, the answer is "The Walt Disney Company," because they paid George Lucas four billion dollars for his company Lucasfilm, which owned the Star Wars trademarks and copyrights. End of story. Except . . . One of the reasons Lucasfilm was worth four billion dollars to the mighty…

  • Dragon Awards!

    Congratulations to this year's Dragon Award winners: Best Science Fiction Novel: Artemis by Andy Weir. Best Fantasy Novel: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Best Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel: A Call to Vengeance by David Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Thomas Pope. Best Alternate History Novel: Uncharted by…

  • Random Encounters: Aboard the Alien Saucer

    You managed to slip out of the lab before they could do whatever it was they were planning — and then erase all your memories of the event. Now you're wandering around the alien spaceship in your pajamas, trying to find a way back to Earth. The inside of the saucer is a maze of…

  • Good Guys, Bad Tactics

    If you're interested in military history, you start to notice something: in any discussion of motion pictures, you're the one critiquing the battle scenes. You're the one asking "Why didn't they . . . ?" Or saying "That couldn't happen." Or simply "That's not right!" You're also the one nitpicking the details in historical films.…

  • Random Encounters: Aboard the Mauretania

    In 1925 the famous RMS Mauretania is the fastest and most luxurious liner on the Atlantic run, crossing from Liverpool to New York in just six days. That still leaves passengers plenty of time to get into mischief. With two thousand passengers, eight hundred crew, and vast interior spaces for stowaways to hide in, there's…

  • Science!

    A neglected episode of the classic TV series Cosmos.    

  • WorldCon 76 Report: Day 5

    The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a wonderful destination for a day-trip excursion from San Jose.

  • WorldCon 76 Report: Day 4

    Reading back over my WorldCon reports, it occurs to me that I don't seem to be doing much. A couple of panels a day, and mentions of parties, but that's it. The reason is something I had to explain to a friend: "At a con the fans have fun and go to parties. The pros…

  • WorldCon 76 Report: Day 3

    Saturday I rose relatively early and had a swim in the hotel pool. Staying at a hotel with a pool makes one feel about three times healthier than otherwise. No back problems from an unfamiliar bed, which means better sleep, which means one isn't living on caffeinated sodas to stay focused. Anyway. Once again the…

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