M. Thomas Apple's Blog, page 5

Can you say “Catch-22” in space?

Japanese space company Astroscale Holdings Inc has unveiled what it calls the world’s first publicly released close-up image taken of space debris, hailing it as progress toward understanding the challenges posed by trash orbiting Earth.

https://japantoday.com/category/tech/update1-japan-startup-reveals-world%27s-first-close-up-space-debris-image?

Hmm. what will happen to the rocket and the satellite that took this picture?

Well, hello, Voyager 1! The venerable spacecraft is once again making sense

NASA says it is once again able to get meaningful information back from the Voyager 1 probe, after months of troubleshooting a glitch that had this venerable spacecraft sending home messages that made no sense.

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/23/1246392066/nasa-voyager-1-spacecraft-talks-back

Hmm. Just a short while ago, Voyager’s days were numbered.

I guess these things were built to last… (also built when NASA got a lot more funding…)

The first thing?

Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.

No mind.

IndieReader Approved!

In BRINGER OF LIGHT, M. Thomas Apple crafts a satisfyingly complex future where mankind has moved off Earth but must fight and struggle against the harsh realities of physics—and each other—in order to survive. 

https://indiereader.com/book_review/bringer-of-light/

Today’s quote

When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed. And when you’re older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out.

Charlie “Casey” Stengel

WASP-76b is a hellish planet – but with “glory”

There are many words that could be used to describe WASP-76b — hellish, scorching, turbulent, chaotic, and even violent. This is a planet outside the solar system that sits so close to its star it gets hot enough to vaporize lead. So, as you can imagine, until now, “glorious” wasn’t one of those words.

https://www.space.com/hellish-exoplanet-rainbow-glory-effect-cheops

This planet (located in the constellation Pisces) seems to have a rainbow effect of concentric rings…despite being so hot that iron falls from the sky.

Get ready for the 2024 totality, North Americans!

Researchers will fly rockets into the path of the eclipse, stand in zoos watching animals, send radio signals across the globe, and peer into space with massive cameras. 

And you don’t need to be a scientist to take part.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68742516

If you’re lucky enough to have no clouds or rain, that is.

Things the eclipse affects:

Radio wavesAnimal behaviorThe birds and the bees (seriously; read about what tortoises did last time)

Things scientists can view thanks to an eclipse:

The solar wind (plasma on the surface of the Sun)Coronal mass ejections (which interfere with satellites)Dust rings around the Sun and possibly even new asteroids

The East Coast of North America, where most of my relatives live, is currently 13 hours behind me in Japan. So the event will be long over by the time I wake up.

Hope to see video of it on the morning news show tomorrow!

Today’s quote

A bad administrator is more concerned with reports than with decisions. He wants the hard record which he can display as an excuse for his errors.

Lord Leto II

What is the next “unfilmable” scifi book to hit the big screen?

The story of the last 20 years of pop culture is, in many ways, the Victory Of The Nerd: Comic book films, gaming adaptations, the general adoption of deeply nerdy genre trappings like time loop stories, superheroes, and more, all making billions of dollars at the box office as geek obsessions infiltrate the body mainstream.

https://www.avclub.com/dune-other-great-unfilmable-sci-fi-novels-1851370740

AV Club suggests these five:

God Emperor of Dune (book 4)

The Caves of Steel (Isaac Asimov)

The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula LeGuin)

The Sirens of Titan (Kurt Vonnegut)

The Player of Games (Iain Banks)

One of the main problems that some “classic SciFi” doesn’t get made into movies is that their plots are, frankly, often ridiculous or cheesy.

What would you want to see on the big screen finally?

Check out my author interview at Literary Titan!

Trust and Friendship