Edward M. Lerner's Blog: SF and Nonsense, page 32

Getting physical

News about physics being a popular topic on SF and Nonsense, herewith a few interesting (but not especially publicized) tidbits ...

White light thru yonder prism breaksOld-fashioned light bulbs emit a broad spectrum of colors. LEDs? They're red or green or (and this was difficult) blue. If you wanted white light -- white, of course, being a blend of colors -- you needed to mix the emissions from separate red, green, and blue LEDs. But maybe not for long. See (from IEEE Spectrum), "The First Wh...

Coming (to an end) soon ...

Over the summer, as part of his launch support for InterstellarNet: Enigma , my esteemed publisher offered promotional ebook pricing for earlier novels in the series. But summer is over. Pretty soon, that promotional pricing will be, too.

Lots of people scooped up InterstellarNet: Origins and InterstellarNet: New Order ebooks at $2.99 ... but after Columbus Day, the ebook prices return to their original $7.99.
“Edward M. Lerner’s InterstellarNet is one of the most original and well-thought-out v...

Some highs and lows of high tech

Indulging my interest in high tech, let's consider some recent news items on that theme.

At the core of the matter :-)We'll start with the teaser that "Intel and Micron Announce 'Revolutionary' Mystery Memory." Most everything these industry leaders have to say generally merits attention -- but when they talk about "a new form of nonvolatile memory that the companies say is 1000 times speedier than NAND Flash and ten times denser than DRAM," one really should take notice. I...

A(n inter)stellar start to the day

Not to step on my lede, the finalists for the inaugural Canopus Award, given for interstellar-themed SF, were announced today. And in the novel category -- well, that's the (inter)stellar news. I'll come to that.

First, some background ...

It's been nearly a year since I posted about participating in a 100 Year Starship Symposium (as one topic among several in "Nanotech and starships and fusion, oh my!"). 100YSS.org, seeded with NASA and DARPA funding, headed by physician and onetime shuttle a...

Exotica

(Not a typo. What were you thinking?)

As happens from time to time, I'm posting today with eclectic items of interest -- interesting to me, in any event -- that are, despite their esoteric variety, nonetheless  germane to this blog.

First up: the latest progress to be reported by the nascent DC-area Museum of Science Fiction (MOSF). I figure that I should -- before the third quarter ends -- pass along the MOSF's second-quarter report.

And an MOSF preview: I suspect that an item to be report...

Forces of Nature

"Like a force of nature" is a common enough simile. I suspect I've used it on occasion. Hopefully I haven't used it trivially, because the forces of Nature are (in another too often trivialized term) awesome ...

The forces of Nature in this post aren't similes. In recent, post-Hugo, post-Worldcon comments, I mentioned that my wife and I took a vacation immediately after the con. Three destinations on our itinerary offer opportunities to reflect on the true forces of Nature.

(And speaking of my...

Holiday-weekend reading

I'm playing catch-up -- still -- from twelve days away for Worldcon and an immediately following vacation. But my overflowing to-do list doesn't mean you should go without something of mine to read ...

Phoenix Pick, the publisher (more precisely, the re-publisher) of a couple of my novels, is featuring both books throughout September. Small Miracles, a near-future medical-nanotech thriller, is available all month as an ebook for whatever you choose to pay. 

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The Hugo Awards / life goes on

First things first! During my week-plus, post-Hugo Awards disappearance from social media, many people emailed, messaged, or otherwise contacted me with well-wishes and support. Some people inferred from my silence that I was taking it hard that (a) "Championship B'tok" did not win a Hugo in its category and/or (b) the Puppy-related nominees (my story being in that category) were, as a group, rebuked in the voting.

To everyone who reached out: thanks! I apologize if I caused anyone undue conce...

An honor just to be nominated

That my story "Championship B'tok" made it onto the final ballot for this year's Hugo awards? It was a surprise and an honor, notwithstanding the accompanying puppygate controversy. To share the novelette category with four such fine stories -- including two by fellow Analog-ians Mike Flynn and Rajnar Vajra -- only enhanced the honor.

2007 versionThat was April. It's now August, and the votes have been counted. Thomas Olde Heuvelt will be taking home the rocket. Let me be among the first to co...

Stoopid clock!!

Going really fast and dropping into a gravitational rabbit hole are both proven ways to make time's passage slow down. Having too much that needs doing? That seems to have the opposite effect.

So: no post for awhile. With luck, next week.====================== from Edward M. Lerner's "SF and Nonsense"