Kate Rauner's Blog, page 24

New Anthology of Speculative Fiction – Free eBook #giftidea #scifibooks #shortstories

Click to reserve your free copy now and it’s like a surprise when Amazon delivers the book to you in a few days. I’ll remind you later, but couldn’t resist sharing today, because the anthology is in the top twenty in these categories and it’s not even released yet. That’s a thrill for an indie author like myself.

Best Sellers Rank: #6,318 Free in Kindle Store

#13 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Kindle Store)#15 in Metaphysical Fiction

I’ve joined with three other writers from my author group to bring you eight short stories of fantasy and science fiction. Eight worlds to explore. Eight heroines to meet. From me to you, this free eBook, and please share the links with your friends and family.

Claim your free eBook now in Kindle or your favorite digital format. Paperback available too.

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Click Here now – Free Kindle from Amazon (or choose the paperback)

Click Here Now – Free eBook in all the Major Digital Formats from More Favorite and International Stores

[image error] Wishing You a Joyous Holiday Season

Nothing Travels Faster Than Light, But… #physics #science

I like to think I can have an amateur’s understanding of physics. For things like projectile motion, I feel pretty good. But when it comes to space-time waves:

CF researchers have developed a way to control the speed of pulses of light. Not only can they speed up a pulse of light and slow it down, they can also make it travel backward. UFC

What? I found this analogy from Brian Dunning, who puts out the excellent podcast Skeptoid (listen or read transcripts.)

[image error] Event A precedes B in the red frame, is simultaneous with B in the green frame, and follows B in the blue frame… which isn’t the same thing at all, but also weird.

Phase velocities are free to go faster than the speed of light, c, because they are conceptual, like a moire pattern from parallel fences you pass by.

Imagine you have a laser pointer that can paint a dot on the Moon from your back yard. (Caution: Do not look into that laser with your remaining eye.) If you sweep it quickly across the lunar surface the dot can appear to move across the regolith at greater than the speed of light, but the dot isn’t a thing so much as a concept, our name for what the light looks like. The actual photons that are flung to the Moon are moving at good old-fashioned c. Brian Dunning

Huh. If you have the chops for physics, check out “Optical space-time wave packets having arbitrary group velocities in free space” by Ayman F. Abouraddy in Nature Communications 10, Article number: 929 (2019). Open access (yay!) Yes, it’s taken me over a year to trip over the study. When you’ve absorbed the article, come back and explain it to me.

“Smelevision Replaces Television” #science #ArtificialIntelligence #museum

An unusual research project brought that quote from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon to mind.

Is it possible to recreate a smell out of history? The Odeuropa Project is tackling that quest, starting with 16th century odors. But what records preserve the necessary data?

They’re going to do it with artificial intelligence. The first step is to train machine learning software to recognize references of scents from historical texts and paintings. Researchers will feed the computer texts from seven languages and images of paintings to train the software… then the software will be able to scan thousands of documents and images to identify smell descriptions.

NPR

[image error] 17th century London coffee house – coffee, burning wood, tobacco, candles, wig powder, dogs…

Paintings? I suppose a painting of, say, a late 17th century London coffee house will include clues. But turning them into a useful file seems daunting. Written descriptions strike me as a more straightforward place to search for data, but then the words must be replaced by air-borne molecules.

Once information is found, recorded, and sorted, human beings replace the AI. “The team will then work with chemists and perfumers to recreate around 120 scents — with the plan to help museums integrate them into exhibits to create an immersive step into history.”

So Bugs’ vision of future smelevision won’t be turning up in your home. Three or four years from now, you’ll have to find a museum participating in the grand project. If I were you, I’d avoid sticking my head into whatever device delivers the smell of the mid-1800s Thames River.

Turkey Poem #haiku #Thanksgiving

Stuffed like my turkey
Gravy, cranberries, and pie
Cats now lick the plates

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BTW, if you’re sleepy, don’t blame the bird.

Tryptophan is one of 20 naturally occurring amino acids—the building blocks of proteins. Because the body is unable to manufacture tryptophan on its own, it must be obtained from food protein. Turkey is a great source of this essential acid, but it is not unique: many meats and other protein products pack comparable amounts.

Tryptophan is used by the human body to make serotonin, but eating turkey does not translate to amplified serotonin production in the brain

It’s just a food coma. Ahhhh. Scientific American

Will Your Thanksgiving Gathering Leave You Sick by Christmas? Here’s a Way to Estimate Your Risk #thanksgiving #COVID #risk

On your way to an event? Perhaps against your better judgement, but just can’t say “no?” Here’s a quick and easy tool to gauge your risk.

The risk level is the estimated chance (0-100%) that at least 1 COVID-19 positive individual will be present at an event in a county, given the size of the event.

Covid 19 Risk

Since the tool presents the risk by county, if you will see people arriving from other counties, I suggest you figure the risk for each “source.”

And remember:

You can reduce the risk that one case becomes many by wearing a mask, distancing, and gathering outdoors in smaller groups.

I’m about to put my turkey in the oven for me, my spousal unit, dog and two cats. There’s no place like home. Hope to see you next year.

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Do You Have a Nuclear Power Plant Designed for Space in Your Back Pocket? NASA Wants to Hear From You

[image error] KRUSTY fission plant NASA is developing for space, Mars, and maybe the Moon – artist concept of unit on the lunar surface

Sustained human presence in space requires power. Yes, there are solar panels, but it would be nice to have a supply that works in darkness or when covered with dust.

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy will seek proposals from industry to build a nuclear power plant on the moon and Mars to support its long-term exploration plans. The proposal is for a fission surface power system, and the goal is to have a flight system, lander and reactor ready to launch by 2026.

CNBC

The goal is to build and test a 10 kilowatt unit on Earth, launch it to the Moon, and land it on the surface ready to go. Once it’s proven, larger units or multiple units could power humanity’s explorations.

A low enriched form of nuclear fuel will power the core. The small nuclear reactor will generate heat that is transferred to the power conversion system. The power conversion system will consist of engines that are designed to operate on reactor heat rather than combustible fuel. Those engines use the heat, convert it to electric power that is conditioned and distributed to user equipment on the lunar and Martian surfaces. Heat rejection technology is also important to maintain the correct operating temperatures for the equipment.

Steve Johnson, director of the Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies Division at the Idaho National Laboratory

Nuclear power has been used safely and often in space, especially for probes traveling far from the Sun. Fission may have a renewed appreciation on Earth too, but keep your eyes open. Time will tell.

Visualize Solar Eclipse in Fantastic Animations #astronomy #eclipse #Eclipses

I’ve stood in the shadow of the Moon – three times under a total solar eclipse, which positively gives me chills. This animation is a great visualization, using the March 20th, 2015 solar eclipse.

NASA | Shadow of the Moon Goddard

Update! Arecibo Observatory Can’t Be Saved #astronomy

I wasn’t expecting this: Iconic radio telescope in Puerto Rico to be demolished. National Science Foundation to decommission the telescope.

Scroll down here for the engineering summary.

Damage at Arecibo Telescope #astronomy #science

I’ve heard that a main cable that supports the Arecibo Observatory broke Friday. An auxiliary cable had failed in August, so maybe the added strain was too much. Sadly, it fell onto the reflector dish below causing additional damage to the dish and other nearby cables.

Thankfully, as far as I know, no one was hurt and engineers are working to determine the best way to stabilize the structure. No cost estimate for repairs yet.

[image error] The Arecibo Radio Telescope prior to 2020 damage

Since 1964, the site has made many discoveries: the rotational period of Mercury, existence of neutron stars and binary pulsars, the existence of pre-biotic molecules outside the Milky Way, and more.

I wish everyone at Arecibo the best of luck.

_/) ~~~~~~

Free SCI-FI eBook Today -Spiders & Spice by E J Randolph

Great chance to read scifi diplomat tale for free. My good friend, EJ Randolph’s book on Amazon. One of those admiring reviews is from me!

RANDOLPHWEB

Reviewers say:

*loads of danger, humor, and charm
*jammed packed with adventure and life or death situations
*fun and engaging
*diplomacy with humor
*story left me with something to think about
*Paced just right, lots of humor interspersed with serious events.

Check it out athttps://www.amazon.com/Spiders-Spice-fashionable-buccaneering-Federation-ebook/dp/B08HSM58MR

If Kate thinks fast and breaks a few rules, she might live.

A rogue military will crush a peaceful alien planet.

Can Federation diplomat Kate Stevens prevent the war?

She speeds across the galaxy to forge a defense alliance. But it’s impossible. The aliens forbid discussion of violence.

They’re doomed.

So is Kate unless she can turn the tables.

But how?

Without the Navy to support her, she must rely upon subterfuge and guts. It’s risky but her only chance against the marauder’s far superior numbers. She must gamble with the lives of herself and her spaceship crew.

If she fails, she’ll end…

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