Kate Rauner's Blog, page 59

August Eclipse Will Be Awesome – but astronauts get best view #eclipse2017 #science #astronomy

[image error]I’ve got my trip to watch the eclipse planned (here’s wishing for clear skies!) But I’ll never have a view like astronauts do from space. Click on the image or here to view the video. So cool.

Filed under: Neat Science News Tagged: image from space, total eclipse of the sun, travel, what does an eclipse look like from space, what happens during a solar eclipse

Tiny Little Creature is Colossally Tough – a Surprising Survivor #tardigrade #poetry #nature #evolution #science

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A humongously enlarged museum model, image by Janine and Jim Eden

What’s the toughest animal,

A lion or a bear?

Or you and me with our dominion

Over others’ prayers?

What tolerates the cosmic rays,

Curled in a dried-out ball,

What can survive a vacuum

Or hottest heat

or coldest cold?

The microscopic tardigrade

Looks like a critter should,

With feet and head and funny face,

It’s kinda cute and good.

In half a billion years evolved

A thousand speciations

To beat the competition

And earn

our exclamations.

Who will be here

to greet the gods

As final days of Earth unfold?

It won’t be me,

it won’t be you.

The tardigrade

will fill that role.

by Kate Rauner

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2nd edition now available! Expanded!

There are articles every now and then about the tardigrade, a wee beastie worth contemplating.

Join me here for a new science-inspired poem about once a week, or read my collection today on Amazon or your favorite store. All for fun and no existential angst.

 

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: microscopic animal, nature, poem, poet, poetry, science inspired poetry, water is a water bear, what is a tardigrade, will life survive on Earth

Your Cat Journeyed for 9000 Years to Arrive at Your Sofa #nature #cat #cats #pet #domestic

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This European wildcat would look equally at home on your sofa. Luc Viatour www.lucnix.be

Cats joined humans about the time we started farming – and creating excellent mouse habitats where we stored our grain. Rodents can be a plague in any age – I had to replace $700 worth of mouse-eaten wiring in my pick-up not long ago. So I don’t doubt farmers immediately recognized the value of cats. As wild humans became domesticated so did the animals most able to tolerate us, to travel with us – and, for a special few, to love us.

The cat’s ancestors “lived in Europe as early as the late Pliocene. Fossil remains of the wildcat are common in cave deposits dating from the last ice age and the Holocene.” wikipedia

Accumulating evidence shows us when the cat joined forces with humans.

Researchers extracted mitochondrial DNA (which is passed down the maternal line) from more than 200 ancient cat remains that came from Viking graves, Egyptian mummies and Stone Age sites.

DNA evidence shows cat domestication began about 9,000 years ago in the Near East, where farming started…

A second wave of cat domestication happened in ancient Egypt. Cats spread to Europe during the Roman era and went even further during the Viking period. Egyptian cat DNA was even found in a Viking port. BBC

Some ancestors of our domestic cats escaped us and their lines survive today, still wild, across a wide swath of Earth – Africa, Europe, and Asia. Their domestic cousins have colonized the rest – every island and continent except Antarctica.

It seems odd to me that no one’s smuggled a kitten into an Antarctic research station. Most of us no longer need a cat to manage the mouse population in our barns, no longer need a dog to guard the flock, and no longer need horses, llamas, or any of the animals we keep as pets. But we want them – spend a lot of time and money to acquire and keep them. They comfort us in ways our fellow humans cannot.

Most domestic animals have undergone a lot of conscious selective breeding.

There was very little breeding and selection going on in cats up the

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My own tabby waiting for breakfast

19th Century [dang those Victorians! Kate] in contrast with dogs,’ said Dr Geigl. ‘The cat was useful from the very beginning – it didn’t have to be changed.’

But of course.

For all you dog-lovers out there, I haven’t ignored our canine companions, probably the first animals that helped us invent domestication: Humanity belongs to the dogs, a poem.

[image error]My orange tabby, Harvey, was the model for the first

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The new cover

Hunter #haiku #cats #poet #poetry #nature #amwriting

Like a ghost I move

Carried on my silent paws

See, hear, smell the prey

by Kate Rauner

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[image error]All my books, including collections of my science-inspired poetry, are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and other major online retailers. You’ll also find paperbacks at Create Space and all major digital formats at Smashwords. Read one today.

Going to Amazon today? Click over there now on my link.

Signup to receive an occasional offer and a piece of my flash fiction at http://eepurl.com/bCpx1v

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: cat hunting, haiku, poem, poetry, what do cats do

Galileo’s Defiance and Destiny in an Imagined Science Fiction Novel #scifi #historical #alternative #history

[image error]This science fiction novel is heavy on historical fiction. I knew the outline of Galileo’s story – his breakthrough studies of the moons of Jupiter, endorsement of the then-radical theory that the planets orbit around the sun, and his condemnation by the Catholic Church. Kim Stanley Robinson provides a richly detailed portrayal of his life – his illnesses, peccadillos, endless family and money troubles, political machinations among the city-states of Italy, and conflict with the Church.

I hope Robinson did his usual-thorough research because his vision of Galileo will stay with me – he even included translations of Galileo’s actual writings.

Galileo was a genius, but not a very pleasant man to be around. His life ends as it did in reality – which isn’t Robinson’s fault – but he fully delivers the sadness and misery.

Science fiction enters when colonists on Jupiter’s moons

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My own reproduction of Galileo’s first telescope – it’s amazing he saw anything

repeatedly snatch Galileo into their future.

Some factions want to change their present by changing how his life turns out, while other factions want to keep things the same. There are enchanting visions of Jupiter and its moons, and what technology might be like there in the distant future, but the Jovians’ story was unsatisfying. The relationships among the colonists were confusing and their story didn’t resolve very well.

I didn’t like this book as much as Amazon reviewers, who averaged 4 out of 5 stars. There was a lot of repetition in both Galileo’s and the Jovian’s stories. I skimmed through most of the book. I didn’t know who the narrator was until the end, though an occasional lapse from 3rd person to 1st person made me realize it wasn’t any of the main characters. That made the story a bit distant from Galileo at times, with the narrator sometimes knowing more than Galileo and sometimes less.

Don’t expect an easy, flowing read, but if you enjoy Robinson and history, give the book a try.

[image error]All my books, including my Mars colonization series, are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and other major online retailers. You’ll also find paperbacks at Create Space and all major digital formats at Smashwords. Read one today.

Enjoy flash fiction – scifi and fantasy. Signup to receive an occasional story from me at http://eepurl.com/bCpx1v

Filed under: Science Fiction Tagged: alternate history, Copernicus system, Galileo, historical fiction, Jupiter system, Kim Stanley Robinson, Moons of Jupiter, Renaissance Italy, science fiction, SciFi, time travel

Colonizing Other Planets Not as Much Fun as You Think #review #scifi #books #amreading #sciencefiction #bookreview

[image error]The master of terraforming Mars sends colonists to a distant star system in Aurora. With his trademark attention to detail, the first quarter of Kim Stanley Robinson’s book takes you on a tour of the large rotating spaceship. The main character, Freya, travels through the biomes and towns, talking with most of the two thousand residents.

Freya is aboard a generational spaceship nearing the end of its 170 year voyage, and things are going subtly wrong with the ship and the humans onboard. People chaff under the discipline required to keep systems in balance – Robinson is as interested in the psychological aspects of the mission as he is in the technology. If you wonder what life onboard a generational ship might be like, this section of the book is for you.

They arrive at their destination and landing parties prepare buildings and greenhouses for the entire ship’s complement, but things go terribly wrong. Half way through there’s a twist I wasn’t expecting and the mission takes an unexpected turn.

Most of the book is narrated by the ship’s artificial intelligence which gives the story a somewhat cold feeling. The ship also muses on human language and – instructed by the chief engineer to prepare a narrative summary of the final part of their voyage – frets over the use of metaphors which it finds to be imprecise.

While Robinson has been described as “a novelist who looks ahead with optimism,” Aurora is deeply pessimistic regarding human beings and their technologies. The settlers suffer frustrating slow-motion disasters that they never completely understand and their society breaks down into battling factions.

This is not a book to read in a rush – I could only read for short periods of time in a sitting. Take it on vacation – it’ll last all week.

What others are saying

Aurora earns a respectable 3.5 stars from 635 customer reviews on Amazon, and places in the top 2% of Amazon’s sellers’ ranking for Hard Science Fiction. I wish I did as well with my novels.

Readers who liked Aurora called it “sad but greatly satisfying” and “awesome and depressing.” Those who didn’t found it “long winded” and “repetitive.” Robinson isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – but no author is.

I’ve read a few of Robinson’s books and notice he likes the names Aurora and Pauline – and likes to point out that verbal metaphors can’t explain the physical world like math can. It’s fun to notice an author’s little quirks.

The quote above, “a novelist who looks ahead with optimism,” comes from the dust jacket of Robinson’s Galileo’s Dreams.

[image error]For my own vision of the first colony on Mars, visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and other major online retailers. You’ll also find paperbacks at Create Space and all major digital formats at Smashwords. Start with Glory on Mars. Read one today.

[image error]Looking for a short read? Try my collection of science fiction and fantasy – short stories, flash and microfiction. Stories perfect for a break, or curl up in your favorite chair with the whole book.

Sign up now to receive an occasional offer from me and a piece of my flash fiction – about once every few months.

Filed under: Science Fiction Tagged: colonization of planets around another star, colony on another planet, generational space ship, interstellar travel, Kim Stanley Robinson, science fiction, SciFi

What Is Lost #nature #poet #haiku #amwriting

 

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Smoke from summer fires

Flows thick down dry arroyos

Ghost of rivers lost

by Kate Rauner

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2nd edition now available! Expanded!

All my books, including collections of my science-inspired poetry, are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and other major online retailers. You’ll also find paperbacks at Create Space and all major digital formats at Smashwords. Read one today.

Signup to receive an occasional offer and a piece of my flash fiction at http://eepurl.com/bCpx1v

 

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: forest fire, ghost of river, haiku, poem, poetry, smoke, wildfire

August Eclipse May Be Most Crowded Ever #solar #summer #travel #solareclipse #camping

I’ve never been a fan of crowds, so I’ve been planning my eclipse trip as a

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Pick your spot

self-sufficient campout. Traditional camping venues are full but some private landowners are opening up for a fee – often with added enticements like live music.

Rural areas may be overwhelmed. Consider Oregon.

The first place to experience total darkness as the moon passes between the sun and the Earth will be in Oregon and Madras, in the central part of the state, is expected to be a prime viewing location. Up to 1 million people (!) are expected in Oregon for the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in 99 years and up to 100,000 could show up in Madras and surrounding Jefferson County. Officials are worried about the ability of the rural area to host so many visitors and are concerned about the danger of wildfire from so many people camping on public lands…

In this vast expanse of ranches and farms, rural, two-lane roads could mean traffic jams of cosmic proportions. Every hotel in Madras is booked, some residents are renting their homes for $3,000 a night, and campers are expected to flood the national forests and grasslands during peak wildfire season… first responders will prepare to respond as they would for a natural disaster. Cell towers could be overwhelmed, traffic will be gridlocked, and police and fire stretched to the max managing the crowds… businesses are being told to use cash only, to avoid bringing down the wireless network.

As a volunteer firefighter I appreciate the danger – something most people won’t be familiar with. “Just driving off-road – having that contact with a hot muffler or a catalytic converter – could start an ignition. And in these fine fuels, it could spread very quickly.”

Even if you’ve already got reservations, plan to be as independent as possible – pack food and water. And toilet paper.

It’ll be worth it.

If you’re not sure what I’m talkig about – look here.

Filed under: Neat Science News Tagged: how to view the eclipse, north American eclipse, travel to Oregon USA, When's the next total solar eclipse, where are you going for the eclipse

When Earth Coalesced, Was There Nemesis? Interesting Research Revisited #astronomy #galaxy #stars #poet #poetry #science

 

Sol,

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Binary stars are seldom identical

A main sequence star

Out in a spiral arm,

Light from your nearest brethren

Falls dimly in your realm.

Bits of rock,

Scraps of gas,

Hydrogen and stone,

Remnants of your origin,

But otherwise

Alone.

It seems that in

Your early phase,

Four billion years ago,

You would have spun a coiling dance

With a twin aglow.

Half such pairs,

Such triples,

More,

Cling and orbit tight,

But others,

Looping, twisting far,

Are lost into the night.

Where does your mate,

Your other half,

reside?

That none can say.

Your splendid self looks down on Earth

The only star

That lights our day.

by Kate Rauner

About 40% of stars have stellar partners, so being alone is not unusual.

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2nd edition now available! Expanded!

But recent studies indicate that all stars may have been born with companions. Sol’s may have been paired once, but the fancifully named Nemesis is far away, if it ever existed, “out there mingling with other stars in the region of the Milky Way Galaxy we call home.” newsledge

Don’t feel sorry for our Sun. Only you and I can feel loneliness.

Visit my blog for a new science inspired poem, every other post or so. Or read one of my collections – available as ebooks on all the favorite on-line outlets or paperbacks at Create Space and Amazon.

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: astronomy, binary stars, poem, rhyming poetry, Sarah Sadavoy, stellar nursery, Steven Stahler UC Berkeley

Total Solar Eclipse Amazing Treat for North America #solareclipse #astronomy #nature #travel

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Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA’s GSFC

Have you planned your trip to the center line? A total solar eclipse will occur on Monday, August 21, 2017. The path will cross the mainland United States and I’ll be traveling across three states to reach it. This will be my third total eclipse – I had to travel farther for the first two.

As the great day approaches, expect to see more articles on eclipses. There will be the usual warning not to look directly at the event with your unprotected eyes – and you should never stare directly at the sun anyway! You risk eye damage if you do. The eclipse isn’t special this way. It’s just that the glare and pain usually keep people from trying.

Space.com has a contribution this week. Temperatures will drop in the shadow of the moon as it blocks the sun – a larger drop than you might expect from a passing cloud – about the difference between noon on a clear day and sunset.

During a total eclipse i 2015, researchers recorded the temperature

… at a height of about 5 feet (1.5 meters) above the ground, and found that the lowest daytime temperature occurred 2 minutes after the end of totality…The Earth’s atmosphere is a good insulator, meaning it doesn’t exchange heat easily… This delayed transfer of heat could explain the slight delay in the cooling of the air during totality.

Expect lots more stories over the summer, and view the eclipse in person if you can. It’s a great thing to stand in the shadow of the moon.

Filed under: Neat Science News Tagged: center line, moon, north American eclipse, solar eclipse 2017, stand in the shadow of the moon, sun, what happens during a solar eclipse