Project Hail Mary
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Read between July 8 - July 15, 2025
7%
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I know Liberia uses imperial units but I don’t know my own name. That’s irritating.
8%
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The gravity in this room is too high. It’s 15 meters per second when it should be 9.8.
8%
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If it’s got a lot of energy, it’ll swing farther and faster, but the period will still be the same. This is what mechanical clocks take advantage of to keep time.
11%
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“Ryland Grace?” said a woman’s voice. I looked
13%
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It’s almost academic. I’m either on a collision course with the sun or on my way out to deep space with no hope of returning. Or, I might be headed in the sun’s general direction, but not on a collision course. If that’s the case, I’ll miss the sun … and then fly off into deep space with no hope of returning.
14%
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“Believe it or not, light has momentum,” I said. “It exerts a force. If you were out in space and you turned on a flashlight, you’d get a teeny, tiny amount of thrust from it.”
18%
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anhydrous
20%
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Planets don’t just reflect light. They also emit it. Everything emits light. The temperature of the object defines the wavelength of light emitted.
20%
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Spectroscopy.
20%
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Good news: Astrophage were attracted to carbon dioxide’s spectral signature!
21%
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Anything smaller than the wavelength is functionally nonexistent to that photon. That’s why there’s a mesh over the window of a microwave. The holes in the mesh are too small for microwaves to pass through. But visible light, with a much shorter wavelength, can go through freely. So you get to watch your food cook without melting your face off.
21%
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occluded
26%
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ameliorate
34%
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flummoxed
36%
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“What is this idiot doing? Is he poking a hole in his own ship? Why?”
36%
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Human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal.
37%
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Man, being an American scientist sucks sometimes.
40%
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“Then this is two atoms, each with eight protons, connected to each other. Element number eight is oxygen. Two oxygens. O2! And it was in the Hail Mary ball.”
40%
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hold it toward Rocky. “You clever fellow, this is my atmosphere!”
43%
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And they’re all connected to a shipwide Wi-Fi network. Handy.
45%
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Hey, I’m going to fall unconscious and hallucinate
45%
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of my time doing this. And if I can’t do it for a while, I go insane and eventually die. No need for concern.
50%
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Sometimes, the stuff we all hate ends up being the only way to do things.
55%
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Linda was absolutely Spartan compared to Rocky.
61%
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“I have been well, thank you. Dr. Shapiro and I have begun a sexual relationship.”
65%
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Eridians don’t know about relativistic physics. They calculated their entire journey with Newtonian physics. They worked it all out by assuming they could just accelerate faster and faster and the speed of light wasn’t an issue.
65%
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Do you believe in God? I know it’s a personal question. I do. And I think He was pretty awesome to make relativity a thing, don’t you? The faster you go, the less time you experience. It’s like He’s inviting us to explore the universe, you know?”
87%
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Modifying an alien life-form. What could possibly go wrong?
88%
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Two of the seven bays weren’t sterile.
97%
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handy for just such an occasion. I take a