When one looks at a culture with the eyes of an outsider, one often sees things the members of that culture take so thoroughly for granted that they consider them breathing level obvious, and think about them about as much. IMHO, that is certainly true of the art of intelligence…
Leave a CommentThis is a discussion of a concept central to a future book in the Portal series. Overall, the size, capability and design of an interstellar probe are driven by its mission parameters, which in turn are dictated by the intent of its builders. Overall there is a spectrum between non-threatening…
Leave a CommentNovember means a lot of things to a lot of people. Movember, another month in COVID lockdown, or just another month. To me and a lot of other people, it means NaNoWriMo. This year, as in other years, I’m trying something new and different. To me, anyway. Urban fantasy with…
Leave a CommentCoronal Mass Ejection (CME) The historical benchmark for solar storms is the Carrington Event of 1859. It did serious damage to the primitive communications infrastructure of the time (mostly telegraph lines). The effects of the Carrington Event included electric shocks to telegraph operators, fires set by sparks, and considerable damage…
Leave a CommentOne plotline to be found in “Expedition” is using Martian resources to build nuclear reactors to power a Mars base and, in fact, a Mars Colony. It is possible to survive on Mars, but all the things you need to do on Mars require power. A lot of power. Wind…
Leave a CommentThis is a snippet of my new book, now out for pre-order on Amazon, here. The world can change in a very short time … Prologue: Portal Director’s Office, Planetary Defence Coordination, NASA 14:23 Local Time “Director, we have a problem.” Tom Watkins, Director of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office,…
Leave a CommentHe asked his tall uncle, the Giraffe, what made his skin spotty, and his tall uncle, the Giraffe, spanked him with his hard, hard hoof. … And still he was full of ‘satiable curiosity!The Elephant’s Child, Rudyard Kipling There have been many discussions of how we might achieve a rocketpunk…
Leave a CommentSo, where is this guy coming from, anyway? Well, the past, mostly, and farther in the past than most people. As far as experiences go, a lot farther into the past. When I was six, in 1962, my parents packed up their family, four boys at that time, and moved…
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