October 1999
Greetings From the Penultimate Year of the 20th Century.
Both of our new recruits this time are from Texas. A big welcome
to newcomers Barbara, from Temple Texas, and Jackie Horgan
from Houston. Thanks for signing up! Fasten your seatbelt and
bring your browser window to a locked & upright position. And
we are off.... As always, how far off you have to determine for
yourself.
Dammit Jim! I'm a ...
NASA has placed a simulation game on the web where you get
$900 million (theoretical) dollars and try to design the Next
Generation Space Telescope (Hubble's successor). They
introduce it with the headline, "I'm not an astronomer, but I play
one on the Web".
http://ngst.gsfc.nasa.gov:80/SimNGST/
Arthur C. Clarke Knows His Millenniums
First, there was 2001: A Space Odyssey
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0451198492/fantasicfuturesbA
Set at the beginning of the new Millennium, but (as hard as it may
be to believe) with no Y2K problems even hinted at, this is the
heartwarming story of a monolith and its violation of the prime
directive. This story has everything: spaceflight, a self-aware
psychotic killer computer, gaping plot holes and even a cool
movie with an impressive light show.
Then, there was 2010 : Odyssey Two
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0345303067/fantasicfuturesbA
In which all the gaping holes in the first book are suitably filled
in, and ends with a spectacular application of nano-technology to
boot.
But success begat 2061 : Odyssey Three
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0345358791/fantasicfuturesbA
In which Clarke cashes in on his previous success. By now the
monolith is defending the prime directive while a grandson of an
original 2001 astronaut makes a forced landing on forbidden
Europa, a Luciferian moon (don't ask). Then there is the ghost
of Dave Bowman which gets encrypted into a monolith and the
reformed psychotic computer achieves independence.
And now, there is the Grand Finale
3001 : The Final Odyssey
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0345423496/fantasicfuturesbA
Technically, this wraps the series up, but in fact this one really
stands on its own. It's an intriguing tour of the world as it could
be at the beginning of the next next-millennium, and hence at the
end of our own new millennium.
The tour is seen through the eyes of formerly dead astronaut Frank
Poole, frozen by the psychotic computer a thousand years ago.
Oh yeah, there is plot aplenty as the masters of the monoliths
decide that humanity must die, but what makes this such a great
read is Clarke's extrapolation on space elevators, real teaching
machines, terraforming, inertialess space drives, the recreation of
the dinosaurs, while letting him get his licks in on Freudian therapy,
terrorism, religion, prison reform, computer security and assorted
20th century inanities. A nice treat from the man who brought us
the idea of communications satellites.
You may be interested to read Clarke's timetable for the 21st Century
at http://cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/99/0820/cs2.html .
That's all I (Clif) had to say about Clarke's books, but Margaret
points out that there are two new Clarke books which will hit the
shelves in year 2000: Trigger, a near future thriller by Arthur C.
Clarke and Michael P. Kube-McDowell is out in January of 2000.
The second, Light of Other Days, hard sf by Arthur C. Clarke
and Stephen Baxter is due in March 2000.
Trigger
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0553104586/fantasicfuturesbA
Light of Other Days
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312871996/fantasicfuturesbA
But speaking of forthcoming SF.....
Forthcoming SF&Fantasy Books
October releases from Piers Anthony, William Gibson, Brian Herbert,
Mercedes Lackey, Terry Pratchett, R.A. Salvatore, Harry Turtledove,
and the late James White.
For more sf&f new book listings and more detail (updated monthly),
see http://www.clever.net/cam/forthcomingsf.html .
World Fantasy Awards
Sean Stewart's novel, Mockingbird, has made the short list of the
World Fantasy Awards. Congratulations, Sean. Keep your
fingers crossed.
The entire short list follows:
Novel
Charles de Lint, Someplace to Be Flying
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312858493/fantasicfuturesbA
Louise Erdrich, The Antelope Wife
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0060930071/fantasicfuturesbA
Guy Gavriel Kay, Sailing to Sarantium
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0061051179/fantasicfuturesbA
Sean Stewart, Mockingbird
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0441005470/fantasicfuturesbA
Thomas Sullivan, The Martyring
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312863616/fantasicfuturesbA
Novella
A.S. Byatt, 'Cold' (Elementals)
Ursula K. Le Guin, 'Dragonfly' (Legends)
George R. R. Martin, 'The Hedge Knight' (Legends)
Ian R. MacLeod, 'The Summer Isles' (Asimov's Nov)
Peter Straub, 'Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff' (Murder for Revenge)
Short Story
Neil Gaiman, 'Shoggoth's Old Peculiar' (Smoke and Mirrors)
John Kessel, 'Every Angel is Terrifying' (F&SF Oct)
Ellen Kushner, 'The Death of the Duke' (Starlight 2)
Kelly Link 'The Specialist's Hat' (Event Horizon Nov)
Kelly Link, 'Travels with the Snow Queen' (Lady Churchill's
Rosebud Wristlet 1)
Collection
Jack Cady, The Night We Buried Road Dog
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D1892058006/fantasicfuturesbA
Karen Joy Fowler, Black Glass
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0805055576/fantasicfuturesbA
Elizabeth Hand, Last Summer at Mars Hill
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0061053481/fantasicfuturesbA
Graham Masterton, Manitou Man
(British Fantasy Society) http://www.herebedragons.co.uk/bfs/pub.htm
Gahan Wilson, The Cleft
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312865740/fantasicfuturesbA
Anthology
The Best of Crank! ed. Bryan Cholfin
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312867409/fantasicfuturesbA
Dark Terrors 4 ed. Stephen Jones & David Sutton
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D/fantasicfuturesbA
Dreaming Down-Under ed. Jack Dann & Janeen Webb
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312865740/fantasicfuturesbA
Legends ed. Robert Silverberg
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312865740/fantasicfuturesbA
Starlight 2 ed. Patrick Nielsen Hayden
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D0312865740/fantasicfuturesbA
Artist
Jim Burns
Tom Canty
Alan Clark
Bob Eggleton
Charles Vess
Special: Pro
Les Daniels (Superman: The Complete History)
Jo Fletcher (editing)
David Pringle (Interzone)
Robert Silverberg & Grania Davis (The Avram Davidson Treasury)
Jim Turner (Golden Gryphon)
Special: Non-pro
Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance)
David Marshall (Pumpkin)
Stephen Pasechnick (Edgewood)
Jacob Weisman (Tachyon).
Coincidence or Conspiracy - You Decide
http://www.laffnow.com/humor/hallrule.htm
http://www.parrett.net/~rralston/survive.html
http://www.lanet.lv/users/judrups/Humor/horror.html
http://webpages.marshall.edu/~hartwel1/humor/LISTS/HOW_TO_SURVIVE_SCARY_SITUATIONS.HTML
http://cust3.iamerica.net/redrock/horror.htm
http://labmed.ucsf.edu/~terrazas/Jokes/Survival_Guide.html
http://remus.rutgers.edu/~rhoads/Jokes/Misc/horror.movies
http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/chris.holt/home.informal/bar/jokes/horror.movie.survival
Signings in Time and Space
Austin's Science Fiction and Mystery Bookstore, Adventures in
Time and Space, will host a signing by James Morrow (The
Eternal Footman) on Friday November 19, from 6-8PM, Michael
Moorcock on Saturday, November 20, by Neal Barrett, Jr.
(The Hereafter Gang and Bad Eye Blues) Saturday, November
27, 3:00-5:00 PM., and on Saturday, December 4 both Elizabeth
Moon (Change of Command) and Lois McMaster Bujold (A Civil
Campaign). Altogether an excellent way to celebrate the
fifth anniversary of the store.
Speaking of celebrations, they are celebrating Neal Barrett's
birthday on November 4 by taking 15% off Neal's books for
the day. (Have a happy birthday, Neal).
Moving plans for the store are still on, but not until after
Christmas.
Those of us who live afar can order a signed book from any of
authors doing signings, and a phone call will get you a
personalized copy.
Adventures in Crime and Space - http://www.eden.com/~acs/
Michael Moorcock - http://www.io.com/~lsc2/bio/moorcock.html
Neal Barrett, Jr. - http://www.io.com/~lsc2/bio/barrett.html
Elizabeth Moon - http://www.sff.net/people/Elizabeth.Moon/
Lois McMaster Bujold - http://www.herald.co.uk/~dendarii/
Willie said they were getting a new look for their web pages, and,
sure enough, things do look a bit different. Something I think you
may find worth reading is Don Web's musings on the role of the
specialty SF store, The Gate and the Guardian of the Gate.
http://www.eden.com/~acs/webb.html
Forthcoming SF, Fantasy, & Gaming Cons
Worldcon Rules Change - No More Regions
At Aussiecon Three, the 1999 World Science Fiction Convention,
the WSFS changed the rules for Worldcon from the old Western,
Central, Eastern region rotation with a 60 mile exclusion zone
around the site of the Worldcon at which the bidding is held.
Now there is a new 500 mile (or 800 kilometres) exclusion zone
around the election site of the current Worldcon and the bidding
is otherwise completely open. As a kind of logical corollary,
NASFIC (the North American Science Fiction Convention, held
those years when Worldcon is held elsewhere) is no longer tied
to the region in which the Worldcon would otherwise be held.
It's not clear just how great the changes from this will be.
Almost certainly it will have some effect on the Central region. The
threat is that it will lead to East Coast and West Coast Conventions
only, with occasional overseas cons. At the same time, in this
continually shrinking world the actual location, once outside driving
distance, becomes less and less significant.
And, simultaneously, the number of locations that can handle
ever-growing Worldcons continues to shrink. It will be interesting
to see just how closely that future Worldcons follow the old
rotation scheme.
I suspect the biggest real change will be opening up NASFICs.
On the one hand, this is likely to provide a broader choice of
NASFICs, and so potentially lead to better NASFICs. On the
other hand, some groups enabled by the restricted competition
for NASFIC have gained experience that they have later used
to good effect on Worldcons.
Undoubtedly, the 500 mile exclusion rule could sometimes be
awkward.
It discriminates somewhat against the areas with a denser fannish
population. New York, for example, might be excluded far more
frequently than Odessa, Texas. At the same time, the East Coast
probably features more fannish centers more than 500 miles apart
than the West Coast does. This might not, however lead to fewer
West Coast Worldcons as LA, for example, could, in theory,
feature bids with differing committees for bids on three successive
years in a row. While this may be a ridiculous example, it may
realistically have the effect of concentrating West Coast votes into
fewer centers.
Not having to wait for the Rotation may lead to more bids, but
many of these may be ill-considered bids.
Those making long term runs for a specified year could conceivably
find themselves undercut by short term bids within their 500 mile
zone. And the first time that a single city looks likely to win two
years in a row we will certainly see a rule change.
It seems likely that next year's meeting will consider changing the
exclusion rule from 500 miles to 300 miles, but I suspect this is
unlikely to pass until there is a better understanding of the impact
of the current change.
But the votes on these things tend to be frighteningly close. Three
switched votes in Australia would have changed the waiting period
(from selection to Worldcon) from three years back to two years.
Minutes of the World Science Fiction Society Business Meeting
at Aussiecon Three - http://www.cooky.demon.co.uk/1999/w1999min.html
Other Worldcon Stuff
The losing Roswell in 2002 bid committee announced that after all
bid expenses have been paid out, that the remaining funds from
pre-support sales for Roswell in 2002 will be sent as a donation
to SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).
If you need an explanation and/or feel helpful see Listening for E.T.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/981207/7seti.htm and
Seti at Home home page - http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
The Chicon 2000 Worldcon has ex-Houstonian K. T. FitzSimmons
in charge of Worldcon dances. Regency, Swing, Sock Hop,
Disco, Polka?
Friends of K.T. can contact her at dances@chicon.org .
http://www.chicon.org/events/dances.htm
Chicon 2000 - http://www.chicon.org/
Someone Else Knows When the Millennium Is.
[Note from Margaret:
Yes, Clif was a math major in college but I still love him! But, this
way I also get to celebrate twice, too, so I'm not complaining!]
Ahem, Someone Else Knows When the Millennium Is.
The Millennium Philcon will be held August 30, 2001 - September
3, 2001. Their web page claims Progress Report #2, i.e. Poor
Richard's Almanack, Issue 2 will be out in mid November.
The Millennium Philcon - http://www.netaxs.com/~phil2001/
Con Jose has their Progress Report Zero out at
http://www.sfsfc.org/worldcon/PR/PRZero.htm .
Meanwhile, Back At the Ranch
Up next for Texas fans is STILL HubCon III to be held Oct.
22-24 in Lubbock, Texas.
For a more complete listing see our monthly What's Happening
list at http://www.clever.net/cam/concalendar.html .
Party! Party! Party!
Several Unlimited and their friends are organizing a block of parties
to welcome in the new millennium the night of December 31, 1999.
Held in the Courtyard by Marriott inside Loop 610 from the Galleria,
with hall costume awards, Worldwide Y2K surveillance, and the
very best company in which to welcome the next thousand years.
Your $5 lets you party through the night and hit any or all of the
component parties (which includes Clif and Margaret's pre-millennium
party, since the REAL start of the next millennium is 2001 (see above).
There will be badges of some sort to keep out any Amway partiers
that might wander in.
Several Unlimited is going all out with planned activities etc. and
they are also dropping some of their zine loot on their party, so
believe me, you're getting a bargain.
The next morning, join the gathering of the Houston Ritual SF
Breakfast group. Breakfast buffet at the Courtyard Restaurant
is $7.95 a person and, take it from me, is also worth it,
particularly if you like omelets done to your specification.
Then, start off the New Years with Friends of Fandom's Open
House, beginning shortly after the 10 AM Ritual SF breakfast. We
might even have a few black-eyed peas and a microwave available.
With a little bit of stamina, you could pull a 24-hour party into the
new year (and if you believe it's the new millennium just because
President Clinton said so, well, don't let us discourage you). Party
like it's 1999!
If you haven't got that much stamina, and don't want to face the
drunks on the road, there is always a hotel room, rates raised for
the occasion to $119/night, or next door at the Fairfield Inn at a
somewhat more reasonable $89/night for single or double
occupancy. If you manage to squeeze 23 people in a room, what
the hotel doesn't know won't hurt them, but we sure don't want
to know about it.
And, just in case civilization does come to a screeching halt come
midnight of Dec. 31st, as all the computers go on strike, then just
think. You will be ideally situated close to the Galleria for maximum
looting potential. (You have to think about these things if you are
going to survive the coming apocalypse).
Several Unlimited - http://members.aol.com/erikaf/su/
Friends of Fandom - http://www.clever.net/cam/fof.html
Other Texas Area Fan Organizations
http://www.clever.net/cam/clubslist.html
Science Fiction on TV
The information released on the TV show based on Anne
McCaffrey's dragons and world of Pern was just too darned vague
to suit me (Margaret) so I emailed them to try to nail down an
important particular:
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 8:04 PM
To: info@pern.net
Subject: Will your Pern TV Show be on a premium TV channel?
Dear Sirs-
I am certainly looking forward to seeing your Pern TV Show in
Fall 2000. However, if it is only on HBO or ShowTime or other
such premium (i.e. pay separately above basic rates for each such
channel) cable channel, I won't be able to see it.
I do get basic cable which, in my area, fortunately includes the
Science Fiction Channel. I also get several independent stations
and UPN so that if Pern is available via syndication (like Star Trek:
Deep Space Nine, for example), I will be able to see it. Of course,
I also get the major networks =96 ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, etc.
Do you know yet if Pern will be a network or a syndicated show?
I really would hate to see Pern restricted to only those fans who
can afford premium cable channels.
It may be too early and the decision may not have been made
as to where on the TV/cable dial Pern will be seen. If so, remember
those of us who have broadcast TV & basic cable only and are
really, really looking forward to watching Pern!!
Thanks!
REPLY RECEIVED FROM PERN FOLKS:
thanks for your email -- a US deal is pending, and we too hope
that it will be available to anyone with a basic cable hook up --
however, if we can only make a US sale to a premium cablecaster,
then such is the business of sci-fi and TV (not likely, but possible).
regardless, a home video and dvd release as well as on-line tie is
also very likely.
more info will be posted in late October.
again, thanks.
best,
Pern production office
For more information, see our listing at:
http://www.clever.net/cam/sftv.html
Science Fiction At The Movies
Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings
To sneak up on the subject sideways, Web page design is a tricky
subject.
Design on the Web and on paper are two different propositions,
and one never knows the type of computer, the browser, the
screen width, the browser settings, the speed of the connection,
or more importantly, even the set of expectations the viewer brings.
But even though Web design is a young art, there are certain
classical mistakes to avoid.
A common instance of bad design is the
front-page-which-acts-as-a-doormat.
Its only function is to let you into the real site by clicking on the
really big and fancy graphic which will take forever to load but
which will provide little or no real information.
The Lord of Rings movie's web site at http://www.lordoftherings.net/
appears at first glance to have made that very mistake.
Appearances are deceiving.
What appears to be one large dramatic graphic with animated text
is, in fact, made up of a number of fast-loading constituent parts.
But clicking on the graphic at large will only get you carpal tunnel
syndrome.
The real links are either below the graphic, which is cleverly
trimmed to fit the page, or imbedded in the lettering of the graphic's
fixed text.
If I were trying to do a single impressive graphic, I suppose that I
would go for a black background with a few modest stars on which
the one ring in all its golden glory would slowly spin and every few
rotations you would see through the ring, a red eye would suddenly
open, and then fill the screen with a white flash, with two towers
silhouetted on either side.
Their approach is deceptively modest.
They establish a black background with an upper and lower strip
of black.
Between is a textured patch of greenish gold. Rather than show
the ring itself, it is most immediately represented by a large black
circle in the greenish gold patch that, in fact, extends off into the
upper black.
In the circle, we have "The LORD of the RINGS trilogy" in white
and, seen dimly behind it in shadow, but the highlights catching the
light, the one ring.
And around the border of the circle, in suitably impressive runes
is the inscription...
One Ring to Rule Them All
One Ring to Find Them
One Ring to Bring Them All
And In the Darkness Bind Them
... which is actually a lot of runes. But the fact that I can read
the runes means they are using Forthic Runes and not Tolkien's
elvish Runes.
Before we go off the deep end and read all kinds of things into
this about how faithfully they are going to follow Tolkien's
background, take a closer look at the texture of the colored patch.
As if cast by a shadow or a watermark, there is a repeated
shadowed representation of the one ring and in slightly darker
text around its path, flowing elven script.
Assuming your screen is large enough, the changing text (whose
motion pulls your eye) switches between:
"Inception" leads to an overview of the movie process, but
"Creation" is definitely worth following for a variety of preview
images, nine images in fact together with short commentary,
each summoned by clicking on one of nine rings.
The images, very detailed sketches really, are dark and on some
it is an effort to realize what you are seeing.
The commentary tends to lighten the mood.
The third image is typical with the commentary "AN ARMY OF
ORCS STORMING A CASTLE... PRETTY COOL".
One of the images is "a romantic shot depicting Aragorn and
Arwen embracing in the Elvish halls of Rivendell". I warrant that
not too many elvish halls have trees and a waterfall and facing
each other holding hands is not precisely my idea of embracing,
but I will grant you the shot looks very romantic.
This is one of several hints on the site that we will see rather more
of the romance of Aragorn and Arwen, and in fact considerably
more of Arwen, than in Tolkien's version.
The real news though is in the link underneath the introductory
graphic.
Filming has started as of October 11.
Its going to be an 18-month process in which they film ALL
THREE MOVIES followed by another 18 months in which
they edit and post-produce the thing into submission. So I don't
recommend holding your breath until it's out.
Since filming has started the cast is now fixed:
Frodo Baggins - Elijah Wood
Bilbo Baggins - Sir Ian Holm
Sam Gamgee - Sean Astin
Boromir - Sean Bean
Galadriel - Cate Blanchett
Legolas - Orlando Bloom
Gimli - John Rhys-Davies
Pippin - Billy Boyd
Merry - Dominic Monaghan
Aragorn - Stuart Townsend
Arwen - Liv Tyler
Wormtongue - Brad Dourif
Saruman - Christopher Lee
Gandalf - Sir Ian McKellen
Of course, this leaves two major and numerous minor holes. The
two gaping large holes are, of course, Gollum and Sauron. I
suppose that Sauron could be pure special effects, but they are
being coy about Gollum, as if they had something up their sleeve.
To read the credits of everyone involved, together with the usual
self-serving text of any good press release, consult
http://www.lordoftherings.net/press.html .
More Millennium-isms
Speaking of the Millennium (and if we weren't, just give us time),
Time Magazine is celebrating the Millennium by holding an
Internet Poll to select the Person of the, er, Century.
My choice would be Einstein, the man who revolutionized physics,
not once but twice. Only Kurt Godel made a greater change to our
understanding of what is and can be, and his contribution is a tad
esoteric.
To my surprise, Albert Einstein is running 5th in the poll.
He is behind Yitzhak Rabin, Elvis Presley, Billy Graham, and
Adolf Hitler!
I may not agree, but Yitzhak Rabin and Billy Graham I can at least
understand.
Elvis Presley is mildly insulting, I think.
And Adolf Hitler as Person of the Century is off the charts.
It's been suggested that neo-Nazi groups from all over the world
have been calling their members to vote for Hitler via e-mail. That
would be a plausible explanation I guess. Nothing is riding on it,
but if you want to vote for anybody but Hitler (or even if you want
to vote for Hitler, though it isn't very funny) the URL is
http://www.pathfinder.com/time/time100/poc/century.html .
Person of the Century is not the only poll Time is running, but is
the only one where you have an unrestricted choice.
But their options are reasonable.
For the Event of the Century, any of the top 20 choices are
reasonable.
Well, most of them anyway. The first Moon Landing is beat out,
so far, by Gandhi opposing Britain with civil disobedience. They
are both unarguably significant and the long term effect of both is
yet to be seen.
And then we come to the fun polls.
In the century of hype, you get to pick century's worst scammer,
con artist, media manipulator, grifter, liar or charlatan.
All the usual suspects are there to vote on, along with J. R. "Bob"
Dobs, putative leader of the church of the Subgenus.
And, with over 20% of the vote, Bob Dobs leads the dubious pack.
Makes sense to me since, as far as I know, he is the only one
without the decency to even be a real person. But I note that he
only beats Geraldo Rivera by a few thousand votes, while Rush
Limbaugh and O.J. Simpson can't scrape together Bob's votes
between them, garnering less than 10% each.
To my surprise, the President isn't even in the top 20, though
other members of the Monica-gate players made it there..
The worst idea of the century is won by Geraldo's Opening of
Capone's Vault, though Prohibition is a close second.
Then the Jerry Springer Show vies with the likes of telemarketing,
"Mr. Simpson step forward and try on the glove", DDT, and
that teensy programming decision that led to the Y2K bug.
Less popular choices, less than 1% each were garnered by such
ideas as New Coke, Sailing the Exxon Valdez into Prince William
Sound, Cold Fusion, the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, Attacking
Israel on Yom Kippur, the Edsel and the Ugandan Space Program.
Frankly I didn't see why some of them didn't get more votes, thong
underwear for men for example.
The idea with the least votes, which presumably makes it the least
worst idea of the century, was Videophones.
Thanks to Brad Frank for bringing the Time Poll to our attention.
Space, The Final Frontier.
Directly ahead lies Sol, the first solar system (hence the name)
explored in the infancy of mankind. We are reducing velocity to
minimize collisions as we enter the Oort Cloud.
The Sol system has a single sun and a symmetrical oort-cloud,
named the Oort Cloud
http://ispec.scibernet.com/student-pages/oort/intro.html
which surrounds two asteroid belts, the inner belt dividing the
minor and median planets from the major planets.
The outer belt is called the Kuiper Belt
http://www.sciam.com/0596issue/0596jewittbox2.html
and the inner, again for reasons of being the first known
example, is called the Asteroid Belt.
The Sol system contains ten planets.
Five of them lie within the inner asteroid belt. One of the two minor
planets holds the inner orbit closest to Sol. Two median planets
claim the second and fourth orbits.
Between them lies the orbit of twin planets, one median and one
minor, circling forever their common center of gravity.
The median planet is of course, Earth, the ancient homeworld
of man.
The minor planet is called Luna, or the Moon, although technically
speaking it is too close in size to the Earth to be a moon.
Apparently the ancients did not understand that Earth's gravity,
compared to its Roche limit, would prevent the homeworlds
capture of a moon of any significant size.
Between the two asteroid belts lie one Jovian planet, followed by
three sub-Jovian planets, one of whose ring system is superbly
photogenic.
The Jovian planet is, in fact, the standard for our modern division
of major planets. However, contrary to what you might expect,
its name is Jupiter, rather than Jove.
http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/j/jupiter.html
For historical reasons, the locals refer to one of the Kuiper Belt's
larger and innermost members, Pluto, as a planet, though it is
clearly a large asteroid with a smaller companion, a member of
the belt saved from being swept away by the gravitational pull
of the outer sub-Jovian planet, whose orbit it overlaps only by
maintaining a synchronic orbit which avoids the major planet's
influence.
Kuiper Belt gif
http://ispec.scibernet.com/student-pages/oort/images/Kuiper_belt.gif
The tenth and remaining planet is a super-Jovian which lies outside
the oort-cloud itself in an orbit that approaches the oort-cloud at
its closest approach to Sol.
Whenever this happens, the orbits of nearby members of the
cloud are disturbed, forming the unique and potentially hazardous
obstacles to stellar navigation known as comets.
The creation of these comets caused periodic mass extinctions on
Earth until the advent of man.
Since the outer planet is in a retrograde orbit and unusually far
from its primary, from the time its presence was first deduced it
was suspected that it may have been captured from another
planetary system, rather than being native to Sol.
Primitive models of the dynamics of solar system development
were, however, insufficient to settle the question in one direction
or the other.
It was initially believed that chemical analysis from a probe would
settle the matter definitively, however much to their surprise ...
Shades of Asimov!
What are we talking about?
Two separate scientists have studied the orbits of comets and have
reached similar conclusions.
Dr John Murray, of the UK's Open University has, for several years
been studying the peculiar motions of so-called long-period comets.
http://www.anu.edu.au/physics/nineplanets/comets.html
The paths of the comets can be traced back with some accuracy.
By analyzing the orbits of 13 of these comets, Dr Murray has
detected the tell-tale signs of a single massive object that
deflected all of them into their current orbits.
The deflections would be consistent with a new planet that would
be 30,000 times more distant from the Sun than the Earth,
putting it a significant fraction of the distance to the nearest
star.
Being so far from the Sun - three thousand billion miles - it would
take almost six million years to complete an orbit. The magnitude
of the deflections suggest that the so-far unseen planet is several
times more massive than Jupiter.
Because the planet would be so dim and moves so slowly it will
be difficult to detect with visual instruments.
His critics claim that his results could be due to chance.
Dr. Murray responded to questioning, "Although I have only
analyzed 13 comets in detail, the effect is pretty conclusive. I have
calculated that there is only about a one in 1,700 chance that it
is due to chance."
[Note from Margaret: Neither Spock nor Data would take those odds!!]
By his calculations, the super-jovian planet should lie in the
constellation of Delphinus (the Dolphin).
But the figures show the alleged planet orbits our Sun in the "wrong"
direction, counter to the direction taken by all the other known
planets.
It is this which has led to the remarkable suggestion that it did not
form in this region of space along with the Sun's other planets, and
could be a planet that "escaped" from another star.
Dr. Murray's findings will be reported in this coming week's issue
of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Further evidence to support Dr Murray's claims will be presented
at a conference in Italy next week.
Professor John Matese, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette,
has independently carried out a similar study and reached broadly
similar conclusions. His research is to be published in Icarus, the
journal of solar system studies.
[Note from Margaret: For those of you who would like to brush
up on your Kuiper Belt, comet, and Oort Clouds, please see:
Nine Planets, a MultiMedia Tour of the Solar System
http://www.anu.edu.au/physics/nineplanets/
Kuiper Belt (Scientific American article)
http://www.sciam.com/0596issue/0596jewitt.html
Oort Cloud & the Kuiper Belt
http://ispec.scibernet.com/student-pages/oort/default.html ]
Other Stuff in Space
The reason the late Mars Climate Orbiter most probably hit Mars
(instead of taking up an orbit around it) was because someone
mixed miles and kilometers. The flight controllers for NASA's
Mars Polar Lander have decided to postpone the next thruster
firing used to fine-tune the spacecraft's flight path until October
30, to give them a chance to make absolutely sure that it will not
happen again.
The initial pass of Io was a race to the wire against
high-radiation-caused catastrophe, but was a big success, and we
should see spectacular images of Io real soon now.
You can follow all this from links on our web page at
http://www.clever.net/cam/spacenu.html .
NEWSFLASH: The initial Io photos have just been released.
See http://www.clever.net/cam/space/io.html .
The Write Stuff (Pen and Ink Optional!)
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals (in New York) ruled
September 24, 1999 that writers who did freelance work and
whose articles (or other work) subsequently showed up in fulltext
periodicals databases and on CD-ROMS suffered copyright
infringement because the electronic rights to the work had been
retained by the original authors (rather than the publisher of the
periodical in which the print work had appeared).
This court's ruling affects the New York area, rather than the
entire country, but since the majority of major publishing houses
are in New York, this IS, in effect, the way it is now in the
publishing world.
For more information on this case, Tasini v New York Times,
such as the full text of the ruling, etc. see:
Tasini v New York Times - http://www.nwu.org/tvt/9909vic.htm
A Writer's Education
Does your grammar complement your writing or are your action
scenes the only source for any compliment you may receive?
Not sure? Dare to take on a grammar self-test at
http://members.tripod.com/coffeehouse4writers/gramtest.html
This site also offers not only online writers workshops but the
opportunity to do what you last were able to do back at college.
That's right, audit a course for free! Then, if you feel comfortable
with the course and want to participate yourself, workshops are
only $35 each.
Grab yourself a cup of coffee and join in at The Coffeehouse
at http://members.tripod.com/coffeehouse4writers/courses.html
See also our Houston and/or Texas Writers Groups for more
writer's links at http://www.clever.net/cam/writers.html
FFFeedback
>From James Andrew Langley
Scientists Decode the First Message From an Alien Civilization...
Simply send 6 x 10^50 atoms of hydrogen to the star system at
the top of the list, cross off that star system, then put your star
system at the bottom of the list and send it to 100 other star
systems. Within one-tenth of a galactic rotation, you will receive
enough hydrogen to power your civilization until entropy reaches
its maximum!
IT REALLY WORKS!
---
Um, Thanks, we think. (This is obviously a job for John Moffitt).
- Clif
> From John Moffitt
My comments ... Interesting that chain letters are such a universal
item, but even alien chain letters are based on (and full of) lies ...
or they don't even know what entropy is.
Since entropy is disorder, and maximum entropy is maximum
disorder (any form of a civilization is itself a localized minimum in
the entropy of the universe) ... then any and all civilizations will
have long since ceased to exist, long before the entropy (of the
universe) reaches anything that appears to be a maximum!
And this fails to address the issue that hydrogen (by itself) is only
a fuel only if it's got some extra neutron(s) ... or if you are
combining it with some other element ... you might need to ask
for some of that other element or particle in your chain letter.
But enough about entropy, let's talk tobacco ...
This is good for a laugh, and only takes a minute.
The Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company has a new
voice-mail message, and it is certainly a departure from the
"Standard" message. Give them a call: 1-800-578-7453. When
they tell you to press 1, 2, or 3, hang up or you will get a sales
person.
------
Frankly John, I'm afraid to try it. On the other hand, Info Alert
is full of Guinea Pigs. :-)
- Clif
>From Elaine Hinman-Sweeney
Margaret,
Hello! I got the Info Alert. Just wanted to let you know that we
started the book trading club. Our first meeting was small, but
interesting. We've already got a mix of people interested in 'hard'
SF, 'military' SF, and fantasy.
We're tentatively trying to meet on the third or fourth Thursday
evening at the NASA Road 1 IHOP. Our next meeting is October
from 7pm - 9pm. The IHOP has graciously offered us our own
seating area for our meetings. Here's a blurb from our
announcement e-mail:
'NASA Science Fiction and Fantasy Association
Meets Monthly In the NASA-JSC, Clear Lake area.
The purpose of the group is to share and discuss Science Fiction
and Fantasy novels.
Please bring at least one paperback science fiction or fantasy novel
to discuss and then share with other members. Write your name
and address in the front cover so you can get your book back.
Please Send this to any friends in the area that may be interested.
If you want to go, please RSVP to tbmorgan@hotmail.com so
we can get a head count.'
I hope you can make it to a meeting sometime!
Thanks again!
Elaine
>From Catherine Asaro
I thoroughly enjoy your newsletter. In the last issue, I appreciated
However, a great many misconceptions exist about the field.
Our culture already uses "nano-tech" in rudimentary forms, and
What does affect how much funding goes to an area of scientific
Has the reputation of nano-tech suffered that way? Perhaps to a
In any case, his book is an enjoyable read. The first one might not
It's a wonderful subject!
-----------
It's good to hear from you as always, Catherine.
(Thanks for the included update on your forthcoming books,
The things you say could apply equally well to my own area of
During periods when AI's reputation has been damaged by
Of course Artificial Intelligence also labors under the penalty that
It even happens with things that only work well enough to be useful,
With luck, Nano-tech won't suffer from pioneers in the field grossly
What book would you recommend for the intelligent layman (which
Looking forward to hearing your ArmadilloCon GOH speech!
- Clif
> From Anita Haddock
Subject: Info-Alert
I sat down a while back and scanned a whole bunch of them (OK,
Have a great day/week/month/etc., and will talk to you later.
-----
Thanks, Anita. You just made our day.
- Clif
We also heard from Ben Daily who sent us a Del Rey
If you received this Info Alert as a sample and would be interested
Happy Halloween, Y'all. Be seeing you!
Margaret A. Fincannon, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
And now for the (oh so) fine print ....
To be removed from this Mailing List, please send a remove request to
---------------------
your comments on nano-tech. As a scientist in Atomic and
Molecular theory, I too have been frustrated with the way it is
sometimes portrayed in science fiction. I did my doctorate at
Harvard on molecular photodissociation (with the exciting,
catchy title of Multi-channel Theory of Molecular Photodissociation.
Soon to be a movie!
theory to model how light breaks a specific type of molecular bond.
"Nano-tech" has no trouble obtaining research funding (at least no
more trouble than other fields, which means it struggles along with
everyone else
the term nano-tech was coined. It's called Atomic and Molecular
Physics. (Also Molecular Dynamics and many other names,
depending on the applications). We're down to the nitty gritty
now of solving the millions of small, detailed problems that need
to be worked out to determine how atoms and molecules interact.
Here's a good example: A few years ago, Alex Dalgarno, along
with Kate Kirby and other members of Atomic and Molecular
group at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
established the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular
Physics (Dalgarno was my thesis advisor, in the Chemical
Physics program, when I was in graduate school). It's an
exciting place to work and visit as a scientist.
as the technology develops it will become more and more integral
to our lives, just as did electricity, solid state physics, medical
advances, and computers. The accuracy of the portrayal of
atomic and molecular physics in science fiction has little to do
with whether or not a research proposals receive funding, at least
not in a negative sense. In fact, many of us in the scientific
disciplines developed our interest in science at least in part
from reading SF when we were young! In talking to young people
nowadays about becoming scientists, I hear the same. To be honest,
though, it isn't only the science-intensive books of those of us
who write "hard SF" that attracts their interest; series such as
Star Trek, Star Wars, Xena, Hercules, and so on also have a big
effect on the younger audience.
research is how well the scientists do their work, how well they
report it to their peers and the public, and how well they can
propose and support research grant proposals. The work must
stand up well to critique from other scientists. Otherwise, its
reputation suffers and it loses grant money. One of the most
dramatic cases of a field having its reputation damaged happened
with cold fusion. That doesn't mean that such a bad reputation is
necessarily deserved; cold fusion research continues today and
has shown some results. But for many years, and still today to a
significant extent, research teams avoid having their work called
cold fusion.
lesser extent. Some scientists are leery of having their work
associated with the word "nano-tech." Ironically, and perhaps
unfairly, a good part of that reaction resulted from Drexler's first
book. He received a great deal of criticism from the scientific
community because scientists thought he simplified, glossed over,
or ignored many of the scientific problems we must address if
nano-tech is to work. Some people felt that as a result, the
public suddenly expected magic rather than science. Before I ever
heard of the controversy, I read his first book and enjoyed it. His
ideas and predictions are intriguing and creative. And I do think
he makes good points. As a scientist, though, I also found the
book frustrating. However, Drexler has since written another book
in which I've heard he addresses the criticisms brought up about
his first book.
be the best place to start, though, if an SF writer wants to do
nano-tech with a solid basis in scientific principles, because it
doesn't go into much background on the science. It would be
better to read up on atomic and molecular science first. Most
intro physics and chemistry books have chapters on the subject.
Depending on the writer's background, they can get books with
any level of detail, from those that do no math at all to those that
go into how to solve the partial differential equations of quantum
theory.
Margaret has the information incorporated into her list at
http://www.clever.net/cam/forthcomingsf.html ).
Artificial Intelligence. For example, I could cheerfully strangle
the next writer that conveniently has a computer go mad for no
apparent reason, except that it is a computer. (I have no idea why
the AI as Frankenstein monster is so popular.) And writers like
Asimov and Gibson have certainly pulled people into the field by
giving a glimpse of what things could be like.
misplaced expectations, much the same research has been carried
out, it's just been called something else. (From Management
Information Systems to Knowledge Representation Languages).
when something works well, like algebraic manipulation systems,
or Prolog, then it spins off and is no longer considered part of AI.
as with Knowledge Engineering (Expert Systems) and currently
in progress, Database Mining.
underestimating the scope of the remaining problems, as has
repeatedly happened with AI.
should pretty much describe the SF writer) to get a grasp of where
we are now with Atomic/Molecular Physics/Engineering? (Though
the question is meant for Catherine, anyone can jump in with an
answer).
so I'm not really caught up with the world -- is this really a
surprise??) but didn't delete any of them. This is a good thing,
because today I went back and re-scanned the April one, and
discovered the note about the John VanSickle "Grand List . . .."
Thank you! This one is now not only bookmarked, but I've sent
it to a friend of mine who has rather strong opinions in the SF/F
world, and will really appreciate it!
Science-Fiction and Fantasy Update and from Bill Walton, the
gaming advocate defending the RPG and CCG hobby against
attacks by the media and religious right at
http://members.aol.com/waltonwj , and who has been offered
funding from a major gaming company to found a pro gaming
group and is soliciting comments about the direction he should
go with it ( WaltonWJ@aol.com ).
-----------
And that pretty much wraps things up for this issue. Send any
email comments or suggestions regarding fannish activities/events
in the greater Houston area (or within the greater Texas area) or
regarding this Info Alert to fof@www.clever.net .
in receiving future editions directly, email clifton@cs.uh.edu
or click on "sign up" on any of our Web pages as listed above and
register. Alternately, you can register directly on
http://www.clever.net/cam/register.html .
Clifton B. Davis, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
http://www.clever.net/cam/fof.html fof@www.clever.net
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