tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post175266716252187421..comments2024-03-28T23:39:08.616-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Anticipating upcoming Sci Fi Movies of 2017David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65536140710318244702017-04-12T09:29:55.727-07:002017-04-12T09:29:55.727-07:00I guess I can look forward to them screwing up Rea...I guess I can look forward to them screwing up Ready Player One. They screwed up Ender's Game, mostly by making it 20 minutes too short and leaving things out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10197893274147457432017-02-22T17:35:28.495-08:002017-02-22T17:35:28.495-08:00Without a large moon to stir things up early in th...Without a large moon to stir things up early in the history of the planet it's far more likely to be dead.mythusmagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10458869083534878283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81874941976655416192017-02-22T16:29:54.603-08:002017-02-22T16:29:54.603-08:00onward
I am on the road so will comment little
o...onward<br /><br />I am on the road so will comment little<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33574437623693912252017-02-22T16:04:35.551-08:002017-02-22T16:04:35.551-08:00Doctor Brin quoted: "Based on a bolometric lu...Doctor Brin quoted: "Based on a bolometric luminosity of 0.000525 Suns for Trappist-1...'<br />Would that even cast shadows discernible to the human eye on planets "d" and "e"? I hadn't realized it was that dim. Is it actually sustaining fusion of any kind?Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70250550316728302932017-02-22T16:04:04.856-08:002017-02-22T16:04:04.856-08:00Shouldn't even one of them be called an "...Shouldn't even <b>one</b> of them be called an "octopi"? I mean, the feet are plural even if the head is singular.<br /><br />"We've known for 400 years that 'oxygen' is a misnomer, but what are you going to do?" - Isaac Asimov<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9518768151768960772017-02-22T15:48:10.645-08:002017-02-22T15:48:10.645-08:00Guy says: "Based on a bolometric luminosity ...Guy says: "Based on a bolometric luminosity of 0.000525 Suns for Trappist-1, only planets "d" and "e" are clearly in the conventional habitable zone, planets "c" and "f" would be marginal, and the others either too hot or too cold by conventional habital zone criteria. But, if planets f, g, and h are tide-locked, their substeller points might be warm enough for liquid water with the rest of the planet frozen. Despite its terrestrial mass, planet "b" seems to have an extensive envelope--perhaps Venusian in character and with 4.3 times terrestrial insolation at wavelenths that are more effective at heating than the Sun's, it is not a good prospect for liquid water. These new numbers make planet "c" somewhat denser than Earth, but the others are significantly less dense. There is other evidence of an envelope around planet c (hydrogen spectroscop y)."David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45415808758077058722017-02-22T15:42:23.723-08:002017-02-22T15:42:23.723-08:00Donzelion wrote, "...but maybe if they were s...Donzelion wrote, "...but maybe if they were sharks instead of dolphins..."<br /><br />Lawyers in Space!<br /><br />"In Space, No One Can Hear You Scheme..."Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86543173196839866872017-02-22T15:34:27.688-08:002017-02-22T15:34:27.688-08:00I learned to be cautious about identifying authors...I learned to be cautious about identifying authors with genres after Bradbury told us at a luncheon that only one of his stories qualified as science fiction. He took the time to educate us and was very nice about it too.<br /><br />V Vinge's novels with the zones of thought theme are obviously space opera and he said as much. After reading the one with spiders, though, I saw how horror can overlap other genre's. Some of Octavia Butler's material left me felling the same way. Creepy stories stick. Ugh. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51944350210409833602017-02-22T15:28:30.389-08:002017-02-22T15:28:30.389-08:00Nah. The octopi are alien enough to qualify as an ...Nah. The octopi are alien enough to qualify as an old species that wanted to revert.<br /><br />Seriously. Look at them. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45597681278853239932017-02-22T15:15:01.299-08:002017-02-22T15:15:01.299-08:00As Paul Simon once put it, "It's just ima...As Paul Simon once put it, "It's just imagination they lack."<br /><br />Though there is one movie I can see them doing. In this flick Indonesian authorities raid a house on Flores Island where Sumatran orangutans are reported being held as pets, only to find that what they have are living hobbits. The hobbits are impounded, and then Indonesia goes through the hassle of getting anybody outside the country to show any interest in the animals, especially the Americans.mythusmagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10458869083534878283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27645864124784182682017-02-22T14:58:17.733-08:002017-02-22T14:58:17.733-08:00I still say they should have uplifted Corvids, Par...I still say they should have uplifted Corvids, Parrots, and maybe Octopi. Or given the Octopi to another Clan to uplift.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79333715349054706702017-02-22T13:53:58.672-08:002017-02-22T13:53:58.672-08:00Not just dolphins, talking chimps and an assortmen... Not just dolphins, talking chimps and an assortment of aliens, with tech ranging from Star Trek to The Culture, what's not to like?Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-202166759992842602017-02-22T13:10:38.664-08:002017-02-22T13:10:38.664-08:00Hmmm...if 2017's pick of scifi movies does lit...Hmmm...if 2017's pick of scifi movies does little to excite, streaming may come to the rescue. 'Black Mirror' season 4 in the works on Netflix...San Junipero bliss to all. <br /><br />Imagine the 'Startide Rising' Hollywood pitch: Talking dolphins! In space! With lasers! It'll sell to the Star Wars crowd AND the 'Finding Dory' crowd! <br /><br />(Cringe while imagining the cynical studio response: 'Yeah, but I like my dolphin sushi...nobody likes dolphins these days except the unicorn crowd and they only watch narrow releases...but maybe if they were sharks instead of dolphins...")donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2993081658736019942017-02-22T13:03:02.339-08:002017-02-22T13:03:02.339-08:00Hmm, I'm ambivalent as to King being a SciFi w...Hmm, I'm ambivalent as to King being a SciFi writer, but ya gotta give GRRM credit for "The Dying of the Light" or "Sandkings." Dude wrote a lot of good SciFi before tackling fantasy. matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63884754433949373742017-02-22T12:28:21.150-08:002017-02-22T12:28:21.150-08:00L-Class star, so fairly low emissions. Still have ...L-Class star, so fairly low emissions. Still have cosmic radiation to deal with but of course there could be life forms that regard cosmic rays as a good source of nutrition. Probably pretty stable. <br />And all seven planets (and surface gravity looks to range from about .25 to about .75) are well within Venus' orbit. The article speculates that the planets would all be tidally locked, but given the youth of the system (less than a half a billion years) and unknown eccentricity in the orbits, that ain't necessarily so. Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71462708958556907192017-02-22T11:21:25.932-08:002017-02-22T11:21:25.932-08:00David, this from the Chronicle of Higher education...David, this from the Chronicle of Higher education seems like it might be of interest to you:<br /><a href="http://www.chronicle.com/article/Meet-the-Math-Professor/239260?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest" rel="nofollow">Meet the Math Professor Who’s Fighting Gerrymandering With Geometry</a>.greg byshenknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22906357094877395932017-02-22T11:06:43.202-08:002017-02-22T11:06:43.202-08:00Now I have a certain Beastie Boys song stuck in my...Now I have a certain Beastie Boys song stuck in my head.Darrell Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14054311762477388637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41613080219363192682017-02-22T11:02:36.139-08:002017-02-22T11:02:36.139-08:00The NASA press release says that 3 of the planets ...The NASA press release says that 3 of the planets are "firmly located in the habitable zone."<br /><br />Definitely close together. All 7 planets are closer to their star, TRAPPIST-1 (an ultra-cool dwarf), than Mercury is to Sol. If we had evolved in such a system, and all other things being equal, we would likely be interplanetary by now.Darrell Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14054311762477388637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4567751979002827972017-02-22T10:43:53.545-08:002017-02-22T10:43:53.545-08:00Off topic, but exciting news for this blog: Seven ...Off topic, but exciting news for this blog: Seven terrestrial planets found orbiting red dwarf. All seven may be in inhabitable zone.<br />https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/22/thrilling-discovery-of-seven-earth-sized-planets-discovered-orbiting-trappist-1-star<br /><br />First thought: Gee, that reminds me of the solar system in "Serenity" where all the planets were close, and habitable.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80862106388882248802017-02-22T09:35:10.430-08:002017-02-22T09:35:10.430-08:00Larry Hart asked "Do other readers associate ...Larry Hart asked "Do other readers associate King with science-fiction?"<br /><br />No, I don't consider him to be science fiction. You could lump him, along with all horror and fantasy writers, under "speculative fiction" since his work involves world-building and the reactions of people to elements not found in our present society, but the scientific and technological aspects of his worlds are rather thin on the ground. <br /><br />I don't consider Neil Gaiman, George RR Martin or Ashley Cope to be science fiction writers, either. Nonetheless, all have produced brilliant work.<br /><br />Then you have the Foglios and Brin, who (sometimes) cheerfully mix the two genres together with no evident loss of quality.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34538990988285658482017-02-22T09:16:46.540-08:002017-02-22T09:16:46.540-08:00LarryHart,
No, I don't associate King with sc...LarryHart,<br /><br />No, I don't associate King with sci-fi. But horror is very odd, even for genre fiction. The Venn diagram for horror ends up intersecting fantasy (the supernatural is nearly always fantasy of one sort or another), mystery, sci-fi, and the odd thriller (human psychology being about as horrific as it gets).<br /><br />At least that's how I see it.<br /><br />And some depressing news today. The local utility is considering selling their fiber business. It's a very bad idea. Noteworthy is that the company wishing to buy it wasn't interested at all in actually developing the fiber in the first place.raitonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20089443054943121672017-02-22T06:43:16.833-08:002017-02-22T06:43:16.833-08:00Perhaps it is an indication that I am rather juven...Perhaps it is an indication that I am rather juvenile, but I really enjoyed <i> Guardians Of The Galaxy</i>. I was never a comic book reader and have no prior familiarity with any of the recent era super hero characters. Well, I knew of Captain America but don't think I've ever read a CA comic. The only comic books I recall reading a bit of were <i>Turok Son Of Stone</i>.<br /><br />Back to the movies, I have enjoyed most of the Marvel movies about the Avenger characters as fun action movies, and GotG is easily my favorite. I'm looking forward to the 2nd one. I hope they don't blow it.<br /><br />An upcoming movie I am, with fingers crossed, looking forward to is a new <i>Dune</i> directed by Denis Villeneuve. Of course, it is early days yet and may not actually come to pass. The movie and TV series made to date have all sucked in my opinion. But I am hopeful that this one might be pretty good because I think Villeneuve did an excellent job with <i>Arrival</i>. I'll know more once I see the new <i>Blade Runner</i>.Darrell Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14054311762477388637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50102801942857809222017-02-22T05:34:39.417-08:002017-02-22T05:34:39.417-08:00@Zepp Jamieson and others on Stephen King,
Do oth...@Zepp Jamieson and others on Stephen King,<br /><br />Do other readers associate King with science-fiction? I think of his genre as horror more than anything else, and to the extent that many (not all) of his horror elements have supernatural explanations, more aligned with fantasy than with sci-fi.<br /><br />I understand that something like his more-recent novel "11/22/63" about preventing the Kennedy assassination can be considered speculative fiction, which commonly falls under the umbrella of sci-fi. But there's a difference between "If history were different, the culture and politics of America would change in these ways..." vs "If history were different, the earth would look like a vision of hell." I was rapt with attention through the book, but disappointed that a promising sci-fi premise became another horror novel. Shoulda known better, I guess, after reading "The Stand", which was an awesome journey to a "meh" destination.<br /><br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46365091162552050482017-02-21T22:33:50.874-08:002017-02-21T22:33:50.874-08:00"What, no love for baby Groot?"
Aw, he&..."What, no love for baby Groot?"<br /><br />Aw, he's so cute! I want to use him for kindling.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54341010783941417022017-02-21T22:04:31.516-08:002017-02-21T22:04:31.516-08:00I like King, too, but the Dark Tower dragged on, a...I like King, too, but the Dark Tower dragged on, and became self-referential in an icky-cute way that reminded me of a declining late Heinlein. There are times when cross-universe references to author's other works (and King has done it well in other stories) but it fails dismally here. I'll wait for the DVD as well. Matthew McConaughey is a fine actor, but not noted for enlivening movies that plod. <br />Valerian! Yes, yes, yes! For those not familiar with Besson, the trailor for Valerian should pique your interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BszXhUjJz00Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.com