Astrotropes: Surviving Space
Space, as a background, is a mainstay of sci fi. But space is hazarous, and if you’re to find yourself without air to breathe, that should probably be cause for alarm. Naturally, sci fi characters...
View ArticleAstrotropes: Spaceship collisions
High above Earth, several United Federation starships are locked into a desperate battle against a Borg cube. On the bridge of his ship, Worf hears a grim damage report. His blood boils and he slams a...
View ArticleEnergy!
Inspired by that last Astrotropes post of mine, here is a very circular graphic showing kinetic energies of various things, fictional and non-fictional. Go and check the other post for some more...
View ArticleAstrotropes: Dangerous AI
This trope may not be particularly astro-related, but it’s nonetheless quite ubiquitous in science fiction, both in space and on Earth. For a long time, humans have daydreamed about the ability to...
View ArticleSuddenly, paperclips. Billions of them.
So I may have spend some of my idle brain and CPU time yesterday making paperclips. Wait! I promise this is more interesting than it sounds! The game Universal Paperclips, shown to me by a friend...
View ArticleThe Dark Side of the Moon
I do admire Neil deGrasse Tyson for his work in science communication, particularly for bringing some much needed diversity to a profession which still sorely needs it. However, he does have… shall we...
View ArticleAstrotropes: Wormholes
Wormholes show up a lot in fiction, don’t they? I’ve seen the concept reiterated several times in various different ways, in everything from obscure sci fi novels to high budget movies. Which makes...
View ArticlePlanet Blossoms
The Universe really is quite pretty and mathematical. It’s just full of natural rhythms and geometries, and this is often apparent in the orbits of stars and planets. Planets like to be in harmony,...
View ArticleThat’s no moon
…or is it? Here are some objects which may or may not be moons, shown to scale. Enjoy! Organised by diameter: Endor – 4900 km Mercury – 4879 km Luna – 3474 km Pluto – 2377 km Tethys – 1062 … Continue...
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