“Humans are tropical animals”, it’s said. Or are we? True, our ancestors did come from Africa (well…our homo sapiens ancestors, anyway), but seldom is it asked: what was Africa like for them? Consider that while the tropics are oppressively hot and humid now, we are … Continue readingParadise Lost
I know it’s a direct follow-up from my last post, but why not? After all, Sirius B’s companion world is a fascinating place in my science-fiction-cum-space-opera setting. I now have hard numbers, which dictate tidal locking, the question of it being a moon, the orbital … Continue readingMore Thoughts on my Planet “Cerberus”
“Will, if we’re not on Mars, you tell us where we are?” “I’m not sure yet, we might even be on Cerberus.” Cerberus? So asked Penny Robinson to her older and brainier brother Will Robinson in “Lost in Space”. For a long time I wondered … Continue readingCerberus: A World Like No Other
Having experienced the climate of coastal California, I’m liking it well enough, but there’s room for improvement: it’s a bit too warm, too foggy and cloudy, and way too humid. I’m also missing the spectacular desert landscapes of the interior and the wide daily ranges … Continue readingWorldbuilding the Ultimate Desert Coast
Well, as of last Saturday, October 14, 2023, I’ve seen my first annular eclipse! Turned out there was some cloud cover in New Mexico, so rather than heading there I made my way to West Texas, Odessa to be precise, deep within the wide-open flat … Continue readingThe Ring of Fire Came to West Texas!
I was reading up on the Flying Dutchman last night, which I can’t help but feel is the coolest thing ever (to the point that if I got an alt I’d style myself “Willem van der Decken”, i.e. its legendary captain), and I came across … Continue readingA World where if You look far enough You’ll see Yourself…
The part of Twitter I’m in is adjacent to some rather heated debates as to the fundamentals of Russia versus NATO in the Ukraine war, with some of the less-bright pro-Russian types coping about how the tremendous GDP of the Western bloc doesn’t matter for … Continue readingR&D and the Great Power Sweepstakes
We usually think of a temperature scale as proceeding from a zero point with higher numbers corresponding to hotter temperatures, and indeed that is probably the most intuitive way to think about it, but that’s not necessarily the case; “degrees of frost” are, or at … Continue readingDegree of Frost
I know I sounded all ready to make a story based on my ice dragon world concept outlined in a recent blog post, but it just doesn’t feel right no matter how much I tinker with it or what I combine it with; I’ve learned … Continue readingGiving “Garden City” a Whole New Meaning
Earlier today Jeffrey Tucker asked on Twitter “In theory, the higher end your status and the more protected your position, the more you are willing to tell the truth. In practice, it seems to be the opposite”. As I pointed out in my replies, there’s … Continue readingAccident of Birth: A Feature, Not a Bug?