2020 will undoubtedly go down in history as the year “lockdown” was introduced into most people’s vocabularies, the year in which mass imprisonment by decree, without charge, trial, conviction, or even any evidence whatsoever of being sick, was introduced by ruling classes the world over … Continue readingLockdown, the Culture of Fear, and the Politics of the Future
When doing some research for my novel, which now stands at 19.557 words, the Venus chapter (12,949 words) having been completed yesterday, I did some calculations for how long spaceflight would take under constant acceleration, the method the main characters in my novel are using … Continue readingConstant Acceleration: Across the Solar System and Beyond
It looks like I’ve had science fiction and space opera on my mind lately, and I haven’t stopped since the last post, so I thought I’d share with you my thoughts on a science fiction world I’ve been building for myself. That is somewhat different … Continue readingWorldbuilding a Space Opera Setting of My Own
In the science fiction setting I am worldbuilding, Proxima Centauri b as in real life is a roughly Earth-sized planet with an orbital period of 11 days, and is the closest known exoplanet. In real life we don’t know much about Proxima Centauri b aside … Continue readingThalassa, or Proxima Centauri b: The Pale Green Dot
When worldbuilding a science fiction or especially space opera setting, it is often desired for the scope to encompass more than one solar system, spanning part or all of one galaxy or even beyond. There is just one big problem: no object with mass can … Continue readingWorldbuilding Faster than Light Travel
For the entire history of computing to date, and even dating back to the advent of television, glowing screens with a board-like form have been the primary and ever-more-dominant way people consume information. This “glowing screen” or “glowing board” paradigm reached its culmination in the … Continue readingIndistinguishable From Nature: Toward a Ubiquitous Dark Web
One of the most distinct characteristics of life in outer space is the lack of gravity pulling you and everything else down to the floor. Objects and people inside any structure launched into orbit will float around and experience zero gravity. This is not a … Continue readingArtificial Gravity in Outer Space: Centrifuges and Beyond
Solarpunk, a subversively optimistic genre of science fiction, has proven to be a breath of fresh air for our vision of the future over the past several years. As the latest major incarnation of the various “-punk” subgenres, it joins the likes of atompunk, clockpunk, … Continue readingToward Nuclearpunk: Solarpunk with a Twist
The concept of a city that is so large it engulfs an entire planet is one of the most common tropes of science fiction, especially space opera. After all, population growth and urbanization throughout history, particularly in the last two centuries, have driven cities to … Continue readingEcumenopolis: Thoughts on Worldbuilding City-Planets
The role of transportation technology, specifically the fastest transportation that the masses can afford and the infrastructure permits, is a pervasive but often unconsidered factor in our daily lives, influencing our built environment and even our social and economic opportunities. After rapid advancement in the … Continue readingPersonal Transportation of the Near Future: Flying Cars and Beyond