Tag: Fiction Science
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The space race is tightening up for Blue Origin and SpaceX, and for America and China
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have both celebrated space victories, but they’ve also faced setbacks. (Musk at left: GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota, 2020. Bezos at right: Blue Origin Photo, 2021) Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has only just begun to launch a heavy-lift rocket that was a decade in the making — its orbital-class New Glenn launch vehicle, which…
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The Rubin Observatory is throwing a big party to reveal its first pictures — and you’re invited
After more than 20 years of planning and construction, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ready for its grand opening, and the world is invited. The observatory in the foothills of the Chilean Andes features a monster of a telescope, with an 8.4-meter-wide (28-foot-wide) mirror, coupled with what’s said to be the world’s largest digital camera. It will survey…
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Sex in space? Find out how science weighs the pluses and minuses on Valentine’s Day
The effects of the space environment’s reduced gravity on sexual intimacy and reproduction have been debated for decades. (Credit: Catrin1309 / Bigstock) You might think sex in space would be an out-of-this-world experience — but based on the scientific evidence so far, low-gravity intimacy isn’t likely to be as much of a high as it…
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Artificial intelligence is going full circle — from fiction to science, and back again
A teenager is left in charge of a Mars base in one of “The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories.” (Illustration by Maurizio Manzieri / Infinivox) Artificial intelligence has had an effect on nearly every facet of modern life — ranging from diagnosing diseases, to applying for a job, to deciding which movie to watch. Now it’s reaching…
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What if the aliens win? That’s the subject of a new saga from creators of ‘The Expanse’
Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham are the authors of the books in “The Expanse” series, under the pen name James S.A. Corey. Their newly published novel, “The Mercy of Gods,” kicks off a whole new trilogy. Franck and Abraham will be at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Wash., on Saturday. (Kyle Zimmerman Photo)…
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How Seattle science-fiction pioneer Vonda N. McIntyre blazed a trail for diversity
Seattle author Vonda N. McIntyre’s science fiction reflected an imaginative view of other worlds. (Illustration: SFWA / Microsoft Copilot / Media.io) Decades before the current debates over gender and sexuality, the late Seattle science-fiction writer Vonda N. McIntyre flipped the script on those subjects. “In many of her stories, there are characters that, by the…
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Maury Island Incident and ‘Men in Black’ stories become a cause for celebration
The 1947 Maury Island UFO incident is commemorated in a mural on display in Des Moines, Wash. (Explore Seattle Southside Photo) Even the Men in Black need their day in the sun. And they’re getting it this week, in the place where those classic characters in UFO tales made their debut. Roswell may be the…
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Fictional plans for building a space station beyond the moon reflect Jeff Bezos’ vision
“Critical Mass” traces the construction of a huge space station just beyond the moon. (Illustration for Dutton / Penguin Random House) If Jeff Bezos needs a blueprint for building a space station beyond the moon with ore from an asteroid, he just might want to start with “Critical Mass,” a newly published sci-fi novel by Daniel Suarez. The…
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Science fiction focuses on the far future of terraforming, with a tie-in to today’s cities
An artist’s conception shows a city taking shape on Mars. (SpaceX Illustration) Billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos dream of making Mars more like Earth, or seeing millions of people living and working in space — but could such dreams ever be turned into reality? In a new novel titled “The Terraformers,” science…