Tag Archives: Mars

February 21, 2026

Weir: Project Hail Mary

This past week I read and very much enjoyed Project Hail Mary (2021), by phenom Andy Weir. This is his third novel, his third time with an award-winning bestseller, and the third time Hollywood has acquired the rights for a film adaptation.

All three of his books are what I call “diamond-hard” science fiction — projections of future technology with a bare minimum of gimmes (such as warp drive). Bonus points if there are none.

This story has a somewhat magical material that plays a key role, not to mention an exotic alien lifeform that’s the raison d’etre for the whole story.

11 Comments | tags: alien contact, aliens, Andy Weir, Mars, science fiction, science fiction books | posted in Books, Sci-Fi Saturday

August 2, 2019

BB #61: News Bubbles

By Wyrd Smythe

I have a growing list of links to articles that catch my eye, things I’d like to post about (for whatever reason). But there’s a tension between posts based on lists of links or draft posts or idea files versus posts based on what I’m currently thinking about.

I seem to feel the latter isn’t enough, that I need a reserve for “lean times” — which never happen. More and more, I post when something strikes me as worth the effort. The “idea pile” seems almost like homework.

Anyway, here are some things that recently caught my eye.

6 Comments | tags: AI, analog recording, Crab Nebula, Mars, Marshall McLuhan, photons, vinyl record | posted in Brain Bubble

April 1, 2016

Trump Fires Self!

By Wyrd Smythe

I’ll Make Mars Great Again!

In a surprise move today, GOP front-runner The Donald Trump announced his resignation from the presidential race claiming it was all “just a tremendous joke — amazing! I never thought anyone would believe it for a second… but I pulled it off perfectly, of course.”

Mr. Trump said he would devote his time now to building a Great Wall of Mars, which he said would be “way better than China’s so-called Great Wall; it’ll be tremendous, and it will look amazing!” He claims the Martians will pay for the wall, and that it will make space “great again.”

Two former Republican candidates for the highest office, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, told reporters they wished Mr. Trump every success and offered their assistance in hastening his departure for the red planet. Both Floridians said they’d be glad to personally strap him to any of NASA’s larger boosters.

31 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, April Fools, bat-shit crazy, Donald Trump, election 2016, funny, GOP, humor, Mars, psychopath, Republican Party, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Politics

August 9, 2012

Beating Swords into Rockets

By Wyrd Smythe

Saturn V

Kudos and congratulations to Curiosity! The Mars Space Laboratory — the “rover” — is safely down on Mars. Other blogs have covered it in great detail, so I won’t go into it. The Bad Astronomer is a great place to start with anything space-related; here’s a good one, and here’s another. Maki, over at sci-ənce, has a really cute comic. And you can always count on Randall Monroe, over at xkcd, for a good take on it. (And speaking of xkcd and Mars, I’ve always loved this one.)

But I do just want to say, “Wow! This is really cool!”

And isn’t Curiosity an apt name for a mission designed to slake ours.

Leave a comment | tags: Curiousity, Mars, MSL, NASA, Project Gemini, Project Mercury, Redstone rocket, Saturn V rocket, Titan rocket | posted in Life, Science