A theoretical basis for ornithopter research

There is a lot of seductive technology in the Dune novels. While you might like the stillsuit, I have found that my imagination was most captured by the ornithopters (perhaps the idea of recycling my urine, feces, and sweat into drinking water doesn’t capture my imagination).

It’s pretty obvious to me that the engineers in the Dune universe would not discuss the design of the ubiquitous ornithopters using metrics designed for fixed wing aircraft like we, apparently, do now. Phillip Burgers and David Alexander have taken a stab at creating a new measure of lift1 that is readily applicable to fixed wing aircraft, lift generating rotating cylinders, and things with flapping wings (i.e., ornithopters and bats): Continue reading “A theoretical basis for ornithopter research”

Saving lost SF classics

What a great idea:

We love books. A lot. And we love sci-fi books, new and old. But mostly old.

And there are a lot of great old sci-fi books out there that are out of print, out of circulation, and, worst of all, not available in any sort of digital format.

Given the subject material, that’s just not right. Continue reading “Saving lost SF classics”

The Sensual Science Fiction of C.L. Moore

My luckiest find at my local library’s discarded book sale bears one of the most embarrassing science fiction covers I’ve ever seen – a remarkably high bar to reach. This cover features a blond hero in a failed Halloween costume that includes tights, cape, and blue leotard, staring past a naked medusa who is attempting, without much success, to strike an erotic pose while fondling a very phallic snake. For a mere quarter, I picked up this ridiculous piece of art, but along with it I scored some of the very finest stories ever to come out of the Golden Age pulp magazines of the 1930’s and 40’s: The Best of C.L. Moore. In a genre featuring techno-fantasies of omnipotent super-scientists rationally masterminding the world, to the delight of fawning female props, Catherine L. Moore managed to thrill fans with sensuous, complex, character-focused stories about desire, love, and women. The Best of C.L. Moore features ten stories that are essential reading for any fan of Golden Age science fiction. Continue reading “The Sensual Science Fiction of C.L. Moore”

Mary-Claire King describes what makes a good scientist

About Svante Pääbo and Alan Wilson, quote in this must-read piece on Neanderthals and genomes:

“Each of them thought of very big ideas,” she told me. “And each of them was very good at translating those ideas into testable hypotheses. And then each of them was very good at developing the technology that’s necessary to test the hypotheses. And to have all three of those capacities is really remarkable.” Also, although “they were both very data-driven, neither was afraid to say outrageous things about their data, and neither was afraid to be wrong.”

If you’re never wrong in science, you’re not generating enough ideas.

The Art of Science – The Great Demise of the Pollinators

This week’s science art piece, The Great Demise of the Pollinators , an etching  by Nils Henrik Sundqvist, highlights a widely-known but poorly-understood environmental emergency – the huge, world-wide decrease in the numbers of pollinators. Continue reading “The Art of Science – The Great Demise of the Pollinators”