Author: Torn

Case I of First Contact, an Article by Torn MacAlester

This arti­cle is the first fol­low-on to a series on first con­tact.     This is part of a series of arti­cles about sci­ence fic­tion world build­ing: From the moment the first exper­i­ments with radio began, the pos­si­bil­i­ty of detect­ing alien trans­mis­sions became real. If there was an advanced civ­i­liza­tion on Mars, it would be […]

Worldbuilding for Science Fiction 8 Apr 2025

In the sub-genre of hard sci­ence fic­tion, an attempt is made to ensure that the sci­ence in the sto­ry is some­what cor­rect. One issue that I have been fol­low­ing is the pos­si­bil­i­ty of life on exo­plan­ets. Anton gives a won­der­ful update on the DMS pos­si­bil­i­ty on K2-18b. — Even though the detec­tion has been questioned. […]

Story Glossary: Steamboat

Steam­boat (Lunar Lan­der from “Golf and Out­gassing”): This is the pri­ma­ry space­craft used by Annie Mac­In­turn­er and Mil­ton John­son for their mis­sion in the Fra Mau­ro region. Steam­boat is a mod­ern lunar lan­der designed for a two-day sur­face stay. It com­pris­es a descent stage, which remains on the lunar sur­face (sim­i­lar to Apol­lo lan­ders), and […]

Is Colonization of Moon or Mars the Same Paradigm as Colonizing New Lands in the Past?

So can we col­o­nize space like homo sapi­ens mov­ing out of Africa in the stone age, or like the Pil­grims col­o­nized Mass­a­chu­setts in the 1600s? How about cross­ing the land bridge to the Amer­i­c­as dur­ing the ice ages? The suc­cess of those efforts built upon two things: The stuff they brought with them, and The […]

A Review of Black Hole Radio: Furilani by Ann Birdgenaw

Review: Black Hole Radio: Furi­lani by Ann Bird­ge­naw­Black Hole Radio: Furi­lani by Ann Bird­ge­naw Great Sci­ence Fic­tion for Younger Read­ers Ann Bird­ge­naw has brought forth anoth­er in her series of Black Hole Radio sto­ries with the Furi­lani adven­ture. The adven­tur­ous kids, Hawk, Matt, and Celeste in the sto­ry use the Black Hole Radio, a relic […]

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