Astro-image of the day: Andromeda Galaxy in infrared

This stunning photograph of our neighbor galaxy was taken in the infrared. Astronomers were excited to discover that the stellar population estimate remains the same in this wavelength as in visible light... get this: one trillion stars. That's compared to four hundred billion stars in our galaxy.

Click the image to see the story.

Four hundred billion stars. Can you imagine that? How about a trillion?

The universe is astounding.

PS: If you don't read back to yesterday's late-night postings, you might have missed yesterday's Astro-image of the day, posted just before midnight, about dark matter. Cool stuff.

Best,
Chris

Astro-image of the day: Andromeda Galaxy in infrared

This stunning photograph of our neighbor galaxy was taken in the infrared. Astronomers were excited to discover that the stellar population estimate remains the same in this wavelength as in visible light... get this: one trillion stars. That's compared to four hundred billion stars in our galaxy.

Click the image to see the story.

Four hundred billion stars. Can you imagine that? How about a trillion?

The universe is astounding.

PS: If you don't read back to yesterday's late-night postings, you might have missed yesterday's Astro-image of the day, posted just before midnight, about dark matter. Cool stuff.

Best,
Chris

write-up for Campbell and Sturgeon awards

On SFSite, Dave Truesdale posts this write-up for F&SF about the Campbell Award and Sturgeon Award and this year's presentation.

The article includes the full text of Betty Hull's comments about Ben Bova's TITAN (this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner), James Gunn's comments about Robert Charles Wilson's "The Cartesian Theater" (this year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner), and a short interview with Wilson. Wilson won the Campbell Award (tied with Williamson's TERRAFORMING EARTH) in 2002 for THE CHRONOLITHS and placed second last year with SPIN.

Best,
Chris

write-up for Campbell and Sturgeon awards

On SFSite, Dave Truesdale posts this write-up for F&SF about the Campbell Award and Sturgeon Award and this year's presentation.

The article includes the full text of Betty Hull's comments about Ben Bova's TITAN (this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner), James Gunn's comments about Robert Charles Wilson's "The Cartesian Theater" (this year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner), and a short interview with Wilson. Wilson won the Campbell Award (tied with Williamson's TERRAFORMING EARTH) in 2002 for THE CHRONOLITHS and placed second last year with SPIN.

Best,
Chris

paranoid leadership leads to hate and conflict

Does this sound familiar?

"Leadership in this society here would naturally fall to the paranoids... But you see, with paranoids establishing the ideology, the dominant emotional theme would be hate. Actually hate going in two directions; the leadership would hate everyone outside its enclave, and also would take for granted that everyone hated it in return. Therefore their entire so-called foreign policy would be to establish mechanisms by which this supposed hatred directed at them could be fought. And this would involve the entire society in an illusory struggle, a battle against foes that didn't exist for a victory over nothing."

-Philip K. Dick, Clans of the Alphane Moon

He wrote that in 1964. Huh.

Best,
Chris

paranoid leadership leads to hate and conflict

Does this sound familiar?

"Leadership in this society here would naturally fall to the paranoids... But you see, with paranoids establishing the ideology, the dominant emotional theme would be hate. Actually hate going in two directions; the leadership would hate everyone outside its enclave, and also would take for granted that everyone hated it in return. Therefore their entire so-called foreign policy would be to establish mechanisms by which this supposed hatred directed at them could be fought. And this would involve the entire society in an illusory struggle, a battle against foes that didn't exist for a victory over nothing."

-Philip K. Dick, Clans of the Alphane Moon

He wrote that in 1964. Huh.

Best,
Chris