Alex R. Howe
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My blog of science, science fiction, and more.
The header image is a planetscape based on my short story, “The Lacertan Incident” Search Blog
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Monthly Archives: May 2013
Four far-flung planets
Some solar systems have a lot of planets packed in close to their stars. Others are just the opposite. HR 8799 is a young star that is more massive than our Sun. It’s so young–about 30 million years–that it’s planetary … Continue reading
Posted in Planets
Tagged far-flung planets, hr 8799
Book review: Inferno by Dan Brown
In spite of all logic, I have a soft spot for Dan Brown. I genuinely enjoyed his early work. I got started on Angels and Demons, which I thought was pretty good at the time, despite some errors. I also … Continue reading
Movie review: Star Trek Into Darkness
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I’m a life-long Trekkie. I’ve seen all of the movies (even the absurd Star Trek V) and most of all five series. I also thoroughly enjoyed J. J. Abrams’s in-universe reboot of … Continue reading
Posted in Movie Reviews
Tagged review, star trek, star trek into darkness
A planetary six-pack
Mercury, the closest planet to our Sun, is often thought of as being super-close to the Sun and super hot. But really, it’s 40% of Earth’s distance from the Sun, and it’s only 430 degrees Celsius (800 Fahrenheit) on the … Continue reading
Posted in Planets
Tagged kepler-11, super-earth, water worlds
Quality control, part 3: the arts
This is final post in my series on quality control. Click the links to see part 1 and part 2. The Internet gives everyone a voice. It either has become or is becoming our library, our newspaper, our encyclopedia, our … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Technology, Writing
Tagged art, internet, publishing, quality control, sturgeon's law, writing