Monthly Archives: October 2017

Heavy Metals in the Cosmos

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

The recent discovery of gravitational waves from the neutron star merger designated GW170817 is said to prove that heavy metals like gold are produced in this extreme environment and not in supernovae, as was long thought. The teams that discovered … Continue reading →

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LIGO Discovers Colliding Neutron Stars and Cosmic Gold

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

(Virgo doesn’t, but that’s still a good thing.) The two LIGO observatories and Virgo are the world’s three operational gravitational wave observatories. These observatories use incredibly precise lasers to detect the ripples in spacetime caused by colliding massive objects like … Continue reading →

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Web Serial Review: 17776

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

17776 is kind of a weird one. It’s all online, so you can click to the beginning right here if you want. The Wikipedia page is here. It was posted in July, and I first saw it in August, but … Continue reading →

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What If? Rejects #9.1: Tidal Waves

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

Previous post in this series: The Little Shop of Horrors Next post in this series: Everyone Knows It’s Slinky Q: Could you survive a tidal wave by submerging yourself in an in-ground pool? Randall’s response: A chart demonstrating that this … Continue reading →

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What If? Rejects #8.2: The Little Shop of Horrors

Posted on October 12, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

Previous post in this series: I Am Not a (Medical) Doctor Next post in this series: Tidal Waves Q: If a Venus fly trap could eat a person, about how long would it take for the human to be fully … Continue reading →

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What If? Rejects #8.1: I Am Not a Doctor

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

Previous post in this series: Nuke It From Orbit! Next post in this series: The Little Shop of Horrors Q: A toxin blocks the ability of the nephron tubule reabsorption but does not affect filtration. What are the possible short-term … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Death’s End by Liu Cixin

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

Death’s End is the final installment of the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Liu Cixin (family name Liu), the most popular science fiction series in China. I’ve reviewed the first two books before: The Three-Body Problem and The Dark … Continue reading →

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What If? Rejects #7.3: Nuke It From Orbit!

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

It’s the only way to be sure. Previous post in this series: Kisses Next post in this series: I Am Not a Doctor Note: I wrote this post well before the current crisis in North Korea, but this is where … Continue reading →

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Television Review: The Orville

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

Seth MacFarlane, best known for Family Guy and Ted, but also the executive producer of the recent Cosmos series has a new live-action science fiction show this year that is described as a “love letter” to Star Trek. This is … Continue reading →

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