Author Archives: Alex R. Howe

About Alex R. Howe

I'm a full-time astrophysicist and a part-time science fiction writer.

Ready Player One: A Case Study in Movie Adaptations

Posted on March 21, 2019

Last year, I reviewed the movie Ready Player One, a cyberpunk story about a teenage boy trying to beat an evil corporate mogul to the most valuable video game Easter egg in history. To do this, he must solve seemingly … Continue reading →

Posted in books versus movies, Fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Happy Pi Day

Posted on March 14, 2019

Celebrate by eating pie. Preferably at 1:59 and 26 seconds. Or memorizing digits of pi. Or reading science fiction because it’s also Einstein’s birthday. I recommend Contact because it involves both Einstein-Rosen bridges (wormholes) and pi!

Posted in Current events, Science, Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Movie Review: Captain Marvel

Posted on March 10, 2019

Captain Marvel is one of Marvel Comics’s lesser known superheroes. She (and he in earlier decades; Carol Danvers wasn’t the only one to wear the name*) was a minor character up until fairly recent times. Carol Danvers herself (under various … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Posted on February 24, 2019

It’s the end of a great movie series. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the final installment in a beloved trilogy and one of the many highly-anticipated movies coming this year, giving us the final adventure of … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Television Review: MythBusters Jr.

Posted on February 17, 2019

Last year, the Science Channel continued the long-running show MythBusters with two new hosts, Jon and Brian, selected by a televised myth-busting contest. The new episodes were…underwhelming. I reviewed Jon’s and Brian’s season at the time, and I couldn’t give … Continue reading →

Posted in TV Reviews | Tagged , ,

Why Do Debates About Evolution Fail?

Posted on February 10, 2019

In a previous post, I analyzed the evolution debate between militant atheist Aron Ra and Christian creationist Kent Hovind. In short, I thought it was very unproductive, so I wanted to write a follow-up post describing how these debates could … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Debunking, Religion | Tagged , , , ,

A Completely Non-Political State of the Union Analysis

Posted on February 6, 2019

So…this is not the result I expected. No, I didn’t get Bingo with the card I made. But this is a good opportunity to make a brief analysis of President Trump’s speech—not a political analysis, but an analysis as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events | Tagged , ,