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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Author Archives: Alex R. Howe
#22 – Nuclear War
The Cold War brought with it new tales of nuclear war in science fiction, both in the early days of the 50s and 60s, and later, when fears began to rise again. In this episode, we look at the highlights … Continue reading
Posted in A Reader's History of Science Fiction
Tagged Alas Babylon, Apocalyptic Sci-fi, Nuclear War
1 Comment
TV Review: Cosmos: Possible Worlds
Last fall, I posted about the newest season of Cosmos, “Possible Worlds.” That post only covered the first two episodes, since it was the premier night (on broadcast). I was going to update every couple weeks, but with all the … Continue reading
Posted in TV Reviews
Tagged cosmos, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, neil degrasse tyson
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#21 – Apocalypse How?
In the 1950s and 60s, disaster and apocalyptic stories became prominent. However, the earliest ones could get pretty weird. It this episode, we take a look at the fantastic apocalypses that gave way to more realistic ones later on. Book … Continue reading
Writer’s History #1 – Max Hawthorne Interview
For my first interview on the show, I spoke to Max Hawthorne, author of the paleo-fiction thriller, Kronos Rising, about his writing and his experiences with science fiction as a whole. Max’s website.Max’s peer-reviewed scientific paper on Plesiosaurs. Max’s book … Continue reading
Posted in A Reader's History of Science Fiction, Interviews
Tagged Kronos Rising, Max Hawthorne, Paleo-Fiction
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New Video: The Recamán Sequence
The Recamán sequence, or more properly Recamán’s sequence, is one of the more unusual sequences to make the rounds in the internet math community. The way it works is that the first term in the sequence is 1. Then, for … Continue reading
Posted in math, Video
Tagged Math Animation, Numberphile, Recaman sequence
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#20 – Philip K. Dick
Despite his often inconsistent writing, Philip K. Dick is notable for having more film adaptations of his novels and short stories than almost every other sci-fi author, making him one of the most important writers of the New Wave. Here, … Continue reading
Posted in A Reader's History of Science Fiction
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Happy Science Fiction Day!
Today, January 2, is the observed birthday* of Isaac Asimov, one of the most prolific science fiction (and science fact) authors of the twentieth century. In Asimov’s honor, January 2 is celebrated each year as National Science Fiction Day. (Which … Continue reading
Posted in Current events
Tagged Isaac Asimov, National Science Fiction Day, Science Fiction Day
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What Is the Equation for the Strong Nuclear Force?
Previously, I described how the weak nuclear force really is a force even though it’s almost never described as one. Instead of a simple inverse square law like gravity and electromagnetism, it decays exponentially so that it weakens over a … Continue reading
Posted in Physics
Tagged Physics questions, quantum physics, strong nuclear force
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How Is the Weak Nuclear Force an Actual Force?
It’s time for another physics explainer. In an earlier post, I explained Lagrangian mechanics and why it uses the weird (to physicists) equation L=T-V. I thought I might do some more posts like that, and I found a topic that … Continue reading
Flat Earth Challenge Follow-Up: Refraction
One year ago today, I posted a Challenge to Flat Earthers on this blog. I proposed an experiment that could photograph the curvature of the Earth directly without having to worry about camera distortions, which is what Flat Earthers usually … Continue reading
Posted in Debunking, Science
Tagged Flat Earth, Optics, Refraction, Round Earth
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