Living Worldships

In Prophet: Remission, a city called Jell City was described as a corpse of a living ship. For all intents and purposes, Jell City was once a sustainable "Worldship" that needed to be "alive" in order to accomplish its primary purpose--to transport passengers and sustain them during transit. It is biodegradable and recyclable. And its usefulness does not end in its death. Rather, upon reaching its destination it continues to serve even as it rots. Its structure providing shelter and sustenance to its inhabitants.

There are a lot of key ideas in that panel and this is the reason why I have fallen in love with Prophet, a wonderful sci-fi comicbook that never ceases to send my imagination careening to exowonders. I am amazed at how the idea of Worldships converges with Living Architectures and how one day these ideas will take us to other worlds.

Lately there has been a lot of discussions about Worldships. A wave of articles flowed after the inauguration of the 100 Year Starship Study. They are listed below for those who are interested about the ideas presented in this post. One may think that these are all just sci-fi and wild imaginations. But there are real people who are pushing the boundaries to make these ideas a reality. such as Rachel Armstrong (@livingarchitect) and Paul Gilster of Centauri Dreams who are passionate about ideas that are stepping stones for humanity's journey to the outer worlds.

100 Year Starship Study - http://100yss.org/symposium/2013
Life Aboard the Worldship - http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=26836
Project Persephone – Living Architectures - http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/projects/project-persephone/
Designing a Sustainable Interstellar Worldship - http://news.discovery.com/space/private-spaceflight/project-persephone-icarus-interstellar-100yss-120920.htm
A Trip To The Living City Of The Future -
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679275/a-trip-to-the-living-city-of-the-future
Lawless Sustainability: Persephone - http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/lawless-sustainability-persephone/

Oh What A Tangled Exoweb...

As everyone in the exoplanet community have noticed, the Exoplanet Encyclopedia (exoplanet.eu) has updated its site with a nifty new look along with new functionalities. It's great. And I love change. The only thing is that it broke my Total Known Exoplanets Chrome Extension. I didn't think anyone ever uses it, until a twitter user inquired on when it will be fixed. So i spent some time to fix it. And now i'm happy to report that the chrome extension is back up online again. Well, at least for now, it's not showing blank. I know it's showing a count that is still late by a factor of weeks but it will be improved on the next deployment. I will now explain the changes that happened under the hood and what it would mean onwards.
When exoplanet.eu changed its pages, my robotic HTML scraper was no longer getting the updated exoplanet count. Much as i tried, I can no longer grab hold of the updated count from that site. So i turned to the coolest open ExoAPI.com to provide the exoplanet count. Using a simple AJAX call, it returns some data that includes the total count. Of course there's always room for improvement and I contacted the awesome developers of ExoAPI to provide a function to grab *just* the total count for speed and lighter load. So now my exoplanet count chrome extension fully depends on ExoAPI to show the latest stats on exoplanets. And I got some new upgrades planned that will make use of ExoAPI some more. Yes, this is another use case showing how important an open exoplanet API is.
Here's some quirky curiousity on how Salaak and Silver Surfer keeps track of planets. I am definitely sure that they maintain a database of planets to do their job (it would be awesome to see at least one issue of green lantern corps mention that 'fact') and that they must have some form of API in order to pass along data and work with other advanced lifeforms' technology. In light of this fiction, can you imagine what it would mean if we suddenly made contact with a more advanced civilization? For some reason, I think that their web developers would be awesome enough as to provide an API for us to be able to access their own planet database. But prior to that, via the Known Worlds Law it is automatic that advanced civilizations have a huge database of planets containing information on gazillions of worlds. And I am optimistic that they will share that information--which would mean access to study trillions of planets!

Spaceships and Exoplanets [part 3]

Since we're at it, let me refer you to this wonderful collection of vintage spaceship art to wrap up my previous posts on the impromptu series "Spaceships and Exoplanets". This collection of rare retro space art by Dark Roasted Blend certainly made me reflect on how far we've gone and how far we have to go. In the 1950's there were no known exoplanets at all. Now we have more than 700 hundred exoplanets catalogued. How did our new planetary discoveries impact how we think? How did it change our designs of spaceships? If you look closely at these vintage space artworks, what do you notice? Did anything change in the design of the spaceships as the pioneers envisioned them back then versus our modern day ship designs?
First of all, these vintage photos confirm the pattern that spaceships and planets go together on spaceship artworks, as I've noted in the first Spaceships and Exoplanets post. Another thing is that spaceship designs back then were symmetrical, while spaceship designs nowadays are 'becoming' non-symmetrical (take a look at ship designs in Eve-Online to grok what i mean). Spaceships are mostly designed for outer space so they do not need to be aerodynamic (duh!).
I could go one blabbing about spaceships but I would rather leave you thinking about the fact that more than 60 years after these imaginative art were envisioned, we still haven't landed an actual spaceship on another planet. A lot of work needs to be done to make our science fiction a real fact for future generations.

On Prometheus

Prometheus is an eye candy. The visuals and special effects are well done. The design of the space suits are unique and beautiful. The user interface to control gadgetries and machineries are good. And the star maps are marvelous. The photos shown are part of my favorite scenes in the movie.
Beautiful as its visuals may be, an eye candy is what Prometheus will ever be. It failed to live up to the hype. It will not be among the classic science fiction films such as Blade Runner, Solaris, The Matrix (1), Aliens, or The Fifth Element that one would watch (over and over again) for the sheer engagement of the mind, complemented with great visuals.
I thought the film was going to be smart, as projected by snazzy marketing tidbits such as Weyland's TED talk and great interactives. I felt cheated because when the film finally came out it had a lot of dumb moments. It had massive holes in the plot. The science was flawed in many instances, and the stupidity of all the characters distracted me throughout the movie. The promotional materials used to market the film seemed smarter than the actual film itself. Lastly, I am disappointed because it made scientists (astrobiologists and archaeologists) look like fools.
Although I am happy about the exoplanetary aspects of the film, it's just that Prometheus is hollow and is not inspiring at all. There's no enduring character to remember and no brilliant concept to keep.
But I do recognize the artistic aspect in the cinematography of the film. I am aware that one must not be taken in by all the fantastic visuals and one must look deeper into the analogies and metaphors expressed by the movie--that it tells of our endless yearning to search and know our beginning and our future. And yes I am also aware of the claim that there is a 'religious hidden message' in it. But whatever those messages were, or the metaphors therein, the film's attempt to express them utterly failed.
Besides, I do not agree with panspermia--it will not answer our quest for the origin of life, so the idea that we were created by those burly but lame 'Engineers' was a wrong premise to begin with. Sure, the film gets merit for ending with a question (of who created our creators), but perhaps the film-makers should have started with that instead, rather than making this one which turned out to be a spectacular scifi incarnation of Dumb and Dumber.

The Skroderider

I just felt compelled to share what I saw last saturday at the Bionic Garden: The Orchidarium named "Floriguay" by artist Mike Smith had a 'Big Dipper' setup solely for plants! Yes, for plants!!! A set of LED lights was used to simulate the constellation (and some fireflies) for the plants' enjoyment.
I think that the whole setup was fun and awesome. Imagine if plants can actually gaze up at the stars and see constellations. Wouldn't that be amazing? You know, somewhere at the back of my mind, on some other world there exists plant-like creatures that could really see and think.
It's a perfect timing that I've been reading Vernor Vinge's "Fire Upon the Deep" in which there are sentient plants called "Skroderiders" (one of them is aptly named Greenstalk). 
The Skroderiders often become lost in thought when they see spectacular landscapes which I imagine to be stars, constellations, and ringed star systems. They also are perched or riding on a contraption called 'skrodes' that enables them to move around (hence the term Skroderiders) but also contains other mechanisms that aid their memory, among other things. The skrodes were a gift to them by an advanced civilization.
So you can just imagine my delight when i saw the Floriguay, a wheeled frame outfitted with wires and tubes, a laptop, and LED lights and other contraptions. This is a Skroderider in the flesh! Or rather, a Skroderider on a skrode!

Connected Worlds

For those of you who have been playing Mass Effect 3, you've seen how the 'Galactic Readiness' affects the outcome of the game. Playing the multiplayer mode increases your 'readiness' rating which helps you in the final run of your single-player campaign. The message is clear: There is a connection between multiplayer mode and the campaign storyline of Mass Effect 3.

Although some will dismiss this 'connection' as a mere ploy just to keep gamers playing, what I am about to reveal highlights the fact that this kind of simple 'connection' actually gives a hint of a very important innovation in gaming that is coming.

To highlight what I mean I'll need to point you to an awesome game called Dust 514.

Dust 514 is an upcoming shooter game whose settings are on the surface of different planets. It's already enticing that Eve fans and game developers have been discussing how the battle would occur on different types of planet. But what interests me even more is the fact that what happens on the surface of the planet--where all the action occurs--is connected with the persistent universe of Eve Online.

Eve Online is an MMO and Dust 514 is a shooter game. CCP ties them together in one persistent Virtual Universe. To illustrate the connection, just imagine this scenario: While you're in a battle on one planet, you request an airstrike from your pal who is the pilot of a warship hovering above the planet at that moment. You see, connection is a powerful thing.

I recognize this feature as a very important aspect in the evolution of gaming and I am quite excited about it. I'd like to see this innovation in all the other sci-fi games that I play. Kudos to the developers of Mass Effect, Eve Online, and Dust 514. You guys are truly exoplanetary!

The Social Media aspect of SETI

Let me guess. You are on Facebook. Or you may be on Google+. And of course, you might be on twitter as well. Why? Is there is an added sense of "existence" gained by being connected on social media platforms?

Now I have that nagging feeling that Life itself is social. If Life arises somewhere, it will attempt to interact and seek others, and it will try to interconnect.

Life is Social. This mantra goes all the way down to the very basic constituents of life itself. From cells, to DNA strands, and proteins that seem to want to snap together, curl, mingle, and interconnect. This "social" behavior seems present at all levels of emergence, it bubbles up from neurons connecting with other neurons, all the way up to an entire civilization’s yearning to detect life on other worlds.

So why haven't we made contact yet? Where are they? The answer has been staring us in the face on the first paragraph of this post. We have not found the Social Media of the Cosmos. There is no friendster, myspace, facebook or google plus for any communicating civilization to join into and interact with. We are isolated. We are on an island. We are alone. Or maybe we are just lonely.

Perhaps we should also do a Search for "Cosmic Social Media", or even better, to build one ourselves. Lately, humanity has been tweeting from space aboard the ISS, and sharing wonderful pictures of earth from above. And on a good note, NASA has been attempting to build an Interplanetary Internet, which has been known as the “Deep Space Internet”.

A galactic internet platform is hard to build unless you have a good communications medium to begin with. But what would be the best possible kind of signal for outer space? Sadly, in the vast distances involved in deep space communications, light is a limiting factor. The Electromagnetic Wave is just too slow.

How do you create an intergalactic social platform for civilizations in a universe where the speed of light limits the communication? How would advanced civilizations build their internet in space?

Sadly we haven't discovered anything from the realms of physics yet that would make a good medium for communications in the vast distances of outer space.

Perhaps our particular universe is not conducive for communicating with other advanced lifeforms because our physical laws renders the communications medium too slow. Other universes might have been luckier with their speed of light that may be faster. But not in our universe. Perhaps, each universe yields a different answer for the Fermi Paradox depending on the limits imposed upon the lifeforms asking the question.

Sure, we may find signs and biosignature of other lifeforms on other planets, but making contact with intelligent exolife would be rare.

Are we doomed to be trapped in island planets, island star systems, and ultimately "island universes"? The universe keeps expanding. Galaxies are spreading ever farther from each other. Perhaps in the far future, we would simply mingle amongst “ourselves” within our local star system--with humanoid species on Mars whose roots are from the earthkind. They'd be the migrant "humans" who eventually adapted to the properties of their homeworld. The 'aliens' will be us. And the question of other intelligent life on other star systems and exoplanets could remain with us for a very long time. Perhaps even forever.

On a positive note gleaned from the realms of fiction, imagine if we found the planet Ballybran, and extracted the ‘Black Crystal’ that makes instantaneous communication possible. Imagine if the Ansible did become a reality, and when we turned it on we heard the Cosmos alive with chatter. By then, we have joined the Social Media of the universe, and finally we are truly not alone.

Monsters and Exoplanets

The other day, I chanced upon some illustrations of monsters from the 16th Century via Ulisse Aldrovandi’s History of Monsters (Monstrorum historia). I noticed that these "monsters" were often a mix of land, air, and sea creatures (hybrids), and that the monster characteristics are attuned to the properties of planet earth, of course. But the point is this: As residents of earthworld, humanity has only known the usual land, air and sea environments as we evolved consciousness. And as such, these characteristic environments reflected in the kinds of creatures and monsters that our primal minds conjured from our imagination.

Now, what if the human psyche gets imbued with knowledge of new worlds? And what if we've come to learn of new types of planets, not just the usual terrestrial mix of land and sea that we’ve come to know of?

How will knowledge of new worlds create new mythical creatures from mankind's deepest imagination? Will a new mythos emerge from a new form of exoplanetary consciousness? Do we need to occupy a new planet in order to actually create new myths and legends specific to that planet?

I'm on the lookout for new archetypes of "monsters" that must come out from this era of exoplanets. Sure, it's all just aliens, aliens, aliens. I'm sick and tired of aliens. But although i'm a big fan of Science fiction, I realize that something new should come out from a new level of consciousness brought about by the fact that our planet Earth is just one among an infinite variety of worlds. Can our new generation of imaginative writers create new mythic creatures a la the Lovecraftian Cthulhu or The Great Race of Yith but with a unique exoplanetary twist?

What types of monsters will the modern man come up aside from the cliche of invading aliens, alien-human hybrids, disguised aliens, superhero aliens, artificially-intelligent aliens, and so on? Or are these alien-monster archetypes prevalent in popular culture the final set of otherworldly monsters that our minds can ever come up with? Are they all we can ever have?

Let me know if you have some leads regarding this inquiry. You can reply to me via twitter, or simply comment on this post.

Links:

History of Monsters

On Gravity and Bones: Planetary Effects upon Humans on Other Worlds

Here's a follow up to my streak of posts that bring into focus some planetary insights gained from the gaming world.

I noticed that the physique of the protagonist Marcus Fenix is burly and juggernaut-thick. The same is true for the other characters of Gears of War. The sizes of their thighs is as big as huge logs.

Now why is that so? Allow me to propose my own hypothesis. The planet they're standing on must be slightly more massive than earth. The 26-hour day of planet Sera is another clue. Sera could be a super-earth! And we all know that bigger and more massive planets exert more gravity, which means more weight bearing down on its inhabitants. And being heavier means you need bigger bones and powerful muscles to support your weight and stand upright. Thus, you need bigger limbs on Planet Sera. This could probably explain why their nemesis, the Locust Hordes (presumed to be the indigenous natives on that planet) also come with grossly huge legs and wide arms.

Of course, in this post I particularly want to highlight the fact that a creature's physique is directly influenced by its home planet’s gravity, among other things. In contrast, a planet that has a lesser surface gravity than earth might produce animals that are taller and skinnier compared to earthlings.

So, if we ever start sending humans to settle on Mars, I’m sure that the second or third generation of marsian-humans who are born there will grow to be taller and less massive than their predecessors. While the first pioneering batch would probably suffer muscle degeneration and bone loss due to the fact that the surface gravity of Mars is only 38% of Earth's gravity. You'd feel approximately three times lighter on Mars! If you were 100 lbs on earth, you'd weigh only 38 lbs on Mars. So unless earthborn human colonists strap on weights and exercise a lot to counteract the effects of Mars’ feebler gravity, humans in its present form won’t stand a chance colonizing another world.

No, don't consider that last statement as a discouragement. Consider that as an incentive and a planetary challenge for us to find new ways to be human.

Humans on other worlds.

Links:
What if Earth Were Twice as Big?
Planet Sera (on Freebase)
Planet Sera (On Gears of War Wiki)

Exoplanetary Worms

As your emissary, I have gone to great lengths to bring you exographical discoveries from alien worlds. I even went to war just so I could report about exobiological creatures that I will encounter on my otherworldly adventures.

Of course, in my terms, “otherworldy” include the virtual realms of gaming. So today, I bring you exoworms from Gears of War! But first, here's some background info.

Recently on Earth, a species of extremophilic nematode worms (named Halicephalobus mephisto, after Mephistopheles, a nickname for the Devil) were discovered deep below the South African mines. It's the first multicellular organism to be found at such depths. The discovery challenged the assumption that deep subsurface ecosystems cannot support multi-cellular lifeforms because everyone assumed that underground environments several miles deep are too hostile because of the pressure, hot temperatures, and lack of oxygen and space.

Now scientists are saying that it may have implications in the search for life on other planets. And I couldn’t agree more! Especially when this discovery comes at the perfect time when I was slogging through the Gears of War series (on a tight deadline to prepare myself for the final installment to its trilogy).

That’s why after hearing the news of the 'devil' worms, I was distracted when I encountered the rockworms and riftworms in Gears of War. In the game's backstory set on an earth-like planet Sera, these riftworms were used by the nemesis Locust Horde to burrow directly underneath the cities of human colonies to sink them. Then I liked that these rockworms eat some bioluminiscent substance--which was subtly incorporated in the gameplay.

Suddenly, I began to think that exoplanetary worms aren’t so far-fetched anymore, especially when I remember the fact that the ancient animals here on earth were giants compared to their sizes now. (Ancient ants used to be the size of a hummingbird!)

In that regard, I would advise future human colonists to check deep underground before setting up their colonies on other planets.

That's all for now. Frag out!

Links:
Deep-Earth devil worms

The Titan Mines of Dead Space, and Science within Videogames

Last week, I had the utmost pleasure of viewing Saturn from several astronomer's powerful telescopes along the sidewalks of Highline Park in NYC, thanks to the members of Amateur Astronomer's Association (AAA). As I peered through the eyepiece of one of the refracting telescopes aimed at Saturn, I gasped at the tiny point of light near the the left tip of the inclined rings of Saturn. It was Titan.

There's something magical about getting a glimpse of a faraway place with your own eyes, especially when one has immersed within the virtual representation of that place. Right then and there, I knew that I had to post something about Titan and what i think of videogames as it intersects with reality.

The setting of the first Dead Space was inside a planetcracker mining ship called the Ishimura orbiting around an exoplanet named Aegis VII. But on its second release, the setting is on Sprawl, a city on a shard of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

The reasons for not going exoplanetary was explained in-game which I happened to capture during my foray into its narrative.

"Shockpoint drives were in their infancy, so extrasolar mining was out of the question--and the dangers of planetcracking were still unknown."

Despite being dismayed at DeadSpace2 being less than interstellar, it didn’t stop me from playing this wonderfully horrific game. In heart-thumping fashion I’ve finished its single-player campaign twice and reached Level 60 in multiplayer mode inspite of my horrible k/d ratio. (Note: i don't care about k/d ratio)

Apparently, in Dead Space 2’s multiplayer mode, there is a map called “Titan Mines” so it always reminds me of one of the most exotic worlds in our solar system.

Titan has liquid methane on its surface, with a nitrogen atmosphere sprinkled with some ethane clouds and nitrogen-rich organic smog. However, none of these things were depicted in the game. The reason is that in the story, Titan has been dismembered into shards of rock by the planetcracker mining ship. So most of the action happens inside a tightly-controlled environment of the Sprawl.

The cold, freezing temperatures on Titan makes me wonder how the necromorphs would survive, until I remembered that the Titan Mines map setting is an underground mine. So silly me (again) the environment is tightly-controlled. Too bad for the science behind it--there isn't much. This is my complaint about Dead Space.

I wish more videogames would employ more science behind their settings. Mass Effect has done a great part in mixing ample astrophysics into their story, but we need more games to engage people in indirect learning. As technology becomes more and more powerful, and games strive to immerse gamers even more--the initiative to model reality will make Science an integral part of the gaming world.

Links:
Titan-like Exoplanets
Are there more Titans than Earths in the Milky Way?
Titan: Callisto with the weather
Sailing the Titan Seas
Aegis VII on Freebase

The Immer and the Out: A Review of Embassytown

Humans breathing off gasses from aeoli. Animals as sources of energy. Zelles that perspire electricity. Living biorigged tools and weapons. Beasts that defecate fuel. A town in the middle of an alien city. Welcome to the world of Embassytown.

On another world, comes a living city that straddles between the immer and the out. And from it comes a bagful of new words: biorigging, terretech, shiftparents, floaking, miab, autom, immer, sopor, augmen, exot, trunc, curio, biopolis, citynaut.

Never have I seen so many chopped words in a single novel (such as ‘autom’ which my brain tries to complete as ‘automata’) and never have I seen so many new ones invented from cropped words.

Clearly, China Miéville had so much fun treating words like lego. Names weren't spared of this cut-half practice. After seeing so many names of characters being chopped into two constituents, I ended up doing the same thing to my name. I imagined each syllable as coming from each of the two hemispheres of my brain.

I swear I had no previous knowledge of Embassytown when I posted my inquiry about Exonoology. It was a few days later after I read that review by Ursula K. Le Guin that my ears, or fanwings, perked up. I suspected Embassytown had something to do with Xenoology.

Many science fiction stories may give you some pause as to how otherworldly beings think. But Embassytown explores the alien mind, their nuos, in relation to language and the symbols that come with it.

I remember my previous encounter with speculative biology such as that which I think comes from Alastair Reynolds; an alien reads by looking at two sets of symbols simultaneously from two different eyes. The information from each eye is merged by the alien mind to comprehend what was written.

We humans do the same thing for stereoscopic vision to perceive depth. But Mieville’s Embassytown takes it further in the domain of language. The Arieken 'words' are meant to be spoken simultaneously in a method called cut+half. Represented as fractions of words instead of numbers.

The alien hosts' communicative physiology is where the story started to build upon the conceptual level that connects Language with how the Ariekies perceive the world.

Simile was used to highlight the fact that metaphor influences how we think. To the aliens, simile is an actual living human that they need to reference in order to speak/think. That's where the protagonist's role comes in, Avice Benner Cho, an immerser-human.

Another class of humans are called the Ambassadors, the intermediary for communicating with the Arieken hosts. The ambassadors remind me of the conjoined twins who share brains. Each sibling can 'hear' or perceive the thoughts of the other, which makes me wonder whether their physiology can allow the to fuse into one consciousness, one mind, if they wanted to.

And the Ariekene hosts' Language is spoken from two vocal holes simultaneously (imagine talking and farting at the same time). Language for the Ariekei was both speech and thought. Truth. Hence they cannot lie.

Embassytown is cognitively engaging and it is a pure win as a soft scifi novel, and perhaps as an interstitial one, too. However, it could've been better. I longed for Mieville to describe more of the planet Areike, or more worlds from out of the immer for that matter.

At times, Mieville's writing has become difficult to read. I had to squint and re-read some passages twice. I had the feeling that Mieville himself was speaking Ariekan language (or got influenced by it).

Nevertheless, the novel is worth reading as it is very rich with metaphors and subliminal underpinnings. For a moment, I could glimpse conceptual references with the Bible (and the mode of reading it), starting with a character named EzRa. In short, if you enjoy thinking deep into concepts, then by all means, read this novel.

All in all, I love the novel's immer and the out, to which I can relate because Exoplanetology is all about the "out" and being immersed in the immer of otherworldliness. As such, Embassytown is a great work from an author who is now beginning to explore the science and the fiction of new worlds.

Exoplanets, Extremophiles and other Kinds of Minds

Just a few days after I wrote a highly-speculative post outlining the relationship of lifeforms and planets, and the intriguing link between what other kinds of minds are possible for specific characteristics of planets--along comes these findings of bacteria that feel at home with hypergravity.

In the experiment, researchers spun E. coli and other bacteria in an ultacentrifuge and revved it up to its fastest speed, amounting up to something like 400,000 Gs. The bacteria not only lived through the "hypergravity" experience, they even reproduced.

So, on planetary scales, I can say that these bacteria can survive on the surface of a white dwarf with the same spherical size as earth but with the mass equivalent to the sun. The gravitational force on its surface is somewhere around 300,000 G.

So if I was beamed down (a la Star Trek) onto the surface of a cool white dwarf, upon materializing I would immmediately be crushed into a pancake-shaped goo. But some of the bacteria inhabiting my body will still survive the crushing gravity! And if some other conditions permitted (let's be generous by adding oxygen into the atmosphere, aside from temperate other imaginings), they will feed on my jello'ed body and who knows what will evolve from that mass of goo? Let’s settle on “flat” beings for now, by virtue of the flattening gravity of a white dwarf.

Now, “flat” beings with 2.5-dimensional brains wouldn’t evolve much cognitive capacity compared with other brains whose neurons utilize the 3 dimensions of space to connect and communicate with other neurons. Each of our brain’s neurons has an average of 7,000 synaptic connections with other neurons. Clearly, a flat-brained creature on a white dwarf would have a disadvantage over it’s counterparts from earth. But not so if it’s neurons are utilizing wi-fi! Yes, its still highly speculative but there’s been a study outlining the possibility of some bacteria-signaling via radio frequency. If this biomechanism works on another planet, the 7,000 synaptic "wired" connections of a human brain would pale in comparison with a creature whose 'neurons' work in wireless mode to process information collectively with other neurons. What kind of thoughts would it have?

Now, these two possible characteristics of microbial life--hypergravity survival and radio wave communications--that I've mentioned in this post are completely unrelated. I’ve simply fused them in a hypothetical scenario in a playful attempt to mash-up planetary characteristics with extreme-life biomechanisms to speculate on expanding the possibilities of life on other worlds. Rev up your imagination and try it yourself. It's actually fun!

With all the new findings on extremophiles, which comes at a perfect timing with new exoplanet discoveries, we are opening up a lot of incredible possibilities for the mind to speculate about life in other parts of the universe.

Links:
Alien Bacteria can Breed in Extreme Hypergravity
Electromagnetic Signals from Bacterial DNA (PDF)
From Planets To Consciousness: Other Kinds of Minds

What To Do on an Interstellar Voyage: Subluminal Science

No doubt about it. Exoplanets have boosted humanity’s interest in interstellar travel. New discoveries got everyone thinking which exoplanets are good targets for the maiden voyage of the first exonauts.

Recently, DARPA and NASA set up a 100-Year Starship study. And the Tau Zero Foundation has renewed their efforts to carry us to the stars.

These initiatives are great. But now we need something to augment with these lofty plans. Even this early, we need to outline projects that future spacefarers must do during their maiden voyage. Let’s write up a ‘to do’ list to keep them busy. Because nobody wants to be nagged with “Are we there, yet?” especially on an interstellar journey.

That list would be huge, but it's narrowed down because of the unique characteristic of that starship--it’s traveling at a fraction of the speed of light! And that is how I got into thinking what science research I would do if I were on that starship.

I dub it “Subluminal Science”, a field of study which simply deals with the effects of relativistic speeds, whose experiments can only be done aboard an interstellar vessel traveling at some fraction of the speed of light. Subluminal, pertains to that step below Superluminal, or faster-than-light (FTL). Since matter cannot reach the speed of light, we’ll just explore subluminal for now. (if we upgraded to an Alcubierre drive instead, then we’d be doing Superluminal research. But that’s for another story)

The universe will ‘seem’ different from the vantage point of a moving or accelerating observer. And that makes it worthy of some curious thought. What do things look like when you're moving at even a small fraction, 0.1c of the speed of light? Can you imagine if we brought a portable version of the LHC on our subluminal starship? What manner of atom-smashing is possible with that scenario?

I know. Asking these questions is very silly. Such is the sacrifice i must bear to urge all of us to do some Gendanken experiments. What research are you going to do if you were given a chance to ride on that starship?

Here are some more prompts to give you an idea. Let me count the ways...

Let Theoretical physicists start thinking about physics at subluminal velocities. Would it be easier to detect gravitational waves if you were moving subluminally?

Let Neuroscientists start making predictions about the effects of subluminal speeds on cognition. I mean, really, what is the speed of thought?

Let Information Engineers start designing protocols for communicating with starships traveling at some fraction of the speed of light. What is the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of WiFi aboard that ship, anyways?

Let Cosmologists gauge the expansion of the universe. Would riding on the 100-Year Starship allow a more accurate measurement of the expansion of the universe? Would you be able to finally detect Dark Matter from that ship?

Let Quantum Physicists theorize how Quantum Computers would behave at subluminal speeds. Does entanglement still hold true when one of the pair is travelling at subluminal speeds?

Let Astronomers start dreaming up techniques that can be accomplished only when your telescope is moving so fast. Yes, you can still do planet-hunting from a moving platform, but how? Parallax methods? One thing is for sure: You’ll find new planets (and refine data on those previously known) from a different vantage point which would not have been possible solely from earth.

Oh the possibilities are endless! But you get the point, right? Those are just starter ideas behind the idea of Subluminal Science research. It can and must be applied to an unmanned probe too, for starters.

Don’t wait for DARPA or NASA. Don’t wait for Tau Zero or BIS to finish building that interstellar ship. Don’t wait for that day when your great great grandchildren zooms to Gliese and then realizes, “Hey, this trip is boring! What are we supposed to do now?”

Go ahead and write up that idea now. What experiments would you like your great grandkids to do on that starship? Let’s plan ahead to make that interstellar journey an exciting trip for our exoplanetary descendants!

Tunnels Between the Stars

In an issue of Green Lantern Corps, entitled "Recharge" from way back in 2006, a nemesis called "The Spider Guild" sneaked to the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps by passing through a wormhole connecting the stars. These tunnels between the stars are called "The Subspace Web". By entering another star (or blackhole) from a different sector of the universe, the 'spiders' traversed through subspace web and then emerged directly from within Oa's sun and attacked the Green Lantern's base "from out of the light".



It's all Science Fiction, so far. Right?

Now for the Science part.

A recent study suggests that wormholes might exist between distant stars. However, it's not easy to detect if a star could harbor some passageway hidden deep within its center. But the scientists are saying that they could be distinguishable from normal stars (or even from normal neutron stars). And it's because these wormholes are not empty tunnels, rather they contain a perfect fluid that flows back and forth between the two stars, giving them a detectable signature via their pulsations.

Wait. It's still Science Fiction!

Nope. Actually, real scientists and astrophysicists are saying this. See for yourself on their ArXiv paper. And take note: Kepler has detected a lot of pulsating stars in their Asteroseismological studies. Yes, Kepler also deals with Asteroseismology--the science that involves probing the interiors of stars and quantifying their global properties, such as radius and age, through observations of normal modes of oscillation. So, ya never know! Our good ol' Kepler might discover some wormhole-bearing stars! Heh!



Now back to the fiction. To cut a long story short, by sheer teamwork, inspired by a massive recital of their green lantern oath (in brightest day, in blackest night...blah...blah), the Green Lantern Corps managed to push back the invading marauders back into the star--including the star itself! Their own sun got pushed into the wormhole-tunnel from the outside-in and was destroyed along with the Spider Guild's nest. So now, in that episode, the green lantern's planet Oa has actually become a starless planet, a rogue planet!

And there you have it, folks. Just a brief excursion in the world of scifi on a friday night! Happy Friday!

Links:
A Star Harbouring a Wormhole at its Center (PDF)
Stars Could Have Wormholes At Their Cores (Tech. Review)
the possibility of wormholes between stars (Physorg)

Mass Effect 2 Review

If there's any video game that has all the fictional planets with the coolest names ever, then it's Mass Effect 2 (ME2). It's probably the only game that made me read the short stories about its fictional planetary settings. I admired all the beautiful exoplanetary landscapes and terrains, and the views of cities that set my minds on worlds beyond. ME2 made me pay attention to the dialogues between the characters because it matters; getting to know each of the characters that make up your team is crucial to the success of the final mission.

What’s great about Mass Effect 2 is that the storyline is not exactly the same for each player. Meaning, no two players can experience the exact same events that unfolded during their game play. For example, here’s how my own storyline went: Legion, my favorite Geth sustained a fatal headshot in the final mission. I felt really bad losing him because I loved talking to him. Legion was the only casualty in my team. But other players did not lose a single team member. Or some lost two or more.

Another example is that Miranda was totally pissed at me. Thus, I ended up with ‘Jack’ on a rough scene below the deck of Normandy, not with Miranda in the engine room that some players brag about with a wide grin.

Another thing I love about Mass Effect 2 is that it touches upon so many human aspects. Here’s some of them; Emotion: Miranda shed a tear after seeing her twin sister, and Kazumi keeps a memory of a loved one. Romance: Go figure. Humor: Mordin sang (he's my least favorite because he resembles Jar Jar Binks). Philosophy: My conversations with Legion the Geth was very interesting as it dealt with existentialism. Aggression: Grunt just wants to crush every body. Psychology: Thanes was pretty deep with his Zen quips. Politics and Ethics: Tali, keeps a secret, Zaeed wasn’t too happy with me for foiling his revenge in exchange for saving lives. Morality: The “Renegade” (bad cop) and “Paragon” (good cop) feature has a bearing on the outcome of the game. Apparently, ME2 has something for the evil within you, and it will show up in your face.

As you can see, the scope of the game reaches deep into the humanity of the player while managing to touch upon larger topics such as: Exploration: the quick bits of story and context behind the in-game planets were very good. It was fun reading through the narratives behind each planet. Science: Loads of astrophysics were integrated into the stories behind each exoplanet. It made me think that an astrophysicist and astrobiologist were consulted in this game.

The writers really did a great job of appealing to the different dimensions of the human psyche, and the narratives were well written. All in all, I consider Mass Effect 2 as a masterpiece.


Notes:

This mini-review is long overdue. I actually dug this from my google.docs and hurriedly posted it, hoping that some items from my wish-list could get to the game developers in time to get implemented in the upcoming Mass Effect 3, which is due this year 2011. Also, since I am now getting immersed in a new high-adrenaline game, I needed to get this out prior to posting my review of Dead Space 2. So, hey Bioware, please take a look at my wish list below:

Wish list:
1) Mass Effect should work with Kinect!
2) “Game-within-a-game” (unlocking and hacking) should be more diverse and varied than just pattern matching and memory game.
3) Multi-player mode
4) Should have more references to Astronomical objects. I already love the inclusion of Eagle Nebula and Crescent Nebula, and so on. I wish there were more. Perhaps add Orion Nebula...
5) Mining the planets made me fall asleep several times (so i let my son mine minerals for me) Not sure if mining could be made more exciting

Glitches:
1) Lack of Mass in planetary properties
2) Text is too small and unreadable. I had to get HDMI cable to read the short stories about the planets
3) Some bugs: (I was unable to move in some spots. This happened around 4 times)
4) Mordin eerily reminds me of Jar Jar Binks. Could you please change his face or change the way he talks?

Exodyssey

By not posting my review of Exodyssey last year, I have done great injustice to this excellent work of art entitled Exodyssey by Steambot Studio. Exodyssey is actually the first art book ever that used the word “exoplanet” for the very first time. As such, credit is due to them. But even moreso, they deserve the utmost kudos for producing the most amazing concept art book ever.

I’ve been posting pictures from my micro-reviews of the book
since last year (and the year before that). And here is a page
from my own copy of the book which is about
the exoplanet called Samhuinn.

The book is truly inspiring as it gives room for your own imagination to run wild and free. The “awe-mazing” artworks simply gives ‘prompts’ as a starting point for your mind to build upon. This book has that feel of a graphic novel, a comic book, a concept illustration book, and an artist’s scrapbook/portfolio--while managing to be *not* any of those in itself--which makes this book truly unique. It’s like five books in one!

Also, the storyline is great. Check out my summary of their script:

Exodyssey is the name given to the long and war-filled period of time during which humans departed for exo-planets in order to survive their own destruction. The book chronicles the journey of Harry, a highly gifted engineer...a descendant of the first wave of colonists who decided to leave earth. Harry is the key to discovering the origins of an extraterrestrial invasion and is provided the means to travel to a planet called Samhuinn.

I would end my mini-review of Exodyssey by telling you how I useful this book is to me: Whenever i need visual or conceptual inspiration, every now and then, I pull this gem from out of my bookshelf and browse through its pages to take me to a futuristic otherworldly journey which I can describe as an amazing exodyssey!

Links:
Exodyssey

How to get Offworld

Everybody’s heard of Gliese 581g. It is claimed to be the first rocky exoplanet ever discovered that is within the Habitable Zone. I wont bore you with details. But let us explore the effects of that discovery upon the populace. What are the reactions of the public? It seems that more people became more aware about the idea of interstellar space travel. And within some high-profile organizations, prospects on how to move off-world were speculated upon. DARPA and NASA even planned a Hundred-Year Starship program to explore other star systems.

"The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the NASA Ames Research Center have teamed together to take the first step in the next era of space exploration—a journey between the stars." ~DARPA

Yes, we are seeing seeds of action being generated by exoplanet discoveries. The impact of exoplanet discoveries upon humanity is that now we are beginning to think “Offworld”. We are beginning to plan missions to explore worlds not only the within our Solar System but somewhere beyond the light of other Suns.

The allure of sending humans to outer space is stronger than ever. But is it actually feasible? This fragile flesh and blood could be too brave for its own good. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (so to speak).

Even a trip to Mars may be a one-way mission for us puny earth-based creatures. But if we are really serious to set up a “human” colony on another planet, then we should send a couple--to begin with. They should be willing to make love on Mars and bear children on that planet. I’m curious how that "natural" way of adapting a human’s genetics to a particular planet would pan out. I’m pretty sure martian gravity, among other things, would have a profound effect on a local Mars-born baby (you might be thinking about height now). It all seems like science fiction at first glance. But wait till you hear about the prospect of modifying humanity's genetics to adapt to outer space, as NASA's Worden speculated upon.

But that brings me to the question: once you modify a human being, would he be still “human”? If we genetically-modified humans so much as to survive interstellar or interplanetary travel, would that scenario give birth to the “post-human” being?

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."
~ John Wooden


Thinking about such things has led me to write a speculative story on how we could send an essence of humanity to extrasolar worlds. Not of flesh and blood nor bones--but of heart and soul, and the enduring human spirit of exploration. That story is called Boltzmann's Brain.

Links:
DARPA’s Starship (PDF)
NASA/DARPA Hundred Year Starship (PopSci)

Remembering Carl Sagan

Nick Sagan autographed my issue
of Shrapnel!

Last weekend, I made sure I attended the NY Comic Con panel where Nick Sagan and Michio Kaku discussed about Science and Science Fiction. And I wasn't disappointed.

It was truly an amazing panel where Michio Kaku spoke eloquently on far-reaching ideas, and where Nick Sagan discussed the wonderful cycle between Science and SciFi.

Nick, who is Carl Sagan's son writes SciFi novels and comicbooks, which is a wonderful thing for me (as a newbie scifi fan) especially that his father inspired many, including me--to be enthusiastic about Science.

In that regard, I urge those who were inspired by Carl Sagan to write an essay in honor of his upcoming birthday.


Links:
Carl Sagan Day Essay Contest
When Worlds Collide: Shrapnel and Sagan
My NYComicCon Pics

When Worlds Collide: Shrapnel and Sagan

It’s not very often that i find myself in the middle of two worlds, but seeing them "collide" right before my very eyes is something worth telling. I’ll attempt to explain how my latest discovery is also a kind of "merging" of two genres, in some way.
Let me begin by saying that reading the latest “Shrapnel: Hubris” has been a great treat. It’s a follow up to “Aristeia Rising“ from Radical Comics, makers of Hotwire and a host of other fantastic graphic novels.
My problem with having a great comicbook on my hands is that I instantly devour the inner pages as soon as I get hold of it, perhaps due to my personal time constraints or sheer excitement. I seldom take note of the name of the writer behind it. Yes, it is a sin. And my confession follows.

In this case, I happened to glance upon the author Nick Sagan as I briefly admired the cover art (by Stephan Martiniere) and proceeded to hurriedly flip through the pages. In between pages, I mused to myself: Sagan is familiar but to see it on this kind of publication seemed strange. Perhaps they just have the same last name by coincidence? Could he be related to Carl?
“Nahh...can’t be.” I murmured, holding off my curiousity for a while as I read on.
Only after pausing halfway into it, and getting the chance to google “Nick Sagan +Shrapnel” did I learn that he is indeed the son of Carl Sagan!

Yes, I should be ashamed. I finished the first Shrapnel (Aristeia Rising) and never knew anything about the authors. Today, I change all that. And promise to take note of the authors from now on.
Carl Sagan wrote Science stuff. I brought one of his books, “Cosmos” halfway across the world to be the first book on my shelf in another country. Now, having recently discovered an appreciation for this medium of Graphic Novels, I honestly did not expect Carl Sagan's son to work in the comic book industry (and with Radical Publishing for that matter). I would expect Nick Sagan to work at NASA. But No. And Yes, Carl Sagan’s son writes comic books!

Surfing further, I just found out that when Nick was a young boy, his voice was recorded and included in the Voyager Golden Record. He said “Hello from the children of planet Earth.” Today, he writes SciFi novels and other cool stuff as well.

It’s definitely a great sight to see Cosmos and Shrapnel together on my bookshelf. Two fields, two cultures, two men, two generations, two worlds, two mediums, colliding, and then merging into one.