The Moon, Europa

The Moon, Europa

Monday, March 12, 2012

Movie Review: John Carter

I watched the film John Carter yesterday and found it to be very interesting. The names of the various factions and places in the opening scene were a difficult to follow, but soon thereafter it became fairly effortless. The story was well done and did not seem to leave any gaps or questions about what or why events transpired as they did. I enjoyed the character development and interaction. There was plenty of action and the effects were believable under the portrayed circumstances. The character and technological designs did a good job of depicting a world that was alien and very different from our own. Over all I liked John Carter. It was fun to watch and I recommend it to my friends and fans. I give it an 8 out of 10. 


Disclaimer: I have not actually read 'A Princess of Mars' by Edgar Rice Burroughs so I have no idea how closely the movie follows the book/Barsoom series. I downloaded it onto my Kindle months ago, but have not gotten around to reading it yet.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Dust Devil on Mars

This link to Space.com is to a great photo (taken by the the great a marvelous Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) of a 'dust devil' on Mars. I saw one of similar size in west Texas about ten years ago and it was very impressive.
I spent a lot of time looking at maps of the surface of Mars last year trying to find suitable locations for a few scenes in my second book. I become so fascinated with the red planet I considered shelving book two, saving the idea for book three, and trying to write a story that features one of my new favorite locations. However, I will probably refrain from writing anything but short stories - that fit into the Black Chronicles universe - since there have been so many science fiction stories set there already.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Europa Too Acidic For Life?

According to Astrobiology Magazine Europa's ocean may be too acidic to support life. Assuming the presumed acidity to Europa’s possible ocean precludes the development of life seems a bit close minded. Perhaps I have an overactive imagination or perhaps they should merely say, “Europa may be too acidic to support life as we know it.”  Nonetheless it is an interesting article. I particularly like the notion of vivianite bones or shells…