Category Archives: Science Fiction

A quick reminder for Trekkies

Posted on 19 May 2013 by Joseph

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the legendary genetically superior super-bad-guy mastermind genius Khan is defeated by a plot hole. Allow me to explain: Khan, on board the USS Reliant, is fighting the crew of the USS Enterprise and … Continue reading →

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Spacecraft Research is at it again

Posted on 10 May 2013 by Joseph

It’s been a little while since I checked in with the goings-on back at my Cornell research lab. Totally unsurprisingly, some very cool things are happening there! One is that the Sprite and KickSat project has gone all the way … Continue reading →

Posted in Concepts, Graduate school, Research, Science Fiction, Space | Leave a comment

A spacecraft engineer’s review of Flotilla

Posted on 12 April 2013 by Joseph

I just picked up the latest Humble Bundle sale entirely because of the gameplay video of Flotilla. Flotilla is a terrific little gem of a game that puts players in tactical command of a small squadron of combat spacecraft, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Science Fiction, Space | Leave a comment

On the World Zarmina

Posted on 7 April 2013 by Joseph

…Preliminary report on image data from the LongShot-2 mission… The planet Gliese 581g – also known as Zarmina – is a circular world. It is not circular in the literal sense shown on pre-Columbian maps of the Earth, before we … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Concepts, Geology, Maps, Original fiction, Science Fiction, Space | 2 Comments

Original Fiction: “Conference” (final draft)

Posted on 20 January 2013 by Joseph

I had been trying to sell this story for a while now, but was not successful. There’s a bit of a catch-22 to selling a short story for the first time: without any feedback from editors and readers, there is … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate school, Original fiction, People, Science, Science Fiction, Space, The Cathedral Galaxy | 1 Comment

Space Carriers

Posted on 30 September 2012 by Joseph

Two space-fighter games recently came out in quick succession. Both are free, downloadable fan-made takes on popular franchises, and both show very high production values. The first is Wing Commander: Saga, based on the 1990s-era Wing Commander space simulator games.* … Continue reading →

Posted in Concepts, Science Fiction, Space | 5 Comments

Stealth Spaceships

Posted on 28 June 2012 by Joseph

When I started my original series of posts on space battles, I speculated about what a combat-spacecraft designer might want to do in order to make a vehicle that could avoid enemy detection: It would make sense to build their … Continue reading →

Posted in Concepts, Science Fiction, Space | 3 Comments

In the Arena

Posted on 10 February 2012 by Joseph

Well, since I just had some discussion about orbits and other fundamental physical concepts in science fiction, here’s a short scene I’ve been sitting on. It’s set in the Cathedral Galaxy, and I’m not quite sure what I want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Concepts, Original fiction, Science Fiction, Space, The Cathedral Galaxy | Leave a comment

Global Physics Department

Posted on 9 February 2012 by Joseph

Yesterday I was invited to give a presentation to the Global Physics Department, and online group of college and high school physics educators moderated by Prof. Andy Rundquist from Hamline University. The group gathers to hear virtual speakers on math, … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science Fiction, Space | Leave a comment

The Biggest Science Errors in (hard) Sci-Fi

Posted on 30 December 2011 by Joseph

One of the problems with having just watched a whole lot of Star Trek is that, while I like a lot of the characters and plots and ideals, it’s a poster show for demonstrating some of the biggest scientific problems … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science Fiction | 20 Comments