M Thomas Apple Author Page

Science fiction, actual science, history, and personal ranting about life, the universe, and everything

When planets align! Eh. Again.

April 24, 2022
MThomas

https://www.nj.com/news/2022/04/parade-of-planets-4-planets-to-line-up-in-sky-this-weekend-joined-by-moon-next-week.html

(Note: You won’t be able to see the planets actually looking like these photoshopped images…unless you happen to have a really powerful telescope in your backyard.)

Not sure why I first got this info from a site based in New Jersey. The info about what time of day and in what part of the sky is only relevant to people living in the NJ_NYC area.

Still, it’s an interesting phenomenon that occurs once every few years…

2005. 2016. 2020. And 2022. Not exactly a regular pattern, it seems.

And, no, there is no “spiritual significance” to a planetary alignment. It’s an illusion, an imaginary lining up of the solar system that doesn’t affect you personally. Sorry.

But it’s still fun to watch. Er, if you enjoy getting up before dawn (I don’t).

According to nj.com, “The planetary parade of sorts will occur when Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn all appear to be lined up in a row above the horizon during the pre-dawn hours — starting Saturday morning, April 23. The alignment will also be visible during the next few mornings, and April’s crescent moon will soon join the parade, according to experts from LiveScience and AccuWeather.”

Yeah, lots of web sites are covering this. At least the one I linked above doesn’t have automated videos, flashing ad gifs, and other random pop-ups that drain your smartphone battery.

Click here for more info about the next great alignment (not as impressive as the so-called “Great Conjunction” a couple years ago, but we’ll see more planets in June and July): https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/04/17/planets-align-april-venus-mars-jupiter-saturn/7351117001/

Meet the man who was Shatner’s eye

March 28, 2022
MThomas

www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/03/22/star-trek-movie-shatners-eyeball/

The iconic “retina scan” scene in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan was not Shatner’s own eye.

It was an “eye double” software engineer.

(As the man himself says, your iPhone can take a more detailed picture these days, but it was high tech for 1982…)

How do we find ET? Look for pollution…

February 24, 2022
MThomas

CFCs in the atmosphere above the North Pole.

“We give off waste heat (from industry and homes and so on) and artificial light at night, but perhaps most significantly, we produce chemicals that fill our atmosphere with compounds that wouldn’t otherwise be present. These artificial atmospheric constituents just might be the thing that gives us away to a distant alien species scanning the galaxy with their own powerful telescope.”

https://phys.org/news/2022-02-webb-telescope-civilizations-air-pollution.html

Or, as Futurism puts it: “SCIENTISTS ALREADY PLOTTING HOW James Webb COULD DETECT ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS WHOA.”

Just. Settle down, wouldja. Sheesh.

Scientists have proposed aiming the James Webb space telescope the Trappist system, specifically Trappist-1e.

Really hope this isn’t what they find…

The Death Star has an inner ocean

January 22, 2022
MThomas

New analysis of one of Saturn’s moons suggests that it may harbor a liquid ocean. No, not the usual suspects – the new culprit is Mimas, the little moon with a big crater, which gives it more than a passing resemblance to the ‘Death Star’ from Star Wars.

https://www.sciencealert.com/evidence-for-a-liquid-ocean-has-been-uncovered-in-saturn-s-death-star-moon

Add Mimas to Europa and Enceladus as possible moons harboring ET.

Like, IWOW —-

Quantum Leap pilot episode confirmed (but Bakula is only a “maybe”)

January 14, 2022
MThomas

“Considering how many different possibilities there are for a series like Quantum Leap in today’s world, it’s more than a little surprising that it’s taken this long for the series to attempt a return. Bakula had previously stated how relevant a series reboot would be, and the idea of creating a sequel series in which a new team searches for him is perhaps the perfect way to reignite the intrigue that the original program offered.”

https://screenrant.com/quantum-leap-sequel-pilot-scott-bakula-return-update

My family used to watch this each week in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Near the end it did get a little weird (the main character Sam Beckett jumped into the body of a space race NASA chimpanzee, and animal rights activists went totally ballastic).

Still, it ended on a very unsatisfying note (basically, “He never returned home. The End.”) and almost any kind of sequel would be great. Since Sam is a “missing person,” there is likely more to this than meets the eye (see https://www.thewrap.com/quantum-leap-reboot-nbc-plot-details/).

Happy New Year 2022!

January 1, 2022
MThomas

Happy New Year, everybody!

My New Year’s resolution: to finally finish the first draft of Bringer of Light and get the editing done by summer.

Thanks for reading this blog. Best wishes to all of you for a safe and prosperous 2022!

Trace Gas Orbiter finds traces of hydrogen underground in the Valles Marineris

December 16, 2021
MThomas

A.k.a., the “Great Canyon of Mars”

The original article title?

“Astronomers Detect Secret Water Reserves in The Largest Canyon in The Solar System”

Science isn’t quite as catchy. The hydrogen may indicate water in the form of permafrost 3 feet and more under the surface.

The high-hydrogen region is about the size of the Netherlands, and overlaps with Candor Chasma, one of the largest canyons in the Valles Marineris system.

Looks like there may be some competition for who gets to land near here first…

https://www.sciencealert.com/hidden-water-has-been-found-in-the-soil-of-mars-grand-canyon

No Season 2 for live-action Cowboy Bebop

December 11, 2021
MThomas

Well, the writing was already on the virtual wall from the beginning. The anime had only one season.

White fanboys got butthurt by the use of diverse actors – anime is anime, but live action is real actors in the real world where “race” and ethnicity are still issues and women don’t actually look like hourglasses.

Ratings plummeted after the initial hype. Netflix always panders to the masses, so this is not surprising.

Adios, amigos. See you, space cowboy.

— Read on soranews24.com/2021/12/10/there-will-not-be-a-season-2-for-netflixs-live-action-cowboy-bebop/

Real world locations of dystopian scifi movies

December 10, 2021
MThomas

The Bradbury Building is well known (Blade Runner, 1982), but do you know these other locations?

Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, city halls, abandoned mills, even a high school in Texas…

(An older article, but still interesting…too many movies rely entirely on green screen these days…)

Apologies for the absence!

December 9, 2021
MThomas

Sorry, everyone, for the lack of posts lately!

I wasn’t able to post short stories and news from my smartphone (which is what I had been doing on the train to work) bc I went way over my ISP plan and got throttled for about a week.

Then December started, and work got really busy. And I look up and suddenly realized I haven’t even watched more than the first ep of the live action Cowboy Bebop.

(It was OK. Too many guns and not enough kung-fu.)

I’ll get back to regular posting soon.

In the meantime, here’s a picture of what it looks like on the hiking trail behind my house. (“Wild dogs and boar suddenly appear. Beware!”)

(Yes, I have seen a few. They come with their piglets down to the creek near us at night and then on the property next door dig in the ground with their tusks, looking for bugs to eat.)

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