Tag: science fiction

Who needs a flash drive…

…when you’ve got DNA? Japanese scientists say it might be possible to use DNA to store text, images, music and other digital data for thousands of years inside living organisms. Masaru Tomita and colleagues at Tokyo’s Keio University say data encoded in an organism’s DNA, and inherited by each new generation, could be safely archived …

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Robert J. Sawyer honored by Toronto Public Library

Robert J. Sawyer, a friend and someone whose Writing With Style sessions on writing science fiction I’ve twice attended at the Banff Centre, has received the Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award. Established in 2001, this is one of Canada’s top book-related honours. The award, which includes a cash prize of $2,500 and a crystal …

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Something like this, I did use in my new novel

A staple of underwater adventure movies since at least the original Thunderball is now available for anyone who wants one…and can even be used in a pool. The Seadoo Sea Scooter Dolphin has handles and a propeller: you just hold on, and it pulls you through the water. It’s designed for use by anyone, in …

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Website about Canadian science fiction updated

The SF Canada website, which I maintain, has just been updated for winter. We have an interview with agent Scott Hoffman, conducted by Celu Amberstone and a new bit of short fiction, “Aisles of the Blest,” by Leslie Carmichael. I also updated the membership list. Up-to-date information about the activities of the authors who make …

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Index to science fiction awards

If you want to know who won what when in the field of science fiction literature, then the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards, newly updated, is the place to go. And if you’re interested in SF and don’t visit Locus Online regularly, you’re missing out. In fact, if you’re really interested in SF, especially …

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Robert A. Heinlein’s legacy lives on:

This NASA story, about how the Moon bears witness to the early history of the solar system, and could tell us whether “extinction events” caused by heavy bombardments from outer space really recur every 26 million years on Earth as some have hypothesized, is headlined “The Moon is a harsh witness.” Somebody there has read …

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Yes, it’s a silly way to spend $15,000…

…but if you don’t think this Star Trek-themed home theatre is cool, you have no poetry in your soul. Uh-oh, did I just let my inner geek out in public again? Darn.

The "grizzly man" goes high tech with battle suit

Looking like something straight out of a science fiction movie, Troy Hurtubise, the Hamilton-area inventor of the bulky bear-protection suit that got a lot of attention a few years ago, is back with a high-tech (yet remarkably cheap, at $15,000 for the prototype) battle suit he’d like to see the military and police adopt. The …

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Nebula Awards preliminary ballot announced

The Preliminary Ballot for the Nebula Awards® for 2006 have been announced. If the Hugo Awards, voted on my members of the World Science Fiction Convention each year, are science fiction’s equivalent of the People’s Choice Awards (which are on TV tonight, I just learned. Who knew? Oh, I suppose people who watch any TV …

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Planetary defense for dummies?

Did you know there’s a book called An Introduction to Planetary Defense: A Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extra-Terrestrial Invasion? I didn’t! I hope it doesn’t involve Will Smith as a fighter pilot and a computer virus that somehow infects completely alien computer systems… (Via Instapundit.)

What should I call my new novel?

I didn’t get any comments in response to my posted question about possible titles, so let’s try…a poll! Besides, I’ve been dying to have a poll on my blog just like all the other bloggers. (Peer pressure: not just for high school any more!) So vote: What title should I put on my new book? …

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Book turned in!

Well, now I’ve done gone went and done it… I turned in my new science fiction novel, now tentatively titled Marseguro, to Sheila Gilbert at DAW Books today. Final word count: 106,548. Final page count: 506. No rest for the wicked: I’ve got other books deadlines and more proposals to pull together. But may I …

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