Why science-fiction should more be science-fantasy more often.
I’m going to get killed for that one, aren’t I? But see, here’s my logic. Space is monstrous! Huge! The logic that we could ever actually travel through the whole thing is ridiculous and insane.
Let me illistrate.
Here is a picture of how far away the moon and Earth are to each other. That’s far away, when you think that is Earth in the picture.
Then, here is another illustration of how small our Sun, and yes, I mean our SUN, is compared to many other things in the galaxy. I’m assuming it’s accurate. It seems fair.
And through all that, we writers actually pretend to say that people can travel across this space.
Yeah right.
But then again, as writers, we are allowed a few liberties and one of those is the idea of warp/jump/faster-than-light engines. But I still say that I write probably more science fantasy than science fiction.
Every spaceship is made out of metal.
I’m going to discuss some characteristics of metals and gases, based on the periodic table. One thing you must understand about the periodic table is that as you go down each row, the elements share common characteristics. This discussion will actually be a two part series, as next week I will share with you some interesting stories related to specific metals.
Yes, this actually makes sense.
We’ll start with Row 1A
1A metals are called the Alkaline metals.
This is the gray row on my table. These metals are generally shiny when fresh, but quickly tarnish when exposed to air. All of these metals react violently with water to produce hydrogen gas. These metals are so reactive that they are never found in pure forms in nature.
2A Elements: Alkaline Earth:
This is the green row. They are less reactive than Alkali metals (1A). The metallic character increases from top to bottom. Their reactivity in water varies a lot. Berylium (Be) does not react in water. Magnesium (Mg) reacts slowly with steam. Calcium (Ca), Strontium (Sr), and Barium (Ba) are reactive enough to attack cold water.
Group 3A:
Here we are jumping across to the column with one blue and the rest as pink. We’ll skip the yellow transition metals because they are funky. Boron (B) is actually a metalloid, meaning that it has characteristics of a metal and a nonmetal. Boron is unreactive towards oxygen and water. Aluminum is a fun metal however because when it reacts with air (namely oxygen), it forms aluminum oxide, which covers the rest of the aluminum metal with a sticky layer and prevents further breakdown. That is why aluminum doesn’t rust.
4A:
The only thing worth mentioning here is that lead and tin do not react with water, but they do react with acids.
5A
There is nothing of particular interest in this group.
6A
The only thing of interesting is we are now getting to the point where it is difficult to study Po, At and Rn, because they are so rare that it is difficult to find enough of it to study.
7A: Halogens.
All of these are generally found in a diatomic form, meaning that the two elements are joined together to get X2 naturally . They are also highly reactive and as such, never found in elementally form.
These also look pretty. Fluorine (F) is a green gas. Chlorine (Cl) is a yellow gas and it is also yellow as a liquid. Bromine (Br) is a red gas with a dark red liquid. Lastly Iodine (I) will condense without passing through the liquid phase and looks brownish. You can easily buy iodine actually. (At least, we have almost always had it on hand.)
8A: Noble Gases
All of these are gases. Most of them almost hardly react at all. Helium (He), Neon (Ne) and Argon (Ar) have not been induced to react with anything. The rest of them have reacted, but the product is oftentimes unstable. The number of compounds formed thus far can also be counted, whereas many other compounds formed from other elements cannot be.
The other fun things with these gases is that if you send energy through them, they produce light in many pretty colors, which should probably be a separate post completely.
As a side note: You guys are awesome! We broke 4000 views last night. Thanks everyone for that.
Concerning living in space
The best one for me to know was about the space sickness, since I was having a character turn off the gravity in his ship. Wonder if he can still do that….?
Living in Space
Since I’m really a science fiction writer, even if I don’t often talk about it, I suppose posting this article today makes sense. It wasn’t as awesome as I was hoping for but it is pretty interesting. Unfortunately, it’s audio, and I couldn’t find the transcript.
And, note this, Piers Sellers thinks we might make it to Mars by 2030. Obviously a lot later than Star Trek (TOS) thought we would, but nonetheless, interesting.
Format Helps.
I recently stumbled upon a blog from an editor who reads the slush pile and he said that he cared more that someone could create a good story than have everything else perfect.
That being said, sometimes having everything perfect does help. Or at least readable. The Science Fiction Writers Association wrote a bunch of articles from how to do a word count to the best method of space travel. Some of these articles are serious, some are humorous. Unfortunately, I have yet to find my favorite one about how to “properly send a manuscript to ensure its safety.” (They changed the site since the first time I found it, and I was stupid and never saved it.)
So anyway, here is the index of the SFWA Information Center, with a lot of useful articles, all waiting for you when you’re bored because I didn’t write anything long and interesting.
Abigail
always a writer 
