Andy Zach's Blog: The Unlikely life of Andy Zach - Posts Tagged "science"

7 Great Science and SciFi Stories--why am I writing about this? I love science. I love learning new and surprising things. Maybe you do too. The first story is next.

7 Great Science and SciFi Stories - the first

Plate tectonics, geologic history, and astronomy--oh my!

Who would think the earth's rocks record the Solar System's planetary movements? I sure didn't. Yet that is what the rocks are showing. Can you write a science fiction story based upon this? Reply in the comments or here and I'll send you an ebook of your choice.

7 Great Science and SciFi Stories - the second

Then we have the famed Mars Rover Opportunity giving us this glorious picture.

The photograph is so spectacular, I took it from the NASA site and put it here:

Click here to go to NASA's article

What can top that? Maybe the next story.

7 Great Science and SciFi Stories - the third

In case you don't click on the link, here's an index of what's there:

Mysterious radio signals Nuclear Pasta Haumea Has Rings A Moon with a Moon Dark-Matter-Less Galaxy? The Most Bizarre Star Highly Electric Hyperion A Guiding Neutrino The Living Fossil Galaxy Double Quasar Image Infrared Stream from Space Rogue Planet with Auroras

If you love this kind of news or if you hate, be sure to send me a comment. If you hate it, tell me what you want me to blog about instead.

Next we have this.

7 Great Stories - the fourth

Do you think quantum computer will change soon? When do you think we'll be able to buy one? Best prediction (most accurate) gets a free book from me. Email me.

7 Great Stories - the fifth

A hypersonic jet could get you anywhere in the world in thirty minutes. How would the world and society change?

7 Great Stories - the sixth

Do robotic dogs creep you out? Or do they make you think of the Jetsons?

The future?



7 Great Stories - the last

I have a soft place in my heart for exoskeletons, because the cover of my next book features my character, Jeremy Gentle, wearing one:

Did you know you can get the book Secret Supers right now?

Your latest science news and book reviews are right here! Hot off the internet, let's start with the world's fastest animal. It's not the cheetah. Or peregrine falcon. It's . . .

But that's only the first science video. I've got more. But first a word from our sponsor . . .

https://www.facebook.com/pacificnorth...

That's right. Zombie Turkeys are sponsoring this post. Oh, and I've got this great new review of Oops! Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse, coming up next.

Oops! Click to get yours.



Your Latest Book Review Follows

You'd think after three oddball novels, Zombie Turkeys (How an Unknown Blogger Fought Unkillable Turkeys), My Undead Mother-In-Law (The Family Zombie with Anger Management Issues), and Paranormal Privateers, that Andy Zach would have exhausted all the comic possibilities in his world of killer zombie turkeys and superhero zombie human.

You'd be wrong.  How about flying zombie pickles? Zombie zucchini? Zombie caterpillars? (How can you tell a zombie caterpillar from a normal one? Andy Zach can tell you.) 

How about being injected with zombie blood which can cure any ill, regrow any lost limb, and be quickly cured with a widely available antidote? Who needs insurance with that sort of help?     How about organizing a zombie worker union at Amazon when zombies can outperform robots? And suggest the story is based on two real people, Anthony and Ravan Jones who contribute the foreword to the book?  Or zombie residents of a nursing home taking over the place?

But all this silliness is just part of what Andy Zach has collected in Oops.  He has included other short stories by other authors like "The Story of Sound" by Olivia Smith and his own "A Phoenix Tale"   before diving into his zombie world. Then he offers a batch of stories based on his other book series featuring disabled  middle-schoolers who become superheroes,  the Secret Supers. Oh yea, there are the aliens who first appeared in Paranormal Privateers who are defeated by zombies working for the U.S. Government.  The aliens can provide you legal assistance in the form of a sexy avatar who looks exactly like Marilyn Monroe. 

From Dr. Wesley Britton on Book Pleasures

Your latest science news and book reviews Part 2

But all this silliness is just part of what Andy Zach has collected in Oops.  He has included other short stories by other authors like "The Story of Sound" by Olivia Smith and his own "A Phoenix Tale"   before diving into his zombie world. Then he offers a batch of stories based on his other book series featuring disabled  middle-schoolers who become superheroes,  the Secret Supers. Oh yea, there are the aliens who first appeared in Paranormal Privateers who are defeated by zombies working for the U.S. Government.  The aliens can provide you legal assistance in the form of a sexy avatar who looks exactly like Marilyn Monroe. 

If you're getting the impression that one Mr. Andy Zach has a wide and wild imagination, you are on the right track. One obvious audience for his quirky tales is the YA readership, especially for all the contemporary references like video gaming and computer lingo. But even grumpy old sixty-somethings like me can have a lot of fun with Andy's characters, scenarios, and plots. I'm still laughing at the image of migrating flying zombie pickles.  Hard to get more original, unique, or surprising than Zach's "Life After Life" series. Have some fun with Andy Zach in 2020!

From Dr. Wesley Britton on Book Pleasures

More Science News for You

I have to include this article about the latest SpaceX booster, SN8. It looks just like rocketships from 50s science fiction.

Here's another post on this rocket, including a video.

Now for something completely different. The scientific history of the highest jump.

So what science article, video, or review did you like best? Let me know and I'll give you more in my next post.

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Top 7 Science stories have to start with this one!

I would love it if Andromeda were that bright in the sky. Sadly, all we see is the fuzzy center. This picture demonstrates the power of time-lapse photography.

Then we have this breath-taking picture:

Your Top 7 Science Stories - The Second is Next

I read a deluge of science stories every week. This one filtered through the noise. I get a newsletter from GE, which is where I found it.

This meme may make you chuckle. It worked for me. If it does, let me know and I'll give you a free ebook. Or you can get one by subscribing to my newsletter here.

Then Your Third is There Below

I first learned about living fossils in middle school with the coelacanth. Look! There's one! Don't delay! Click on the picture below.

Coelacanth. Click to get one delivered to your door.



Continuing on, Your Fun Fourth

Who wouldn't have fun with quantum computing?

If that's not fun, try my collection of short stories.

You can get free short story from the book on me, right here: 'In A Pickle'. Click here. Or, you can get the whole audiobook for free by clicking here.

Jive With Five of Top 7 Science Stories

This story is a little disappointing: you can't expect spaceships to cruise about independent of orbits. It takes too much energy.

That's no problem for SciFi authors, like the one behind my typewriter. In my book below, I have a spaceship that directly converts matter to energy. Very handy, that is.

Your Sixth of Top 7 Science Stories

I can hear people saying, "That's not science! That's some idiot driving a wheel to 827 MPH."

It is too science. The question was, "Can we spin a wheel faster than the speed of sound? What will happen?" There was an experiment to try it and they spun faster than the speed of sound. What's more scientific than that?

Some free advice: don't do this at home. Or anywhere else.

Your Last Science Story

The last science story covers anti-drone warfare--using silly string. I'm serious. Check it out in the link above.

Science Versus Science Fiction -- Can science fiction authors even stay ahead of our rocketing science advances?

You ask, "Like what? What's so hard about imagining a futuristic setting?"

How about this development?

In addition to announcing the world's fastest computer for AI training, Tesla also presented a new self-driving application--autonomous, humanoid robots.

"But this is all just visionary stuff from Elon. It's not here yet," you respond.

Yup, not yet, but near. Just like SpaceX was a couple of years ago:

This is straight from 1950s science fiction. A rocket goes up in a plume of fire and lands on a rocket. And this video happened five years ago. This demonstrates Tesla and Elon Musk's ability to bring his vision to reality.

Science Vs Science Fiction - Science Fiction Weighs In

How well is science fiction keeping ahead? Let's start with a review I just wrote:

I thought the anthology, 'Citizens' would be good, since it was military science fiction written by veterans. I also like John Ringo's writing in general, and he has a story in here. But it exceeded my expectations.

Not only are there crackling good stories in this book, but it's also a survey of great science fiction writers over the past seven decades. Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, are here as well as Murray Leinster, Gene Wolfe, and Keith Laumer. Then there are some newer writers as well, veterans of the Iraq war with their unique takes on military scifi.

If you like military scifi, don't miss this one.

Goodreads review by Andy Zach

How does this book stack up against current science? The science fiction is pretty well ahead.

Keith Laumer has a self-aware, highly motivated war robot.

Gene Wolfe and John Ringo explore extreme genetic modification for warfare.

David Freer has a light-hearted story about a postman who deflects an alien invasion.

Now, the more uncomfortable question: how am I, Andy Zach doing with my fiction versus the advances in science?

Zombie Detective's Science Fiction Versus Science

My next novel is Zombie Detective. Is it keeping ahead of science's leaps?

Disclaimer: I set this novel in 2016 and I limited myself to science as I knew it then, plus a little more. What little more did I add?

Mostly, genetic engineering. That's basically the cause of my zombieism, where rogue E Coli bacteria copy any tissue and replace it within minutes. I go into detail about how in my book, Zombie Turkeys.

Zombie Detective Excerpt for You

Getting back to Zombie Detective, I'm publishing it in September 2021. It begins like this:

“Sam, you’re fired.” Lisa’s green eyes met his brown ones. 

“What? Lisa, you and I have worked together at the Midley Beacon.  for ten years! And we’ve known each other for fifteen!   And we’ve been married almost two months!”  

“Sorry, Sam. Romance has to take a back seat to finances. Ever since the bottom dropped out of the zombie turkey news market since the first of the year, the Midley Beacon.  hasn’t made enough to pay your salary.”

“But that’s our salary. We share and share alike.”

“We can still live on my salary. And you can apply for unemployment, now that you’re fired.” 

“But what’ll I do all day? I can only play Fortnite for so long.”

“What did you do before I hired you, ten years ago? What did you do while I was in college?” Lisa's brows furrowed.

“Uh, mow lawns. Handyman repair. Stuff like that. But I’m a grown man now. I want more.”

“Hmm, you are a decent reporter.”

“Thanks, Lisa. That’s high praise coming from you.”

“Well, it’s the truth. You’ve grown from a crappy reporter, like ninety-nine percent of all reporters, to well above average. I did lay off everyone else on the staff before you, you know.”

“Aw, you’re making me feel warm and mushy.”

“That’s part of good management, —emotional manipulation.”

“Uh, you mean you don’t mean it?” Sam looked crestfallen.

“Nah, I mean it. Emotional manipulation is much more effective if you’re sincere.

From Zombie Detective

If you've read my books, why don't you tell me how I'm doing keeping ahead of science? Contact me here or at andyzach@andyzach.net