Chad’s Comments (group member since May 08, 2010)

Chad’s comments from the The Big and the Small group.

How do you go about building worlds for your writing--if writing is what you do? I enjoy reading books such as Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries and World-Building.

I send out emails to experts in the field--you can find them at any University and they are usually happy to help out with advice. But how do you do it?

For myself, I believe it will be in the form of the quantum computer. Or otherwise called, the universal quantum simulator proposed by Richard Feynman. The idea of a computer that uses principles such as quantum entanglement and superposition as the primary data processing elements. Okay, really, really hard to explain, check out this book by Seth Lloyd, Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos, it more or less gives a good idea of Feynman's idea of how a quantum computer would work. In many ways it is much like our own brain in it's ability to handle multiple chaotic tasks simultaniously. This in essence is what makes it the best candidate for a sentient neural network. And here is the kicker, researchers are already working on them! Princeton Researchers have now shown they can isolate and manipulate the properties of lone electrons without disturbing the trillions of surrounding electrons.

Entanglement and decohesion. This is quantum computing!

Where will the next breakthrough come?

Ah, Frederik Pohl, I have been wanting to read Gateway. It will hopefully be one I read soon. Frank Herbert, is a given, I have read Dune, now like three times. Where to start there? Political, ecological, religion, it's all there. In my own writing, I want to emulate him in creating works that take place in the future yet touch on those plot-points that prove timeless.

As much as I enjoy Niven and Anderson for their ability to use hard science, I admit that at times I am left flat by their prose. Asimov was good, but I did at times find his characters somewhat one dimensional. Though, his ideas were without doubt, groundbreaking. Heinlen was best, in my own opinion, in his early days. Later, he drank his own kool-aid and became a bit odd.

Herbert, however, knew how to truly write. However, he too grew a bit strange as his own series ground towards it's own conclusion. I enjoyed his foresight, which I found reminiscent of writers such as Roger Zelazny. You really do not see that today, which is unfortunate.

So what authors of science, be it non-fiction or hard science fiction, do you enjoy most? I'm a huge fan of Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, Poul Anderson and Larry Niven. The first two for their ability to break down complex subjects like physics and cosmology, into material I can understand. The latter two, both science fiction writers, I enjoy due to their penchant for using real real science in their world building.

So I'll kick it off, I'm your average sci-fi buff. Been one since a kid back when I began watching science fiction Saturday cinema on television. Then George Lucas blew my mind with ideas of galaxies far far away. At the age of thirteen, an uncle gave me a book called, Cosmos, by a guy named, Carl Sagan. Well, that was a bit heavy for me at that age--and to tell the truth it is still something I am trying to get my head around--but I plowed through it and was the better for the attempt. Now admittedly, math has never been my strong suit, I'm more literature orientated, yet I don't let my deficiencies in math hold me back in my pursuit of learning about the myriad aspects of our universe. If only from a laymen's point of view, I feel I can still appreciate the elegance of how the small dictates the big.

And so, I watch shows such as The Universe and Scifi Science. I read books by likes of Michio Kaku, Leanard Susskind and Brian Greene which are geared for the non-scientist enthusiast. And I make liberal use of the web. So armed with just enough knowledge to be dangerous, I enjoy on my off time, writing hard science fiction. Writers whom I hope to emulate, would be Larry Niven, Poul Anderson and Ben Bova. Who knows, one day you might even see my own name in print, writing about man exploring the methane shrouded atmospheres of Titan or skating the event horizon of a black hole!

When one has the universe as one's canvas, anything is possible.

Where are the eureka moments in science coming from today? Is it string theory or new techniques for genetic engineering? Whats hot in the scientific community that we should know about?

This is where you get to tell us about yourself and your interests. Remember, we're all the stuff of stars!

Literally...