tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post1075826602124681781..comments2024-03-10T04:29:20.044-04:00Comments on Mad Genius Club: Guest Blog -- Amy Sterling CasilSarah A. Hoythttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17478124095732219352noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-44294930653951566702010-10-31T02:39:57.108-04:002010-10-31T02:39:57.108-04:00Hmm. Well I don't think the public (or at the ...Hmm. Well I don't think the public (or at the least this monkey and most of his friends) is jaded with space, or space travel. To judge by the sell-volume of Branson's lot, neither are a lot of people I don't know. Assuming people wealthy enough to afford tickets are 1:100 000, and assuming that being wealthy is not vastly more likely to make you wish to do this, that puts the pool of interested people at 34 million. That's about 100-10 000 times more readership than most print media get, and dwarfs, for example, Harry Potter and Twilight... so one may assume that someone/s, somewhere missed the boat, and assumed that because they don't get it and it doesn't interest them, there is no market(could it possibly NY? No, surely not. After all, they have carefully research and have highly trained teams to statistically analyze and mathematically model reader interest and future trends, don't they?) <br /><br />Sarcasm aside: I think there has been -- call it a fashion -- to be rather negative about science. There has also been a severe dearth of writers who are competent scientists (or understand it well) who can also write well, clearly and accessibly. It's NOT something scientists are taught to do, or receive any encouragement to learn. This comes under my heading of 'an extremely bad thing' as we need schoolkids and, yes, the general public, excited about and supportive of science.<br /><br />On the other hand, a little bird told me that a publisher (beside Baen) was finally getting in touch with the zeitgeist outside their envelope, and being very enthusiastic about some near future and non-distopian sf. So maybe the times are changing,and you're just on crest of the wave, Amy. Which will be cool :-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-28238871899136714952010-10-30T21:16:59.486-04:002010-10-30T21:16:59.486-04:00Well, the point of the fast evolution of space tra...Well, the point of the fast evolution of space travel is that we'll develop something different. <br /><br />The current method, simply because of the cost will be self limiting. <br /><br />This isn't how the Earth will become uninhabitable. For that I'm betting on a combination of over fishing and fertilizer runoff/urban discharge leading to algae blooms and anoxic conditions in rivers and off their deltas.MataPamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11128604732495114033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-1890143600651526822010-10-30T21:06:37.298-04:002010-10-30T21:06:37.298-04:00Just to be totally negative for a minute, if we ke...Just to be totally negative for a minute, if we keep going with space flight using present forms of fuel, and commercialism of anything usually takes the lowest common denominator to be able to make a profit, the Earth might well become uninhabitable even faster ... due to the effect of increasing soot affecting the atmosphere.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00505483687054513944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-43448337267904978982010-10-30T20:59:48.744-04:002010-10-30T20:59:48.744-04:00But Kate! Where would be the adventure? The danger...But Kate! Where would be the adventure? The danger? The leg cramps?MataPamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11128604732495114033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-72274701302129195202010-10-30T20:44:16.208-04:002010-10-30T20:44:16.208-04:00Matapam,
So long as space flight a) doesn't u...Matapam,<br /><br />So long as space flight a) doesn't use Microsoft software, and b) doesn't use the airline model of transportation.Kate Paulkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02034983693134240754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-26581197676743482012010-10-30T18:04:49.582-04:002010-10-30T18:04:49.582-04:00The media recognize that the public is generally m...The media recognize that the public is generally more concerned in what benefits them at that moment. I was a journalism major and the first rule of journalism is that you report on what people care about, that sort of thing.<br /><br />Now, if we discovered that we had twenty years to make space travel happen and find a new planet before Earth exploded, you can bet that there'd be plenty of interest. It would turn into a planetary priority. It would receive all the publicity, the money and the effort.<br /><br />Linda DavisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-35432672822240530502010-10-30T14:49:12.977-04:002010-10-30T14:49:12.977-04:00It would be marvelous to "mainstream" sp...It would be marvelous to "mainstream" spaceflight to the point that it started behaving like the computer industry. A new generation every year and a half, and cheaper as well.<br /><br />I suspect, that much like computers, we'll find ourselves taken by surprise, and end up using methods we haven't even considered to date.MataPamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11128604732495114033noreply@blogger.com