Comments on: Lostronaut: Plants. In. Spaaaaaaaaace!

By: Friday Sci-Fi: Lostronaut « The Oyster’s Garter

Friday Sci-Fi: Lostronaut « The Oyster’s Garter — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:25:32 +0000

[...] reading the story makes you feel sciencey, Eric explored the science behind using plants for life support on the Science Not Fiction blog. But if reading the story makes you want to kick back and feel [...]

By: Green Grass in Space | Diary of a Network Geek

Green Grass in Space | Diary of a Network Geek — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:03:42 +0000

[...] Setting aside for a moment the fact that there is nothing new under the sun, there are some ideas that have been around for a long time that are just now seeing the light of day. The idea I’m thinking about today is regenerative life-support systems for long-term space exploration. The idea is simple, really. You just create a tiny, self-sustaining ecosystem on a spacecraft and send it on its way toward Mars or Jupiter or wherever you’re interested in going. The astronauts tend the garden which provides them with both fresh produce and breathable air. Of course, actually implementing this system is much more challenging than it seems on the surface. Discover takes a little closer look at the problem in a recent article on their blog. [...]

By: Elmar_M

Elmar_M — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:46:45 +0000

I know what you mean Eric and I love the sonic screwdriver like the next man
I just dont like things that are not logical. If there is a sonic screwdriver to fix my unobtainium- drive then fine. I dont know anything about a sonic screwdriver or how it would fix my unobtainiumdrive, I cant even imagine it, so I will just turn off my brains and accept it as a given. But… when there are mines in space preventing my hero from returning to earth and therefore dooming him to certain death, then my brain starts working and tries to think of all sorts of ways to overcome the problem, or of reasons why this should not be a problem to begin with.
That is, I think a general problem with science fiction:
The closer to science it gets and the further it moves away from fiction, the more attention to detail has to be payed by the author.
I am particularily annoyed with inaccuracies, when the author is obviously trying to transmit some kind of message or agenda and then uses “false science” to do that (e.g. anti cloning message in 11th hour).

By: Eric Wolff

Eric Wolff — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:56:45 +0000

Yeah, Elmar, I hear you. Generally at SciNoFi we try not to go after people for just getting stuff wrong, or for ideas being implausible. It would be too easy, and we don’t think all that interesting to read about how movies, TV, and literature get things wrong. But it’s a bit of a stretch in this story. Maybe the mines stayed between the space station and earth, but even still, the US couldn’t make a hole by throwing things at them until they exploded? Unlike earth mines, these things were visible, right there in space. Just blow them up!

Lethem is a pretty good writer (In addition to Fortress of Solitude I recommend Motherless Brooklyn), but he’s smart enough to have thought just a little harder about why they couldn’t get back to earth.

By: Where New Yorker short stories and science collide! « The Oyster’s Garter

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:52:05 +0000

[...] stories and science collide! Posted by Miriam Goldstein under Uncategorized Check out Eric’s latest column for Science Not Fiction, in which he ponders the possibilities of plant-based intergalactic life [...]

By: Elmar_M

Elmar_M — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:04:25 +0000

What I do not quite like about the idea of the story is… from what I read here space mines seem to be a very inefficient way to make LEO unaccessible.
The earth is big, such is space. You would need many, many, many mines to do this. Even then the effectiveness is doubtful in my mind, especially for preventing these astronauts from returning home. But then I can not really think of anything that would be. Maybe something more moveable that actively seeks targets, moves closer and then destroys them with a weapon of some sorts, like a laser, or high speed projectile weapons.

By: Conspirama

Conspirama — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:22:04 +0000

Lostronaut: Plants. In. Spaaaaaaaaace! | Science Not Fiction …

The use of plants to recycle air and provide food for long term space trips is one of science fiction’s favorite tropes. It makes so much sense, right? Green plants and algae use carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen, which humans …

By: science and the environment | Digg hot tags

science and the environment | Digg hot tags — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:04:35 +0000

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