The Human Factor: Greene’s existential world of espionage
Dan Wild“A crumb could contain a microdot.” (129) The first Graham Greene book I read, Our Man in Havana (1958), followed the adventures of a vacuum cleaner salesman after being recruited by British Intelligence (and his increasingly outlandish ways of meeting their expectations). The Human Factor is decidedly less light-hearted, but no less a solid read. …
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Teegarden’s Star: A nearby red dwarf with two rocky planets
Dan WildWhile Teegarden’s Star is rarely talked about at dinner parties, it’s only a matter of time. Why? Two words. Habitable planets. At only 0.09 solar masses, Teegarden is a very small star. With less than 1/10th the mass of the sun, Teegarden is lucky to be a star at all – any less mass and …
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The Luhman 16 twins: Why brown dwarfs are cool
Dan WildIf you’ve heard of Luhman 16AB then I salute you. And if you haven’t, then I despair at the state of astronomy education in schools today. What? They don’t teach astronomy at school? Well, if they did, how would your teacher explain Luhman 16AB? “Today we’re going to talk about brown dwarfs, stellar objects that …
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John Pilger – Voice for the voiceless, champion of the oppressed
Dan Wild“It is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers without understanding the hidden agendas of the message and the myths that surround it” This is the strap-line on the X (Twitter) account of John Pilger, who sadly passed away on 30 December 2023. The world has lost one its kindest, compassionate and …
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You can’t be Sirius? Actually, I’m Sirius B
Dan WildSirius is really two stars. A faint white dwarf, Sirius B, is locked in a dance with Sirius A, and it takes 50 years for them to orbit each other. Sirius B used to be a big guy: it was once a red giant. Except it doesn’t have quite the same mass as Betelgeuse, a …
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Betelgeuse: Life as a Red Supergiant
Dan WildYou’ve heard of Betelgeuse if you’re an amateur astronomer. It’s that flickering red star at the bottom right corner of the constellation of Orion, as viewed in the southern hemisphere, and top left viewed from the northern hemisphere. Those born in the 1980s would have heard of it via the surreal Tim Burton film, Beetlejuice. …
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Space Juice: Chapter 40 – Great Elevator
Dan WildPrevious Chapter.. “Damn! By the red sludge of the Zorgons, where am I?” Chuck Marley thought he must have slept 20 hours. Or overdosed on Gelsem X, the equivalent of falling into a coma. His previous record asleep was 18 hours. The reflection in a metal cabinet shocked him. “My hair, my priceless haircut! I’ll …
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Space Juice: Chapter 39 – Friend of Man from the Stars
Dan WildPreceding Chapter.. They braced themselves, trying to remember the instructions given to SpaceBus passengers in an emergency. The warning system told them to do it anyway, though it was probably useless: “Brace position! Photon Annihilation event imminent.” Gaston Dimble huddled in a corner, hands clasped behind head, head upon knees. If he held himself any …
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Space Juice: Chapter 38 – Visualising your ideal state
Dan WildPrevious Chapter.. His loneliness lasted a second, snapped by the vibrating flablet. It was Thuris Thranganis, without his glasses. He stared at Chuck Marley from his terminal, his eyes larger without his lenses. “Mr Marley, you’re alive! I thought by now–” Static. Something was distorting the connection. “I’ve bought us some time. Not much time.” …
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Space Juice: Chapter 37 – Sleep mode
Dan WildPrevious Chapter.. Four minutes left. There were more controls here than in a Jovian Sports Coupe, where half of them were for display only. None of the buttons had labels. …Except for one. In the bottom left corner a small unassuming knob had the words ‘On’ and ‘Off’, displayed above and below it. Without thinking …