SciFi Saturday News – Star Wars Trailer, Habitable Planets, Space Weather and Protostars

By Cynthia Sax on November 14, 2015

Here is the round up of the SciFi stories that inspired me this week

New Star Wars Trailer

There’s a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer and it is epic. The more I read about this movie, the more excited I get.

Fight Over Space Rights

The fight over who owns space is heating up and giving me plenty of plot bunnies (What happens if humans claim a planet another species ‘owns’? What if we find out EARTH is ‘owned’ by another species?)

Alan Yuhas shares

“Asteroid platinum and the briny water on Mars may soon be available for plunder, Republicans and Democrats have agreed, advancing a bill that would grant “space resource rights” and could challenge an international treaty on outer space.”

3D Printing In Space

When I first saw 3D printers years ago at the Consumer Electronics Show, I immediately thought ‘replicators’ from Star Trek. The space possibilities are endless (and gold for SciFi romance writers).

Jeff Foust shares

“The benefits of 3-D printing in space are clear: it would allow crews to produce tools or spare parts, helping solve the logistical challenges of long-term spaceflight. It could also be used to create structures that aren’t possible on Earth or which could not survive the acceleration and vibration of a ride into space.”

The Number Of Habitable Planets In Our Galaxy

What is the possibility of life on other planets? Pretty darn good.

Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, shares

“There is estimated to be in our galaxy alone a trillion planets. And we can see 100 billion galaxies. It’s believed that one in 10 stars may have a habitable world capable of supporting life. That’s a lot of real estate.”

He’s talking about our galaxy, not the much larger universe.

Space Weather

Are you setting your story in a grim futuristic world and you need a ‘disaster’? Consider space weather.

The Washington Post shares

“The boisterous, volatile sun regularly throws off plasma, other particles and radiation that, with the right intensity and heading, could wreak havoc on modern society. In fact, extreme “space weather” recently came scarily close to slamming into Earth — and it has a shockingly high chance of knocking out power grids and doing other damage in the next 10 years, according to scientists’ best estimates.”

Gorgeous Photos

Wired shared some inspiring space photos

Including this photo of CARMA-7, a young protostar.

What has inspired you this week?

***

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Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.

He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.

She’s his one temptation, his sexy target. Vapor shouldn’t crave her caresses, steal her kisses, make her scream with ecstasy. The cyborgs want her dead and they would question his loyalty if he didn’t kill her. The humans would shoot him on sight if he dared to touch her.

Their love is forbidden. Their desire could be lethal. One human and one cyborg will risk everything for a moment of passion.

Buy Now:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breathingvapor-1897324-340.html

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breathing-vapor-cynthia-sax/1122718203

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/breathing-vapor

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SciFi Saturday News – Planetary Protection Officers, Sending Humans To Mars and Inspiring Space Photos

By Cynthia Sax on October 10, 2015

Are you looking for inspiration for your next SciFi romance story? These are the news stories that inspired me this week.

Sending Humans To Mars

Avaneesh Pandey shares

“In another step toward humanity’s journey to Mars, NASA on Thursday released a detailed outline of its plan to get to the red planet. Although the space agency did not announce a firm date for a manned mission, humans might be living and working in “Earth independent” habitats on Mars as early as the 2030s — if all goes according to plan.”

NASA’s Planetary Protection Officer

If you want a super cool career for your about-to-meet-a-hunky-alien heroine, how about making her NASA’s planetary protection officer?

Scott Sutherland shares

“The whole job description sounds a bit like Sci-Fi: One lone woman, with a mission to protect the universe… from Earth. Meet Catharine A. Conley, NASA’s planetary protection officer.

Space is a hazardous place, hostile to life, but Conley has been charged with protecting it from us, or at least what we might send out into it. That’s just what NASA’s planetary protection officer does, and it’s far more about science than science fiction.”

3D Printers And Replicators

I use machines similar to Star Trek replicators in some of my SciFi romance novels. These machines create objects from base inputs. Hmmm… doesn’t that sound a lot like a 3D printer?

Yes, it does. And people are working on applying 3D printers to space travel issues.

Toronto doctor Julielynn Wong shares

“We can’t take all the surgical supplies we want with us on a Mars mission. So the idea was, hey, why don’t I look at the medical inventory for space missions and see what’s 3D printable — just try to convert everything from hardware into something that’s virtual? Using 3D printers for space medicine is transformative.”

Some Awesome Space Photos

Here’s a post with some of the best space related photos I’ve seen in a while, including this one of two galaxies NGC 4302-4298 interacting.

What inspired you in the SciFi world this week?

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Half Man. Half Machine. All Hers.

Rage, the Humanoid Alliance’s most primitive cyborg, has two goals—kill all of the humans on his battle station and escape to the Homeland. The warrior has seen the darkness in others and in himself. He believes that’s all he’s been programmed to experience.
Until he meets Joan.

Joan, the battle station’s first female engineer, has one goal—survive long enough to help the big sexy cyborg plotting to kill her. Rage might not trust her but he wants her. She sees the passion in his eyes, the caring in his battle-worn hands, the gruff emotion in his voice.

When Joan survives the unthinkable, Rage’s priorities are tested. Is there enough room in this cyborg’s heart for both love and revenge?

Buy Now:
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Releasing-Rage-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOL1DRO

On ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-releasingrage-1850041-340.html

On B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/releasing-rage-cynthia-sax/1122455646

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