Hello there Reader! I hope you're having a great week.

I'm still working on book three in the Martians series, which will wrap up the story of the second invasion of Earth. If you've read the first two, you'll know that humanity is in a tight spot - the Martians roam around quite freely, and we are reduced to hiding and scurrying around in terror. But there is hope. We have a plan, we have the means to enact it, and we have people dedicated to doing their utmost. As the world around us can often feel overwhelming, assaulted as we are on all sides by bad news and disasters, it's worth remembering that we do still have the power to change things for the better. Whenever something dreadful happens, there are always the stories of those who helped out, who stepped up, who did the right thing. Remember them, seek them out, and follow their example. Fiction, and all art for that matter, is holding up a mirror to life. As an author, I can choose where I point it, and what it reflects. Like a fairground mirror, I can twist and shift that mirror to highlight certain things, and minimise others. In all my writing I notice that no matter how awful the situation for my characters, however bleak it seems, they always have hope. When they falter, when they fail, when they struggle to see the light, someone helps them pick themselves up again, and rebuild their resolve. That's the part of humanity I want to reflect. The part that says 'no' to the horrors of this world (or a neighbouring one), that stands up for what is right. In the words of Neil Gaiman, paraphrasing G.K. Chesterton:

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

Space News

How often do supernovas strike Earth?

On average, there will be a supernova in any given galaxy roughly once per century. So whenever you hear about a nova, there's a spectacularly low chance of it being anywhere near us. Even by astronomical measures, where 'nearby' can be anything up to 160 light years, or 1.5 quadrillion km.

But the universe is old, very old. Old enough that on the full timeline of history, it will have happened that a star exploded near enough to actually affect the Earth. And there's evidence for it happening roughly 1.5 million years ago.

Scientists discovered a layer of Iron-60 at the bottom of the sea. Iron-60 is a radioactive isotope that (as far as we know) is only ever manufactured in the death-throes of a star, but interestingly it wasn't a single, thin layer that might indicate a single event. From the article:

Instead, in each case, the increases were spread out over more than a million years, implying that multiple supernovas contributed to each episode. The researchers' models indicated the material spent about 200,000 years coasting through interstellar space before it fell to Earth.

Quite apart from the idea that debris from a stellar explosion actually hit us, we can imagine our distant ancestors (Australopithecus afarensis, the species that 'Lucy' belonged to, was around then) would have seen a new star in the sky, as bright as the full moon.

Fortunately all the candidates for another supernova are either far enough away from us, or too young to pose any immediate risk. But there might well be a new star in the sky at any moment, so keep looking up.

Source: scientificamerican.com

Other Books To Check Out

Strange News

A Secret Society of Airmen

We might think that conspiracy theories are a new invention, fostered by a desire to make sense of the baffling and often frightening world around us. But even a cursory glance at the history books shows people believing lies and propaganda when it helped reinforce their world view.

But there are 'theories' that are harmless. Such as the idea that a secret society called the 'Sonora Aero Club' experimented with outlandish and impractical designs for flying machines in the 1850s. Impractical, that is, until one member's discovery of 'Lifting Fluid', a liquid that could be dripped onto rotating plates to fill the vehicle with a gas lighter than hydrogen, without the risk of fire.

Not that the Club's machines were safe - crashes were common - but perhaps the greater danger cam from within their own numbers. Anyone suspected of breaking the code of silence ran the risk of an 'accident' shutting them up for good.

As Dellschau tells it, this was a golden era of aviation in the deep gold country of California. Members of the club held forth about their designs in their secret meetings behind their boardinghouse. They traveled the roads in airships disguised as covered wagons waiting until no one was around so they could take flight and go on extended voyages through the skies, sleeping and eating their meals high up in the clouds. But as with all good things, the club eventually came to an end.

Naturally, it was too good to be true. The only records are the glorious artwork of Charles Dellschau, 2000-odd pages of collages and watercolours which lay undiscovered until the 1960s. Now recognised as a wonderful work of Outsider Art, there is no evidence that the Club ever existed, and Dellschau himself was a butcher from Texas, not an aeronaut from California.

He started drawing and creating in 1890, at the height of the 'Airship Flap' (a precursor to today's UFO / UAP sightings). And just like some of the more, let's call them 'enthusiastic' saucer-believers, there are those who create even more story than the limited evidence supports.

Some believe the Sonora Aero Club vanished, taking their revolutionary technology with them, which is why we have no idea what 'lifting fluid' is today. This idea of a 'breakaway civilisation' is common, if utterly unlikely, and suggestions have even been made that the Sonorans flew an airship to Mars in 1903, while the Wright Brothers struggled to get a plane off the ground.

Even without the theories, baggage and outlandish suggestions, Dellschau's work is a beautiful reminder of the power of the human mind to invent and create.

Source: historicalblindness.com

Other Books To Check Out

Miscellany

A purely mechanical world clock, which correctly shows the current daylight terminator, date line and position of the sun...

Source: hackaday.com

In the last newsletter, I mentioned that there were some candidates for Dyson Spheres - and urged you not to get too excited. Here's another, very plausible, explanation.

Source: physicsworld.com

AI is being used to decode the language of whales. We already knew that they had the equivalent of names, now we're learning even more.

Source: Nature

And Finally

I've had a few people requesting an audio version of the Martians books. While I'd love to do one, the cost of a professional narrator is quite high. So I've decided to test the waters for a self-narrated version... I've uploaded the opening section of the book to YouTube, read by me, and would love to know what you honestly think. Is it something you'd be interested in? Or do you think I'd be better off saving up for a pro to do the job? Also, would you only consider it if it was on Audible? Or might you be tempted to buy it somewhere else, perhaps directly from me as a simple download? Don't worry, I'm not building a list of potential customers, and you won't be committing to anything. I just hope to gauge interest and decide whether it's worth investing my time into. Just hit reply, and let me know what you think!