After many years of work, and visits to NASA, my scifi book came out. The science community has made strides toward eliminating poor science from scifi. I'd enjoy hearing what you think about science in pop media, and sharing my experience for any artists and scientists looking to do similar work.

Just a few celebration snaps! http://ift.tt/1S5GzOJ

I visited three installations at Goddard, including MMS (now in space) and Webb telescope. It was helpful seeing the scale in person, and the size of the largest clean room in the world. Two heliophysicists toured me through, depending on the installation. I also spent the late afternoon talking with one of the engineers about testing magnetism. Science is meaningful to some of the characters, so it was also helpful to be around people who live that lifestyle. I took a bit of home video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCQRUqyYk0 . NASA has put some muscle into science communication, and Dr. C. Alex Young really spent a good share of time bringing me into the fold at Goddard. (His Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSunToday )

Editorially, I worked with The Science and Entertainment Exchange out of Hollywood. This is a free service that connects professional filmmakers with science advisors. My science adviser makes sure that I don't break physics when working out unique future applications of science and development in-world. She works with me at a page by page level, and read an early draft so that we could meet and discuss, and therefore I could make the most of her insight. Essentially this adds another editor to the process -- one that looks at science. She also has expertise in heliophysics, which was by request. I couldn't have imagined a better match. The Exchange was hugely helpful and I urge other professional artists to look them up and check out the support they offer. Scientists can get involved and consult. http://ift.tt/1HtPAim

I also audited an astrotech course from the U of Edinburgh. The course probably would have been a breeze for many of you, but it was important to me to get some new (relatively to me) basics down and build the muscle memory of calculating things that I hadn't yet. Most of the science research is background and mindset that doesn't make it into the actual book by word -- but it's crucial that I know it in order to ground things or imagine applications.

I like to write and read/watch scifi and fantasy equally (and usually create in a more sci-fantasy space), however scifi is much more difficult to write. Orgs that offer support are making artist investment in great scifi more feasible. University of Maryland also has a program that brings writers in for a weekend with the astronomy department, if I recall. There's grant support for travel and lodging. Are there any other programs and orgs that I've missed?

Generally the science community has been very welcoming, which is a big change coming from an industry that is so exclusive. They're making real progress that I think is impressive. I hope you find their work as compelling as I do!

(x-posted from /space because I prob. should have gone here first)

E = hc/λ

Submitted April 13, 2016 at 02:15AM by J_Sto http://ift.tt/1VnUHJF