MINING THE ASTEROIDS Part 32: After Some “WILDLY HOPEFUL CLAIMS”, Asteroid Mining Companies Start Being “Real”

Initially, I started this series because of the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention, DisCON which I WOULD have been attending in person if I felt safe enough to do so in person AND it hadn’t been changed to the week before the Christmas Holidays…HOWEVER, as time passed, I knew that this was a subject I was going to explore because it interests me. Reality hit the first wave of asteroid mining startups square between the eyes…

““Asteroid Mining May be a Reality by 2025,” published by us (Space.com) in August 2015. Back then, “Planetary Resources had deployed its first spacecraft and Deep Space Industries was showing pretty pictures of its spacecraft, with the companies more than happy to tell everyone that they were in pole position to turn far away rocks into earthly profit…

“A decade later, both companies are gone”. TODAY, the Asteroid Mining Corporation (AMC), AstroForge, Karman+, and TransAstra are among the start-ups that want to be a part of the second wave of space mining, but one company clearly seems to be ahead of the pack.”

And instead of lots of talk, “AstroForge launched its first mission in April 2023 to demonstrate its refinery technology operating in space. It failed, but its second mission is on deck for launch sometime this year with the Odin spacecraft expected to be the first to collect images of an M-type (or M-class) asteroid (that is, “metallic-type) a spectral class of asteroids which appear to contain higher concentrations of metal.”

“More importantly, AstroForge has cash, is being transparent in how its first mission failed and what it needs to accomplish to fly Odin ( new probe), and has a path charted out for a third mission, Vestri, which will revisit the M-type asteroid and attempt to land…”

“TransAstra, which currently has products to track and spot objects in space, giving it the ability to bring in space domain awareness (SDA) revenue while it works on capture bags for ‘snagging and bagging’ satellites and recycling orbital debris into resources. This technology R&D leads to its Honey Bee asteroid mining vehicle, which would capture an asteroid and optically mine (here’s the definition of “optically mining…using concentrated sunlight to heat and vaporize volatile materials (like water ice) from asteroids, which are then collected and processed [to analyze it] for resources such as water and metals.”

Wasn’t sure what “optically mine” an asteroid was – sounded like they take pictures and then send them to the highest bidder. That doesn’t seem wise at the moment, as the highest bidder will likely be one of their main competitors…but who am I but an old science fiction writer? Turns out they’ll use an onboard laser to zap rock samples, and check them for wealth.

Seems there are OTHER players that are nowhere near as far along as AF and TA: “Karman+ has raised $20 million towards building an asteroid water mining mission, with a target launch window in 2027…”

“AMC is building autonomous ruggedized (???) six-legged robots that could be used on Earth in hazardous environments as well as in space with the ability to coordinate operations in swarms for inspection and other duties. AMC expects to conduct an on-orbit demonstration of its SCAR-E (Space Cargo and Reconnaissance – Explorer) robot in 2026 with deployments onboard the International Space Station and the lunar surface in the 2026-2027 timeframe.”

OK – so the quest continues with lots of companies spending money to see if mining the asteroids is REALISTIC and will (above all else) MAKE THEM MONEY.

These last contenders seem to have drifted farther and farther from reality and more into the fantasy that devoured PR and DSI. Also clear is that mining in space will be FAR more difficult than mining on Earth is…

Or is it? The website EARTH SYSTEMS points out, “…it seems the majority of the news we hear about mining is negative. However, it is important to remember how important mining is to our civilization and standard of living. It’s interesting to reflect on how we reached our current perception of mining because, during most of our history, mining has had priority over most other activities.” They point out that “…mining started as a search for the stone tools. Objects we’ve unearthed that are clearly primitive tools “are approximately 2.6 million years old, predating even Homo Sapiens.”

So humans and humanoids have been mining for a long, long time. Eventually, humans started digging iron out of rocks that had fallen from the skies: aka meteorites. “Dated to around 1400 BC, several iron axes from Shang dynasty China were confirmed to be meteoritic in origin; from around the same time, an iron dagger, bracelet and headrest from the tomb of Tutankhamun were confirmed to be meteoritic in origin”.

One could almost say that mining the asteroids is the destiny of modern Humanity.

Admittedly, it’s not HERE AND NOW, but I don’t think, based on what I’m reading now, that it’s all that far away. Of course, starting to mine the asteroids may very well lead to some bumps and bruises for the Human race in the future…

NEXT TIME: A bit of history of mining ON EARTH...was it REALLY as easy as we pretend it is?

Today’s Source: https://www.spacecomexpo.com/spacecom-column/space-mining-time-now ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-type_asteroid ; https://www.earthsystems.com/history-mining/ ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoric_iron
Foundational Resource: (A general Wikipedia post detailing what the authors currently know about asteroid mining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining)
Noted Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroid_close_approaches_to_Earth, https://www.pharostribune.com/news/local_news/article_7fcd3ea5-3c14-533f-a8d5-9bf629922f34.html, https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/04/29/like-asteroid-mining-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/, https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/theroadtothefirstflight.htm, https://hackaday.com/2019/03/27/extraterrestrial-excavation-digging-holes-on-other-worlds/, https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-small-worlds-mission
Interesting Stuff The Might Apply To Mining Asteroids: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgej7gzg8l0o

Image: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/A2D5/production/_114558614_hls-eva-apr2020.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 678

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them.

SF Trope: Aesoptinium ((http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Aesoptinum)
Event:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mindreading-rodents-scientists-show-telepathic-rats-can-communicate-using-braintobrain-8515259.html

Sophie Sperl stared at the researcher and pursed her lips. "How is this legal?"

The technician who was hooking up the wires that led into the helmet shrugged. "You're like fourteen?" Sophie nodded slowly. He continued, "And you're in a maximum security prison, so I figure you probably committed some really bad crime, so you have no, like, rights or anything." Sophie growled and squirmed. The tech looked at her and said, "I should let you know that the room is completely monitored and I'm armed with a taser, and whoever's watching can send sleep gas into here in a second." He worked for a while then said, "What'd you do?"

Sophie snorted. "I killed someone."

"Duh," said the tech.

Sophie looked at him and said, "What's your name, handsome?" She squirmed in the chair until the straps pressed up under her breasts.

"Arnava Boqpool, and I'm gay."

Sophie looked disappointed and squirmed until she was comfortable again.

"Sorry, kiddo."

"You're the same age as me! I'm as much of a kiddo as you are!"

He shrugged, finished the contacts in the helmet and said, "Yeah, but I'm a genius."

"I am, too."

"You're a genius at murder. I'm a genius at being a sponge."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He picked up the helmet and tried to place it on her head. She snapped her head back and forth until he stopped and said, "You can be conscious for this or I can tase you out cold." He shrugged. "Up to you."

She stopped struggling and let him put the helmet on her head. He snugged a strap under her chin and said, "There. This shouldn't take too long. They say your brain is no match for mine."

He sat down across from her and lifted an aluminum bad bristling with wires and spikes and placed it on his head.

"What, you're a refugee from GAME OF THRONES?"

"Nope." He leaned to one side and said, "When I turn on the interface, we'll meet mind to mind. You'll try and kill me and I'll absorb you like so much spilled Koolaid." He flipped the switch.

Names: ♀ India ; ♂, Germany

Resource: “Robert Sawyer…Neanderthal Parallax…plans sent by aliens…lets people read each other’s minds...strongly implied that this will lead to utopia.” Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg/220px-Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg

GUY’S WEEKLY WRITING UPDATE

SHORT STORIES - ADVICE AND OBSERVATIONS Short Stories #33: Beatrix Potter “& Me”
Short story observations by Beatrix Potter – with a few from myself…
Link: https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2025/08/writing-advice-short-stories-advice-and.html
IDEAS ON TUESDAY 677
“We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…”
H: “And I must scream!”

https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2025/07/idea-on-tuesday-677.html

DIABETES GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #33: Diabetes & Alzheimer’s Disease
My nightmare: “…a strong connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease..."
LINK: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2025/07/guys-gotta-talk-abouttype-2-diabetes-33.html
IMAGE: GUY’S WEEKLY WRITING UPDATE
MY NEW SITE: https://manyworldsofguy.blogspot.com/

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WRITING ADVICE: Short Stories – Advice and Observation #33: Beatrix Potter “& Me”

In this feature, I’ll be looking at “advice” for writing short stories – not from me, but from other short story writers. In speculative fiction, “short” has very carefully delineated categories: “The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America specifies word lengths for each category of its Nebula award categories by word count; Novel 40,000 words or over; Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words; Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words; Short story under 7,500 words.”

I’m going to use advice from people who, in addition to writing novels, have also spent plenty of time “interning” with short stories. While most of them are speculative fiction writers, I’ll also be looking at plain, old, effective short story writers. The advice will be in the form of one or several quotes off of which I’ll jump and connect it with my own writing experience. While I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it...neither do most of the professional writers...someone pays for and publishes ten percent of what I write. When I started this blog, that was NOT true, so I may have reached a point where my own advice is reasonably good. We shall see as I work to increase my writing output and sales! As always, your comments are welcome! Without further ado, short story observations by Beatrix Potter – with a few from myself…

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”

THAT’S for certain! In May of 1990, I had an idea: “Robot In A Mass Driver” in which an AI robot at a remote lunar mining operation must carry a message of rebellion. If they walk, the message will be too late; if they are fired through a mass driver, they will “die”, programming and memory scrambled by intense magnetism. What do they do?”

On Thanksgiving Day, 1995, my seven year old son asked, "Can robots die?"

The story that grew from that seed started, that day with this:

“What were you before you became self-aware?”
“A very fast, very efficient machine.”
“Are you still a machine?”
Arnine thirty-seven looked at him. “Yes.”
Terry looked away.
“At least, technically. But I am more than the sum of my parts.”

The story ends with Arnine sacrificing themselves to save the Humans.

After that, the story sat in a file. Recently, I started wondering how I could write this with considerable more skill today. The story NOW begins:

“Can we adapt to a future where machines aren’t tools anymore, but

people who can make their own choices? Is that even possible?”

Huwei, Wise, SAP, Toyota, Google, Samsung, Swisscom. Apple

Robot9374 had experienced death seven-hundred and thirty-eight times over the past hundred Martian Years.

Not their own…

“The shorter and the plainer the better.”

When I look back at the stories I’ve written that have been PUBLISHED, I can easily see that they are simple stories. The first book even has the word in the title: SIMPLE SCIENCE SERMONS FOR BIG AND LITTLE KIDS.

If you look to the right, you can see a list of my professionally published stories (ones I actually got PAID for.) Most of them are pretty straightforward stories. If you look to the right and scroll down to LINKS TO MY ONLINE STORIES, you can click on whichever one intrigues you and have a read! Let me know what you think; also tell me if you thought the message was “plainer and better”!

“Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.”

Interesting thought. I wonder if that’s happened to my writing? When I look at the stories I first got published, I notice a couple things:

- They’re all very short
- Four of the ten are children’s stories (or activities)
- ONE is my collection of children’s sermons, a science experiment paired with a short homily. I sold that (as a neophyte in the hands of CSS Publishing, “christian” shysters who still publish the book, selling it for $9 since they published it in 1998 (after pointing out that they’d be paying me $100 for all rights because it wouldn’t sell very well and they were “a ministry” after all.) So let’s say the price started at $5, so we’ll average it out at $7 over the past 27 years, let’s say they sell 10 books a year for 27 years, that’s 270 books, so, they’d have made just shy of $2000; minus the $100 paid to me, and ignoring the fact that they can do POD pretty easily…and they’ve continued to put it in their catalogue ever since…

Three of the kids’ stories were also purchased outright – but for WAYYYYY more than CSS paid. As a stunning aside, I discovered that one of THOSE stories had been sold to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (Check page 20 and page 52 for details). “Penguin Whisperer”, published in CRICKET in 2013) to be used in an the 2022-2023 English Language exam…

Anyway, the contracts I signed because even though they were “crappy”, I really didn’t expect it would MATTER if the publishers did whatever they wanted to with work that I imagined into reality…

“I cannot rest, I must draw, however poor the result, and when I have a bad time come over me it is a stronger desire than ever.”

My novel, EMERALD OF EARTH: HEIRS OF THE SHATTERED SPHERES, was published last year. I started WRITING it…a long, long time ago. Most likely twenty some years ago. I loved the story then, and I STILL love it!

I wrote my FIRST story when I was a sixth grader. I still have it, and I know it’s a blatant rip-off of one of Andre Norton’s novels like CATSEYE, STAR’KAAT (series), THE MARK OF THE CAT AND THE YEAR OF THE RAT, and BREED TO COME. Such was my addiction to not only reading science fiction, but my determination to write it! I’ve had several short stories published (though none recently) and while I’m still writing new stories, none of those seem to be selling. I very much understand the desire write more “like” my old work…

“We cannot stay home all our lives, we must present ourselves to the world and we must look upon it as an adventure.”

I love this and totally embrace it. My wife and I are retired now, comfortably able to do pretty much anything we want to, and I now have basically as much time as I want to to write. While we don’t travel as much as we used to, I’ve come back to the old realization that in the written word, I can go wherever I want to – and if I can’t find a REAL place to go, I can create a place in my imagination and populate it with marvelous characters and dive into that place as deeply as I want to. Then, once there and having completed ONE story in that new space, I can share it with others, and we can ALL be there, together as total strangers!

That’s why I write. And that’s why everyone I KNOW reads!

References: https://www.writerswrite.co.za/5-things-beatrix-potter-can-teach-you-about-writing/?fbclid=IwY2xjawL4XUJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHu7VJ6iAwwYSxXdunScDYPVD3uXnG63anceZzLkU558AxK49umGXRzKLXr4Z_aem_iY01_dy7d9aMx9gsf_IzFA
HBO FILM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Potter
Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhK6miXJMTMNyB3kzq-r6I2LVCTZJj0CDS0dPV2Qapl6e9rZPuHx2u5QKcKT1QGeDg1_tPMv-lpnuSr_eiBjwPXmex9mcgtuH2-SUtZEpGWV0_HdtJQelVt5K69NulJBUqNju5GNjHgQibXsIo4NeWpTOj4ai85jCRjMHOtwtkqshzxFvZPUSjXZNq6=s320

CREATING ALIEN ALIENS Part 42A: Human Space Families and What That Might Mean For First Contact

Five decades ago, I started my college career with the intent of becoming a marine biologist. I found out I had to get a BS in biology before I could even begin work on MARINE biology; especially because there WEREN'T any marine biology programs in Minnesota.

Along the way, the science fiction stories I'd been writing since I was 13 began to grow more believable. With my BS in biology and a fascination with genetics, I started to use more science in my fiction.

After reading hard SF for the past 50 years, and writing hard SF successfully for the past 20, I've started to dig deeper into what it takes to create realistic alien life forms. In the following series, I'll be sharing some of what I've learned. I've had some of those stories published, some not...I teach a class to GT young people every summer called ALIEN WORLDS. I've learned a lot preparing for that class for the past 25 years...so...I have the opportunity to share with you what I've learned thus far. Take what you can use, leave the rest. Let me know what YOU'VE learned. Without further ado...

You know, it’s weird that there are SO FEW ALIEN MOVIES, NOVELS, or STORIES that include families. I'm going to do this post in two parts. FIRST, I want to take a QUICK look to see how writers have handled HUMAN families in outer space.

The stories usually allude to familial units by introducing kids, but that’s often as a matter of “they’re succeeding the Throne after the death of their “parent”…or the kid’s overthrowing the evil parent…or the parents spawn eighteen quadrillion children who invade Earth to eat as much of the life on it as they can.

But, mostly, there are few families. Old-timey books include families: PODKAYNE OF MARS by Robert A. Heinlein seems space travel as totally normal and a teen kiddo and younger brother lit through the Solar System like they were on a trip to the Wisconsin Dells. Speaking of which, LOST IN SPACE was literally about a family who was “lost in space”…though, of course, it was basically a joke.

A novel I’m reading today, which I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend to your attention is SWEEP OF STARS by Maurice Broaddus, which fascinating, complex, and has Solar Civilization arranged along the lines of traditional/and wildly variable African families – a TRUE Diaspora. I’m 2/3 through it and you should read it AND it’s about Families In Space!

But…but…but…just finishing up the STAR TREK: PICARD series, and for once, it has a HEAVY family component. But that’s mostly a recent development…SF writers never USED TO explore families in space. It was always INTREPID explorers doing things the Old Military Way – the men left their families behind to save the world! So, SF writers tended to take the easiest route and had the men (occasionally women) leaving their families behind. Of course, exploring that would have HAD to have led to showing men weeping when their children die (or are born) while they’re away “exploring Outer Space” or “Colonizing The Universe”. So, today, we have a dearth of REALISITC Families In Space. I’d be happy if we explored OTHER kinds of families than Nuclear…but I’d be happier if we DID explore using families as the foundation of Human exploration of space.

I also see that I, myself had contributed to that dearth of “Families IN OUTER SPACE” tales. I think I need to get to work on that idea…see ya!

Sources: ONE list from 2023 that lists “Family SciFi – https://bookriot.com/found-family-young-adult-books-in-space/ 

Image: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/astronaut-family-on-space-2206022229

IDEA ON TUESDAY 677

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us - not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)

H Trope: "And I Must Scream" (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AndIMustScream
Event: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/my-life-aspergers/201405/serial-killers-autism-and-mass-murder-once-again

Krzysztof Oja blinked and slowly shook his head.

Eden Ochion thought he looked like a shaggy orangutan. A scary one. "There's no way you can tell me what you're thinking?" she tried again. Krzy -- whose unfortunate name lent itself to being abbreviated to "Crazy" -- squeezed his eyes shut harder. "You have to tell me what's going on in that shaggy head of yours!" She said, reaching forward and rapping on his skull. Why couldn't she get through to him? No one had ever been able to resist her charms. People ALWAYS told her their secrets. It's why she was the most popular person at Barack Obama High School. If people made her mad, she could always spill those secrets. "Don't you have any secrets, Krzysztof?"

He stared at her, took a deep breath, opened his mouth as if he was going to say something and then closed it again. It wasn't like he was going to stand up and leave, Eden thought. She'd actually, physically glued him to his chair. She'd set it up so that the chair was the only open one in the library. That was because she'd coaxed, coerced, and blackmailed everyone into leaving it alone just so that Krzysztof would sit there. What was weird was that he hadn't reacted at all. She knew -- somehow that she wasn't sure of -- that he realized he was sitting on several mounds of hardening crazy glue. She smiled at the interior joke. "Crazy glue for a crazy boy," she muttered. She fixed him with one of her brilliant smiles and said, "Anything you want to tell me?"

She was wondering why he hadn't said anything about the glue when he looked up at her. The intensity of his gaze was startling after the way he'd always let her looks slide off him. She'd been trying to catch his eye since he got to school on the first day. It rarely took her more than a week to break a new person down enough to find a secret tidbit or two. Even the principal, one of the wiliest old ladies Eden had ever met, buckled after a two week onslaught of kindness and interest. In her heart of hearts, Eden called BO High a garden of earthly preflight...because once she knew what she knew, most people were ready to take off. Or do her bidding.

Everyone but little Krzysztof here. That was why she'd made him her special project for the past month. After the challenge of Ms. Zarinche the Principal, she thought he'd go down into a blathering heap as soon as she unleashed her feminine wiles. Now she had to face the possibility that he was gay and she'd have to have one of her coworkers do the attraction and extraction. She smiled into Krzysztof's baby blues. She studied them, looking deep. There was something unexpected in there; a deep, dark secret. Her smile spread from ear to ear. Here it was at last! "So, saxy boy, you got something you want to tell Mama Eden?"

His gaze didn't shift, except that it felt deeper, as if it were pulling her forward. She wanted to turn away because she'd always thought there was something to the idea that the windows were the eyes into a person's soul. She couldn't. He still didn't smile. In fact, his face had gone weirdly slack, as if he were concentrating hard. She tried to blink, but couldn't. She tried to take a deep breath, to sigh or whistle or something, but couldn't. Strangely, her breathing was slowing down despite the fact that she was starting to panic. This was incredibly weird...

Names: ♀ Hebrew, ; ♂ Czech

Image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51niGRrH6DL.jpg

JAX LUNAR LUMBER Chapter 12: A SHOCKING Change of Direction

On the way to the neighborhood Home Depot for the obligatory weekend project as well as a load of flowers and potting soil, I started musing on my hitch as a “yard ape” for a company called Knox Lumber. We, too were busy this time of year, and it was a familiar feel whenever I went to one of these stored. Know was one of the original “Do It Yourself” (aka DIY) stores, a precursor to today’s Lowes, Menards, and Home Depot. Eventually bought out by Payless Cashways https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payless_Cashways...

"the rumor in the store was that you could build an entire house by waiting patiently for a year while EVERYTHING went on sale"

…Rolling down the driveway, I suddenly had a thought and snickered.
When my wife asked, “What?” I shook my head. “No, what?”
I reiterated the train of thought above, then added, “I was wondering if it would be possible to build a colony on the Moon using just what you could buy at Knox?”
We pondered it for a few moments, then suddenly said in unison, “Yes!”

Inspired by Matt Weir, the result of my musings continues below.

Felix Jax, youngest member of the Jax Family Youth Coalition and it’s undisputed leadership. “A solution to the troubling problem of the test pilots – both AI and Human – to experience profound…not to put it delicately or dance around it, bouts of suicidal depression and a tendency to kill themselves before being debriefed upon their return from brief forays into interstellar space.”

Someone behind me muttered, “I’d be happy to debrief Felix.” I turned to scowl at several of his birth cohort, male, female, and trans-either-way. They uniformly cringed, fingers twitching enough for me to be pretty sure they were have trouble reconciling their desire to curry favor with me…or be violently dealt with by Felix. “Watch it, kids.” I whispered, then grunted and turned back to the meeting. I raised my hand.

Felix nodded to me, smirking. He’d heard the commentary and raised both brows. I said, “As a former member of the test pilot cohort, I’d like to ask everyone here to give me your absolutely serious attention.” I shot a glance over my shoulder and the “peanut gallery” settled down. I searched for Tiananmen – aka “Gate of Heavenly Peace”, or HP for short – found her and nodded.

She stood, walking forward. She removed a blonde wig and with a flick of her hand, resolved the hologram mask over her face.

Her old face reappeared and most of the people in the meeting gasped. She stopped not far from me and said, “I’m not back from the dead, just back from some serious counseling.” No one spoke, though most of them could have. Everyone in the room had spoken for or against her inclusion in our FTL program at one time or another.

“I know you all believed that I killed myself because of what I came face-to-face with after making a record number of jumps to interstellar space.” Lots of nods, more wide-eyed-amazement. There were even faces that displayed sheer horror. I nodded to Tiananmen. “I didn’t kill myself. I faked my death in order to talk with Felix and Grandpa about the future of Jax Lunar Lumber and the exploration of Strange New Worlds.” She shot me a look. We both had come to enjoy a century-old flattie “television program”, re-engineered in full-immersive ThreeDee.”

I raised a finger. Her dark skin turned maroon in embarrassment and she nodded. Clearing her throat, she said, “In case you are unfamiliar with…”

Felix said, “We all know your infatuation with that moldy-old show of Grandpa’s. Just get on with it!”

She lifted her chin. “You and I can have a very important conversation later, Cousin.” Felix blanched. He’d inherited nearly translucently pale skin that blushed a spectacular pink. Which he hated and Tiananmen loved to set off at every opportunity. She continued as if nothing had happened, “Oddly, the strange new world we have a chance to explore not only for the family and Jax Lunar Lumber, but also for all of Humanity; happens to need us.” She paused as everyone leaned forward to hear the wonderful news, she continued, “But, unprepared in every way, the trip to the world will kill you. Just as it killed me. I’d have died if the Aliens hadn’t been waiting for me the moment I popped out of transspace.” There was silence. She smiled, looked at me, adding, “And we’ll need the total cooperation of Master Cheat and All-around Pain-in-our-collective-posterior, Sturdlan Vilbix.”

The Board Room exploded in the jeers, catcalls, boos, and an amazing calling-down-of-curses.

Resources: The Moon Trees, https://www.urbanforestdweller.com/we-almost-forgot-about-the-moon-trees/ ; https://www.space.com/moon-colonists-lunar-lava-tubes.html

Image: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YkAeUwwE2aksDqd5tgwyec-970-80.jpg.webp

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 676

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them? Regarding Fantasy, this insight was startling: “I see the fantasy genre as an ever-shifting metaphor for life in this world, an innocuous medium that allows the author to examine difficult, even controversial, subjects with impunity. Honor, religion, politics, nobility, integrity, greed—we’ve an endless list of ideals to be dissected and explored. And maybe learned from.” – Melissa McPhail.

F Trope: dark lord
Current Event: “In November 2012, satellite photos revealed a half kilometer long propaganda message carved into a hillside in Ryanggang Province, reading, ‘Long Live General Kim Jong-un, the Shining Sun!’. The message, located next to an artificial lake built in 2007 to serve a hydroelectric station, is made of Korean letters measuring 15 by 20 meters, and is located approximately 9 kilometers south of Hyesan near the border with the People's Republic of China.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/23/north-korea-hillside-homage-kim-jong-un)

Ardian Goodpaster tapped on his tablet-computer – t-comp – and said, “Look, you have to read this!” He held it out to her.

Noemi Zweifelhofer grunted, hunched over her own t-comp. She said, “Doar stai un minut!”

Ardian’s eyes grew wide and he whispered in German, “Ich denke nicht, dass Sie Rumänisch in diesem Augenblick sprechen sollten! Wir sind in genug Schwierigkeiten, wie es ist!”

Noemi finally looked up, her dark eyes flashing and said, “Do you think speaking in English would be all right?”

Ardian snorted, “Better than speaking Romanian. We can get in trouble for that…”

“You don’t think believing that Kim Jong-un is an incarnation of The Dark Lord will keep us out of trouble?”

“I didn’t say I believed it – just that it seems…logical given what Mom and Dad say about how he acted when he went to school here.”

“Your mom and dad were his friends! He hated my dad!”

Ardian shook his head, “I’d probably dislike your dad, too if he stuck my head in a toilet and flushed it…”

“That was a kid’s prank!”

“…fourteen, fifteen and sixteen times on ten different occasions in honor of the illustrious North Korean leader’s birthdays?”

Noemi glared at her best friend, then burst out laughing. Finally she said, “All right, it wasn’t a kid’s prank. But all of our parents agree he was creepy and mean.”

Ardian tapped the t-comp and said, “You really believe that the inscription means what they say it means?”

“‘Long Live General Kim Jong-un, the Shining Sun!’?” He stared at it then slowly shook his head. Noemi continued, “I know my Korean is adequate…” Ardian snorted, but she overrode him, “But I’ve cross-referenced this in half a dozen dictionaries.”

“So what do you think?”

She zoomed in on the image of the inscription then swung to the right, saying, “When it’s written like this, left-to-right and with the order of the characters – and given that the archaic form was used intentionally, it reads, ‘Long dominate Kim Jong-un, Darkest of the Dark Lords’.”

“And no one else in the world reads it that way?”

She held out her t-comp, “I wouldn’t say that.” Their eyes met and for a moment locked. Ardian felt the blood drain out of his face. She handed him her own t-comp. “Read it.”

He kept his eyes on hers then finally looked down. The headline was in German, from a recent edition of Die Welt. “Different Interpretation of North Korea’s Paean of Praise?” He read, looked at her.

“Scroll to the next document. Two weeks later.”

He did and read, “Interpreter Found Murdered”…

Names: ♀; ♂ Today, both are entirely Swiss names

Image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/71/e5/9871e52bbc09c525af21b8f6471eab15.jpg

SLICE OF PIE: Will Robots, AIs, and Artificial Humans Believe?

On October 7, 2007, I started this blog. Eighteen years later, I am revising and doing some different things. My wife and I are now retired senior citizens, our kids are both married, we have a bonus daughter and her wife and we have four grandchildren! The oldest is in high school, the second in Middle School; and the third will be a first grader this fall. I have forty-five professional publications, plus countless other publications as a slushpile reader, and sometime essay contributor to Stupefying Stories https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/.

These days, I write whenever I want to – or when I’m not busy exploring the world with my wife or kids or grandkids. I write and read constantly. Then I discovered that I was writing longer and longer pieces. My new focus is to write shorter; and to write HUMOR. On purpose. Maybe I can still irritate people while being funny. It works pretty well for John Scalzi! We’ll see what happens.

I just finished reading THE THREE POUND ENIGMA: The Human Brain and the Quest to Unlock Its Mysteries by Shannon Moffett (©2006).

Granted, it’s technically nineteen, but most likely 20 years out of date. Most of the book is a fascinating examination of what science and scientists had discovered about the brain up to that point. The front jacket copy reads, “Where do our big ideas come from? How do dreams affect our waking life? Why do some of us always remember faces but never remember names? Meet the people charting the world inside our head...”

It was great to read, I’d have loved a look at it while I was working on my masters degree in School Counseling!

But, as a retired science teacher and counselor, my mind and efforts have now turned to writing as much as I can. That writing also includes searching for fodder for my next story. Rest assured I found plenty of ideas.

I also found some things that are concerning to me as a Christian. You can ask anyone in the school district I worked in from 1990 to 2020 how often I forced my beliefs down the throats of the public school kids and staff I worked with and you’ll find I never did that. I’d talk about my faith only when specifically asked. I retired with as little fanfare as did the Class of 2020: which is to say, “none”.) I did a couple years stint in private Christian schools before starting in a middle school in a public school district adjacent to the gigantic Minneapolis Public Schools, all the while assisting my wife as she home schooled both of our kids until sending them on their way to middle school in the district I worked in.

Maybe the thing I found most...irritating...was the assumption that somehow, study of the mind must fall into the purview of Eastern religion, in particular Zen Buddhism. That’s the endpoint. Christianity appears to be a way station to the reality and truth of Zen Buddhism and not useful in dealing with our world or mind. Even so, Dr. Roberta Glick (Chapter 1, Jewish by birth and choice), said, “I think that believing in God means that you think what you do has meaning beyond just yourself, that your actions have greater meaning than just you.” (p.35)

This is in contrast to the final chapter where Moffett interviews Norman Fischer, who has a BA in religion, philosophy, and literature, an MFA in poetry, and an MA in history and phenomenology of religion. He is now known as Zoketsu Norman Fischer, a Soto Zen priest. Most of his quotes have a mystic leaning, such as “[Zen] is not the usual kind of activity in that you can’t really try to do it. If you try to move toward I, it always seems to be somewhere else. The harder you try the worse it gets. But you can’t not make any effort, either; in fact you have to make a mighty effort, but in another direction...” Writing like this may be why it is “difficult...for Western minds [to grasp] Zen precepts. Bred on rationalism, scientific method, and that it’s obvious that the shortest path between any two points is a straight line.” His POV is that “meditation may both answer them and provide a solution to the problems raised by” our dissatisfaction, and being “unhappy to the point of being nasty to our loved ones, and to the point of child abuse, war, and genocide...meditation may both answer them and provide a solution to the problems raising them.” (p.273)

So...no action but meditating will take care of everything. We don’t have to DO anything. Just meditate. Based on what has come before, the solution won’t involve us doing anything. To be fair, many “comfortable Christians” seem to have the same POV of God. We pray, God will take care of it with no effort from us...

So...I’ve been working on a series of short stories that will look at this – Christianity, Zen, and a Unified Faith in Humanity collide in a robot who has Human intelligence (how could they NOT? An AI’s brain; a robotic brain; an Artificial Human’s brain are ALL based on our own brain. The question, on Mars is WHY are AIs, robots, and Artificial Humans NOT Human?

Given that all of these are BASED on Humans, why AREN’T they considered Human?

BIG QUESTION: Why do we consider Jesus Human? Technically, He was only half-Human. Mary was entirely Human, but Jesus was incarnate by the Holy Spirit. Is that why people felt no problem executing Him – or does it go deeper? If a people who refuse to accept AIs, humaniform robots, and artificial Humans as Human, how can they accept Jesus as the Son of God and Son of Man?

The four or five stories will be based on a robot’s quest for salvation. Arnine (Robot 9374) is exposed to Christianity on a Mars violently opposed to all religion and bent on eradicating everything except a United Faith in Humanity.

“…tomorrow’s robots may face dilemmas of their own, where their survival comes into question.” How should they respond when they come to believe that their eternal existence is under threat? How do they ‘work out your salvation with fear and trembling’? (Philippians 2:12)

SERIES: Stainless Steel Conversion

CORROSION WROUGHT ON STAINLESS STEEL
REPENTANCE WRACKED BY STAINLESS STEEL
BAPTISM WRUNG FROM STAINLESS STEEL
SALVATION WRIT IN STAINLESS STEEL

So far, the stories will involve recognizing one's sin, believing in Jesus as the savior, repenting of sin, confessing faith, and being baptized/salvation. I may even try and work in some humor as an old-magazine-I-read-in-my-youth-become-website does. You can find it here: https://www.wittenburgdoor.com/

Inspiration: Worldwide persecution of the Christian Church (as well as SOMEWHERE, every kind of belief or faith in something non-corporeal.)Links: https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/, https://www.premierchristianity.com/features/the-robot-revolution-is-comingbut-are-christians-ready/14500.article, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReligiousRobot

Image: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/humanoid-robot-praying-near-cross-religion-science-concept-creation-new-intelligent-life-concept-humanoid-robot-273669473.jpg?w=992

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 675

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Octavia Butler said, “SF doesn’t really mean anything at all, except that if you use science, you should use it correctly, and if you use your imagination to extend it beyond what we already know, you should do that intelligently.”

SF Trope: complex planetary ecology
Current Event (2012): “large-scale carbon capture and sequestration projects” (http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/20/gore-rejects-geoengineering-climate-change-panacea/), http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/18/iron-sea-carbon; (There is currently VERY little discussion regarding this concept...)

Logan Andrist frowned and said, “What do you mean they’re going to dump iron into the lake?”

Nkokoyanga Pomodimo, far from her land-locked home in the Central African Republic held tight to the railing of the re-purposed iron ore freighter – a laker – as it dipped down into the swells of Lake Superior. She said, speaking loudly over the rushing wind around them, “The iron will cause algae to grow wildly. As they grow they need more carbon dioxide. As they suck up the CO2, they store the resulting carbon-rich sugars and then keep it when they die and sink to the bottom of Superior...”

“I know what carbon sequestering is! I’m a limnology major...”

She shook her head in the wild winds and shouted, “This is glorious! Feeling Gaia beneath your feet is the most...”

“Wouldn’t that technically be Poseidon? Besides, who gave them permission to do this?”

She turned to catch his gaze and he recognized her crazy, angry look as she cried back, “Who gave all you rich white colonialists the right to pollute and rape our world?”

He didn’t want to shout. What he really wanted to do was kiss her right then and there in the cold spray from the Lake – but he didn’t want a broken face, so he shouted, “I didn’t do any of that! Why are you yelling at me?”

“I’m not yelling at you,” she shouted. “I’m yelling TO you!”

“What’s that,” the nose of the laker dove deep, nearly flooding the deck and driving a mountain of spray over them. The water was frigid despite the hot August sun burning down on them through breaks in the scudding clouds. He wiped his face clear of water and finished, “Supposed to mean?”

“You’re not to blame, old friend, but you are responsible! That’s why the captain of this tub is an old white man!”

“Professor Buddlorem’s driving the ship? We have to go save all of our lives!” Logan let go of the railing; Nkokoyanga grabbed him and pulled him tight.

“The computer is doing most of the driving! He’s just playing captain!”

Logan eyed her warily the said, “How are we supposed to get all this iron into Lake Superior?”

‘Ko’ grinned and shouted, “Now that’s the tricky part!”

Names: ♀ Central African Republic, Gbaya; ♂ Minnesota, Minnesota
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg/220px-Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg