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"it slowly dawned on me that the landscape of science is maybe what interests people a great deal in science fiction."
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![]() In this story, the two survivors of an expedition to a mysterious fragment of a world fight an invisibly small enemy. Better safe then sorry...
Here's a bit more detail, in pulp classic style:
By the time Gallun wrote this in 1937, research into cosmic rays (the largest single constituent of which are protons) was just starting. By the turn of the century, physicists were puzzled by radiation in the environment, which seemed to be higher than would be expected from terrestrial sources.
To settle the debate, a daring German scientist, Victor Hess, ascended to more than 17,000 feet in a balloon (without oxygen!) in 1912. His gold leaf electroscope showed that the higher he got, the more the radiation level increased. Scientists became convinced that the radiation did indeed come from outer space and coined the phrase "cosmic radiation" to describe it.
By 1929, Russian physicist Dmitry Skobelzyn observed cosmic ray tracks in the newly invented cloud chambers. Further research demonstrated that cosmic "rays" were primarily composed of particles. Subatomic particles were finally seen in 1937, giving birth to the field of particle physics. Particle physicists used cosmic rays for their research until particle accelerators were developed in the 1950's. Comment/Join this discussion ( 3 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
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Science Fiction
Timeline
Japan's LignoSat Space Wood Satellite And Dan Simmons' Treeship
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Skyline Robotics Instantiates Heinlein's 'Window Willie' Skyscraper Robot
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'
Drone Bombings In Moscow Foreseen 100 Years Ago
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'
I Didn't Know You Can Already Buy Flesh Putty
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'A Sign in Space' Gives Practice In Decoding ET Messages
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
Melting Permafrost Endangers Infrastructure
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
EELS Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor For Enceladus
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
Lazy Lawyer's Trust In ChatGPT Misplaced
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
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