I Escape

This is a non-technical Feynman diagram explaining how to escape from a black hole, according to Ian Stewart's Flatterland (ISBN 0-333-78312-3).

1. You are outside the black hole.
2. You have fallen into the black hole. A future version of yourself (4) appears and gives you a portable white hole. You use the portable white hole to escape the black hole.
3. Another future version of yourself (6) appears and gives you a time machine.
4. You go back into the black hole and give the past version of yourself (2) the portable white hole.
5. You use the time machine to go far enough into the future (i.e. millions of years) that the black hole has evaporated due to Hawking radiation.
6. You then travel back in time and give the past version of yourself (3) the time machine.
7. You are now outside of the black hole. Easy, Breezy.

KbH

I, Hugo!

The finalists for this year's Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced on Saturday, April 7. (I'm not on the list. It's okay.) Previous winners and nominees have included just about everyone I've ever read in the Science Fiction genre, including Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Roger Zelazny, Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, Larry Niven, George R. R. Martin. I could keep going, but you can find the full list of past honorees in the Novel category here: Hugo Awards They also give awards for novellas, short stories and media.

I am hoping that life will allow me to attend WorldCon this year. This is the annual conference of the World Science Fiction Society and the people who are responsible for the Hugo Award. Even if I haven't found a publisher, just going to such a prestigious conference would be incredible. Chicon 7, is being held over the Labor Day weekend. This is not your neighborhood Star Trek convention. The first Hugos were given in the 1950's. That's some serious history. If you're interested check out the conference web site: Chicon 7

Check out the membership list. I want my name on that list this time next year.

-KbH

I Stand Amused

Today I read the story of the information that was given to the 1940 Census by the occupants of 8777 Lookout Mountain, Laurel Canyon, California. The home at the time of Robert A. Heinlein family. The Heinleins always liked their privacy and even the 1940 U.S. Census did not penetrate it. The woman who answered the door gave her name as Sigred Heinlein, her husband as Richard and their son, Rory. She claimed they were both born in Germany, while their four year old son was born in California. Richard worked as an artist in the motion picture business.

I can't help but imagine how pleased R.A.H. would be if he knew we had discovered this small attempt of a prank at the governments expense. The Heinlein record is in E.D. 60-173. Good luck searching for it. I'm going to take this story at face value and then go back and read He Built a Crooked House for the eighth or ninth time.

KbH