July 1, 2006 Episode

Authors David Drake, John Ringo and Jeanne Robinson are among the guests, as are Peter Stampfel (associate editor at DAW books), Doctor Travis S. Taylor (scientist, author and discoverer of two exoplanets) and a few very brief comments by Spider Robinson. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 1, 2006 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 110 minutes] --- Topics include: [1] News-briefs concerning: Jim Baen's stroke, coma and death; China going to the moon; the claim that diamonds are only semi-precious stones; the first World eBook Fair; the latest mind games that online crooks play; the third annual Death Stacks tournament (a game invented by your host); and this show being nominated for a Parsec Award. [2] Co-author of the bestselling Stardance novels, Jeanne Robinson, tells of her Stardance Project which originally had her scheduled for a Space Shuttle ride into orbit, then was temporarily shelved due to the Challenger Disaster in 1986, but is now back on track thanks to recent advances in CGI film making. (Spider Robinson, her husband and co-author, makes a few brief comments.) [3] Peter Stampfel, associate editor at DAW books, explains problems with the new Google Books project which plans to make searchable pretty much all the text of all the books in the world. Also, Peter Stampfel's current musical project: a compilation of one song from every year in the 20th century. And as a bonus we include a song he wrote and performed from his CD You Must Remember This, entitled: Take Me Away. [4] Chapter eight in our serialization of the novel Bones Burnt Black. [5] Doctor Travis S. Taylor (scientist, author and discoverer of two exoplanets--planets which orbit stars other than our sun), talks about exoplanets, how planets are born, and the anticipated discovery of many new earths. He also describes how amateur astronomers can now discover these extrasolar planets using off-the-shelf, store-bought equipment. The interview also covers his Hard Science Fiction novel Von Neumann's War which he co-wrote with the bestselling author John Ringo. This novel asks the question: how would we defend ourselves if our solar system was invaded by billions of self-replicating robotic Von Neumann machines. [6] David Drake on the weakness of science fiction as prediction and the accumulation of historical errors in popular culture. [7] John Ringo disputes the idea that the Singularity is an event that could actually occur, as well as the practicality of hydrogen as an alternative fuel.