As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

STUDY: Saturn’s Core Mighty Be Soupy (But Is It More Minestrone or Clam Chowder?)

pea soup - pixabay

Saturn’s rings aren’t just a beautiful adornment — scientists can use the feature to understand what’s happening deep inside the planet. By using the famous rings like a seismograph, scientists studied processes in the planet’s interior and determined that its core must be “fuzzy.” Instead of a solid sphere like Earth’s, the core of Saturn appears to consist of a ‘soup’ of rocks, ice and metallic fluids that slosh around and affect the planet’s gravity. The new study used data from NASA’s Cassini mission, which orbited Saturn and its moons for 13 years between 2004 and 2017. In 2013, data … Read more

What If The Earth Had Rings?

earth with rings - deposit photos

The series “Imaginary Earths” speculates what the world might be like if one key aspect of life was changed, be if the planet or with humanity itself. What might Earth be like if it had rings, or if everyone could photosynthesize like plants? The rings of Saturn grant the planet a majesty befitting a world named after the king of the Titans. Made nearly completely of bits and chunks of ice and spanning thousands of miles wide, Saturn’s rings have been its most spellbinding feature ever since Galileo discovered the first signs of them in 1610. What might Earth be … Read more

For Writers: Overused Fantasy Tropes

One Ring

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Freddy MacKay: As for fantasy, what tropes have been used to death? We’ve discussed variations on this one before, and it’s always one of my favorites. So I’d like to also put a bit different spin on it – in addition to the tropes you are sick to death of, how do you as a writer keep your fantasy stories fresh and trope free? Or alternatively, how do you turn a trope on its head? Join the chat