Analog SFF, January-February 2007

by Dell Magazine Authors

  Consider that an operating device already has current flowing, to which the EMP-induced currents are additive. Next, consider a pulse that induces electrical noise short of physically destroying a device. An ON chip may be forced into a dangerous logic state that propagates inappropriate values through its external connections. In that way, the device can affect the larger apparatus of which it is a part—and also whatever that apparatus controls. The same device in an OFF appliance may not cause damage because the transient effects don't propagate.

  I might have explained precisely, at the device level, why Centaur spacesuits survived the EMP (or I might have had those suits conveniently and accidentally shielded). In my judgment those details weren't important to the story—but I can appreciate your reaction.

  As for the tumbling of the wrecked starship ... Indeed, gas spurting through broken bulkheads would not seriously affect a habitat-sized vessel. I envisioned other mechanisms in play here. The explosion that blew the stern off the ship was uncontrolled, hence not balanced along any axis, hence causing spin around multiple axes. The first explosion (and the EMP) damaged systems throughout the ship. The initial damage would thus have led to more explosions among shipboard systems.

  * * * *

  Dear Analog,

  “A New Order of Things” was my first experience with the work of Mr. Lerner, and I just had to say it was one of the most delightful little (well, not so little) reads I've enjoyed in quite a while. It eagerly kept me waiting for the next installment, the mark of a great serial. Looking forward to more from this writer!

  Ted Dunning

  California

  * * * *

  Dear Dr. Schmidt,

  Kudos to Edward M. Lerner! “A New Order of Things” is a smashing success, in my not-so-humble opinion.

  As an aspiring writer, I have a profound respect for his incontrovertible mastery of the craft, particularly in sight of his somewhat risky use of the tentacled and nictitated aliens. But he pulls off a convincing characterization of The Hunters and The Herd by striking a delicate balance between anthropomorphizing and preserving their alien natures. I was particularly impressed with the martial, indeed “Spartan” syntax of Hunter dialogue, with its no-nonsense, go-for-the-throat directness, and the more circumlocutory, ambling ruminations of the Herd.

  As an admitted Tom Clancy fan and techno/jarhead, when the Marine Spec-Ops blasted the hole into the side of Victorious (Harmony) and executed the hostage rescue insertion, I jumped into the air in celebration. I was that deeply engrossed...

  On a final note, Edward Lerner has provided the best blend of speculative science fiction and hard physics with and engaging plot that I have read this year. Few others bring the immediacy and grit like he has in “New Order,” and I look forward to reading more of his work. I could see “New Order” expanded and made into a movie capable of buoying up the apparently moribund S/F film fare; especially when the Wachowski brothers still have physical lines plugged into brain stems and copper phone lines facilitating consciousness downloads into The Matrix. Lerner's deft handling of split-paradigm conscious interfacing and wireless mind-netting is a breath of fresh air.

  It would be interesting, as a writer, to learn how long it took My Current Favorite S/F Writer to complete “New Order."

  Thanks to Mr. Lerner for the great entertainment, and to Analog for publishing it.

  William Steed Kelley

  Huntsville, TX

  * * * *

  Hi Stanley,

  I always read your column and very much enjoy your observations and comments.

  Some years ago my wife and I were traveling across New Mexico and encountered a sign:

  “Warning. Hitchhikers may be escaping prisoners."

  My first thought of course was that we should assist the hitchhikers lest they be captured by the prisoners.

  Then I wondered why they did not say:

  “Warning: Hitchhikers may be escaped prisoners."

  Then I realized that guys that lost the prisoners didn't want anyone to think they had successfully escaped. Instead they wanted people to think that the prisoners had not yet fully escaped and were merely in the act of escaping.

  I have imagined a meeting where this was discussed by the law enforcement people who decided that ambiguity was politically better than the stark truth.

  Not quite the same as your point regarding journalistic ethics, but perhaps similar to some extent?

  Howard

  Tempe, AZ

  * * * *

  Dear Stan,

  Regarding your editorial “Science, Journalism and Responsibility” (Sept. 2006), I respectfully submit that you've missed the larger point. Maybe all these years of writing wonderful editorials for a magazine with a long lead-time has blinded you to the inherent realities of newspapers and their daily deadlines? They don't have a lot of incentive to get things perfect. It's the nature of the beast that “subtle errors” will appear in print. Your exhortation to scientists to spend the time it takes with journalists to make sure they get it right won't do any good, because the journalists making the errors generally don't have enough time to listen. Besides, “a headline that suggests that the whole field is inherently fraudulent” could just as well be sending the exact message that someone has intended.

  Thus the misleading stem cell clone research headline presents a great opportunity to make a much more important point. There's a fair chance that regular readers of the news had already seen reports about the original results and the investigative panel. Reading the headline within the context of the previous news makes it far less likely to be misinterpreted. Your point that writers need to be more careful about misinterpretation by uninformed readers attacks the problem from the wrong end. What our modern education system lacks is in-depth training for how to be an informed reader (e.g. how to read between the lines). Many of us have been horrified to read a story about which we have in-depth knowledge when we have discovered how many errors are in it. Instead of losing faith in the source, we need to learn how to recognize potential errors in what we read. More importantly, we need to be able to assemble a “big picture” from a story that is unaffected by errors in details. The “why” behind a news story is often much more informative than the “what.” It may not be written down in front of your nose, but it is there for you to read nonetheless. When John Q. Public learns to read the news within the context of the past flow of events, the politics, the economics, the geography, the culture, etc., and asks questions like “why?” and “why now?” he will make more effective personal decisions and our whole society will make much more effective collective decisions too. How can Analog readers help to speed this process? You can help by teaching your kids what they won't get taught in school, by lobbying school boards to add classes like logic and current events to their curriculum, by steering the course of water cooler conversations to include “new” aspects of the same old topics or by simply asking yourself more questions when you read the news.

  Rusty Carr

  Mount Airy, MD

  P.S. Analog needs to do a much better job of printing editorials I disagree with. Come on, man! Twenty-five-plus years and this is the first thing I've disagreed with enough to write a letter. Thank you!

  * * * *

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  [Back to Table of Contents]

  * * *

  Here is the Index to 2006, Analog's Volume 126. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author, with month and page. When the author's name and/or part of the entry's title is omitted, it is the same as that of the previous entry. Multiple entries by the same author are listed
alphabetically according to the story/article title. Collaborations are listed under all authors with cross references. Unless otherwise noted, each entry is identified as an Alternate View (av), editorial (ed), fact article (fa), guest editorial (ge), novella (na), novelette (nt), poem (pm), Probability Zero (pz), serial (ser), special feature (sf), or short story (ss).

  Anderson, Kevin J.—

  (with Mike Resnick)—

  Prevenge (ss) Nov 54

  Barnes, John—

  The Little White Nerves

  Went Last (na) Mar 8

  “The Night is Fine,” the

  Walrus Said (na) Jan/Feb 144

  Bonhoff, Maya Kaathryn—

  Willies (ss) Jul/Aug 123

  Bova, Ben—

  Takes Two to Tangle (nt) Oct 56

  Burns, Stephen L.—

  Nothing to Fear But (ss) Apr 49

  Chilson, Rob—

  Farmers in the Sky (nt) May 56

  Cramer, John G.—

  Back in Time Through Other

  Dimensions (av) Oct 86

  EPR Communication: Signals from the Future? (av) Oct 86

  Hawking's Retreat (av) May 84

  Planets of BinaryStar Systems (av) Jul/Aug 112

  The Universe of Choice (av) Mar 66

  Davis, Joel—

  Worlds Enough (fa) Mar 38

  DeLancy, Craig—

  Openshot (ss) Dec 64

  Easton, Tom—

  The Reference Library Jan/Feb 224

  —Mar 134

  —Apr 134

  —May 132

  —Jun 132

  —Jul/Aug 230

  —Sep 131

  —Oct 131

  —Nov 134

  —Dec 135

  Ferguson, Kathy—

  (with James Grayson)—

  Puncher's Chance (na) Jun 8

  Solar System Commuter Trains: Magbeam

  Plasma Propulsion (fa) Jun 40

  Flood, Julian—

  Change (ss) Jan/Feb 128

  Flynn, Michael F.—

  Probably Murder (pz) Sept 64

  Frederick, Carl—

  The Door that Does Not Close (ss) Jun 80

  The Emancipation of the

  Knowledge Robots (pz) Apr 83

  Man, Descendant (ss) Nov 63

  The Skeekit-Woogle Test (ss) Mar 50

  The Teller of Time (ss) Jul/Aug 130

  Gillett, Stephen L., Ph.D.—

  Floatworlds (fa) Dec 37

  Pollution, Solutions, Elution, and Nanotechnology (fa) Jan/Feb 28

  Goodloe, Lee—

  The Balance of Nature (nt) Jan/Feb 8

  Grayson, James—

  (with Kathy Ferguson)—

  Puncher's Chance (na) Jun 8

  Solar System Commuter Trains: Magbeam

  Plasma Propulsion (fa) Jun 40

  Hemry, John G.—

  Kyrie Eleison (ss) Sept 46

  Lady be Good (nt) Apr 90

  Hogan, James P.—

  Why do Readers

  Always Ask...? (sf) Jan/Feb 134

  Hosek, James—

  Total Loss (ss) Jul/Aug 46

  Howe, Robert J.—

  From Wayfield, From

  Malagasy (nt) Oct 104

  Johnson. Les—

  (with Gregory L. Matloff)—

  The Interstellar Conspiracy (fa) Nov 44

  Kirkland, Kyle—

  The Right Stuff: Materials for

  Aerospace and Beyond (fa) Sept 97

  Kooistra, Jeffrey D.—

  Length Contraction (av) Jan/Feb 140

  My Mysterious Father (av) Jun 77

  Preparing for the Dark Age (av) Sept 60

  Thanksgiving Musing Nov 76

  Will we Return to the Moon? (av) Apr 86

  Landis, Geoffrey A.—

  Lazy Taekos (ss) May 78

  Latner, Alexis Glynn—

  The Shape of Wings to Come (fa) Apr 38

  Witherspin (nt) Jul/Aug 10

  Lerner, Edward M.—

  A New Order of Things, pt 1 (ser) May 8

  A New Order of Things, pt 2 (ser) Jun 92

  A New Order of Things, pt 3 (ser) Jul/ Aug 184

  A New Order of Things, pt 4 (ser) Sept 86

  Lewis Anthony—

  Upcoming Events Jan/Feb 240

  —Mar 144

  —Apr 144

  —May 144

  —Jun 144

  —Jul/Aug 240

  —Sep 144—Oct 144

  —Nov 144

  —Dec 144

  Longyear, Barry B.—

  The Good Kill (na) Nov 8

  Lovett, Richard A.—

  A Pound of Flesh (na) Sept 8

  Biolog: Catherine Shaffer (sf) May 130

  Biolog: Stephen Baxter (sf) Apr 89

  Dinosaur Blood (nt) Jan/Feb 40

  From Fimbulwinter to Dante's Hell:

  The Strange Saga of

  Snowball Earth (fa) Jan/Feb 86

  The Great Sumatran Earthquakes of 2004-5 (fa) Oct 46

  Messengers from Earth's Core?

  The Great Plume Debate

  Heats up (fa) Jul/Aug 36

  Nigerian Scam (ss) Oct 92

  Numismatist (nt) Apr 115

  Original Sin (nt) Jun 50

  Lowe, C. Sanford—

  (with G. David Nordley)—

  Imperfect Gods (nt) Dec 8

  Kremer's Limit (na) Jul/Aug 78

  Matloff, Gregory L.—

  (with Les Johnson)—

  The Interstellar Conspiracy Nov 44

  Melton, Henry—

  Wildlife (ss) Mar 60

  McCarthy, Wil—

  Apologies to the Dead (pm) May 131

  Boundary Condition (na) Apr 8

  The Technetium Rush (ss) Dec 86

  McDevitt, Jack—

  (with Michael Shara)—

  Lighthouse (ss) Apr 70

  Niven, Larry—

  Playhouse (ss) Mar 70

  Nordley, G. David—

  (with C. Sanford Lowe)—

  Imperfect Gods (nt) Dec 8

  Kremer's Limit (na) Jul/Aug 78

  Oltion, Jerry—

  Diatomaceous Earth (ss) Dec 82

  Slide Show (ss) May 88

  Plante, Brian—

  The Software Soul (ss) Jul/Aug 116

  Resnick, Mike—

  (with Kevin J. Anderson)—

  Prevenge (ss) Nov 54

  Rollins, Grey—

  Double Dead (nt) Dec 46

  Mop-up (ss) Jan/Feb 60

  Wasting Time (nt) Mar 79

  Rosenkranz, Charlie—

  Preemption (ss) Jun 64

  Sawyer, Robert J.—

  Rollback, pt I of IV (ser) Oct 8

  Rollback, pt II of IV(ser) Nov 102

  Rollback, pt III of IV(ser) Dec 100

  Schembrie, Joe—

  The Keeper's Maze (nt) Jul/Aug 56

  Schmidt, Stanley—

  The Anthropocentric Principle (ed) Jan/Feb 4

  Can't Argue with That (ed) Jun 4

  Extracurricular Education (ed) Dec 4

  Home, Vulnerable Home (ed) May 4

  Needle with a Nametag (ed) Oct 4

  Poison and Hospitality (ed) Apr 4

  The Real and the Readable (ed) Mar 4

  Science, Journalism, and

  Responsibility (ed) Sept 4

  The Tyranny of Physical Law (ed) Nov 4

  Wheat and Chaff (ed) Jul/Aug 4

  Schroeder, Karl—

  Sun of Suns, pt III of IV (ser) Jan/Feb 180

  Sun of Suns, pt IV of IV (ser) Mar 92

  Sedia, Ekaterina—

  (with David Bartell)—

  Kamikaze Bugs (ss) Jan/Feb 72

  Shaffer, Catherine—

  Long Winter's Nap (ss) Dec 92

  The Terrestrial Search for

  Extraterrestrial Life (fa) May 48

  Shara, Michael—

  (with Jack McDevitt)—

  Lighthouse (ss) Apr 70

  Ste
wart, Ian—

  Environmental Friendship

  Fossle (nt) Jul/Aug 142

  Stone, Eric James—

  Upgrade (pz) Dec 80

  Thieme, Richard—

  (with Aaron Ximm)—

  Seti Triumphant (pz) Oct 90

  Tiedemann, Mark W.—

  Report on Ranzipal's Plus—

  Dimension Carry-All (ss) Jan/Feb 97

  Tourtellotte, Shane—

  String of Pearls (nt) Jul/Aug 160

  Where Lies the Final Harbor? (nt) Nov 80

  Turtledove, Harry—

  The Scarlet Band (na) May 96

  Vajra, Rajnar—

  A Million Years and Counting (nt) Sept 66

  Written in Plaster (nt) Jan/Feb 104

  Walton, David—

  Rival of Mars (ss) Oct 74

  Ximm, Aaron—

  (with Richard Thieme)—

  Seti Triumphant (pz) Oct 90

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