Author: storiesbywilliams

Matt Williams is a professional writer, science fiction author, and science communicator who currently writes for Universe Today, Interesting Engineering, Stardom Space, and Stellar Amenities. He is also the Director of Media Communications for Mars City Design and a member of Enterprise in Space and Explore Mars. His novels, The Formist Series, are available at Amazon.com and through Castrum Press. He lives with his wife and family on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia.

Protocol: Succession

Protocol: Succession

The following is a piece of flash fiction inspired by a conversation between science communicator and cosmobiologist Graham Lau, myself, and others via Twitter. Everything and everyone depicted within is pure fiction, though they may allude to famous people living or dead.

It hovered before him. The mass of entangled particles, shining, black, blue, and chrome, whirling around a common center like a hive of frighteningly synchronized insects. Abu knew better, but the image was unshakable. So many tiny machines coordinated by a common intelligence. And they were emitting a loud humming noise that sounded distinctly like a high-pitched buzz.

Continue reading “Protocol: Succession” →

Boltzmann’s Brainchild

Boltzmann’s Brainchild

His head was hurting. His mouth was dry. His entire body felt uninspired and feeble. He felt much the same a short while ago when he left the dinner table. How long ago was that? What time was it?

He’d left his watch upstairs and hadn’t the capacity to find a clock right now. But a quick pass by the hall window confirmed that the Sun was coming up. They were firmly in the AM, and he was forced to accept that it was no longer the previous evening.

No appreciation for time! Why was that?

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Episode 91 of Stories from Space is Now Live!

Episode 91 of Stories from Space is Now Live!

Hello folks! This week’s episode is dedicated to my friend, Kim Bannerman Pigott, who suggested it. She, too, is a creative person, as is her husband, Shaun. Between the two of them, they do literature, art, and music; they do it all! I encourage everyone to check out their website, Fox&Bee Studio. The topic of this episode is “Are Wormholes Possible?” As any fan of science fiction knows, wormholes are regularly featured in the genre, be it novels, shows, movies, or video games.

Some examples include Carl Sagan’s Contact, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Event Horizon, Farscape, the Wing Commander franchise, the Descent: Freespace franchise, and many more. The concept often goes by different names (FTL, jump points, jump nodes, etc.), but the idea remains the same. Pass through a wormhole (natural or artificial), and you end up a few, or few thousand, light-years away.

Like warp or hyperspace, they are a key element in the world-building process, facilitating the kind of travel that would allow for First Contact, inter-species interaction, exploring new worlds, and the emergence of new branches of humanity. In most cases, franchises tend to steer away from the science and avoid any complicated or inaccurate explanations. However, sometimes authors and producers dip their toes in and attempt to rationalize them (not very well, in my experience).

But what does the science say? As it turns out, there is a basis in theoretical physics for wormholes that goes back over a century. Check out the links below to learn more…

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A Sneak Peak at Exogenisis!

A Sneak Peak at Exogenisis!

Hello again! I am going to do something I haven’t done in a long time here and share some creative writing I’ve been working on. In truth, I have done a lot of creative writing these past few years that I have failed to share here. I decided it was time to rectify this, and what better way to start than to share the first chapter of one of my current WIPs? It is titled Exogenesis, and it is a story that has taken a long time for me to realize!

I described this idea a short while ago in another post (“A Visit to the Ideas Folder“). In fact, I described two ideas, one titled Pilgrimage and the other titled Exogenesis. As I wrote at the time, Pilgrimage is a short story about distant origins and how future humans may come to trace their ancestry back to Earth. It is also the first chapter in the full-length version set in the same universe, titled Exogenesis. I am told that this is how many of the greats realized their first novels, so I decided to give it a try.

In any case, here’s the first chapter in full! A word of warning: there’s a lot of linguistics and semantic evolution in here, so some words won’t make a lot of sense at first sight. But I’m hoping the context will help resolve all that. Enjoy!

Continue reading “A Sneak Peak at Exogenisis!” →

Episode 90 of Stories from Space is now Live!

Episode 90 of Stories from Space is now Live!

This week’s episode asks the question, “Are Red Dwarf Star Systems Habitable?” Red dwarf stars, also known as M-type stars, are pretty controversial. For starters, they are the most common type of star in the Universe, accounting for 75% of stars in our galaxy alone. In addition, red dwarfs seem particularly good at producing rocky planets that orbit within their habitable zones (HZs). In fact, of the 31 potentially habitable exoplanets located within a 50-light-year radius of our Solar System, 29 are located within red dwarf star systems.

However, there are also downsides. For starters, red dwarf suns are variable and prone to flare-ups. While the most powerful are emitted from the poles and are unlikely to affect orbiting exoplanets, the fact that these exoplanets are tidally locked with their stars (where one side constantly faces toward the star) means they would still be bombarded by radiation. But then again, there’s research suggesting this radiation could be essential for life to develop. Like I said, it’s a controversial issue, and we simply don’t know… yet!

Follow the links below to learn more:

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Episode 89 of Stories from Space is now Live!

Episode 89 of Stories from Space is now Live!

The dream of interstellar travel, of reaching another star system and setting foot on another world, has been with us for centuries. However, with the dawn of the Space Age, this dream began to materialize as multiple scientific proposals were made. These included iconic studies like Project Orion, Project Daedalus, Project Icarus, and the Enzmann Starship, concepts that either prioritized speed or settling in for a long journey!

As we enter a new era of space exploration, many of these concepts are being reconsidered while new ones are being researched. These include antimatter propulsion, the HALO Drive, the fabled Alcubierre Warp Drive, and directed energy propulsion (DEP). The question is, which of these methods are feasible within our lifetimes? More to the point, how long before we can start sending crewed missions to other stars?

Follow the links below to learn more…

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Episode 88 of Stories from Space is now Live – “The Coming Age of Astrobiology with Kenneth Goodis-Gordon”!

Episode 88 of Stories from Space is now Live – “The Coming Age of Astrobiology with Kenneth Goodis-Gordon”!

Hello again! This week’s episode featured a special guest – Kenneth Goodis-Gordon! Ken is a Ph.D. candidate with the Planetary Science Group at the University of Central Florida (UCF) whose research focuses on exoplanets and the search for life in the cosmos (astrobiology). In a recent paper, he outlined how future exoplanet surveys could cast a wider net by examining polarized light. As he explains, this could greatly expand scientists’ ability to spot signs of life (aka. “biosignatures.”)

These recommendations will be especially useful when NASA’s Habitable World Observatory (HWO) launches sometime in the 2040s. This next-generation observatory will be the first space telescope specifically designed to search for signs of habitability and life on exoplanets. Learn more by following the links below…

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Episode 87 of SfS is now Live! “The Space Race: Part II”

Episode 87 of SfS is now Live! “The Space Race: Part II”

This week’s episode is the second installment in the Space Race. In the previous installment, we examined how the American and Soviet space programs were locked in a competition to “get there first.” This included sending the first satellites, animals, and astronauts/cosmonauts to space, in which the Soviets obtained an early lead. By the mid-60s, with the Gemini program, NASA surpassed its Soviet counterparts and was poised to make the Moonshot!

From 1966 onward, both NASA and the Soviets pursued the same goal: sending crewed missions to the Moon. While NASA’s efforts were bold and public, the Soviets developed their own plans in secret. In 1969, history was made when Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface. They would be followed by no less than six more Apollo missions and twelve astronauts.

With the Space Race officially over, both NASA and the Soviet space program began to set their sights on more long-term goals. They also entered into a new era of cooperation in space, which was demonstrated in the famous “handshake in space” and would eventually lead to the International Space Station (ISS).

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Episode 86 of SfS – The Space Race – is now Live!

Episode 86 of SfS – The Space Race – is now Live!

Welcome back! This week’s episode is all about the origins and evolution of the American and Soviet space programs—in other words, the Space Race! As I mentioned in previous episodes, these programs began as an effort to research rocket technology to deliver nuclear warheads. However, a parallel struggle began as both the U.S. and the Soviets realized the benefits of reaching space. Considering the atmosphere of the Cold War, which was as much about ideology as it was about weapons, they also considered it a matter of national prestige to “get their first!”

The Soviets achieved an early lead, sending the first satellite to space (Sputnik-1) in 1958. They also got their first with the first man to space in 1963 (Gagarin) and the first woman to space in 1964 (Valentina Tereshkova) with the Vostok Program. NASA caught up with the Mercury program, which sent the first American astronauts to space (the Mercury Seven), but the Soviets were still maintaining an early lead. That would change as NASA launched the Gemini program, demonstrating that they could spend extended periods there.

The stage was set for the Apollo Program, which would decide the Space Race once and for all and forever alter the course of history. Of course, that epic story has to wait for Part II of the episode, coming soon!

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Episode 85 of SfS – India’s Space Program – is now Live!

Episode 85 of SfS – India’s Space Program – is now Live!

Hello again! In keeping with the theme of non-western space programs, this week’s episode was dedicated to the Indian space program – the India Space Research Organization (ISRO). Much like China’s space program, which was covered in a previous episode, India’s progress was incremental between the 1960s and 1980s. Nevertheless, the progress they made was foundational and allowed for many impressive developments by the turn of the century.

In addition, like other national space programs, India’s road to space was tied to the development of nuclear technology and weapons. Like China, India has also been forced to develop a number of technologies independently due to non-proliferation agreements and sanctions associated with the country’s nuclear testing. Last but not least, the steps they are currently taking parallel those of NASA and the Soviet space program during the “Space Race.”

This includes the development of heavier and heavier launch vehicles, the deployment of satellites, and sending robotic explorers to the Moon through the Chandrayaan program (“Moon vehicle”) and to Mars through the Mangalyaan program (“Mars vehicle”). All of this has served as a build-up to the creation of a crewed space program.

In the coming years, the ISRO will attempt to send “vyomanauts” to orbit for the first time as part of the Gaganyaan (“celestial vehicle”) program. They intend to follow this with the deployment of a space station, the Bharatiya Antariksha Station, which will facilitate their ultimate goal: sending crewed missions to the Moon and beyond by 2040. Follow the links below to learn more…

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