Sword Fighting with Neal Stephenson and His Mongoliad Co-Authors
It’s not even 10:30 in the morning, and I’m already holding an archaic deadly weapon in my hands. I’m in a nondescript warehouse in Seattle, to which I’ve traveled so that award-winning science fiction novelists can demonstrate how they could cut me in half if they felt like it. Somebody has just pulled a sword…
Newly Found Asteroid Buzzes Earth
A newly found space rock will give Earth a close shave on May 29, passing by at a distance of just 14,440 kilometers (8,950 miles). That distance puts the small asteroid, named 2012 KT42, in the top ten list of closest asteroid approaches. In fact, this is the sixth closest approach to date. The close…
How I Helped L. Ron Hubbard to ‘Take Over the Planet’
Back when queer activist Kate Bornstein was a boy named Al, she was a leading member of the Church of Scientology. She served aboard L. Ron Hubbard’s flagship, and even worked directly with Hubbard on a campaign to control Scientology members more completely. Bornstein’s new memoir A Queer and Pleasent Danger explains why she found…