Those Magnificent Men and their Atomic Machines

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Building a Spaceship in Dungeons & Dragons, Part 2.5

This is an update to Spaceships in D&D Parts I and II. I had hoped to give you an update to Rock to Hide Me instead, based on a paper I found on a government server. But unfortunately, after I read it, I concluded the paper in question was so mercilessly boring that I don't think I can turn it into an article that anyone would want to read. So, on to the next item on the itinerary instead!

I've made some significant modifications and updates to Spaceships in D&D Part I and II, responding to and incorporating some suggestions and criticisms by commenters on them – suggestions and criticisms more than a year old (egg on face), but better late than never. I'd particularly like to thank Brian Ballsun-Stanton, who made a number of very helpful comments. So as not to make everyone reread those articles, I will be discussing the changes separately here. Part III in the series, on mission planning, will follow, hopefully in the not too distant future. There may or may not be a Part IV, on things to do in space, depending on what I come up with.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Monday, August 1, 2016

Atomic-Powered Tanks, Part 1

An atomic-powered tank is a terrible idea. But that's never kept people from trying.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Burning Gas


On August 9th, 1957, a team of Russian scientists brought a prototype reactor of a radical new kind to criticality. This reactor was fueled by gaseous uranium hexafluoride – the first gas-fueled reactor ever built.[KDG]

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Realism in Atompunk

Sorry for how dead this has been; math has been keeping me busy.   Fortunately, my thesis is finally (finally) done, so with a little luck I'll be able to start posting more often again.   As a first installment on that promise, an essay of mine has been posted at Alternate History Weekly Update for its fifth anniversary: How to Write a Realistic Atompunk Timeline.