Tag: Arthur C Clarke

Do you love Jupiter?

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Jupiter, biggest of the planets. If it had a bit more mass it might shine slightly as a brown dwarf star? In the story 2001 a Space oddessy it’s converted to a second star in the solar system. That would make the solar system a binary star system

How would it affect Earth? More light, more heat? It depends on its solar output. It might make plants grow more, but it might add to current global warming. Birds are being affected by the light pollution from streetlamps, imagine having the extra light of maybe a full moon when Jupiter was close to us in its orbit. Someone can probably work out the ramifications. I think in the original story in the book was set at Saturn and the aliens that turned it into a star wanted to heat the moon Europa as it was supposed to have organisms living in an ocean below it’s frozen crust.

Have a read of the books (it’s a series) or watch the film. I think Arthur C Clarke was a very interesting writer.

Memory of Dolphin Island

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About fifty years ago I used to watch ‘Flipper’ on the TV. A 1960’s show it was all about the adventures of a dolphin called Flipper. I didn’t know then that there was more than one dolphin and I think I remember reading they were not well looked after during filming?

I remember finding a book in the library called ‘Dolphin Island’ by Arthur C Clarke. It had the effect of waking an interest in science in me. I remembered a boy being shipwrecked and rescued by dolphins. He ends up on a Pacific Island and goes through several more adventures until the inevitable happy ending.

Recently someone mentioned the book so I decided to order a second hand copy. What I got was bitter sweet memories. The book was a lot shorter than I remembered. I read it in a couple of nights. The adventures that had been in it are now seen through older eyes. Where I had been on the edge of my seat, the tension was no longer there. It was still interesting, and I would love to know if there is any chance of finding a dolphin language. But I don’t think I will re-read it. This is an old fashioned Children’s Book. Give me 2001 a space odessey any day.

Watching 2001 a Space Odyssey.

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I haven’t seen 2001 for about 10 years but it hasn’t lost its magic. If you have never seen it then it’s worth having a look. It’s a classic science fiction film set in 2001. It was made in the 1960s but it has quite good predictions of how things would work in the future.

It starts at the dawn of man and charts what happens when a enigmatic black obilisk appears on Earth. The film then fasts forward to a future where humans have made a discovery on the moon and follows an expedition to Jupiter.

I did read the original book by Arthur C Clarke and the following sequels. I think in the original story they travel to Saturn, but the destination was changed in the film and the subsequent books.

I won’t post any spoilers about what happens. But it is very good, although modern audiences might find it a bit slow. The one thing I do like is that the space sequences are silent except for music in the first sequence. Sound cannot propagate in a vacuum as there are no molecules to transmit it. Hence although you would hear rockets in earth’s atmosphere you wouldn’t in outer space.

The director was Stanley Kubrick who also directed A clockwork orange and other classic films. I think they are showing it because its the anniversary of Kubruck death.

The start of the film shows the moon in silhouette with Earth and then the sun curving beyond. That’s what I’ve tried to draw here.

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