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SCIENCE: Catching a Zombie (Virus)

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There’s no way around it: Viruses are scary. They’re invisible to the naked eye, they can be difficult to get rid of and many are capable of spreading quickly. That’s why it’s important to detect a disease-causing virus before it has the chance to infect so many people that it’s impossible to contain. Failure to detect and contain a deadly virus early enough to prevent an outbreak is a key component of the story in AMC’s sci-fi series “Fear the Walking Dead” (which airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT/8 p.m. CDT, starting Aug. 12). The show, now in its … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: Fairy Dusted, by Shannon West and Susan E. Scott

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Fairy Dusted

QSFers Shannon West and Susan E. Scott have a new MM fantasy book out: When FBI agent Cole Gregory is called to his bureau chief’s office and recruited for a special task force, he is confronted with the commander of the force, a handsome, enigmatic man named Commander Levi who makes Cole feel restless and uneasy. Cole learns of a world beyond his own, one entered only through special Blood Gates, and where fairies and demons rule, and Fae and Paranormal creatures exist. These creatures are dangerous to humans, and the FBI has a secret special task force to keep … Read more

FOR READERS: Are Your Reading Habits Out?

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FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Tam Ames: Readers: How open are you with your reading habits? When a coworker asks what you are reading and says “What’s that about?” are you upfront or do you beat around the bush? What about your family or IRL friends? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! This is a legacy chat. Join the chat

STUDY: Sound Has a Negative Mass

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Sound has negative mass, and all around you it’s drifting up, up and away — albeit very slowly. That’s the conclusion of a paper submitted on July 23 to the preprint journal arXiv, and it shatters the conventional understanding that researchers have long had of sound waves: as massless ripples that zip through matter, giving molecules a shove but ultimately balancing any forward or upward motion with an equal and opposite downward motion. That’s a straightforward model that will explain the behavior of sound in most circumstances, but it’s not quite true, the new paper argues. [The Mysterious Physics of … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Taliesin Affair, by Steve Turnbull

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The Taliesin Affair

QSFer Steve Turnbull has a new queer alternate history book out: The Taliesin Affair. Boarding school can be hell – sometimes it can be MURDER Maliha Anderson did not enjoy life in the British boarding school, but finding the school bully murdered certainly made it more interesting. And when the police chose the wrong person as the most likely suspect, Maliha decides to investigate and reveal the true culprit. But, as the bodies mount up, the murder becomes a plot, and the plot becomes a conspiracy aimed at the heart of the British Empire. When Maliha herself comes under suspicion, … Read more

Bisexual “Stranger Things” Star Wants to Help Queer Youth

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Shannon Purser

Stranger Things’ and Riverdale star, Shannon Purser, wants her coming out as bisexual to help young people. Purser who played the much beloved Barb in the sci-fi hit Stranger Things, came out last year on Twitter. She had been embroiled in argument with Riverdale fans about queerbaiting when she revealed her sexuality. ‘I don’t normally do this, but I figure now is just as good a time as any to get personal,’ she said at the time. ‘I’ve only just recently come out as bisexual to my family and friends. It’s something I am still processing and trying to understand … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: Nightfall, by John Inman

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Nightfall

QSFer John Inman has a new MM sci fi book out: Nightfall. Joe Chase and Ned Bowden are damaged men. They each bear scars from surviving the world they were born in. Deep scars, both physical and emotional. When fate offers its first kind act by bringing the two together, suddenly their scars don’t seem so bad, and their lives don’t feel so empty. Yet that kindness comes at a price. Just as Joe and Ned begin to experience true happiness for the very first time, the world turns on them again. But this time it turns on everyone. Dreamspinner … Read more

More Tech to Fear – Hypersonic Nukes

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China successfully tested a hypersonic aircraft on Friday (Aug. 3), one that could one day be capable of firing nuclear missiles around the planet at up to six times the speed of sound, according to China’s state-run news site China Daily. The aircraft, known as Starry Sky-2, is reportedly capable of screaming across the sky at speeds of up to 4,563 mph (7,344 km/h) and rapidly switching direction mid-flight, China Daily reported, potentially allowing the rocket to blast right past existing missile defense systems. Video of the Starry Sky-2 test launch (which was conducted in an undisclosed location in northwestern … Read more