This is pretty nice. A short video by Erik Wernquist showing humans in various locations around the solar system, with a voiceover from Carl Sagan, always guaranteed to enrich the sense of wonder.
via Wanderers – a short film by Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.
h/t Alex Parker
SelfAwarePatterns 
That was a great little film. What was that last planet? I get the impression they’re flying a blimp in a gas giant’s atmosphere, but which one?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it was in the upper atmosphere of Saturn, at least based on what looks like it’s rings in the background. I’m not sure the smiling woman could really be there without a full spacesuit though.
LikeLike
Nice! In one part, I was reminded slightly of Robert Forward’s Saturn Rukh, which is about (very cool) gigantic perpetually flying beings (intelligent) in the atmosphere of Saturn. If you’re not familiar with Forward, I think you’d really like him. Engineer turned SF writer — hard as it comes.
(I did crack up when I heard the first two sentences of Sagan’s narration in light of the long debate we just had. Seems like Carl is on the same wavelength. 🙂 )
LikeLike
Thanks for recommending Forward. Decades ago I picked up the second novel in the Rocheworld series but, although intrigued by the story, put it aside until I could get my hands on the first book. It would be easy to obtain today and I’ve been meaning to for years, particularly to read the details of his interstellar laser light-sail propulsion design.
LikeLike
Yes, Forward is wonderfully detailed in his description, and what he describes sounds quite possible.
He has a collection of short stories alternating with essays, Indistinguishable From Magic that considers really cool technology (like space “bolos” and space elevators) that are within the bounds of physics and just require reasonable advances in materials or construction technique.
His novels remind me a bit of Hal Clement’s stories. Both write stories involving (and often from the point of view of) really interesting aliens unlike any Earthly species.
My favorite of his is Dragon’s Egg which concerns an alien race living on the surface of a neutron star. IIRC, they live at a rate one-million times faster than we do. When we discover them, they’re at a primitive level.
In the month the science crew orbits the neutron star studying them, they advance to technologies far in advance of ours. Great book; one of my favorites.
Interestingly, Hal Clement also wrote a (pair of) book(s) about an alien race living on a super-high gravity world (a planet in this case). Mission of Gravity and Starlight.
If you’re not familiar with Clement, you’d love his work. Another diamond-hard SF guy.
LikeLike
Thanks. I have read Clement’s Mission of Gravity although it’s been a long time (probably circa 1980), but can’t recall if I’ve read any of his other stuff. I’ll keep Forward in mind.
LikeLike
It’s certainly a visually impressive film, but I have to say some of PZ Myers criticism of it rang true for me.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/12/01/locusts/
LikeLike
I actually agree with Myers on this, and my past posts on colonization reflect that agreement. I’m on board with the idea of scientific research stations in the solar system, and I find this film inspiring in that light, but I agree that people who think colonies will be a backup for Earth’s biosphere don’t understand just difficult that biosphere, with its vast ecology, is to replicate.
LikeLike