Karen Sandler

Category: Cool Science

  • Best Book of January – Ashfall

    Today, YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks What’s the best book you read in January? I’ve actually read a few quite good books this month, but there’s a clear winner–Ashfall by Mike Mullin.

    This post-apocalyptic YA novel starts with a bang, literally. A super-volcano in Yellowstone erupts so powerfully that it flings large chunks of flaming rock a thousand miles away. The main character, an almost-16-year-old boy named Alex, is home alone. His parents and younger sister have gone to visit Alex’s uncle 140 miles away. In true surly teenage fashion (not that all teens are surly, but Alex certainly is), he refuses to go with the rest of his family.

    Then a flaming chunk of volcano falls on his roof and all hell subsequently breaks loose. A series of events lead Alex to decide to go in search of his family, but the ash-covered world has truly ended–no electricity, no communication, and there are some very vicious people roaming the countryside. Luckily, Alex meets up with Darla, whose survival skills complement Alex’s expertise at self-defense, and they’re able to help each other.

    What is especially notable about this book for me is that it stuck with me for days after I read it. Scenes kept drifting into my mind’s eye (like all that ash), bringing me back to the story. Mullin writes the book in such a plausible way. And it’s downright scary to think of what our world would be like if technology disappeared with the exploding of a super-volcano.

    Some of the scenes are very visceral and violent, so it’s not for the faint of heart. In fact, although the book intrigued me from the moment I first heard about it (it was released in September 2011, the same month as my book, Tankborn), I was, to be honest, a little afraid to read it. But it kept coming up when I would search for Tankborn on Amazon (yes, I’m obsessed about my ranking), and I finally decided to order it.

    I’m certainly glad I did, and I’m planning to get Ashen Winter too. The ending of Ashfall just begs for a sequel, and luckily, there’s one ready for me to buy.

    So, what have you read this month?

  • RTW – Best Book Read in September

    As it’s the last Wednesday of September, YA Highway asks what’s the best book we’ve read this month. It’s a bit of a blur as to what books I read in September. I might have finished a Lois McMaster Bujold SF book early on. Part of the month I’ve been doing a beta read on an urban fantasy for another writer in exchange for her beta reading my YA paranormal. I’ve also been busy working on the synopsis for Revolution, the third book in the Tankborn trilogy. Plus I was a little under the weather so I didn’t read as much this month.

    But I did make time to read James Rollins excellent thriller/adventure novel, Map of Bones, which is part of his Sigma Force series. While I’ve read a number of other books by James, this is the first Sigma Force book I picked up, and it wasn’t the first in the series. But he doesn’t leave new readers of the series confused about who is who and what Sigma Force is. Although he jumps right into the action, he introduces the characters in a nice balanced way so that new readers can get to know them, and returning readers aren’t overwhelmed by a data dump they don’t need.

    For those who love intriguing twists and turns, who like learning about arcane bits of history (in this case, of the Vatican and the Catholic Church) made fascinating by a breakneck plot, who like cool gadgets and clever characters, you’ll love this book. His ensemble of characters get into some dire fixes, are surely doomed, can’t possibly succeed, but a new twist and their quick wits pull them out of disaster.

    If you’re squeamish about violence, fair warning–this book has its fair share. Map of Bones doesn’t contain nearly as much on-the-page gore as say, Lee Child’s books. But it opens with a pretty hard-to-take scene for a wimp like me. I kept reading and I’m glad I did. It’s a great read.

    How about you? What did you read this month?

  • RTW – Doing the Groundhog Thing

    This week on YA Highway, the prompt asks, If you could be reincarnated as any fictional character, which would it be? Which made the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, pop into my mind, hence the title of my post.

    Moving on, I gave the question my usual three seconds of thought, figuring that the quickest answer to come into my mind would be the best. I did briefly consider Katniss (but for only the first second of those three), then realized everyone in the world wants to be Katniss (admit it). So I spent the next two seconds digging a little further back and came up with a character I’ve loved for years.

    I’d want to be Lessa from Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. If you haven’t read Anne McCaffrey’s dragon books, I suggest you check them out. Yes, some are better than others (the first three, Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon are very worthy, as well as the more YA companion series, Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums). But McCaffrey created such a great world and society that I’ve often fantasized about living on Pern with its genetically augmented dragons.

    Lessa is a pretty kick-ass character who doesn’t let anyone push her around. She doesn’t actually run around in that cheesy white outfit shown on the cover, by the way. When she’s riding her golden dragon, she wears practical riders’ leathers. But she’s a feminist’s feminist, insisting that yes, female breeding dragons can fly and they can carry a rider. They can even help fight Thread, the menace on Pern.

    So there you go. I want to be Lessa and fly around on a golden dragon. That would be my fantasy come true.

  • Programming DNA

    In the world of my book Tankborn, Genetically Engineered Non-humans (GENs) are controlled via electronics installed in their nervous system and brain. I read an article this week which describes an intriguing study whose results I might just have to steal for a future book. The researchers have actually managed to program DNA itself.

    Stanford post-doc Jerome Bonnet worked with graduate student Pakpoom Subsoontorn and assistant professor Drew Endy to induce the DNA in microbes to switch direction so that they would glow a different color under an ultraviolet light. After three years of work getting the correct balance of enzymes which control the orientation of the DNA, they were able to create the equivalent of a bio data storage unit. They call the device used a “recombinase addressable data” module, or RAD. They’re only able to store one bit of “data,” but have plans to expand their research to an entire byte.

    While the scientists engaged in this study expect that this data storage ability would be used for worthy efforts such as studying cancer, my writer’s mind can’t seem to help going in an entirely different direction. If we could store data in DNA, couldn’t we pass ultra-secret messages that way? Or maybe it’s not just data, but actual programming in the brain that affects behavior. Maybe in a future world, it could heal a mental illness or something could go awry and the treatment would create someone with extraordinary mental powers.

    Okay, I’m letting my imagination get the best of me. These are all fictional scenarios. The actual science will take years to reach fruition. And in the real world, it will likely provide benefits, like to signal that cells are splitting too rapidly. Catch that early and we can prevent cancer.

    Still, it’s fun to take this intriguing study and run with it as an author. After all, who doesn’t want mental superpowers?

  • Brain-Digital Interface

    Sometimes science is stranger–and creepier–than fiction. In my young adult science fiction book, Tankborn, genetically engineered non-humans (GENs) are grown in a tank with circuitry implanted along their nervous systems, including within their brains. An interface installed on their cheek (in the form of a tattoo) allows a trueborn to upload data and programing into a GEN and download the contents of much of their brain.

    In the realm of actual science, author Jonathan D. Moreno discusses in his book Mind Wars potential use of using the human brain for military advantage. For instance, he ponders the ethics of using oxytocin to induce a sense of trust and well-being in someone to enhance interrogation. Or the use of an “anti-sleep” pill to allow soldiers to continue fighting without the need for sleep.

    But it was the discussion of the brain-digital interface that caught my eye. Science hasn’t advanced to Tankborn’s level of circuitry implanted within a subject’s nervous system. But scientists have already used the brain-digital interface for prosthetic limbs, and there’s even potential to allow paralyzed folks to control robotics with their minds. These are far more positive uses for the technology of interfacing with the brain than in Tankborn’s world.

    Moreno proposed two guiding principles for use of the brain-digital interface: “First, the individual should have control over the contents of his or her mind. Second, the individual gets to decide who gets access.” In my fictional world, GENs never have complete control over the contents of their minds, nor do they decide who gets access.

    But that’s part of what makes for an interesting story–characters with seemingly insurmountable obstacles (in this case, both physical and mental slavery) who fight against their oppressors. I have to hope that in the real world this type of technology will only be used for the best purposes, and will be beneficial to all.