COLLAPSING EMPIRE By John Scalzi 19.9 The Empire has been going with the Flow among the stars for years to avoid the lightspeed limit. The Flow makes possible trade across 47 enclaves of humanity, but change is coming, and it could take down a system that’s lasted for over a thousand years. As voices of concern begin to be raised about the stability of the Flow, a new emperox takes the throne. Can young Lord Marce Claremont escape in time to warn Cardenia about the disaster that is coming? And what about those others who see this as an opportunity to move forward their own ambitions? With assassination attempts and revolution already occurring, what will happen to the Interdependency when the loss of access to the Flow occurs? When the Empire Collapses, who will survive?

-October’s meeting is on the 16th at the Simpson Library in Mechanicsburg and the book of the month is The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. -Cover art by Susanitah. -Dear Crabby will tell you how to party like it’s All Hallows Eve.

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NEW RELEASES October 2019

NINA ALLAN - The Dollmaker JENN LYONS - The Name of MIKE ASHLEY, ed. - Beyond Time: All Things LEIGH BARDUGO - Ninth House CARMEN MARÍA MACHADO - In the RAMSEY CAMPBELL - Dream House Phantasmagorical Stories, Book One CARMEN MARÍA MACHADO & JOHN GAIL CARRIGER - Fan Service JOSEPH ADAMS, EDS. - The Best DELILAH S. DAWSON & KEVIN American Science Fiction and HEARNE - The Princess Beard Fantasy 2019 SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL - MARSHALL RYAN MARESCA - Shield Crownbreaker of the People PAUL DI FILIPPO - Plumes of Pegasus WIL MCCARTHY - Antediluvian NICKY DRAYDEN - Escaping Exodus SEANAN MCGUIRE - Laughter at DAVE DUNCAN - Merlin Redux the Academy GREG EGAN - The Best of Greg Egan AMES A. MOORE - Bloodlines CHRISTOPHER FOWLER - Bryant & KIM NEWMAN - Anno Dracula 1999: May: England’s Finest Daikaiju LISA GOLDSTEIN - Ivory Apples GARTH NIX - Angel THEODORA GOSS - The Sinister TIM PRATT - The Forbidden Stars Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl PHILIP PULLMAN - The Book of Dust, PETER F. HAMILTON - Salvation Lost Volume Two: The Secret FRANCES HARDINGE - Deeplight Commonwealth HEIDI HEILIG - A Kingdom for a Stage VERONICA ROTH - The End and JOHN HORNOR JACOBS - A Lush and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Seething Hell Future ROBERT JORDAN - Warrior of JODI TAYLOR - Doing Time the Altaii TADE THOMPSON - The Rosewater S.T. JOSHI, ed. - Apostles of the Redemption Weird GREG VAN EEKHOUT – Cog T. KINGFISHER - The Twisted Ones BRENT WEEKS - The Burning White DEREK KÜNSKEN - The Quantum GARY WESTFAHL - The Rise and Fall Garden of American Science Fiction, from MERCEDES LACKEY & ROSEMARY the 1920 to the 1960 EDGHILL - The Waters and the Wild JEANETTE WINTERSON - STEPHANIE PUI-MUN LAW - Frankissstein Dreamscapes: Magical Fantasy Art CIXIN LIU - Supernova Era DEAR CRABBY

Dear Crabby, Fall is in the air and I have a Halloween party I'm planning to impress my friends with. There is the costume to consider. I wanted to follow Chuck's awesome idea and go for the sandworm, but there's a girl from work I'm hoping to woo, and I didn't want to have a third wheel wreck the vibe. I settled on Iron Man instead. I have all the light-up parts and sound effects for the suit although, it does mean no sitting down. I have a meat foot, pumpkin spice muffins, guacamoldy eyeballs, pumpkin spice blondies with cheesecake swirl, jalapeno mummies, pumpkins spice latte jello shots, brain dip. pumpkin spice pretzel bites, pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin spice White Russians. I've got a killer soundtrack of spooky sounds and rad Halloween appropriate songs for this Dead Man's Party. Purple and orange lights to set the mood, smoke machine for that intimate feel, scary spiders and rats to drive a dame right into a hero's arms. What more can you suggest to seal the deal and spend the next morning making my hopefully soon to be witchy woman pumpkin spiced pancakes for breakfast? Lovesick Lunatic

Dear Bat Guano Crazy, Okay, so you've got a costume you can't sit in let alone to get horizontal in, presumably, other people to attend this party so as to at least not make the girl feel like she's in Psycho and about to be your mother, and food that while disgusting in nature is mostly at least theme- appropriate. Assuming you don't blow this just based on your oblivious skills and charm I'd say it could work assuming she's as much of a headcase as you...except for one thing. Nobody should be subjected to the amount of Pumpkin Spice items you're suggesting short of torture that defies all traces of humanity and breaks the Geneva Convention to bits. What did the Russians do to you white or otherwise that you'd abuse alcohol that way, man? I bet you even have one of those horrid plug-ins or wax melts or some such horror that spells like that crap, don't you? If she's as twisted as you and your pumpkin spice worshipping self is you two are made in vomit-inducing heaven. I hope you live a long, happy, smelly existence somewhere far from the rest of us. Happy early Hallow's Eve and goodbye! Crabby https://www.mynameissnickerdoodle.com/halloween-feet-loaf-recipe/ https://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/food-drinks/recipes/a56191/hot-pepper-mummies- recipe/ https://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/food-drinks/recipes/a56191/hot-pepper-mummies- recipe/ https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/g3614/pumpkin-spice-recipes/

AVAILABLE NOW

THE 2019 SATURN AWARDS Best Comic-to-Motion-Picture Release - Avengers : Endgame Best Science Fiction Film Release - Ready Player One Best Fantasy Film Release - Toy Story Four Best Horror Film Release - Best Action/Adventure Film Release - Mission Impossible – Fallout Best Thriller Film Release - Bad Times at the El Royale Best Animated Film Release – Spider-man – Into the Spider-verse Best Independent Film Release - Mandy Best Actor in a Film – Robert Downey Jr., Avengers : Endgame Best Actress in a Film – Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween Best Supporting Actor in a Film – Josh Brolin – Avengers : Infinity War Best Supporting Actress in a Film – Zendaya, Spider-man, Far From Home Best Performance by a Young Actor – , Spider-man : Far From Home Best Film Director – Jordan Peele, Us Best Film Screenplay – , and , A Quiet Place Best Film Production Design – Charles Wood, Avengers : Endgame Best Film Music – Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns Best Film Costume – Michael Williams, Aladdin Best Film Makeup – John Blake, Michael Snipe, Avengers : Endgame Best Film Special/Visual Effects – Avengers : Endgame Best Superhero TV Series – Supergirl Best Science Fiction TV Series – Westworld Best Fantasy Television Series – Game of Thrones Best Horror Television Series – The Walking Dead Best Action/Thriller Television Series – Better Call Saul Best Actor in a Television Series – Sam Heughan, Outlander Best Actress in a Television Series – Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series – Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series – Danai Gurira, The Walking Dead Best Performance by a Young Actor – Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones Best Guest-Starring Performance on a Television Series – Jeffrey Morgan, The Walking Dead Best Streaming Superhero Series – Marvel’s Daredevil Best Streaming Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Action/Thriller Television Series – Star Trek : Discovery Best Streaming Horror and Thriller Series – Stranger Things Best Actor in Streaming Presentation - Henry Thomas, The Haunting of Hill House Best Actress in a Streaming Presentation - Sonequa Martin-Green, Star Trek: Discovery Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Presentation - Doug Jones, Star Trek: Discovery Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series - Maya Hawke, Stranger Things

SCIENCY STUFF

When we hear about genetic modification a lot of words are thrown around that may not be immediately recognizable and one of these is “gene drive”. With typical transmission of traits through a population there is a 50/50 chance of expressing a particular gene, after which the positive or negative nature of the trait tends to over time determine the likelihood of survival of the carrier. Certain DNA sequences do not follow this pattern and can affect their expression. These are self-propagating and can carry a specific trait much more quickly through a population or in simpler terms, a gene drive. Since the gene drives are so successful, even a negative effect can rapidly be carried throughout a species. We’ve been working with gene drives since the 60’s to try to control various pests. You might remember the concept of introducing certain mosquitos which have a gene that tends toward sterility, in areas that suffer from diseases like Malaria or West Nile Virus. In this case a natural gene drive was discovered and then mosquitos with this trait were cultivated for release with that idea that while they could breed, they would spread the gene drive to the local population. In the 90’s new technologies allowed for the engineering of certain genetic sequences. Now scientists could insert gene drives into the DNA of subjects. Unfortunately, there was a tendency towards mutations, which caused the failure of the gene drive before it could be passed along effectively. 2012 brought scientists a new tool called CRISPR or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Now it became possible to edit DNA by forcing a break and influencing the repair done to the strand. Gene drives can be used in one of two ways: as a modification drive or a suppression drive. By passing along the drive to wild organisms, a specific trait can be encouraged and may spread either through all the cells of the organism or is only its reproductive cells. Suppression drives accomplish what earlier scientists were attempting with the mosquitos. Here deleterious traits are encouraged through the introduction of the drive into the subject species DNA but are done in such a fashion that a first they are only expressed in the reproductive cells. Eventually, the drive also passes to all of the genetic material and this causes anything from decline in numbers, sterility or death. As much as we might dislike them, mosquitos are part of the ecosystem, so scientists are also working on a different gene drive that would create Malaria resistant mosquitos to halt transmission of the disease. Invasive species such as the Lantern Fly could potentially be dealt with using the drives. On the flipside, a number of amphibian populations are experiencing declines due to a fungus and a modification drive could be derived to provide immunity. Computer modelling is used to look at populations altered by drives for long term effects. Right now, due to the complexity of the overall DNA, most drives are being developed for plants and insects, however a team in 2018 created a gene drive that effected the color of hair for laboratory mice. Mice could also become a target for gene drive use since they have become serious pests in certain grain growing areas. Controlling their population via suppressive drives could be beneficial. Another project called Mice Against Ticks is looking to create a Lyme disease resistant mouse and then release them into the population of Martha’s Vineyard Island, where the results could be studied since the mice would be isolated. Of course, mice are just the first step on the ladder that could reach all the way to us. While most of the CRISPR talk about modification of humans tends to look at things from an individual point of view, such as modifying embryos, the gene drive aspect suddenly adds a new twist. What if instead of making the mice Lyme Disease resistant, we made ourselves not only disease resistant but set it up so that from now on our children would also be as well? This is just the tip of the iceberg and we’re not even talking about gene drive altered species effecting the environment—but it is something to think about...

COMING IN NOVEMBER, THE FINAL ISSUE OF THE REALM BEYOND

Tillyer’s News of the High Frontier September 2019 -From now until Halloween, the European Space Agency is entertaining ideas from the world about how to design robots to explore the cave of the moon. Since NASA has set its sights on putting a man back on the Moon, the ESA seems to be looking a little further ahead to ways to keep explorers on site for longer. Entrants can share their ideas on the Open Space Innovation Platform. Robots would not only be looking for potential sheltered areas to build in but also for frozen water and information about the lunar geologic past. As a whole, the design should be able to land on the surface, identify the cave entrance, enter, explore within and transmit back its findings. So, if you’re feeling brilliant, be sure to get your idea in on time.

-Previously, WTS reported on the Chandrayaan-2 from India and its lunar mission, however things did not go as planned. Communication was lost with the Vikram Lander in the last bit of the landing. The Indian Space Research Organization is still attempting to re-establish a link with the probe, but time is running out. Prior to this, the Israelis also lost another mission. So, with two recent failures, the scientific community is reviewing all of the data with hopes to avoid future issues with landing on the Moon. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will over fly the area where the Vikram Lander came down on September 17th and hopefully will be able to provide more insight into the issues which have caused the communication black out. But wait, what about the orbiter that was part of Chanrayaan-2? The orbiter appears to be a success having accomplished most of its expected tasks.

-NASA’s broadcast of the SpaceX Demo-1 flight was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Program. They were recognized for their use of live video, social media and pictures to cover the event. NASA also won an award last year as well. The Demo-1 was a proving flight for the Crew Dragon Module designed to ferry passengers to the International Space Station. NASA also won for its coverage of the InSight landing on Mars last November.

-Their egos aren’t the only thing expanding over at NASA as tests begin on the inflatable Bigelow Aerospace Habitat. The two B330’s which will go through a series of test and habitation by four astronauts for four weeks. Called B330’s because of the 330 square feet of volume they contain, the habitats are designed to maintain four astronauts indefinitely and include propulsion as well. Bigelow has stated that if NASA approves of their design, a B330 could be ready in 42 months.

COMING IN NOVEMBER