Boundary Condition, Wil McCarthy’s lead novella for April, takes us to a weather station unlike any you’ve ever encountered. It’s in orbit, which it makes it susceptible to some very dramatic action, but that’s the least of its unusual features. Its methods involve practical applications of some far-out applications of quantum mechanics—which bring it into unique juxtaposition, both literally and figuratively, with some of the oldest ideas and institutions of humanity. All of which makes for an intense, thought-provoking, and haunting story.
Stephen Baxter offers the latest of his popular “Tales of Old Earth,” and, on the “Science Behind the Story” section of our website, a fascinating look at the background of this exceptionally exotic world. Jack McDevitt has an unusual collaboration with astrophysicist Michael Shara (whose name you may recognize from Scientific American or elsewhere), and we also have a highly diverse selection of stories by such writers as John G. Hemry, Richard A. Lovett, and Stephen L. Burns.
Alexis Glynn Latner’s fact article, “The Shape of Wings to Come,” springs from an unusual perspective: as a sailplane pilot herself, she’s done a lot of thinking about the past, present, and future of gliders. Because of their deceptive simplicity, you may think of them as “low technology”; but if so, you’ll probably be surprised at how much thought has gone into their design and construction, what they have already accomplished, and what they might achieve in the future—both on Earth and elsewhere.
