"The War on Cryst'meth"

frantically multitasking
maze-wisely slackened
you get used to overloading but
never stop
inwardly cursing the brute necessity


The Neutral.


(Part 1) This is what i have done for χ-1 Sagittarii. Given its binary period 10.8 years and observed semimajor axis of ".123, for spectral types A4IV & A6-F0 respectively, i find the best mass fit of 2.35 + 1.85 ¤ at parallax ".0156 which corresponds to a distance of 209 light years. (Hipparchos gives 220). The bluish-white primary best fits a model of 2.2 M¤ y=0.30 Z=0.04 at the 300 million year mark. (It resembles Rasalhague, only a bit brighter.)

The outermost planet of the greenish-white secondary can be no farther out than about 1.89 AU. (A mass-scaled Bode-Titus rule would make it the third planet.) I have chosen V. A. Firsoff's solvent mercuric bromide (HgBr2) which, although highly unlikely, is not inconceivable given a metal-rich solar system--and this one should be-- & the vagaries of stellar element production (cf Przybylski's star).

A paradigmatic bioequation long eluded me, until i hit upon the notion of having gaseous phosphorus compounds carry the bioreagent elements, & a life based on fluosilicate compounds--at a temperature of 570 degrees Fahrenheit: 3HgBr2 + 3SiF4 + 2PF3 ⇒ 3HgSiF6 + 2PBr3.

This puts the planet i am envisaging on a 596 day orbit around its 7 luminosity sun. I call it "Caiaphas" (because i like the sound).


God Hates Fangs. (thanx Melanie!)


Broken Hill.


Aging Chrome: Cyberpunk in 2009. (via Dr. Menlo)