It is true that they shift genres and this can be a little jarring. This is a conscious decision. The authors pretty much wanted to write the most badass opera ever and they’re not afraid of risks.

I’m a pilot, and well on my way to being an airliner pilot. Misconceptions abound.

Except, ironically, the dust storm. It couldn’t be powerful enough to have the effect described. Andy Weir has addressed this, saying that it was the only way he could come up with a scenario for the initial setup.

Andy Weir has stated that he was well aware the initial accident scenario is scientifically implausible, but he still thought it was the best way to kick off the story he wanted to write. He did try to figure out some other scenario but couldn’t.

Actually, wigs were party a method to keep lice and fleas away. You kept your hair short and wore a wig instead. The wig is way easier to keep bug-free.

1. Switch off fans and ventilation. This stops forced convection, reducing easily-accessible oxygen to fuel the flames.
   

Haha!

The statistics don’t just compare total accidents without regard for the total number of vehicles. They are compiled per passenger mile. Flying comes out the winner by far. Assuming two passengers in any given car, the number of deaths per million passenger miles by commercial plane is 0.42 while by car it is 3.38.…

At the risk of sounding nitpicky, she shouldn’t be wearing a white beret at the academy. The books are very clear on the fact that white berets are only worn by ship captains.

Yes indeed.

Varley is an outstanding author. Points against him for having also written the Millennium screenplay but by all accounts it wasn’t filmed quite as he though it should be.

Gah. Blech. The book is so much better. And it is one of Varley’s bottom of the pile books.

Babylon 5 did Talia Winters + Susan Ivanova not very subtly implied.

More to the point, why is it off the Kingsroad at all? Given this is The Main Road in the region the town should be right on it regardless of whether it was built before or after.

Glorious I think. Not sure.

“Not so much a bird strike as an engine suck.”

That was my first thought as well.

Jetliners go too fast for stuff to “slide past”. Also that bird hit the “sweet spot”. Not only is there an aerodynamic stagnation point right at the nose to prevent it sliding past, the radome is also made of relatively soft material because it needs to let weather radar signals through. If the bird had hit the…

When most people think of Hong Kong, they have a vision of a spectacular skyscraper skyline defining an urban jugle. However by area Hong Kong is over 65% protected parkland. Hiking one of the many well-kept trails is often a revelation of one beautiful vista after another. Many of these trails start just 10 or 20…

Yep, this film is far superior to the original Avengers - and that’s saying a lot. I have yet to talk to a friend/family member that doesn’t feel exactly the same, which made me surprised to discover that critics are almost universally stating that it’s not as good.