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Author
Index
T |
Sheri
S Tepper |
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Title
Index
G |
Grass |
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| Year |
1989 |
| Publisher |
Corgi
(Bantam Press) |
| ISBN |
0552135402 |
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Synopsis
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When
a deadly plague
devastates
humanity on every
planet in known
space, only Grass
seems
untouched.
On a far future
Earth, the
intensely
religious rulers
know that they
must discover the
secret of the
planet's strange
immunity.
For Marjorie
Westriding-Yrarier,
this offers a
welcome challenge:
an ambitious and
caring woman, she
wants to achieve
more than her
seemingly
indifferent family
expect of her.
But as she
gradually unveils
the true nature of
Grass, she
discovers
surprising and
horrifying secrets
about herself,
about the planet's
aliens, and about
the survival of
mankind. |
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Review
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'Marjorie
Yrarier is one of
the most
interesting and
likeable heroines
in modern science
fiction'
'A splendid
achievement, one
of the most
satisfying science
fiction novels I
have read in
years'
The New York
Times |
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Credit:
NASA
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The
Rare Venus
Transit
NASA
joined the
world
today in
viewing a
rare
celestial
event, one
not seen
by any
person now
alive. The
"Venus
transit"
-- the
apparent
crossing
of our
planetary
neighbor
in front
of the Sun
-- was
captured
from the
unique
perspective
of NASA's
Sun-observing
TRACE
spacecraft.
The top
image
shows
Venus on
the
eastern
limb of
the Sun.
The faint
ring
around the
planet
comes from
the
scattering
of its
atmosphere,
which
allows
some
sunlight
to show
around the
edge of
the
otherwise
dark
planetary
disk. The
faint glow
on the
disk is an
effect of
the TRACE
telescope.
The bottom
left
image is
in the
ultraviolet,
and the bottom
right
image is
in the
extreme
ultraviolet.
The last
"Venus
transit"
occurred
more than
a century
ago, in
1882, and
was used
to compute
the
distance
from the
Earth to
the Sun.
Scientists
with
NASA's
Kepler
mission
hope to
discover
Earth-like
planets
outside
our solar
system by
searching
for
transits
of other
stars by
planets
that might
be
orbiting
them.
If people
miss the
June 8
Venus
transit,
they will
have
another
chance in
2012 (June
6). After
that,
there will
not be
another
Venus
transit
until 2117
(December
11). |
|
NASA
Image of
the day
archive |
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______________________________________________________
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