story identification - Trying to remember title of a book about people on an asteroid/comet

I'm trying to remember the title of a book. The plot was a group of people are stranded on a comet or asteroid. They establish kind of a colony inside it, and rig up rockets on the surface to move it. Some of the people discover some sort of algae type life form inside it, which bonds with and mutates people helping them to survive. They set the asteroid to head for Earth but have to change the course when authorities on Earth threaten to blow the asteroid up because of the mutations.

Answer

Indeed this is Heart of the Comet, a 1987 book by David Brin and Gregory Benford. I've read this book so many times and it never loses its appeal...

A group of spacers and scientists land on Halleys Comet, and set about harvesting it for the materials and metals that comets are made of. They install mass launchers in order to change the orbit of the comet, to bring it into the inner solar system and make the harvesting easier.

Unexpectedly they encounter life within Halley, life that lives deep within the comet, life that is inimical to start with but the spacers and scientists gradually adjust and come to terms with the Halley-life (as they call it). Earth attempts to blow up the comet to stop any of the extra-terrestrial life reaching earth, so the comet crew change trajectory to move out of the solar system.

This is a really good hard sf story, totally recommended...

Comments

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?

Blog

Search This Blog