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Adam Roberts’ New Scientist Book Club Review: Lakes of Darkness – A Mixed Bag

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New Scientist Book Club has just read Adam Roberts’ Lake in the Dark

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Following the journey through Khalian Bradley’s *Time Saving*, the New Scientist Book Club ventured in the opposite direction for our latest read: the far future and some hard science fiction with Adam Roberts’ *Lake of Darkness*. Set in a seemingly utopian society, the narrative revolves around two spacecraft orbiting a black hole, and one captain receiving orders to kill all crew members as commanded by a voice from the depths of that black hole. Not quite utopia, but rather a chilling twist from Roberts’s protagonist, Saccadest in the century, as we delve deeper into this mystical entity.

The reception among our readers is varied; some found it thoroughly enjoyable while others felt its pacing was sluggish. Personally, I resonate with Paul Jonas, a member of the New Scientist Book Club. He shared on Facebook that he was “fascinated by the story” and “appreciated the hard science components relating to space travel, black holes, and utopian societies.” Paul’s insights into the philosophical elements tied to Deleuze’s thinking in this novel truly impress me.

I tend to be quite discerning when it comes to fiction, and rarely find books claiming to be humorous truly engaging (Terry Pratchett being the joyous exception). However, *Lake of Darkness* was different; I found myself intrigued at various moments, particularly appreciating how Roberts’ distant characters grappled with our own history while deciphering what they termed “so-called” *More’s Code*, the ancient system of long and short pulses each symbolizing a single glyph, alluding to the famous Beatles tune, *We All Live in a Yellow Submarine*.

Like Paul, I was captivated by the book’s portrayal of a future utopian society and the dilemmas it presents. During our discussion, Roberts expressed his intention to explore various subgenres of science fiction within his writing. While this perspective on utopia unfolds with its antagonist (spoiler alert – Satan), the idealized vision isn’t as appealing, given that all labor is assigned to “smart machines,” leaving people devoid of functionality. Time becomes filled with hobbies and fandoms, captured in the phrase, “Your people understand the value of everything but the cost. Without a cost, nothing holds worth. The best carries a significant price.” I found it quite delightful to navigate (and read) while contemplating this future society.

Charlotte Sye, another Book Club member, enjoyed listening to the audiobook and shared her enthusiasm: “I love the humor and hard science.” She added, “Life inside a black hole is particularly fascinating, as one character mentions, while there’s tremendous energy, is there really space and time?!”

Barbara Howe, however, had her reservations. She acknowledged the book’s “historical misconceptions” and “utopian critiques,” but felt that the depicted utopia was overly centered on trivial sexual themes, reflecting a male-centric viewpoint, neglecting notions like child-rearing or nurturing that are essential to true progress.

Barbara also pointed out a sentiment echoed by several other readers: she appreciated reading *Lake of Darkness* as an e-book, stating, “I had to look up more words in this single book than in my previous reads.” Alain Pellett echoed this, finding the vocabulary somewhat challenging and “offensive.” Jess Brady shared similar thoughts, enjoying the concept while criticizing the “slow prose.”

While such critiques weren’t particularly noticeable for me—possibly due to my willingness to overlook certain aspects—I did sympathize with Barbara’s assessment regarding the physics: “I tackle explanations of time travel alongside FTL (faster-than-light) travel. I accept these premises; they provide a thin veil of scientific reality over a fantastical plot device.”

Another prevalent criticism among readers was the lack of relatable characters. Alan expressed frustration, noting, “No one seemed sympathetic; their deaths evoked no remorse. They were all insufferable and dim-witted.” Karen Shees concurred, saying, “While the book initially caught my interest, I found the characters so unengaging that I wasn’t invested in their fate.”

I share this sentiment to some extent. Many characters were glaringly absurd, including guunarsonsdottir—distracting. Yet, I believe this serves a purpose, as I relished witnessing the turmoil of these intellectually lazy individuals as they navigated actual threats—through the seemingly redundant formation of another committee discussing their next steps. Moreover, I’m intrigued by the character Bartle Wasp; even the name piques curiosity.

Paul likely feels similarly. “Saccade was a compelling character. Living in a utopia surrounded by AI shapes her perspective. There’s no obligation to fully connect with every character; following their journey can be engaging even if they’re not traditional heroes.”

After finishing *Lake of Darkness*, I found numerous substantial concepts lingering in my thoughts. Did the black hole narrative hold coherence? Was the conclusion truly comprehensible? I’m still pondering—much like Barbara, who concluded that the novel “took unexpected turns and provoked thought.”

“In the latter part, I felt transported back to the 1980s,” she remarked, referencing Douglas Hofstadter’s *Godel, Escher, Bach: Eternal Golden Braid*. “It was a brief throwback, but the ending confuses me. Why did Joins act as she did? Did the entity achieve its desires?”

Paul similarly found the conclusion perplexing. “The ending likely bewildered many due to the complexities of black hole physics,” he noted. “Additionally, the geometric concepts about the inside/outside of infinite structures were truly mind-bending.”

However, let’s shift from the complexities of black holes to the anticipation for our next read. We’ll be diving into Circular Motion by Alex Foster. This captivating debut envisions a gradual acceleration of Earth’s spin, with increasingly disastrous consequences. I’m excited to share it and can’t wait to hear your thoughts! You can preview excerpts here. The narrative examines how this accelerated state might be humanity’s doing. I’ll be discussing the novel with him later this month, so feel free to drop any questions you have in our Facebook group.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Enhanced Contact Lenses Enable Vision in Infrared Spectrum, Even in Darkness

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New contact lenses can provide infrared vision

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Contact lenses enable users to perceive beyond the visible light spectrum, detecting infrared flickers even in darkness or with closed eyes.

The lenses incorporate engineered nanoparticles that absorb and convert infrared radiation, particularly within the near-infrared range of 800-1600 nanometers. This technology functions similarly to night vision equipment, allowing visibility in low-light conditions, but the contact lenses are significantly lighter and do not need any external power source.

“Contact lenses grant military personnel a modest, hands-free nighttime capability, overcoming the challenges posed by cumbersome night vision [goggles or scopes]” stated Peter Rentzepis from Texas A&M University, who is involved in related research employing the same nanoparticles (sodium fluoride, ytterbium, erbium) for eyeglass lenses.

The innovative wearables developed by Yuqian Ma from the China University of Science and Technology and his team have not yet achieved detailed night vision. This limitation occurs because they can solely detect “high-intensity narrowband LED” light sources, as noted by Rentzepis, without capturing the ambient infrared light.

“While it’s an ambitious study, contact lenses alone cannot be employed for reading in infrared or navigating dark paths,” explained Mikhail Kats, who is not associated with the research, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In human-mouse studies, the contact lenses transformed an otherwise invisible flash of infrared light into what Kats describes as “a significant, colorful chunk of visible light.” These representations serve a purpose; for instance, MA and his team encoded and transmitted alphabetic characters by altering the frequency, quantity, and color of various light flashes.

This research builds upon previous studies where scientists directly injected nanoparticles into the eyes of mice to facilitate infrared vision. Wearable contact lenses present a “safer and more practical approach to human applications,” observes Rentzepis. However, he cautions that they still pose potential health and safety concerns, such as risks of thermal exposure from the photoconversion process or the leakage of nanoparticles into ocular tissues.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Transatlantic Speed Record Remains Unbroken for 50 Years: Darkness Prevails in the Skies | Air Transportation

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ohOn September 1, 1974, two men made the fastest trip ever between New York and London. Traveling three times the speed of sound and taking less than two hours, this incredible journey set a record that still stands 50 years later.

Even the mighty Concorde, which set the record for the fastest commercial transatlantic flight in 1996, was almost an hour late.

The US Air Force Lockheed Blackbird SR-71 jet, with a crew of two – pilot James Sullivan and reconnaissance systems operator Noel Widdifield – completed the flight between the two cities in one hour, 54 minutes and 56 seconds, before landing in triumph to a great welcome at the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire.

Widdifield, now 83, divides his time between Virginia and Florida in the US. “In some ways it was a normal flight for us,” he said, reflecting on that momentous day. “There was nothing unusual about the flight or the way we flew the plane, but in July 1974 we were told we were going to attempt the world record for flying from New York to London, which had previously been held by a Royal Navy pilot. There was a lot of media interest.”

It wasn’t just the Air Force’s prestige that was at stake. America was facing an international public relations crisis. Just three weeks earlier, disgraced President Richard Nixon had resigned after the Watergate scandal and Gerald Ford had taken over the White House. The country was still reeling from its disastrous involvement in the Vietnam War. The country needed something to cheer about.

There were other schemes as well. Widdifield observer“Although I didn’t know anything about it at the time, behind the scenes, negotiations were taking place between the US and the UK to deploy Blackbird SR-71s on British soil.




Widdifield flew B-52 bombers before joining the Blackbird SR-71 program. Photo: Noel Widdifield

“There were fears in the UK that this move might cause a lot of backlash, especially in the Middle East. But after we broke the record and flew into the Farnborough Air Show, that seemed to be the clincher and the UK allowed the SR-71 to be parked.”

Widdifield was 33 when he made this historic flight. He originally wanted to be a train driver, but after seeing U.S. Air Force jets flying low over his house at age 12, he decided to become a pilot.

After training and flying B-52 bombers, Widdifield served in the Blackbird SR-71 program at Beale Air Force Base in California from 1971 to 1975, after which he retired from flying to serve in the U.S. space program until 1982.

Piloting a Blackbird was akin to being an astronaut: The crew wore space suits and flew at an altitude of 80,000 feet (most commercial airliners top out at 42,000 feet). “It was pitch black up there,” Widdifield said. “You could see the stars and, depending on the time of day, the moon or the sun.”

Their plane took off from Beale and had to fly along the coast to New York to avoid creating a sonic boom over populated areas and causing significant damage to buildings. High above the city was an invisible “gate” where the journey would begin. Reaching a speed of Mach 3.2 (three times the speed of sound, about 2,455 miles per hour), the Blackbird crashed through the gate and the record attempt began.

The plane had to refuel twice: once upon takeoff, once when it docked with a tanker over California to top off, and once en route to near Greenland.

In one incident that looked terrifying from the outside but was handled with cool by the crew, the Blackbird suddenly began to “yaw,” or move quickly from side to side, after losing thrust.

Because the Blackbird took in air from the front to provide thrust for the engines, the air intake mechanisms would often become misaligned, causing a momentary, significant loss of power in one engine.

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Widdifield and Sullivan stand in front of a Blackbird SR-71. Photo: Noel Widdifield

“The automatic restart system was activated, the misaligned cones were corrected and the engine was restarted,” Widdifield said. “We had no real concerns other than what this would do to our record speed run.”


The plane then flew through the London “gates” without incident, and the Blackbird landed at Farnborough, where a large crowd waited and a press conference was held, during which Widdifield and Sullivan were on the phone with the new president. “It got huge international coverage for the next year,” says Widdifield, who has six scrapbooks of the clippings. “But what Jim and I always tried to emphasize was that although it was just the two of us who got the glory, there was a huge team behind every flight.

“When you take into account the support staff, the administrative staff and all the people who work to get us flying, that’s 1,000 people. They deserve as much credit as Jim and I do.”

Widdifield, who has been married to his wife Ann for 63 years and has two children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, is mourning the loss of his co-pilot, Jim Sullivan, who died in 2021, and the Blackbird SR-71 itself, which was officially retired in 1998.

He said: “Jim and I kept in touch but then lived far apart so we only saw each other a few times at SR-71 reunions.

“Obviously I was sad when the SR-71 program ended. So am I surprised that no one has beaten our record in 50 years? No, because no aircraft has been built since then that could break that record.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Keeping your eyes open can lead to faster sleep because of the body’s natural response to darkness.

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Do you find yourself tossing and turning all night once again? Are you counting down the hours until your unyielding alarm goes off? If you’re a reader struggling with sleep, you’re not alone.

Many of us have experienced the frustration of feeling like the more we try to force ourselves to sleep, the more it eludes us. But is this truly the case?

According to recent trends on TikTok, trying to fall asleep can actually hinder your ability to do so. In fact, influencers are actively promoting the idea of not trying to fall asleep. This counterintuitive technique is known as “paradoxical intent,” and while it may be new to TikTok, it’s a scientifically backed method.

As it turns out, there is scientific support behind TikTok after all. Who would have thought?

“Paradoxical intentions are a well-established therapeutic technique that has been used in psychotherapy for decades,” explains Colin Espie, Professor of Sleep Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford. “In fact, I conducted my first research using paradoxical intention therapy in the 1980s.”

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What is paradoxical intent?

Paradoxical intent can be useful for various phobias and anxiety disorders, but the underlying premise remains the same: deliberately adopting an attitude contrary to the desired outcome.

For instance, if a patient has a phobia of failure, a psychologist might assist the patient in confronting failure instead of avoiding it, ultimately reducing fear and anxiety.

“The fundamental directive regarding sleep is that you should aim to stay awake when you’re in bed, feeling sleepy, or waking up in the middle of the night,” Espie explains. “You need to switch your intention from sleeping to staying awake.”

Although this approach may seem illogical at first, it is based on the idea that trying too hard to sleep can backfire.

“Sleep is largely an involuntary process, so attempting to control it often interferes with the natural sleep process,” Espie says. “Essentially, you can’t force sleep; you can only invite it. It’s like stepping back from being awake rather than actively pursuing sleep.”

How to use paradoxical intention to fall asleep faster

Implementing paradoxical intent is simple, but there are some considerations to keep in mind before giving it a try.

1. Go to bed when you feel sleepy (not before)

It may seem obvious, but you can’t sleep unless you’re tired. While paradoxical intention involves trying to stay awake, attempting this during the day is not as challenging.

“Sometimes people go to bed early because they’re desperate for sleep, but if they’re not morning people, they may struggle, leading to falling asleep early in the evening,” Espie notes.

2. Prepare for bed as usual

Despite its fancy name, paradoxical intent doesn’t require any elaborate setup. There’s no need for high-tech gadgets or sleep meditation apps; simplicity is key.

Espy recommends getting into bed, turning off the lights, and lying down.

3. Keep your eyes open instead of closing them

There are several ways to practice paradoxical intent, but this is the simplest approach.

“Keep your eyes open, assume that position, and tell yourself, ‘I am not falling asleep, I am not falling asleep, I am not falling asleep,'” Espie suggests.

“Then, encourage yourself further by saying phrases like, ‘I will stay awake a bit longer,’ or ‘I will keep my eyes open for 10 more seconds.’ Whenever you feel your eyes drooping, say ‘No.'” he explains.

Gradually, it becomes increasingly challenging to keep your eyes open, and instead of struggling to fall asleep, you find yourself struggling to keep your eyes open.

If you sense sleep approaching, try not to resist or acknowledge it too much. Simply allow it to happen.

As an additional tip, Espie recommends keeping a tissue or handkerchief under your pillow in case your eyes start to water.

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4. Don’t take it too literally

The most common mistake people make when employing paradoxical intent is interpreting it too literally.

“It’s not about tormenting yourself to stay awake at all costs. The goal isn’t to prevent yourself from sleeping,” Espie clarifies.

“If you overdo it, you will be overly determined to stay awake, interfering with sleep. The real aim is to allow sleep to naturally happen,” he adds.

5. Be consistent

Changing your sleep patterns doesn’t happen overnight, so persistence is key. “To derive the most benefit from these strategies, you need to continue using them for a while,” Espie advises.

“One challenge with such an approach,” notes the Oxford professor who advocates for it, “is that if it works initially but falters over time, people may become disillusioned, potentially leading to depression.”

“This is usually because individuals underestimate the extent of their sleep problems and the ingrained habit of overthinking,” he explains.

If the issue persists, seeking professional help is crucial. “It’s not just a lifestyle matter,” Espie emphasizes, “sometimes, people need assistance.”

“This is not a hack”

Contrary to what TikTokers may suggest, there is no magical trick to manipulate our brains.

“You can’t outsmart human nature,” Espie asserts. “Sleep is an essential process, and this is not a technique to switch on sleep. It’s not a game.”

He finds it intriguing that sleep advice and techniques are gaining popularity on social media. TikTok’s #insomnia tag currently boasts around 600,000 posts, while the #sleep tag has over 2.9 million posts.

Meanwhile, according to a study investigating American adults, nearly three-quarters of social media usage occurs right before bedtime. It might be an opportune time to learn new sleep strategies, don’t you think?

According to Espie, the increasing online interest in the subject could indicate rising levels of insomnia.

“The value of sleep and the need for effective solutions to sleep issues are sorely underestimated, with many young individuals in particular struggling,” he observes.

“This is why paradoxical intentions are so beneficial; they remind us that the answer isn’t a gimmick, pill, or potion. It’s sleep itself.

“The solution lies in establishing healthy sleep habits to attain the rest you deserve.”

About our experts

Colin Espie is a Professor of Sleep Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience (NDCN) at the University of Oxford. He established the Experimental and Clinical Sleep Medicine Research Program at the Sir Jules Soane Sleep & Circadian Institute (SCNi). Additionally, he serves as the Clinical Director of Oxford’s Sleep Medicine Online Program.

Professor Espie is also a Research Fellow at Somerville College, University of Oxford, and a Senior Research Fellow in the University’s Department of Psychiatry. He is the author of the book “Overcoming Insomnia,” a self-help guide utilizing cognitive-behavioral techniques, including guidance on paradoxical intentions.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com