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Beyond Earth
- Our Path to a New Home in the Planets
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
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Publisher's summary
From a leading planetary scientist and an award-winning science writer: a propulsive account of the developments and initiatives that have transformed the dream of space colonization into something that may well be achievable.
We are at the cusp of a golden age in space science, as increasingly more entrepreneurs - Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos - are seduced by the commercial potential of human access to space. But Beyond Earth does not offer another wide-eyed technology fantasy: instead it is grounded not only in the human capacity for invention and the appeal of adventure but also in the bureaucratic, political, and scientific realities that present obstacles to space travel - realities that have hampered NASA's efforts ever since the Challenger fiasco. In Beyond Earth, the authors offer groundbreaking research and argue persuasively that not Mars but Titan - a moon of Saturn with a nitrogen atmosphere, a weather cycle, and an inexhaustible supply of cheap energy, where we will be able to fly like birds in the minimal gravitational field - offers the most realistic and thrilling prospect of life without support from Earth.
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Important topic ruined by needless political blather
- By J. Gordon on 08-29-19
By: Bryan Walsh
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Confessions of an Alien Hunter
- A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- By: Seth Shostak
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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This engaging memoir reveals the true story of the Search for ExtraterrestrialIntelligence (SETI), and discloses what we may very soon discover. Chronicling the program’s history with insight and humor, SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak assures us that if there is sentient life in the universe, we are within decades of picking up its signal.
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Somewhat Disappointed...
- By Tim on 11-12-10
By: Seth Shostak
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Tomorrowland
- Our Journey From Science Fiction to Science Fact
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, Discover bestselling author Steven Kotler has written extensively about those pivotal moments when science fiction became science fact...and fundamentally reshaped the world. Now he gathers the best of his best, updated and expanded upon, to guide listeners on a mind-bending tour of the far frontier, and how these advances are radically transforming our lives.
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Covers a lot of different topics in many industries
- By ErnieA on 06-27-15
By: Steven Kotler
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Abundance
- The Future Is Better Than You Think
- By: Steven Kotler, Peter H. Diamandis
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Space entrepreneur turned innovation pioneer Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler document how progress in artificial intelligence, robotics, digital manufacturing synthetic biology, and other exponentially growing technologies will enable us to make greater gains in the next two decades than we have in the previous 200 years.
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Perhaps multiply his time estimates by 10
- By Rick on 11-06-21
By: Steven Kotler, and others
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Soonish
- Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything
- By: Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Narrated by: Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In this smart and funny book, celebrated cartoonist Zach Weinersmith and noted researcher Dr. Kelly Weinersmith give us a snapshot of what's coming next - from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters. By weaving their own research and interviews with the scientists who are making these advances happen, the Weinersmiths investigate why these technologies are needed, how they would work, and what is standing in their way.
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Really Good-ish!
- By See Reverse on 04-16-18
By: Kelly Weinersmith, and others
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The Department of Mad Scientists
- Inside DARPA, the Path-Breaking Government Agency You've Never Heard Of
- By: Michael Belfiore
- Narrated by: Michael Belfiore
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The first-ever inside look at DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - the maverick and controversial group whose futuristic work has had amazing civilian and military applications, from the Internet to GPS to driverless cars
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meh
- By Patrick on 12-22-09
By: Michael Belfiore
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Catching Stardust
- Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System
- By: Natalie Starkey
- Narrated by: Alison Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Icy, rocky, sometimes dusty, always mysterious – comets and asteroids are among the Solar System's very oldest inhabitants, formed within a swirling cloud of gas and dust in the area of space that eventually hosted the Sun and its planets. Locked within each of these extra-terrestrial objects is the 4.6-billion-year wisdom of Solar System events, and by studying them at close quarters using spacecraft we can coerce them into revealing their closely-guarded secrets. This offers us the chance to answer some fundamental questions about our planet and its inhabitants.
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Chasing star stuff always results in technological advances
- By Richard Duede on 12-30-18
By: Natalie Starkey
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Accessory to War
- The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military
- By: Avis Lang, Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Courtney B. Vance, Neil deGrasse Tyson - introduction
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In this fascinating foray into the centuries-old relationship between science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and writer-researcher Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war. "The overlap is strong, and the knowledge flows in both directions," say the authors, because astrophysicists and military planners care about many of the same things: multi-spectral detection, ranging, tracking, imaging, high ground, nuclear fusion, and access to space. Tyson and Lang call it a "curiously complicit" alliance.
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Inspiring, educational, patriotic.
- By Kevin on 09-17-18
By: Avis Lang, and others
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You Belong to the Universe
- Buckminster Fuller and the Future
- By: Jonathon Keats
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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A self-professed "comprehensive anticipatory design scientist", the inventor Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was undoubtedly a visionary. Fuller's creations often bordered on the realm of science fiction, ranging from the freestanding geodesic dome to the three-wheel Dymaxion car to a bathroom requiring neither plumbing nor sewage. Yet in spite of his brilliant mind and lifelong devotion to serving mankind, Fuller's expansive ideas were often dismissed, and have faded from public memory since his death.
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Bucky, Bucky, Bucky
- By Amazon Customer on 08-25-18
By: Jonathon Keats
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A Short History of Nearly Everything
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn't know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world's leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant.
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The Only Book I reread imediatley after reading
- By Andrew on 11-09-09
By: Bill Bryson
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Origin Story
- A Big History of Everything
- By: David Christian
- Narrated by: Jamie Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History", the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
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A brilliant achievement, must read/listen
- By 11104 on 09-05-18
By: David Christian
What listeners say about Beyond Earth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- ramiro ferreira
- 01-05-17
Exelent book
The science of space colony and fiction based in our current knowledge. Very recommend book
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- Tanya Davis
- 03-03-18
Great read, imaginative and realistic.
I’ll likely listen to the audible version many times. Great information, love the description of Titan and other planets/moons.
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- JISIPO
- 06-02-17
Awesome narrator
The book has interesting concepts and many eye opening facts. But what was really enjoyable was the narrator's voice and modulation! Very very nice listen...
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- J
- 06-27-17
Enjoyed the concept of the style of writing.
I like what they were trying to do. probably wouldnt have bought it if I had known it was a catastrophic global warming propaganda piece.
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1 person found this helpful
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- l.e.
- 11-22-16
Smart, informative and entertaining
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes...as a space cowboy this book is loaded with information...Titan is the tight choice and the exchange between now and future is a fine frame.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Beyond Earth?
The settlement of Titan
What about Will Damron’s performance did you like?
Easy listening
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- Joe
- 12-24-16
Terrible- off-topic, unscientific, opinionated
This is one of the most disappointing books I've read in a long time. The authors spend half the time painting a dystopian global warming future as the "motivation" for leaving the planet. Never mind that the society they describe would not have the discretionary resources to support such an investment, or that they've cherry picked the worst case scenarios to build this future, this odiversion has nothing to do with the actual subject of the book.
To be clear, I believe we face a real problem with global warming. If I wanted a book on climate change, I would have bought one, but not this one. In dealing with both planetary science, space exploration, and climate change, the authors make broad generalizations to support questionable conclusions. There was some interesting material sprinkled in, but I find it suspect based on the other material.
According to these authors
- NASA is an incompetent, closed minded bureaucracy (not entirely untrue, but not credible as presented)
- There is no point in going back to the moon, or going to Mars
- Titan will be a garden spot with beaches and people flying under their own power
- The ocean will rise and swallow the cities overnight, but people won't be smart enough to move inland. The rich will move to fortress homes in the mountains. In the midst of this, someone is building great spaceships.
The strangest part is that the book starts by talking about the difficulties predicting the future, and describes how one person accurately predicted the future of the airline industry. They show how the prediction was based on simple extrapolation of existing technology and basic consideration of economic incentives. It's as if that chapter was never considered again, because the authors certainly didn't take that approach. That approach would put us establishing and growing a settlement on the moon, not leaping to Titan.
I must admit, this review is only based on the first five chapters. I'm not going to waste any more time. There are much better books on the subject.
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4 people found this helpful
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- James Weisner
- 03-20-17
Wanna-be science fiction by cranks, for cranks
Any additional comments?
Warning! This is a book by a crank! About cranks. For cranks. If you don't yet have a strong background in science, stay far, far away from this book lest it fill you with misconceptions and misinformation.
If the contents weren't bad enough, the format of this book is awful, too. Odd chapters are future predictions communicated as really pulpy, expositional science fiction. They include (no, I'm not joking) a robot army fighting Islamic terrorists, an Exxon colonial space ship, an all-women city on Titan called "Amazonia", and alien pornography broadcast to Earth thanks to faster-than-light communication with the galactic Internet. Alien. Pornography.
Still not convinced? The authors are conspiracy theorists. They thinks "the general public has been left in the dark" about the health dangers of space travel. They even call Carl Sagan "a supercilious jerk". The only reason someone could possibly call Sagan this is from fear. Fear that Sagan's skepticism would be turned on them and expose their idiotic beliefs.
For those with morbid curiosity, here are some of the things these this book gets completely wrong:
* Gullibly repeats the media headlines that Google translation AI "invented its own secret language". (It didn't.)
* A fear-monger's explanation of the paperclip maximizer thought experiment. In short, this thought experiment is scary only if you imagine an AI that has severe mental handicaps in some areas (knowing about humans) but not others (how to make machines to disassemble an entire planet). This is just special pleading and praying on our own innate fears.
* An uninformed telling of the Fermi paradox. It's basically an urban myth that we've looked for life in the galaxy and found none. The truth is we've barely begun to look.
* Greatly exaggerated claims of mental risk from space travel. This is based on one study that has been over-hyped in the media. This study has many limitations. It didn't use galactic cosmic rays, but radioactive Titanium. It uses a mouse model and mice have significant known differences in skull thickness, etc. In fact, we know from studies of humans on the space station that any cognitive effect from long-term exposure has a pretty darn low upper limit.
* Greatly exaggerated claims of cancer risk from space travel. The author interviewed some NASA scientist who got fired for fear mongering (can't remember or find his name at the moment). He did some calculation that showed the cancer risk from a trip to Mars is large. Everyone in the scientific community disagrees with is findings. And anyway, the this argument against a manned mission to Mars is ridiculous. A little bit of mortal danger? Who cares? Nobody's being forced to go. It's the next frontier. How awful would our plight be as a species if we were no longer willing to take risks to discover things and advance science?!
* Conflating the health consequences of micro-gravity with the lower gravity on other planets. He goes on and on about optic nerve swelling like it's the end of the world. I'm pretty sure Scott Kelly is doing just fine. Thanks. Anyway the effects experienced by astronauts on the International Space Station are not predicted to impact people living on the Moon or Mars. All that's needed for our pulmonary system to take care of things is a clear down direction. There is no medical reason the magnitude of the normal vector need be exactly 1g.
* The biggest crank in this book has got to be Sonny White. There was even a great piece in the book where the authors corresponded with White and asked him a question about the casimir force. In reply White laid on them a Dunning-Kruger whopper! He said, to extend the casimir force to a large scale, just make a lot of little cavities in a material, like a big pumice stone. The obvious flaws in this idea are (1) pumice stones actually exist and don't have an extended negative energy field around them and (2) while the casimir effect is present *inside* a gap in between two plates, the wave functions average out to *zero* when seen from the outside. This is the danger of letting an engineer theorize... I say that with love as an engineer myself.
* The book claims we need something like the EM drive to get to Titan. He describes it as a reaction-less engine. Which is a contradiction in terms because of a little thing called the CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM. The idea that the EM drive pushes off the quantum vacuum is preposterous.
* The claim that GMO babies "will hasten our demise". I don't even. There's also a lot of general agricultural pessimism.
* Climate change alarmism. I know, I know. When people say this they're often coming from a place of climate science denial. I'm not. I just think that the Statue of Liberty can't be half-covered by the ocean because its pedestal is more than 6 meters above sea level. The main plot of the "future" chapters in this book involves people getting so miserable on Earth that they decide to escape to Titan. This is ridiculous. This plot point hinges on social unrest due to climate refugees and increasing violence. Today I can say the climate will change and it will devastate ecosystems and cause mass human migrations. But there is no indication society will unravel as a result. It may not feel like it, but war and violence are still decreasing. This plot point is contrived and hinges on an alarmist position.
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- John R Houston
- 05-20-17
Poor audio quality or editing?
Poorly edited audio; beginnings of sentences are almost chopped off. Not sure what the deal is.
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1 person found this helpful