“2312” - Kim Stanley Robinson
►http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/geeks-guide-kim-stanley-robinson/all
Most stories about space exploration imagine starships zipping between alien worlds, but 2312 is set firmly in our solar system. Yet the novel shows that a single solar system can provoke plenty of wonder and provide ample territory for intrigue. In this future, rising sea levels have turned New York into a city of canals, asteroids are hollowed out to create giant nature preserves, and malicious schemes are calculated with the aid of quantum computers. Citizens live hundreds of years, are augmented with cybernetic technology, and casually swap genders.
ce #roman de #science-fiction est une sorte de suite de la trilogie de Mars ; il y a au milieu du #livre un passage de 3 pages absolument magnifique qui décrit #Iapetus. Et donne envie d’aller y prendre quelques vacances pour observer la dichotomie noir/blanc de cette lune de #Saturne depuis la crête de 20 kilomètres d’altitude qui la coupe en deux, et dont l’origine serait la chute d’une lune secondaire...
►http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11690
on pourrait aussi y observer quelques belles avalanches
Giant Ice Avalanches On Saturn’s Moon Iapetus Provide Clue to Extreme Slippage Elsewhere in the Solar System
►http://ksr.umm.ac.id/en/berita-ilmiah-umm-112-longsoran-es-raksasa-pada-bulan-saturnus-memberikan
“We see landslides everywhere in the solar system,” says Kelsi Singer, graduate student in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, “but Saturn’s icy moon Iapetus has more giant landslides than any body other than Mars.”
The reason, says William McKinnon, PhD, professor of earth and planetary sciences, is Iapetus’ spectacular topography. "Not only is the moon out-of-round, but the giant impact basins are very deep, and there’s this great mountain ridge that’s 20 kilometers (12 miles) high, far higher than Mount Everest.