But the book is so much more. This isn’t an action or adventure novel, and the treatments and potential cure for autism is pretty much the only real SF element in the story. If you wear glasses, you might want to speak to your optician about whether an anti-reflection coating on your lenses will help. M. Vogelsberger, A. Helmi, V. Springel, S. D. M. White, J. Wang, C. S. Frenk, A, Jenkins, A. Ludlow, and J. F. Navarro, “Phase-Space Structure in the Local Dark Matter Distribution and its Signature in Direct Detection Experiments,” Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 395, 797 (2009). Elizabeth Moon gives a general answer about how, with the proper treatment started early in childhood, a higher proportion of autistic children will become capable of independent functioning in society.

Associate Professor of Astrophysics and Gravitation in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo, Associate Faculty of Cosmology and Gravitation at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physic (PI) The title The Speed of Dark has a very sci-fi ring to it, it is actually a phrase to contrast the speed of light. The idea is that there is always darkness before light, therefore darkness must somehow travel faster than light because it is always ahead. This is a metaphor the author is employing to represent knowledge illuminating ignorance, so it not some kind of crazy bad science. he is pushing into my life, rushing me, making me feel slow and stupid. I do mind that. Yet he is acting like a friend, being helpful. It is important to be grateful for help." This is not a typical scifi adventure, although there are a few hints (other than medical) at just how far ahead the science is in this future. For example:How can Elizabeth Moon be so insightful and expressive, close to poetry, on the subject of autism, a condition so easy to misinterpret? From the same interview I quoted earlier, the author has a long, difficult yet rewarding experience in dealing with Otherness in her own family. A Pass Plus driving course is a great way to improve your skills for driving in the dark. Although they’re usually taken by new drivers, the courses can be taken at any time and only take around six hours to complete. At a glance This is one hell of a fantastic SF and it hit me in all the right feels. It's not flashy, either, just really well made.

Most of the novel is told in the first person from Lou’s perspective (with the occasional switch to a few secondary characters where Lou is not privy to what is going on in his absence). This is the first book I have ever read that take me inside the head of an autistic person. The very clever first person narrative of Lou is fascinating in and of itself. Lou’s stilted use of language is very formal, polite and precise. Here is an example: But what speed distribution does nature follow? This is where the work of Herzog-Arbeitman and colleagues comes in. The authors utilize a zoom-in simulation of the Milky Way (Fig. 1), which accounts for the gravitational physics of both the dark and visible matter as well as for some aspects of the electromagnetic interactions between the stars and gas. Just like in the real Milky Way, the stars that form in these simulations fall into two types: older stars with fewer heavy elements than the Sun and younger stars with more heavy elements than the Sun (note that astronomers refer to heavy elements as those that are more massive than helium [ 10]). From the simulations, the team computes the speed distribution of the different types of stars as well as that of the dark matter. They find an interesting trend: the speed distribution of the dark matter particles nearly matches that of the oldest stars in the Galaxy. Thus, by measuring the speeds of the oldest stars using data from astronomical surveys, one can effectively measure the speeds of the dark matter particles. The realization that old stars and dark matter share the same speed may be related to the fact that both have been around since the earliest epochs of the formation of the Galaxy and have relaxed to the same equilibrium distribution. Pixieltd on Reading The Wheel of Time: Taim Tells Lies and Rand Shares His Plan in Winter’s Heart (Part 3) 6 hours ago

I believe the speed “of dark” is infinite! In classical physics, the vast darkness of space could be just empty vacuum. However, we have learnt from quantum mechanics that there is no real dark or empty space. Even where there is no light that we can see, electromagnetic field can fluctuate in and out of existence, especially on small scales and short times. Even gravitational waves, the ripples in the geometry of spacetime that were recently observed by the LIGO observatory, should have these quantum fluctuations. Autistic is different, not bad. It is not wrong to be different. Sometimes it is hard, but it is not wrong."

For some reason I couldn't like this book. The good things about it was the main character and how his autism was portrayed, but other than that, it just bothered me. Well, we know now that light is a particle and darkness is simply the absence of light. From this follows a few things we can be sure of: Although there is overwhelming evidence for dark matter, the particles that make up this form of matter have yet to be directly detected. The so-called weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) is a theoretically predicted elementary particle with mass anywhere from tens to hundreds of times that of a proton, and it is a longstanding dark matter candidate particle. Many direct-detection experiments around the world are collecting data, searching for the rare scattering of WIMP-like dark matter particles off atomic nuclei in earthbound detectors [ 5]. Although such searches have come up empty handed, modern experiments are setting impressive bounds on the strength of the WIMP-nucleus interaction. This is something else I never tell Dr. Fornum about. She would make notes in my record about this… Your headlights offer a restricted amount of visibility so it’s important that you can stop safely within the distance you can see ahead of you. The best way to do this is by giving yourself as much time as possible to react to the road ahead. Being a little more cautious with the accelerator is definitely a good idea.Essentially, physiological functions aside, the human brain exists to analyze and generate patterns.” Driving at night can feel very different to getting behind the wheel during the day. If you get nervous driving in the dark, read our tips below so you can feel more confident behind the wheel when the sun goes down. Driving in the dark takes more concentration than daytime driving, to make life easier you should try and avoid looking directly at oncoming cars. I found this story very moving and I really loved the main character and all the characters are well drawn. The author tells a very engrossing story. Moon’s decision to explain the condition to us and to help us be more considerate towards the struggle, to help other families who deal with similar problems is well served by her literary skills.

In principle, shadows can move faster than the speed of light. “Strictly speaking dark cannot have a speed,” says Pete Edwards of Durham University. “It does not move or travel in any way. However, if we think of dark as the absence of light, dark is chased away by light and so it disappears at the same speed as light arrives. In this sense the speed of dark is equivalent to the speed of light.” Lou Arrendale is a high functioning autistic main character in ‘The Speed of Dark’ by Elizabeth Moon. I was very interested in Lou as a main character; my grandson having Williams Syndrome may have something to do with that. Lou works in an office, has a car, and takes part in a fencing community. He has autistic co-workers but is very drawn to ‘normals.’ Being engaged with the Williams Syndrome community, I have learned to question the use of the word ‘normal.’ The word typical is used more frequently. In this novel nowever, normal seemed to do a better job of drawing contrasts between Lou and others, but increasingly I wonder what is normal and who gets to decide and why do they get to decide. Normality is a fictional notion, a social convention. Witness the extreme pressures exercised by some vocal minorities, both on the right and on the left of the political spectrum, to redefine normality in light of their own peculiar dogmas. Everybody who disagrees with them is their mortal enemy: Nazi sympathizers on the right lay claim to national identity – they are the only template for what it means to be a true [insert nationality here]; Every Christian splinter cult throughout history claims they hold the ultimate answer to God, and that everyone else is a heretic who should be burned at the stake; crusaders for a new sexual revolution on the left rush to cancel anyone who dares to question the validity of their claims and of their priorities. Dirt, frost and snow can impair your view of the road during daylight hours. If you allow them to stay on your windows and mirrors when driving in the dark, you might notice that your view of the road is even more affected.Lastly, just a quote. Lou's friend Tom explains that when lovers argue they don't stop loving each other: Executives, it had been explained repeatedly, needed these perks to help them maintain peak performance. They had earned the privileges they used, and the privileges boosted their efficiency. It was said, but Aldrin didn’t believe it. He also didn’t say it. Everything in my life that I value has been gained at the cost of not saying what I really think and saying what they want me to say. It's interesting to me that we spend the early part of our lives rebelling against normality (Why be normal, right?) only to want so desperately to be normal when our normality is not in our hands. Lou is born autistic, and even with the advantages of a future where more is known about the illness, there is still an enormous amount of prejudice towards people with autism.