Frequency: Hard Science Fiction

ergotism from contaminated grain. Ergot alkaloids can cause convulsions and hallucinations.” “Ergotism?” “Ergot poisoning. Claviceps purpurea is a fungus that infects rye and produces alkaloids similar to LSD. In the Middle Ages, it was called ‘St. Anthony’s Fire’ and triggered burning pain in the limbs, hallucinations, and convulsions. In Salem in 1692, it was probably these alkaloids that led to the witch trials: young women with seizures, visions, and unexplained pain.”

Equations that tasted like colors.

they were like primates who had found a smartphone,

“That’s how science works, right? You form a variety of hypotheses and you determine if they’re right or not.

Electric current is the flow of electrons through a conductor. Voltage is the pressure that moves these electrons. Imagine electricity is water in a hose. The voltage is the water pressure.” “I can follow you so

“The frequency. Our reactor produces direct current—a constant flow in one direction, but many systems use alternating current, where the flow changes direction fifty or sixty times per second.

“Then out spake brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate: ‘To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?’”

“We’re . . . complicated. As Walt Whitman wrote, we contain . . . multitudes.”