Resonance: Science Fiction or Fact?

It isn't too difficult to imagine a world where there's a possibility of nuclear war. We live with that possibility every day of our lives. Resonance presents another disastrous risk to think about - a polar shift. A.J. Scudiere's book, Resonance, introduces a frightening situation that could happen to our world - shifting of the earth's magnetic poles - resulting in doomsday.

Scudiere blends scientific facts with a fictional account of what might happen if a polar shift occurred, similar to the one that happened millions of years ago - making dinosaurs extinct. Scientists say that a magnetic shift of the earth is overdue - but in the fictional world of Resonance, it's happening now. Scudiere cleverly creates a rapidly changing world, and the result could be the end of mankind. Minutes count, and time is running out for four scientists who race to find a solution to the most serious problem mankind has ever faced.

Resonance is a thriller that makes you want to hold your breath. Scudiere uses her mastery of words to make her descriptions so real that you think you're actually seeing, tasting, smelling or touching what's happening in the book. In Resonance, you'll live through the deadly epidemic, mutated frogs and animals whose behavior has become strange and frightening.

Although Resonance is based on scientific facts, it doesn't talk down to the reader. The characters in the book offer four individual points of view as they live through the beginnings of the polar shift all the way through to the consequences when the poles make their final shift.

A recent news report states that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world on December 21, 2012. The Mayans also state the cause -- a major shift of the magnetic poles of the earth. Can it be true?

A.J. Scudiere's book, Resonance, is a fictional account of what might happen before, during and after that catastrophic event, should it happen. The book is based on scientific facts that are skillfully imparted to give you a "what if" scenario based on fictional characters.

Part of Resonance takes place in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the historic town that was part of the Manhatten Project and that constructed "Little Boy," the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Oak Ridge still houses government nuclear research and secret laboratories. One of the four scientists in Scudiere's book works in Oak Ridge and is alarmed about strange happenings, both in the lab and in the world.

The four scientists are working in various areas of research, but eventually find themselves working together to understand the polar shift and what it means to the world's population. The South will become The North -- and the shift will affect not only humans, but animals and plant life, disrupting the mechanisms of how we react to each other and our surroundings.

Scudiere is an incredible storyteller, pulling her readers into Resonance without weighing them down with technical facts and scientific calculations. You'll get to know the characters in the book and admire the passion that keeps them battling the inevitable.

What is an audio movie?

It's a well produced audio version of a book that makes you 'feel' like it's a movie!

According to Griffin Ink,it is "an unabridged audio recording of a novel, enhanced by soundtrack, sound effects, and unique actors for each part. This recreates the experience of a theater while remaining true to the book by leaving the visuals up to the listener's imagination."

According to a spokesperson, "The AudioMovie does for audio books what HD has done for the television. It makes the story truly come to life by allowing listeners to experience the emotions with the characters rather than simply being read to by a narrator. It puts you inside the story."

Wait a minute though: haven't we come across this concept somewhere before?

Ah, yes...it used to be called a radio drama.

Listen to the first tracks here

Original content found at: http://newchapter.ie/what-is-an-audiomovie/

A.J. Scudiere became fascinated with the phenomenon of "the shift," where the magnetic poles of the earth switch places. It happened approximately 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs became extinct -- and if it happens today, the ramifications will be just as catastrophic. Scudiere wrote the timely book, Resonance, as a "what if" scenario and blends scientific facts with her unique storytelling ability to keep readers riveted as they turn each page.

Scudiere is a biologist and author who spins a tale of mystery and intrigue without involving too many scientific facts that might fly over the reader's head. She explains the polar shift as a time when we won't be able to trust compasses - the magnetic north will be magnetic south and everything will be confused, including birds, animals, bees and human beings.

These phenomenons are already taking place in some areas of the world called "hot spots." People who live in these hot spots are dying at a rapid rate from strange immune disorders, bats are becoming extinct and frogs are found with strange mutations, such as having six feet.

Resonance also has the distinction of being the world's first "audiomovie," put together by Stefan Rudnicki and Skyboat Road Company. Scudiere has also written Vengeance, a fiction thriller about a serial killer. She's currently working on another fiction thriller - God's Eye.

A.J. Scudiere has made her home in several places, including Florida and Los Angeles, but currently lives in Tennessee, near her home town of Oak Ridge.

Shooting is controversial in and of itself. Who should have guns? Anyone who wants one? Everyone? No one? There are so many valid arguments here. Guns are dangerous - or at least bullets are. We all probably know, or know of, a child involved in a gun incident. But the flip argument is just as valid: if guns are criminalized, then only criminals will have guns. This isn't to say that all the NRA Members will become criminals for breaking gun laws, but that none of us will have them to defend ourselves from criminals - who will, no doubt, remain armed.

It has been said that no one has invaded America because they know that every other household will come out shooting. And to a certain extent, this is true. A recent Tennessee story has a mother getting the rifle away from home invaders before they got past the living room. Her husband then appeared with the family shotgun, and they were the only ones standing at the end. Another story has a BB gun being used against a man with a handgun to a pregnant woman's head. So, household guns aren't just for defense against foreign invaders, but local invaders as well.

Vigilante-ism aside, we can likely all agree that guns should be safer. But even that basic agreement isn't enough to bring us together. In tense situations, wild bullets are common. Some reports put police accuracy at less than twenty percent in a shoot-out. Before you get upset, those aren't bad numbers. Most people, literally, cannot hit the broad side of a barn from twenty feet away if they are in a high stress situation - oh, say, the kind that would require a gun. And for those that do hit the barn, there are usually five to ten stray bullets that missed, which the shooter doesn't even remember firing. One officer hit the man firing at him right in the hip as he intended. But a later examination of the scene revealed five bullets that the officer fired into the pavement as he lifted his gun. The officer has no recollection of this.

In the effort to make all shooters, and in particular police officers (who are more loathe than criminals to have innocent bystanders hurt) more accurate, various techniques have been developed. The biggest point of contention is Point and Shoot (or 'Vermont Technique'). Some sources will say this method was developed in Vermont about fifteen years ago, but many cite photos depicting its use dating back much further than that. Regardless of who gets to claim or disclaim the development, Vermont Technique is hailed as evolutionary by some and moronic by others.

Most of us shoot the way we see it done in the movies. One hand - usually the right - grips the handle of the gun. The left hand can offer support, or the right can work alone and play it bad-ass. In either case the trigger is pulled by the right index finger. Though we don't often see it in film, safety dictates that the trigger finger remain outside the trigger guard and is only inserted as the shooter commits to firing the weapon.

Point and Shoot technique uses the strong hand quite differently. In this case the index finger is laid alongside the barrel of the gun - almost always a handgun. The middle finger then becomes the trigger finger and the barrel is now gripped by the ring and pinky fingers. The idea here is that the index finger naturally points to things. From a neurological standpoint this makes sense. Primates are some of the only animals to understand the idea of following the line created by the extended finger until an object comes into view. We've all seen cats stare at your finger never getting a clue about what was intended. Given this, studies have been done that suggest this is, in fact, an innate attribute. Since none of us has to tilt our head, close one eye and sight down the length of our finger to be accurate when pointing, there is real merit to the idea that a shooter can simply point his finger at what he wants to hit and be far more accurate using this natural aiming technique. Whether or not it works in practice is a big point of contention.

Keeping the trigger finger outside the guard is a big issue here. The forefinger has a huge advantage over the middle finger in dexterity. So moving the finger from outside the guard and slipping it inside for the shot may become an issue. Size can also cause a problem. The middle finger has the greatest girth of any besides the thumb, and on some may not fit easily inside the guard. This is more likely a problem for men, and more likely a problem with smaller guns.

While most guns are designed for the standard index trigger finger, it would be ridiculous as well as grossly negligent to attempt point and shoot technique for the first time in a dire situation. So it is easy to imagine that there is not a large contingent of shooters becoming suddenly surprised that their finger doesn't fit. Also, if the middle finger doesn't fit, it is often possible to buy a gun in which the finger does fit. In addition, while the middle finger lacks the natural dexterity of the index finger, many things make it clear this isn't insurmountable. Anyone who speaks sign language or plays guitar can attest to the level of movement and strength the middle finger can attain.

Some advocate leaving the middle finger inside the trigger guard but pressed against the front and away from the trigger itself. Mimicking this position only highlights this completely unnatural form - first finger extended pressing against the barrel, middle finger pressing against the front inside surface of the guard and thumb, ring and pinky all gripping the barrel. While it is difficult at best to place your fingers into this position without a gun, it is much easier with the gun in hand. But this does bring up the issue of safety. This middle finger dexterity is again an issue when considering actually pulling the trigger. All methods agree the trigger should be gently squeezed and never jerked. But, even if the middle finger can quickly and easily slip inside the trigger guard, it will never be as dexterous as the first finger. Keeping the middle finger inside the guard poses another problem. While the index finger is wired both with muscles and neurons to operate independently of the other non-thumb fingers, the middle finger really isn't. Try curling just your pinky or just your middle finger and the problem is obvious - the three last fingers operate to a good extent in tandem. This creates a huge problem with the finger-inside-the-guard method: when squeezing the last two fingers to hold the grip, the middle finger with its minimal neurological input is wired to squeeze, too. However, in practice the first finger can get 'twitchy' which almost never happens to a relatively unwired middle finger.

Our neurons are connected in such a way that point and shoot makes excellent sense regarding accuracy. Unless the shooter has all the time in the world to line up the shot and pull the trigger when he feels like it, speed with accuracy is a huge issue. Point and shoot allows the gun holder to observe other things going on in the periphery without devoting his entire field of vision to aiming the gun. Also, they physiology of the hand fits the gun with a little less wiggle room in the point and shoot position. Perhaps because guns were not designed for this method, and because of where and how the fingers conform around the gun, the hand acts like a woodworking jig - placing the gun in an identical spot each time. This allows for greater accuracy with less sighting as the gun will aim to the same place it did the last time it was picked up. Any shooter will agree that even a tilt of a degree or two different from standard will throw off the aim. Anyone shooting on a regular basis will work hard to grip and hold the gun the same way each time he picks it up. Point and shoot technique merely makes this a bit easier to achieve, thus making accuracy easier to achieve.

Although point and shoot may leave less wiggle room in gripping the gun, wiggle is a big problem when the gun is fired. In a standard grip, the last three fingers - the ones that naturally work in tandem - are gripping the gun. Also the middle finger is the strongest grip finger on the human hand with the pinky being the weakest. This means that point and shoot has just taken the strongest finger (by far) in the grip and delegated it to trigger duty. The remaining ring and pinky fingers must now support and steady the gun, even though their grip strength together barely outperforms the middle finger - i.e. almost half the grip strength is in the middle trigger finger.

The ultimate irony is that men, with their bigger, stronger hands, are less likely to notice a lack of grip strength when using point and shoot technique, but those same bigger, stronger hands are far more likely to find that the middle finger is too big to move easily and speedily in and out of the trigger guard. Smaller handed folks, more likely women, who will be able to fit the middle finger in and out of the guard, will find that they need all three last fingers on the grip to control the aim and kick of a fired gun. If this is the case, the possible added accuracy of point and shoot is all but moot.

In the end, fights over the usefulness of Point and Shoot are as big and ugly within the gun community as the right to have guns is within the nation at large. Many websites have pictures ridiculing the point and shoot grip, but failing to demonstrate it in the proper way. Point and shoot advocates rebut these claims with vehement disavowal. While most take an extreme view regarding the variations, a few remain level headed and state that shooters should try both methods and use what works for them. There are decided advantages to both methods, and in almost all cases a two handed grip makes for better accuracy and overall control.

No grip has come to light as the true panacea for accuracy - especially in a tense situation. And perhaps it won't with gun design as it stands. Unfortunately, the index finger is the finger best suited to aiming the gun - for humans pointing is both natural and (naturally) highly accurate. And the index finger is also the finger best suited to pulling the trigger. It is the finger with the greatest dexterity and control - the thumb and first finger even operate from a different spinal nerve than the last three fingers. The problem is that we humans only have one such index finger and gun accuracy has need for two, one to aim and one to pull the trigger.

All shooters have different strengths and weaknesses, and perhaps this is why the sides are so sharply divided: because one technique works much better for one of us and not at all for another. Whichever technique you choose, be certain to practice with it. While a change in grip can make accuracy much easier to achieve, it will never simply give you accuracy. That can only be achieved through practice.