An artists illustration of material being gravitationally sucked off a a blue supergiant variable star designated HDE 226868 onto a black hole known as Cygnus X-1.

Meeting the Worldbuilders — HDE 226868

This is one out of a series here on Universe Factory, where we look at the people behind the Worldbuilding. We present a number of short interviews with people who have been using our site to try and get some insight into who they are and how it is being used. This interview is with HDE 226868, one of our more active members.

Hi HDE 226868 and thanks for agreeing to be interviewed for the Worldbuilding blog.

Thanks, Tim. It’s great to be here.

Can we start with a little bit about you? What part of our world are you from and what do you do for a living?

I’m from the Northeastern United States, where I’ve lived for my entire (short!) life. I’m a senior at a magnet high school that focuses on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. This means that I take a special engineering class each year, and take advanced math/science classes. Outside of school, I run cross country and spring track, and compete in Science Olympiad.

So a strong science background? That certainly shows in some of your answers! I have to ask, is there any particular meaning behind your chosen name for Stack Exchange?

Sure. HDE 226868 is the companion to the compact object (likely a black hole) in Cygnus X-1, the first X-ray source that is probably a black hole. I chose it when I signed up for my first Stack Exchange site, Physics, because I know about bits of topics that go beyond the well-known parts of science. A lot of people know about Cygnus X-1; barely any know about HDE 226868.

You were one of our earlier members to join when the open beta started, how did you hear about Worldbuilding?

Last October, I noticed a question on the Hot Network Questions list, How do I drug a population in the most efficient way? It seemed so zany, and the answers contained so many cool ideas, that I decided to join. From there, I found a question I could answer, and I was hooked. This was a week or two after the start of the public beta; I missed the private beta.

That question certainly got us quite a few members, you aren’t the first to say that it brought the site to their attention! Which would you say is your personal favorite answer or question that you’ve written?

My favorite question I’ve asked is certainly Can stars exist that are not powered by nuclear fusion?, because it seems like it got people thinking in creative ways about a topic that can be hard to understand. I haven’t yet accepted an answer because I still feel like there’s a way to make it work. It just takes the right amount of imagination.

I don’t know if I have a favorite answer, but one of the top contenders is certainly Reformatting Death Stars as powerful telescopes. It talks about astronomy, something that is one of my passions, while still responding to an awesome premise.

That brings me nicely to my next question actually, I’ve noticed you are a big proponent of the science based questions and the hard science tag in particular. Is that a real fascination for you?

As my profile says, I’d like to major in physics or astronomy in college, to continue on to a PhD. I’ve been fascinated by these topics since I was in middle school, and I’ve done a lot of reading about them since. I progressed from popular science articles to scientific papers, which has been really cool.

I’m perhaps the strongest proponent of the hard-science tag, because it seems like things often get hand-waved away that deserve a bit more attention. I don’t intend for the tag to tear unrealistic premises apart, but to provoke investigation into certain ideas that can lead to cool discoveries and new additions to worlds.

Is there any particular question, answer or person here on Worldbuilding that you would say has really inspired you?

My biggest inspiration on Worldbuilding has probably been Monica Cellio. She’s asked so many great questions in a variety of different areas while still showing off her expertise in other fields. Plus, she knows how to weave a story around a world, and make the people, places, and events in it come alive.

Is there anything else you’d like to add or say?

To finish, I’ll say that I live by the idea that so many crazy ideas are possible. You just have to look for creative solutions to tough problems. Worldbuilding exemplifies a place where that mentality flourishes. I have a lot of fun here.

Thanks for taking the time to be interviewed HDE 226868.

Thanks for your time, Tim.