What if you could breed shrimp that made their own plastic, or battery terminals?
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/scientist-making-batteries-out-recycled-crab-shells
Jun
27
Jun
27
One of the things that makes for good SFF is the ability to pull back from the unspoken assumptions of our own times.
One of the things that makes for good SFF is the ability to pull back from the unspoken assumptions of our own times. Robert Sheckley did this in the 1950s, criticizing consumerist suburban techno-optimism through his satirical stories.
But we can’t begin that project until we know what those assumptions are, and speak the unspeakable.
Originally shared by Brand Gamblin
Well, crap. Basically, our whole merit-based system, by being widespread and encouraging competition, is causing inequality and suffering.
Something to think next time you’re “gamify”ing a process.
The good news is, there is a cure! Gamify the process where you are the only competitor.
In other words, compare yourself only to your past, and work to beat your previous best. You are constantly trying to improve, while leaving room to be kind and forgiving to others.
https://shift.newco.co/the-idea-thats-killing-mission-driven-companies-23ed12cbc878#.q2zx1bffm
Jun
26
Sometimes, when you’re a writer, you can say things best in a story.
Sometimes, when you’re a writer, you can say things best in a story.
This is one I wrote a couple of years ago, but it’s very applicable to today’s political climate. An elderly lady must answer the classic question, “Who is my neighbour?”
Jun
26
The middle of the year (by count of days) is this coming weekend.
The middle of the year (by count of days) is this coming weekend.
I wonder if I can get four more short story submissions sent off before then? Because that would bring me equal to my total number of submissions for the whole of 2014.
Counting like that is a silly thing, but it helps to keep me motivated.
(I’ve also had fewer rejections, and twice as many sales. But since that’s two sales rather than one, you can see why I need to keep up my motivation somehow.)
Jun
26
Via Winchell Chung.
Via Winchell Chung.
At the moment, this requires lying still inside a huge machine that draws as much power as a nuclear submarine. But you know how technological progress goes.
Originally shared by Ward Plunet
Brain Scanning Just Got Very Good—and Very Unsettling
HCP data has also enabled researchers to use a brain scan to predict how a person will perform on an intelligence test and during a memory or reading task. “This may be a bit scary,” admitted Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, during introductory remarks at the symposium. In order to collect of that data, the HCP team pioneered the use of a “multiband” approach, which involves scanning three sections of the brain at the same time instead of in series. This method has allowed radiologists to acquire high-resolution images up to 8 times as fast as they previously could using traditional MRI machines. “That gives us higher quality data; it also gives us a ton more data,” said Van Essen at the symposium.
Jun
26
This post makes some good points.
This post makes some good points. While helping us think through potential bad consequences of a technological or social change is an important function of science fiction, it can become a facile way to tell a dramatic story, and obscure the fact that most technological and social changes also have a positive side.
The challenge is to explore the positive side without becoming boring.
Originally shared by Winchell Chung
http://mythcreants.com/blog/five-good-ideas-science-fiction-teaches-us-to-fear/
Jun
25
Putting this in Writing Resources and Craft because writing prompts.
Putting this in Writing Resources and Craft because writing prompts.
Originally shared by Adafruit Industries
The British Library Has Made Three Centuries of Copyright-Free Images Available for Download
Via Core77
The thing about books is that they’re not very much good when they’re closed and wedged into a shelf. At the same time, no sensible curator would let you put your grubby little mitts on a 250-year-old treasure. So, starting in 2013, the British Library began scanning thousands of books from the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, and has now made all of the images contained within them free to download (they’re all well out of copyright).
Jun
24
I trust +Gregory Lynn’s recommendations, so I clicked through to this essay and read it, and found myself convinced.
I trust +Gregory Lynn’s recommendations, so I clicked through to this essay and read it, and found myself convinced.
Originally shared by Gregory Lynn
I’ve been reading Kameron Hurley’s Geek Feminist Revolution. If you’re into that sort of thing, you should read it. If you’re not, you should read the attached essay anyway.
It’s about the similarities between writing fiction and writing advertising copy. If you’re a writerly type and you’re looking for ways to make money to buy you time to write the novel that’s going to change the world, well, it turns out that using words to get people to buy stuff is a valuable skill.
Jun
24
Some dares for you, should you be so inclined.
Some dares for you, should you be so inclined.
Jun
23
Roughly one-fifth of the difference between athletes can be put down to practice.
Roughly one-fifth of the difference between athletes can be put down to practice. That’s still quite a lot, and although the article implies that the remaining four-fifths is probably inherent skill, I can think of other possibilities: quality of training, personal attitude, context (how good you were compared with the people you first competed against)…
We can’t just map this straight on to creative pursuits, either. I think there probably is a talent component, but how large it is… that’s another question.
Originally shared by Art Markman