Jul 31

This is potentially huge.

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This is potentially huge. Imagine being able to implant an artificial pancreas in a diabetic, or a new organ that helped to balance neurochemistry or hormones. Also, spit on a piece of paper to be diagnosed, or (after recovering from cancer) have an implanted monitor to alert you to the first signs of its return.

Originally shared by CM Stewart

“…living programmable ‘ribocomputing’ device based on networks of precisely designed, self-assembling synthetic RNAs (ribonucleic acid). The RNAs can sense multiple biosignals and make logical decisions to control protein production with high precision…the synthetic biological circuits could be used to produce drugs, fine chemicals, and biofuels or detect disease-causing agents and release therapeutic molecules inside the body.”

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-living-programmable-biocomputing-device-based-on-rna

Jul 31

Cargo ships are huge polluters (because of the kind of fuel they use), and this is a small start towards replacing…

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Cargo ships are huge polluters (because of the kind of fuel they use), and this is a small start towards replacing them – and their crews.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

The World’s First Autonomous Ship Will Set Sail In 2018

http://suhub.co/2wc1xr4

Jul 29

Another great old classic magazine.

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Another great old classic magazine.

Not to be confused with Astounding Stories, or their New Zealand equivalents, These Stories Are All Right, Eh and I Don’t Actually Mind These Stories.

(Totally true and not even a little bit made up: when the US show That’s Incredible! was playing during the 80s, there was an NZ version. It was called That’s Fairly Interesting.)

Via Deborah Teramis Christian.

Originally shared by Alex Grossman

h/t David Brin

http://www.openculture.com/2017/07/a-huge-archive-of-amazing-stories-the-worlds-oldest-longest-running-science-fiction-magazine-since-1926.html
Jul 26

This stuff may seem basic, but it amazes me how often authors are narrating in simple past tense and refer to…

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This stuff may seem basic, but it amazes me how often authors are narrating in simple past tense and refer to earlier events without shifting to past perfect.

It amazes me, and it also disorients me and throws me out of the story.

Originally shared by Karen Conlin

Usually I share these Cambridge blog posts to the ESL collection, but this time I’m making an exception. Writers of all levels, from those just now starting out to those who’ve been writing for years, can use this basic information. (Refresher courses never hurt, y’know.)

https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2017/07/26/when-no-one-was-looking-she-opened-the-door-using-narrative-tenses/
Jul 22

So many ordinary people became heroes in the dark days before and during WW II.

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So many ordinary people became heroes in the dark days before and during WW II.

Originally shared by Self-Rescuing Princess Society

“They did it because it was the right thing to do, nothing more, nothing less.”

Even so, it was incredible brave. While they weren’t smuggling people out of the Germany, they were helping folks escape by smuggling their material wealth, against Nazi law. And doing it completely under the noses of the Nazi boarder guards.

Jews leaving Germany in the 1930s weren’t allowed to take their possessions, and would have had to surrender them at the boarder. But, many countries accepting refugees, like the UK, required each person to have a means of supporting themselves — money and a job. It was a terrible catch-22 for many.

By helping to smuggle their money and furs and jewels, they helped the escapees meet both of those requirements.

http://buff.ly/2uRyBbz
Jul 21

From where I sit – in a country that provides medical care for everyone, because that’s how you run a decent…

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From where I sit – in a country that provides medical care for everyone, because that’s how you run a decent society, what is wrong with you? – this all seems pretty obvious. But I know that it’s a daily struggle for a great many people in the US, and that’s in large part down to narratives about earning and deserving, and how something run as a business will naturally and inevitably and magically work better than something run by the government.

Originally shared by Gregory Lynn

If you don’t know Kameron Hurley, you probably should. She writes some massively complex science fiction and fantasy so she’s often thinking about the future and what society would look like. She also has a chronic condition that almost killed her so she has some thoughts about medical care and the way it all works.

They are thoughtful thoughts and you should read them.

http://bit.ly/2uQve4r