Friday Updates

Again, not much in the way of actual news.

The WorldCon 2022 site has been chosen. To nobody's surprise, it will be Chicago. The Hugos will be announced this evening. I'm excited!

Kyx is...coming along. After the first draft is done I plan on doing another pass on Wolfshead with the goal of getting it to my editor by mid August. I was hoping this would be a July release but apparently pandemics do not make for productivity.

So, as of right now I'm thinking Wolfshead will be early fall and The Secret History of Victor Prince late fall/Christmas-ish. But I'm not committing to anything because pandemic.

I have excerpts in two Prolific Works group giveaways: Summer Magic and Futuristic Worlds.

Other than that...not much to report.

On the way to Mars!

The Perseverance rover was successfully launched this morning and is in its transfer orbit to Mars!

I missed the actual launch because I couldn't haul myself out of bed, but did get to see the separation (I wonder what NASA used for a camera satellite...a cubesat? It's not on the mission page).

Perseverance will be NASA's first sample return mission and the mission also carries the helicopter Ingenuity.

Oh, and look for its twitter account. NASA is being cute again ;).

Deep Sea Monsters

Apparently some fish in the deep sea hide very well. How do they manage it?

They're not just black.

They're ultra-black. These fish absorb nearly all of the light touching their skin, allowing them to sneak up on bioluminescent prey.

Which might help us design even blacker materials than the blackest we've managed so far.

Kind of sucks for the little glowy fish, though.

Perseverance to hopefully launch Thursday

The launch of the Perseverance rover is currently set for Thursday, some time between 7:50am and 9:50am.

Not sure I'm getting up early even though it's not that early, given what I've heard of Florida's weather lately.

Their launch window lasts until August 11...so we should have time if they do have to scrub. The launch was complicated by COVID-19 and NASA has to get kudos for still getting it ready,

Perseverance will be accompanied by Ingenuity which, if all goes well, will be the first powered vehicle to fly in the atmosphere of another planet. And which is kinda cute.

The Ornithopter Is Back

Ornithopters - machines that fly by flapping their wings - have been kind of a staple of, well, things that seemed like a good idea but didn't actually work.

Now, an international team of roboticists (remember when that word was science fiction? If so, sorry, you're old) have designed a small drone that flies with criss-cross, flapping wings.

The design can fit into smaller spaces than traditional "copter" drones, fly through trees without damaging them, and is energy efficient.

Not to mention being cool.

Near sci fi writers, pay attention.

Friday Updates

Still not much to report. For much of this week, a massive heatwave accompanied by multiple significant storms rolled through; not conducive to concentration.

Kyx is now officially a novel, although there's quite a bit to go yet.

I have excerpts in two Prolific Works giveaways: Summer Magic and Futuristic Worlds.

I also have donuts. Sorry, I'm not sharing.

Heading to Mars

China's first Mars rover successfully launched and has reached transfer orbit. The rover is designed for geological surveys. If all goes well, the rover will land in seven months.

The U.S. is planning on launching Perseverence on July 30, weather of course permitting.

And the United Arab Emirates launched a satellite on July 19, which will orbit the planet and collect atmospheric data.

Everyone's going to Mars!

(Hopefully, anyway. I wish the Chinese luck; landing on Mars is always a little tough. Just enough atmosphere to be annoying).

We've Seen This Movie

Scientists were trying to get sturgeons to reproduce without the need for males. (Why? More caviar?)

They decided the best way to do this was to artificially inseminate them with sperm from a very unrelated species.

Guys.

Species is an arbitrary term.

Now they have hundreds of sturgeon/paddlefish hybrids that they have to do something with. (Coming to a zoo near you, perhaps?)

So, when they escape and start eating people...

Venus Is Even Worse Than We Thought

Ya know, the hellhole planet with sulphuric acid air and stuff?

Also has volcanoes. Quite a few of them. And they're active. Somehow, Venus has active vulcanism and no magnetic field (Maybe the slow spin?)

Of course, active vulcanism also means a lot of energy and even the potential for some kind of microbial life down there.

I can't imagine much more than that with all that acid, but...

Can Dogs Sense the Magnetic Field?

Seems that way. Although not all of them seem to do it as well as others.

A study of dog navigation showed that while many dogs simply use their nose to find where they left their owner, some of them run north and south a few times and then take a different route back.

Also, dogs prefer to face north-south when using the bathroom.

Because dogs.

Gotta love them.

Maybe they'll let us know when/if the polar reversal happens.

Also, kiddies? Don't hex the moon.

Friday Updates

I don't really have anything in the way of news right now. Hopefully that will change, but this pandemic thing has everything moving distinctly slowly.

No, I still don't have the first draft of Kyx finished. It's about 50% right now. But I am working on it.

Seen NEOWISE Yet?

Probably not, because northern hemisphere viewing times have been ridiculously early in the morning.

However, NOW the comet is visible in the evening sky. I wish I could see it, but light polution here is pretty terrible.

If you can, though, it will do its flyby of Earth on July 22nd, and should be visible 10 to 20 degrees above the northern horizon (it's not in the normal elliptical plane).

Look just after sunset and just below the Big Dipper, and take binoculars or a telescope if you have one.

Oh Come on, you Geeks

Okay.

Ya know, calling something a name that makes a neat acronym is, well, cool and in both geek tradition and American political tradition.

It is, however, cheating to change the spelling of a word to make it work, Dr. Tamayo.

His team named their AI the Stability of Planetary Orbital Configurations Klassifier.

Note the K.

Yeah.

They did that.

(It's actually really cool, but they definitely cheated).

Hugo Roundup: Astounding Award

Campbell no more; and I'm mostly in favor of the name change.

• Sam Hawke (2nd year of eligibility)
• R.F. Kuang (2nd year of eligibility)
• Jenn Lyons (1st year of eligibility)
• Nibedita Sen (2nd year of eligibility)
• Tasha Suri (2nd year of eligibility)
• Emily Tesh (1st year of eligibility)

All of these are very talented authors, but Jenn Lyons' book actually made me forget about COVID for a while. Which very few can achieve right now.

My pick: Jenn Lyons

My prediction: I really can't say. R.F. Kuang is in her second year and that may prove an advantage.

Hugo Roundup: Lodestar

I still have mixed feelings about the Lodestar award, mostly because it's not a Hugo and is funneling good work away from Best Novel.

But it's also adding to recognition.

• Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
• Deeplight, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)
• Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee (Disney/Hyperion)
• Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
• Riverland, by Fran Wilde (Amulet)
• The Wicked King, by Holly Black (Little, Brown; Hot Key)

I am still disappointed the Peasprout Chen book didn't make it, but everything that did deserved to be there.

My pick: Minor Mage

My prediction: Unsure. Riverland won the Norton, but is more a Norton type of book than a Lodestar. I'm going to guess Dragon Pearl.

Hugo Roundup: Best Fancast

There tends to be a very solid core of repeat nominations in fancast. Has Be The Serpent ever not been in the running?

Best Fancast

• Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
• Claire Rousseau’s YouTube channel, produced & presented by Claire Rousseau
• The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
• Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, producer Andrew Finch
• Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders
• The Skiffy and Fanty Show, presented by Jen Zink and Shaun Duke

My pick: Our Opinions Are Correct. I just adore Charlie Jane Anders

My prediction: Probably Our Opinions Are Correct, but this is very much a who can organize their fanbase better category.

Hugo Roundup: Best Fan Artist

I still think some of the best work falls into this category.

• Iain Clark
• Sara Felix
• Grace P. Fong
• Meg Frank
• Ariela Housman
• Elise Matthesen

My pick: Iain Clark

My prediction: Who knows, they're very hard to separate

Hugo Roundup: Best Professional Artist

The art categories (both of them) are always gorgeous, although I would like to see more different mediums in the professional category. It appears economics are such that jewelers and the like always end up in fan artist.

• Tommy Arnold
• Rovina Cai
• Galen Dara
• John Picacio
• Yuko Shimizu
• Alyssa Winans

My pick: Tommy Arnold

My prediction: John Picacio

(Picacio has popularity and fame other than as an artist that will likely put him over the edge).

Hugo Roundup: Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form

This is becoming harder every year. I can't afford to subscribe to a dozen streaming services to watch shows, and the stuff I am watching isn't necessarily "Hugo" material.

• The Good Place: “The Answer”, written by Daniel Schofield, directed by Valeria Migliassi Collins (Fremulon/3 Arts Entertainment/Universal Television)
• The Expanse: “Cibola Burn”, written by Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Prime Video)
• Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”, written by Jeff Jensen and Damon Lindelof, directed by Nicole Kassell (HBO)
• The Mandalorian: “Redemption”, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Taika Waititi (Disney+)
• Doctor Who: “Resolution”, written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Wayne Yip (BBC)
• Watchmen: “This Extraordinary Being”, written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson, directed by Stephen Williams (HBO)

My pick: Doctor Who of course.

My prediction: Probably one of the Watchmen episodes, although splitting the fandom isn't a great idea.

And the Doctor Who episode has one advantage, namely the fact that the BBC became the first company, to my knowledge, to actually provide the full episode in the Hugo package. Amazon sent out a trailer for "Cibola Burn," but not the full episode.

If this becomes more common then it may change how this category works in the future.

Hugo Roundup: Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form

Like the Bradbury, this one was over the second somebody realized the rules allow you to nominate an entire TV series...

• Avengers: Endgame, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Studios)
• Captain Marvel, screenplay by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios/Animal Logic (Australia))
• Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman, directed by Douglas Mackinnon (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios/Narrativia/The Blank Corporation)
• Russian Doll (Season One), created by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, directed by Leslye Headland, Jamie Babbit and Natasha Lyonne (3 Arts Entertainment/Jax Media/Netflix/Paper Kite Productions/Universal Television)
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, screenplay by Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams, directed by J.J. Abrams (Walt Disney Pictures/Lucasfilm/Bad Robot)
• Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions/Universal Pictures)

My pick: Captain Marvel

But only because I haven't had the chance/ability to see the winner yet.

My prediction: Good Omens

If it doesn't win, I will drink a glass of Hypnotiq next time I'm at a convention and the bar has it. That is how sure I am on this one.

Friday Update

Not much in the way of new news. I'm hoping to have things soon, but things are plugging along.

Kyx may take slightly longer than anticipated because, well, writers mess up. And sometimes we mess up badly and have to throw out thousands of words in order to make a better story.

Trust me, it's going to be a much better story.

Hugo Roundup: Best Fan Writer

I never know quite what to do with this category so I always just end up reading the stuff and making guesses.

Nominees are:

• Cora Buhlert
• James Davis Nicoll
• Alasdair Stuart
• Bogi Takács
• Paul Weimer
• Adam Whitehead

My pick: Cora Buhlert

My prediction: Probably Bogi Takács

Hugo Roundup: Best Fanzine

I don't generally read fanzines, so I wouldn't call myself an expert. This year's offerings are:

• The Book Smugglers, editors Ana Grilo and Thea James - a review mag
• Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus, senior writers Rosemary Benton, Lorelei Marcus and Victoria Silverwolf - I LOVE the concept of this. They pretend they're in the Golden Age, and they do it so well.
• Journey Planet, editors James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, Alissa McKersie, Ann Gry, Chuck Serface, John Coxon and Steven H Silver - Always interesting analysis and discussion.
• nerds of a feather, flock together, editors Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla, and The G - Same note.
• Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur - I'm not entirely convinced this belongs in this category rather than Best Fan Writer
• The Rec Center, editors Elizabeth Minkel and Gavia Baker-Whitelaw - Rec as in recommendation. So another review blog.

My pick: Galactic Journey. I love the conceit.

My prediction: Probably Journey Planet.