So, my draft Balticon schedule was, indeed a draft. Some minor changes, this is the current schedule:
Friday 6pm. Reading (I'll be reading from The Friar's Tale this time).
Saturday 4pm. Good First-Time RPGs (that aren't D&D)
Sunday 1pm. The Changing Role of Godzilla
Sunday 7pm. How Have First Contact Scenarios Evolved
Sunday 8:30pm. Queerness in the CW's Superhero Universe
Monday 11:30am Future Utopia or Tacitly Terrifying.
The Daily Mail is having a field day, but yes, we really are taking some baby bobtail squid to space. Why?
Bobtail squid glow by employing the services of symbiotic bacteria, which they are born without. By taking newborn squid and introducing the bacteria in controlled conditions, we'll learn more about how symbiotic bacteria handle microgravity, which will help us learn how to better support the gut health of astronauts.
They're also taking tardigrades. I swear those things will colonize space before we do...if they haven't already.
...via algae?
A blind man had genes that code for light-sensitive proteins in algae inserted into his retina, and now he can see. Not perfectly...he has to wear glasses and can't see color or read, but he can now safely navigate the world without a white cane.
It's the first step, but also makes me think about Geordi's visor...
(Btw, the goggles are designed to change the color of light to one his new light sensitive cells can recognize).
It's now going to go to clinical trials.
...a bad omen? Nah.
But tomorrow, there will be a total lunar eclipse visible from most of the western US and Canada. Aussies and Kiwis will get a good view too, as will Japan.
It being a supermoon should mean quite interesting moon viewing. Oh, and it's the Super Flower Blood Moon which is absolutely a Magical Girl name.
...and the things scientists do to them. Scientists shot tardigrades out of a gun at over 2,000 mph.
The purpose of the experiment was to see if these tough critters could potentially survive a planetary impact. Sadly, the answer was no...even tardigrades can't manage that.
But they came close, because tardigrades.
Not a huge amount of news this week other than the fact that I got my second vaccine shot on Tuesday.
I had almost no systemic side effects (slight headache and a bit of fatigue), but the worst arm soreness I've ever had with any vaccine. So, yeah, the second shot is worse, but I feel as if I got off very, very lightly indeed.
Means I can relax precautions a bit soon, but no wild parties.
Ever heard that frankly silly line about how the Y chromosome is somehow fragile and will eventually go away and then omg we won't have men?
It's almost certainly a myth...except there's one species of mammal in which it has happened!
The unassuming creeping vole is found throughout the western United States. They're hard to see/find because they're only about 0.67 ounces, tops.
And they have no Y chromosome. Instead, makes are XX and females are XO (which means they don't have a second sex chromosome at all.
Furthermore, the SRY gene is now on the X chromosome, and we're not sure how it's turned off in females.
The same thing is happening in Transcaucasian mole voles and three species of spiny rat from Japan. It's probably not a coincidence that they're all rodents.
So, while the human Y chromosome probably isn't going anywhere, there are species of mammal managing just fine without it!
Those of you who have gone to Balticon (physical or virtual) have probably seen me on a panel with Don Sakers. Have probably seen the chemistry that developed between us when talking about something we were both excited about.
Yesterday, I found out that Don passed away unexpectedly on Monday. He leaves behind his husband, Thomas Atkinson...and an entire community.
Don was a fixture on Balticon programming for years and could always be counted on to provide his opinion on a wide variety of matters. He was a tireless advocate for gay rights and neurodivergence, and a skilled writer.
Above all, though, Don was a man who dedicated much of his life to helping people find books. A forty year plus librarian, he was the reviewer for Analog Science Fiction & Fact for the last twelve years. He could always be counted on for a recommendation.
He was a light in every room he entered. I normally say "Rest in peace," but even though Don was not Jewish, I can't help but go with "May his memory be a blessing."
Because a man who gives out books gives out memories and I can't imagine Don resting.
Studies of primates...and other animals...may reveal that the original purpose of laughter is to distinguish between fight and play.
That is to say, animals laugh when playfighting and it may be a distinguishing marker.
And of course humans use laughter to defuse tension which might lead to a fight. So perhaps laughter is a defense mechanism at its core.
Being such complicated creatures, however, we laugh for all kinds of other reasons now.
So, it seems Neanderthals had a wide enough range to have different ethnicities. One cave was sequentially occupied by two different groups of Neanderthals... (Well, by occupied, we mean that they probably used it for storage and occasional shelter).
And their DNA was as different as modern Europeans compared to modern Asians.
So, a completely different group of Neanderthals.
So, first off, I have a story, "Living Yesterday" in 99 Tiny Terrors, which is an anthology of horror flash edited by the wonderful Jennifer Brozek and published by Pulse Publishing.
The book will be released some time in the third quarter of 2021. I don't have an exact date yet.
I also have a signed contract to publish "Homestead" in this year's Triangulation anthology, and a signed contract to publish "For the Sake of a Dandelion" in an as yet untitled anthology from Lagrange Books.
And while it's not signed yet, "Song of Starlight" has been accepted by Analog.
So, it's gotten pretty exciting around here.
The first draft of Tyranis, second in the planned Council of Worlds series, has almost reached 60,000 words, and once that's done I'll be editing Kyx then starting work on Glyn. It's taken a bit longer than planned, but it's moving forward.
Finally, I have my draft schedule for Balticon 2021, which will be held virtually.
Friday, 6pm, reading. I plan on reading from The Friar's Tale.
Saturday, 4pm, "Good First-time RPGs (that aren't D&D)."
Sunday, 1pm, "The Changing Role of Godzilla"
Sunday, 8:30pm, "Queerness in the CW's Superhero Universe"
Monday, 11:30pm, "Future Utopia or Tacitly Terrifying?"
This schedule is subject to potential change as we work out the last details of the con.
Seems some species of orchid tempt insects by producing completely fake pollen. Their actual pollen isn't edible or nutritious, but in many cases the "fake" stuff is.
This isn't unfair on the insects at all...they get a delicious meal. It's equivalent to producing nectar, which plants release just to reward pollinators. But orchids went a different way.
The insects still get a meal.
HIV is the forgotten pandemic (Yes, HIV is still a pandemic. It's just one most of us don't worry about because you can't catch it just by being in the room with somebody).
But HIV has now saved lives. How, you ask?
Scientists have reprogrammed the HIV virus to repair immune systems instead of destroying them. The treatment was used on 50 children with so-called "Bubble baby syndrome." These kids were born without a functioning immune system.
48 responded to the treatment and are able to live normal lives two to three years later. They aren't talking "cure" yet, but it appears to at least be a long-term treatment.
Retroviruses like HIV are particularly useful for gene therapy because they insert their own genetic material into cells. As HIV already affects the immune system, it was easy to tweak it to do the repairs.
Domesticating viruses is the next big thing, even as one ravages the globe.
Voyager 1, still doing science after all these years. The spacecraft has now detected and measured the background hum of plasma in interstellar space.
This might give us information on how matter is distributed in the void.
And it's just amazing that that probe is even still operating, isn't it.
It used to happen all the time; symbiotic relationships between sea lilies and corals. But we thought they'd all become extinct.
Nope. They're still hanging out together off of Japan. We're not quite sure what the mutual benefits are just yet, but they must be there, because they've been doing this for at least 275 million years.
So, there's this adorable little dinosaur called Shuvuuia that lived in the Mongolian desert.
This little character was about the size of a chicken and had long legs, clawed arms and a fragile skull.
It was also nocturnal, with hearing probably equivalent to a barn owl and the largest proportionate eyes of any dinosaur.
Being a nocturnal desert dweller it probably had feathers...I would want them too.
And all I can think is: Dinosaur roadrunner. Meep meep.
Don't believe me on adorable? This article has an artist's reconstruction that makes me want one as a pet.
Some researchers set out to solve huge problems. Like, say cancer.
Others have more humble goals. Like, say, saving space storing pasta.
A bunch of Asian scientists have come up with a way to make pasta that is flat until you cook it. Awesome for camping, apparently.
And it doesn't add anything to the pasta. This might be useful in soft robotics too, but the real point is pasta that fits in your backpack.
And you know what, that's not a bad addition to the world on its own.
I have to admit, I like bats. (And no, I don't blame them for the pandemic).
Bats, in general, are our friends as they eat biting insects.
And apparently, they know how fast sound is. Because, well, they have to. Scientists raised bats in a helium-rich atmosphere
Except, they can't actually change it. No matter what environment you raise them in, they think sound is the same speed.
It's hardwired into their little bat brains.
Makes us wonder what might be hardwired into ours...
So, it seems that the Parker Solar Probe actually dipped into Venus' ionosphere on its way to the sun.
It recorded the natural radio signal Venus produces (all planets do this, including Earth, giving us more of an understanding of the extent of the Venusian atmosphere. Which apparently swells substantially during solar maximums then shrinks during minimums.
This might be a clue as to why Venus has such a thick atmosphere.
We also have more knowledge about the planet's spin (a day on Venus is in fact 243 Earth days...on average. The spin is unstable, varying by as much as 20 minutes, and that's probably because of that thick atmosphere. (Earth has a variation measured in a millisecond. ONE millisecond).
Venus' axial tilt is 2.6392 degrees (Earth's is 23), meaning Venus has essentially no seasons.
We also know that the core is about the same as Earth.
We still need to know a lot more about Earth's enigmatic twin.
NASA just set the speed record.
The Parker Solar Probe is zipping around the sun, and is now the fastest human-made object at 330,000 mph. This is still slow in the grand scheme of the universe, but may prove the feasibility of doing a solar flyby to accelerate.
It's also very, very close to the sun.
