Friday Update!

 The 99 Tiny Terrors kickstarter ends on Sunday! Please pledge and try and get to the 8k stretch goal, which will cover a 1 hour video conference with some of the writers.

This is also one of the few ways to get either the limited edition hardcover or the pseudo leather bound book! Or pick up a special deal on the ebook...everyone who backs will get a free e-novel from Pulse Publishing too and for $6 that's pretty awesome.

It's also the only way to get a free bonus short story, although I don't know what it is either ;).

In other news...well, watch this space. I expect to have some more by next week.

Your Halloween Decorations...

 ...might be confusing and upsetting spiders. It seems that jumping spiders can't tell the difference between a fake spider and a real one.

So, they think it's a bigger spider that might eat them and run away. Poor things. No word on a way to un-confuse the spiders...not sure there's much we can do.

Maybe choose ones that are so big they clearly aren't a bigger spider? I don't know...

So, We Need to Not Look Like Seals

 New studies give strong support to the theory that when a great white shark bites a human, it's because they mistake you for a seal.

Specifically, it's young sharks...inexperienced hunters...making this mistake. Which shows that the best way to not get bitten is to find some way to telegraph "I am not a seal."

We're still working on that, but patterned clothing and surf boards/paddle boards is probably the way to go. Sharks don't see color, so we'll have to do it with stripes or whatever.

That way we can reduce shark bites without hurting the sharks...in fact, as human is not tasty to sharks and they don't want to eat us, they will probably appreciate a nice big "I Am Not A Seal" notice so they can go find something far more delicious.

Coexisting with sharks matters.

Further and Further Out

 We now have the ability to detect...possibly...planets in other galaxies. That's just an unimaginable distance away.

The possible exoplanet is in Messier 51 (M51), also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy. It's 28 million light years away.

It was discovered using one of our first techniques for detecting exoplanets, by detecting its slight occlusion of its sun. The reason we can see out this far is by using X-ray astronomy.

If it's real, it's a very large gas giant...

NASA Artemis test flight pushed back

 In a move which surprises no one, the Artemis I mission, which will be an uncrewed mission, has been pushed back to February 2022. The planned launch window is now February 12.

I expect it will be pushed back further given how this program has gone, but to be fair, they are literally trying to do a moonshot during a pandemic.

So, How About Those Wooden Knives?

 Ah, wooden utensils. They don't cut through anything and they leave a taste in your food that might be either bad or, depending on your personal history, vaguely nostalgic.

But Teng Li, at the University of Maryland, has come up with a way to make a wooden steak knife that works just as well as steel. And they're pretty durable too. I'd imagine there will be a number of uses for this.

Also, it's just plain neat.

Yeouch

 Plotbunny for something?

Astronomers have discovered evidence that in the HD 172555 system, only 95 light years from Earth, an Earth-sized planet was hit by something so big it blew off part of the atmosphere.

I can see space archaeology here...

(It also tells us we got lucky with the impact that created the moon...)

Sea Otters, Not Just Adorable

 I mean, if you don't think sea otters are cute, I do rather question your taste. No offense.

But it turns out they're also vital for the survival of eelgrass meadows. It goes like this:

• Sea otter digs through eelgrass for clams.
• Eelgrass responds to the disturbance by flowering and producing seeds.

Eelgrass, it turn out, only reproduce sexually when disturbed. And without sexual reproduction, the meadows have no chance of adapting to changes in ocean temperature and acidity. I also suspect that otters benefit the grass by aerating (water-ating?) the soil.

So, they're not just cute, but a key part of their environment and weirdly symbiotic with the grass.

But they're still adorable. That fur...

Dear Russia

 A software bug causing thrusters to burn incorrectly while docking a brand new module to the ISS I'll give you.

Doing it with a Soyuz? What's going on over there? Where are all your good coders? Don't answer that.

(Yes, the Russians knocked the ISS out of orientation with a software bug on a test thrust. Yes, they did it again. They're almost as incompetent as the Washington Metro).

All These Worlds Are Yours...

 ...except Europa.

So, Europa has water vapor in the atmosphere. Only in one hemisphere (we don't know why but my guess is that it has something to do with the tidal effect of Jupiter).

We don't know where it's coming from. Well, we do, it's coming from the under-ice ocean somehow.

But it does make one wonder, doesn't it.

Friday Updates

 I have received an invitation to be on programming at Philcon, which is taking place slightly later this year (November 19-21). No further details yet, but I'm sure it's going to be amazing.

The con is requiring vaccination and masks.

My story, "Honor the Midwife," will be published on the Land Beyond the World Website on Monday. This story takes place in a very early version of Yirath, so note all the changes between it and Firewing. It's still a neat little story, though, that I'm quite proud of.

James Webb Might Finally be Happening

 The James Webb Space Telescope has been shipped to its launch site in French Guiana. Now it needs to be checked again before it can be put on a rocket for launch.

As a note, I'm starting to get more and more in favor of a name change, but I don't have anything good to call it instead. Webb was apparently an asshole and homophobic. We need a nickname for this thing. Or maybe I can find the official designation under the name somewhere...

Either way, we might finally get this thing launched and on its way to L2...and we're going to do a heck of a lot of science.

So, Here's One...

 Imagine that you're woken up by a loud crash and leap out of bed, look back and find a rock right where your head would have been.

Imagine calling the cops and having them investigate where it came from.

Now imagine that the answer is "Outer space."

Ruth Hamilton in British Columbia very nearly became one of the few people in recorded history to be killed by a meteorite. And I just used this as an example of things people shouldn't worry about...

(We shouldn't. The chances really are incredibly low).

(She's keeping it).

Clouds are Plankton Breath

 No, seriously, they are. Plankton releases dimethyl sulfide, which turns into sulfuric acid, which then seeds clouds above the ocean.

Oh, and also, one cloud does not feel lonely. The more clouds there are already, the fewer clouds form, simply because the existing clouds attract the sulfur. Clouds are hungry and devour their young.

All of this could be useful for understanding cloud formation...and potentially mitigating climate change.

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day

Nope, it's not Columbus Day.

Columbus Day only became a federal holiday in 1937, and it started as a way for Italian immigrants to be celebrated.

Most Italian-Americans I've talked to no longer have any desire to celebrate it. To be fair, Italians were persecuted (much like the Irish) for many years. It's not the same thing as racism, but it has to be acknowledged.

Columbus Day, thus, did not start as a celebration of white people finding the Americas (which is a good thing because that happened centuries earlier), but as a way to keep Italians from being lynched by emphasizing their allegiance to America.

Of course, this pushed indigenous people under the bus. The first state to ditch Columbus Day was South Dakota in...1990. It's been Native American Day there ever since.

Two years later, Berkeley, California, replaced Columbus Day with the Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People.

These two things sparked the movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day. This is official in several states, either replacing Columbus Day or, in Oregon, alongside it. Even Columbus, Ohio, the largest city named for him has made the switch.

But what about the Italians?

First of all, Christopher Columbus was, and I don't say this lightly, an evil man. He enslaved people, he pissed off the King and Queen of Portugal with the way he treated natives so much they put him in jail. His crews hated him.

Second of all, Italians are now recognized fully as white. They aren't persecuted anymore. Pizza is as American as burgers. They don't need a holiday which celebrates an oppressor. (I mean, if we could have National Eat Pasta Day the way we have National Drink Green Beer Day I'd be totally behind it and I'd imagine most Italian-Americans would be too).

It's time to retire Columbus Day.

Thus, happy Indigenous Peoples Day and please take a moment to acknowledge the struggles and ongoing heritage of the people who did discover this continent, tens of thousands of years ago.

Friday Updates

No real news this week (I already gave everything I had from Capclave).

Still plodding along trying to get stuff done.

As a note, I found my books on a Russian site, readfrom.net. Please do NOT go to this site to get free books (mine or anyone's). It's full of malvertising that can get past an active, quality adblocker and I dread to think what's on there if you are NOT running a blocker. As it's based in Russia, I can't really do much about it except warn everyone to stay clear.

If you want a review copy of anything, just ask.

A real Welsh dragon...

 ...the size of a chicken. Neglected fossils in a museum drawer turned out to be the oldest species of carnivorous dinosaur yet found in the U.K.

In...a mine in Wales.

We don't know what color it was, but...this article has an artists' reconstruction and it is absolutely adorable.

Believe it or not, it's a relative of T. Rex.

We Still Don't Know the Seas...

 Exhibit, the fact that it's 2021 and we just identified a new orca culture. Orcas (sometimes called killer whales) have distinct groups with their own language and culture...and we were missing one completely.

Evidence indicates that this new group, which we might call an ethnicity or a tribe if they were humans, live further out than most orcas and are big game hunters, going after young whales and elephant seals.

(How intelligent are orcas? We don't know, but it's entirely possible they may be sapient).

Oh, wait. We may have missed two. There might be another group that lives even further out. Maybe.

Point is?

The ocean is dang big and we still don't know everything about it.

Yes, Dogs have Empathy

 So, we have done a bunch of studies that prove what all dog people already knew.

Yes, your dog does know how you are feeling. Dogs even experience an increase in cortisol, a stress hormone, when they hear a baby crying...just as humans do. In other words, your dog wants to comfort your crying baby. (I will bet right now that if we checked cats...)

If you yawn, your dog yawns. And vice versa. I've caught myself yawning when I see a picture of a dog yawning.

They also discovered that dogs will pay more attention to somebody who is crying or laughing. Unless they don't know them, in which case they get kinda stressed.

So, yes, your dog coming over and begging for a cuddle when you're upset? They're coming to give you the hug they can tell you need.

I am pretty sure this absolutely applies to cats too. I've walked into a space with a cat when I was a bit depressed and it was clear that the kitty recognized I was...and came over to give me some purr therapy!

Horses, too. Horses can absolutely pick up on your mood and react accordingly.

But next time you're feeling depressed and your dog tries to climb into your lap, let them. They're only trying to help.

Capclave Roundup

 First of all, congratulations to T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) for winning the WSFA Small Press Award with "Metal Like Blood in the Dark."

This wasn't my first choice from the nominated stories, but it is an excellent story and I'm honored to ever be mentioned in the same breath. Vernon will be guest of honor at next year's Capclave.

Second, thank you to everyone who was abiding by the rules. We really didn't have any huge problems with people not following protocols. And thank you to Capclave for the clear mask (The two I bought for myself turned out to be almost unwearable). I need to find out where they get those masks from, just in case.

Third, the person who brought an actual robot to the panel on robots in science fiction basically won the con.

Friday Updates

 All packed and ready to head to Capclave. I'll be in the dealer room at 3pm ready to sell some books.

It's so good to be back on the circuit again even if I do have to hide my mug behind a mask for now. Hopefully, by next year, we won't even need those.

Get vaccinated and be careful and we'll all get our lives back.