Life Without Oxygen

There's a little jellyfish that lives on salmon. It's a benign parasite.

And it doesn't have mitochondria.

Which means it doesn't need oxygen. Now, it's possible that it's letting the salmon metabolize oxygen for it, but...this might have implications for extraterrestrial life.

Maybe.

I'd want to know more, a lot more.

(And find a free-living critter that can pull this stunt. I suspect there isn't one).

So...

...if I ever do a hive species I am totally going to base them off of Cape honey bees.

No males, all workers are capable of becoming fertile, and when the queen dies they fight over who gets to be "genetically reincarnated" as the next queen.

Oh, and they're nasty little buggers too; they love to lay their eggs in other bees' nests like cuckoos...

Are they a sideline or is this something to do with how colony species developed in the first place?

I'm Gonna Sulk Now...

...now that we've found evidence raptors weren't highly social pack hunters. Because I like my highly social pack dinosaurs, dangit.

(It was to be expected. I only know of one bird that's a pack hunter, the Harris Hawk, although there may be others).

I can deal with my dinosaurs having feathers, but don't take away my cute illusions!

All These Worlds Are Yours...

...yup, back to Europa.

The Europa clipper mission prep has included taking another look at images taken by Galileo of the ice moon.

The images show quite clearly how dynamic the moon's icy surface is, with blocks of ice being released and then trapped again.

Life?

We don't know, and Enceladus is a better place to look, but it's not impossible. There's certainly energy...

Okay, So You're Bored

...and could use cuteness therapy.

How about, well, cuteness therapy with a side of SCIENCE. Or vice versa.

The University of Wyoming has a project where they need people to watch videos of raccoons and classify them.

Yes, seriously. Raccoons.

Maybe this'll help somebody get through quarantine.

Cool Stuff Coming

So, tomorrow at 7pm, I'm going to be reading from one of Karen Eisenbrey's books on her Facebook page, and she's going to be reading from Firewing on my Facebook page.

(We haven't decided who's going first, so watch for the events, which should appear shortly. It's just for a piece of quarantine fun ;)).

Friday Updates!

Don't forget to preorder your copy of Firewing!

You can find it on Amazon and Smashwords.

If you aren't sure whether or not you want it, I've made the first four chapters available for free through Prolific Works.

The first part of Araña is still available on the site, and is also part of two amazing group giveaways, Search For Truth and Rainy Day Reading.

Last, but not least, my flash piece Tall, Dark and Handsome is now up at Daily Science Fiction. Also for free!

Oh wait, not last.

Due to the pandemic, Balticon 54 has gone virtual! The schedule isn't up yet, but I'll post everywhere when it is. Because of the limitations of Zoom, you have to register for each item. I don't have my official schedule yet - please check Facebook as I'll likely post it there sooner.