I saw it this weekend. It was funny and clever, and well-done in the Pixar style. (Sample clip here.)
Bleah. My head cold has left me too fuzzy to say anything substantial. More later!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
HR8799?
From cnn.com:
Astronomers capture first images of new planets
The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies.
Using the latest techniques in space technology, astronomers at NASA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used direct-imaging techniques to capture pictures of four newly discovered planets orbiting stars outside our solar system.
"After all these years, it's amazing to have a picture showing not one but three planets," said physicist Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.
"The discovery of the HR 8799 system is a crucial step on the road to the ultimate detection of another Earth," he said.
None of the planets is remotely habitable, scientists said.
Both sets of research findings were published Thursday in Science Express, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A team of American and British astronomers and physicists, using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the Mauna Kea mountaintop in Hawaii, observed host star HR8799 to find three of the new planets.
Scientists estimate that HR8799, roughly 1.5 times the size of the sun, is 130 light years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus. The individual planets in this planetary family are estimated to be seven to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.
Astronomers say the star is too faint to detect with the human eye, but observers could probably see it through binoculars or small telescopes.
"This discovery is the first time we have directly imaged a family of planets around a normal star outside of our solar system," said Christian Marois, the lead astronomer in the Lawrence Livermore lab study.
It continues to amaze me that we can detect extrasolar planets now. Granted, they're humongous superjovian planets, but still. Planets! It gives me a continuing geeky thrill.
I just wish we had a better name for the star- or, rather, any real name at all. HR8799? That isn't a star, that's a bill before Congress.
Astronomers capture first images of new planets
The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies.
Using the latest techniques in space technology, astronomers at NASA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used direct-imaging techniques to capture pictures of four newly discovered planets orbiting stars outside our solar system.
"After all these years, it's amazing to have a picture showing not one but three planets," said physicist Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.
"The discovery of the HR 8799 system is a crucial step on the road to the ultimate detection of another Earth," he said.
None of the planets is remotely habitable, scientists said.
Both sets of research findings were published Thursday in Science Express, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A team of American and British astronomers and physicists, using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the Mauna Kea mountaintop in Hawaii, observed host star HR8799 to find three of the new planets.
Scientists estimate that HR8799, roughly 1.5 times the size of the sun, is 130 light years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus. The individual planets in this planetary family are estimated to be seven to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.
Astronomers say the star is too faint to detect with the human eye, but observers could probably see it through binoculars or small telescopes.
"This discovery is the first time we have directly imaged a family of planets around a normal star outside of our solar system," said Christian Marois, the lead astronomer in the Lawrence Livermore lab study.
It continues to amaze me that we can detect extrasolar planets now. Granted, they're humongous superjovian planets, but still. Planets! It gives me a continuing geeky thrill.
I just wish we had a better name for the star- or, rather, any real name at all. HR8799? That isn't a star, that's a bill before Congress.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Mundanity in Science Fiction
Courtesy of Bruce Sterling's blog, we have Geoff Ryman's Mundane SF Manifesto:
- That interstellar travel remains unlikely; that Warp drives, worm holes, and other forms of faster-than-light travel are wish fulfillment fantasies rather than serious speculation about a possible future.
- That unfounded speculation about interstellar travel can lead to an illusion of a universe abundant with worlds as hospitable to life as this Earth. This is also viewed as unlikely.
- That this dream of abundance can encourage a wasteful attitude to the abundance that is here on Earth.
- That there is no evidence whatsoever of intelligences elsewhere in the universe.
- That absence of evidence is not evidence of absence -- however, it is considered unlikely that alien intelligences will overcome the physical constraints on interstellar travel any better than we can.
- That interstellar trade (and colonization, war, federations, etc.) is therefore highly unlikely.
- That communication with alien intelligences over such vast distances will be vexed by: the enormous time lag in exchange of messages and the likelihood of enormous and probably currently unimaginable differences between us and aliens.
- That there is no present evidence whatsoever that quantum uncertainty has any effect at the macro level and that therefore it is highly unlikely that there are whole alternative universes to be visited.
- That therefore our most likely future is on this planet and within this solar system, and that it is highly unlikely that intelligent life survives elsewhere in this solar system. Any contact with aliens is likely to be tenuous, and unprofitable.
- That the most likely future is one in which we only have ourselves and this planet.
I have mixed feelings.
First of all, I rather like it when artists- whether writers, painters, filmmakers or whatever- develop a code that guides their work. When such codes are designed intelligently, they can lend useful structure and a kind of context to art.
But I love me some space opera. Star Trek, Star Wars, Iain M. Banks, you name it. I know that the first two are goofy science fantasy, and the latter tries to compensate for the lost wonder of space by going for Really Big Effects; but still, I love it. It's the closest thing to a real sense-of-wonder effect that I'm likely to see in SF.
The tone doesn't help much either- it's basically a concession that sf is escapism, but that they will be different. They will be serious, responsible, and relevant. They will address serious causes, not just in their explicit writing, but in the subtle psychological effects of their writing.
I'm not sure that this can possibly work. But i have to give them credit for trying.
- That interstellar travel remains unlikely; that Warp drives, worm holes, and other forms of faster-than-light travel are wish fulfillment fantasies rather than serious speculation about a possible future.
- That unfounded speculation about interstellar travel can lead to an illusion of a universe abundant with worlds as hospitable to life as this Earth. This is also viewed as unlikely.
- That this dream of abundance can encourage a wasteful attitude to the abundance that is here on Earth.
- That there is no evidence whatsoever of intelligences elsewhere in the universe.
- That absence of evidence is not evidence of absence -- however, it is considered unlikely that alien intelligences will overcome the physical constraints on interstellar travel any better than we can.
- That interstellar trade (and colonization, war, federations, etc.) is therefore highly unlikely.
- That communication with alien intelligences over such vast distances will be vexed by: the enormous time lag in exchange of messages and the likelihood of enormous and probably currently unimaginable differences between us and aliens.
- That there is no present evidence whatsoever that quantum uncertainty has any effect at the macro level and that therefore it is highly unlikely that there are whole alternative universes to be visited.
- That therefore our most likely future is on this planet and within this solar system, and that it is highly unlikely that intelligent life survives elsewhere in this solar system. Any contact with aliens is likely to be tenuous, and unprofitable.
- That the most likely future is one in which we only have ourselves and this planet.
I have mixed feelings.
First of all, I rather like it when artists- whether writers, painters, filmmakers or whatever- develop a code that guides their work. When such codes are designed intelligently, they can lend useful structure and a kind of context to art.
But I love me some space opera. Star Trek, Star Wars, Iain M. Banks, you name it. I know that the first two are goofy science fantasy, and the latter tries to compensate for the lost wonder of space by going for Really Big Effects; but still, I love it. It's the closest thing to a real sense-of-wonder effect that I'm likely to see in SF.
The tone doesn't help much either- it's basically a concession that sf is escapism, but that they will be different. They will be serious, responsible, and relevant. They will address serious causes, not just in their explicit writing, but in the subtle psychological effects of their writing.
I'm not sure that this can possibly work. But i have to give them credit for trying.
Veterans' Day
Today, that is!
All my respect and honor to those who have fought and died in our nation's wars. May we never forget them.
All my respect and honor to those who have fought and died in our nation's wars. May we never forget them.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Horror Pivot-Moment
Here's something I've been thinking of lately.
Have a look at this: it's an episode of the original Twilight Zone, "Living Doll," featuring Telly Savalas as an abusive dad who meets a doll with a mind of its own.
There's a moment about three minutes in, where Telly holds the harmless-looking doll for the first time and it tells him, "My name is Talky Tina, and I don't think I like you."
And it's that moment- that one instant of perfect shivery weirdness- that sells the whole thing. All the rest of the episode is just working out the details and consequences of that one moment; it's dull by comparison.
(Not to say that it's a dull episode! It's not. But the emotional impact seems to happen right here at the beginning, where we're suddenly presented with the introduction of weirdness to a normal, if awful, suburban world.)
Is there a word for this? Something like the opposite of "climax" for plot, where it makes an emotional impact at the beginning and plays out the details from there?
Have a look at this: it's an episode of the original Twilight Zone, "Living Doll," featuring Telly Savalas as an abusive dad who meets a doll with a mind of its own.
There's a moment about three minutes in, where Telly holds the harmless-looking doll for the first time and it tells him, "My name is Talky Tina, and I don't think I like you."
And it's that moment- that one instant of perfect shivery weirdness- that sells the whole thing. All the rest of the episode is just working out the details and consequences of that one moment; it's dull by comparison.
(Not to say that it's a dull episode! It's not. But the emotional impact seems to happen right here at the beginning, where we're suddenly presented with the introduction of weirdness to a normal, if awful, suburban world.)
Is there a word for this? Something like the opposite of "climax" for plot, where it makes an emotional impact at the beginning and plays out the details from there?
Anathem
Neal Stephenson's latest, Anathem, is... a very Neal Stephenson book.
By that I mean that it has his hallmarks: very-involved worldbuilding, some mildly quirky characters, and an exuberance in writing that sometimes makes his novels go on a bit longer than they should.
The book is built around a kind of monastery, which only opens its gates to the outer world once every ten years. Within this monastery is another monastery, whose contact with outsiders happens only once a century; and within that it yet another, whose inhabitants only emerge once a millenium.
(Yes, it's very implausible. But part of Stephenson's appeal is that he makes it work; in the context of this parallel-Earth society, it all makes perfect social sense.)
It's stated directly at the beginning that this is not our Earth; but that's easily forgotten, because of the fun that Stephenson has with the evolution of English words. It makes the world feel familiar, somehow. It could be us, far in the future, still dealing with the consequences of things that are happening today.
By that I mean that it has his hallmarks: very-involved worldbuilding, some mildly quirky characters, and an exuberance in writing that sometimes makes his novels go on a bit longer than they should.
The book is built around a kind of monastery, which only opens its gates to the outer world once every ten years. Within this monastery is another monastery, whose contact with outsiders happens only once a century; and within that it yet another, whose inhabitants only emerge once a millenium.
(Yes, it's very implausible. But part of Stephenson's appeal is that he makes it work; in the context of this parallel-Earth society, it all makes perfect social sense.)
It's stated directly at the beginning that this is not our Earth; but that's easily forgotten, because of the fun that Stephenson has with the evolution of English words. It makes the world feel familiar, somehow. It could be us, far in the future, still dealing with the consequences of things that are happening today.
Happy Birthday, Marine Corps!
The United States Marine Corps was founded on this date in 1775. Happy 233rd birthday to our slightly-younger, slightly-tougher brothers!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Happy Birthday, Navy!
On this date in 1775, the Continental Congress founded the Continental Navy (meaning, rather oddly, that by the usual count the Navy is older than the Republic.)
Here's to another 223 years!
Here's to another 223 years!
Military Ranks in Science Fiction
Gene Roddenberry allegedly said once that everyone on board the Enterprise should be an officer, because they're all trained astronauts, and that makes them all highly-educated.
Allegedly! I hope it isn't true, because the statement is wrong on several levels at once. The most important level is simply one of function: enlisted people deal with equipment, and officers deal with people. Their job is essentially management. But a military composed entirely of managers is probably not going to work very well.
(As a veteran, Roddenberry should have known this. I honestly have no clue what he was thinking; unless it was simply a matter of tone, rather than of fact. He may simply not have wanted a heirarchical military looming too obtrusively in his 23rd-century utopia.)
This is a very roundabout way of introducing Karen Traviss' new book, Order 66. It's the fourth part of her "Republic Commando" series, which covers the events of the Prequel Series from the point of view of common soldiers.
(Well, kind of common. Common relative to the Jedi and the Sith, anyway.)
A large dose of the fun of the books comes from that difference in perspective. Here's Obi-Wan Kenobi, as seen in the Revenge of the Sith novelization:
He is respected throughout the Jedi Order for his insight as well as his warrior skill. He has become the hero of the next generation of Padawans; he is the Jedi their Masters hold up as a model. He is the being that the Council assigns to their most important missions. He is modest, centered, and always kind.
He is the ultimate Jedi.
And here he is, from the perspective of Order 66's lower ranks:
"Cody might think that the sun shines out of his ear, General, but I think he's a glory-seeker who wastes too many men."
... Which is, to belabor the connection I started this post with, how I imagine a lot of lower-level Enterprise crewmen see Captain Kirk.
Allegedly! I hope it isn't true, because the statement is wrong on several levels at once. The most important level is simply one of function: enlisted people deal with equipment, and officers deal with people. Their job is essentially management. But a military composed entirely of managers is probably not going to work very well.
(As a veteran, Roddenberry should have known this. I honestly have no clue what he was thinking; unless it was simply a matter of tone, rather than of fact. He may simply not have wanted a heirarchical military looming too obtrusively in his 23rd-century utopia.)
This is a very roundabout way of introducing Karen Traviss' new book, Order 66. It's the fourth part of her "Republic Commando" series, which covers the events of the Prequel Series from the point of view of common soldiers.
(Well, kind of common. Common relative to the Jedi and the Sith, anyway.)
A large dose of the fun of the books comes from that difference in perspective. Here's Obi-Wan Kenobi, as seen in the Revenge of the Sith novelization:
He is respected throughout the Jedi Order for his insight as well as his warrior skill. He has become the hero of the next generation of Padawans; he is the Jedi their Masters hold up as a model. He is the being that the Council assigns to their most important missions. He is modest, centered, and always kind.
He is the ultimate Jedi.
And here he is, from the perspective of Order 66's lower ranks:
"Cody might think that the sun shines out of his ear, General, but I think he's a glory-seeker who wastes too many men."
... Which is, to belabor the connection I started this post with, how I imagine a lot of lower-level Enterprise crewmen see Captain Kirk.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Mobile, Alabama
That's where we are, the ship having pulled into this fine southern town to enjoy the Bayfest concert.
(Personally, I'm not that much of a concert-goer, so I'm enjoying the town itself. There's a marvelous two-story used bookstore, and several southern-style restaurants. Ah, the fried chicken!)
(Personally, I'm not that much of a concert-goer, so I'm enjoying the town itself. There's a marvelous two-story used bookstore, and several southern-style restaurants. Ah, the fried chicken!)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Twelve Tribes?
Some analogies sound really interesting, but work out to be more trouble than they're worth. For example:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/236/story_23639_1.html
Beliefnet had the interesting notion that America's political-religious groupings could be divided into twelve coherent groups, like the twelve tribes of ancient Israel. I think that's the rationale, anyway: it's not like they try a direct one-to-one analogy (The Christian Right is the Tribe of Judah, or some such.)
Unfortunately, the only thing that the process really illustrated is that twelve is not a good number to divide America's religious groups into. It turns out seeming arbitrary. Some of the divisions seem forced- what exactly is the difference between the Christian Right and the Heartland Culture Warriors? I'm presumably one or the other, but I can't tell which, and that's a bad sign for a tribe.
Likewise, the smaller groups seem to be arbitrary in their own way. Is "Muslims and Other Faiths" really a coherent group that will have things in common? Are Latinos a religious group in-and-of themselves, distinct from Catholics?
Some ideas just don't work out well. This sounded promising at first, but I'm afraid it works poorly as a political analysis.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/236/story_23639_1.html
Beliefnet had the interesting notion that America's political-religious groupings could be divided into twelve coherent groups, like the twelve tribes of ancient Israel. I think that's the rationale, anyway: it's not like they try a direct one-to-one analogy (The Christian Right is the Tribe of Judah, or some such.)
Unfortunately, the only thing that the process really illustrated is that twelve is not a good number to divide America's religious groups into. It turns out seeming arbitrary. Some of the divisions seem forced- what exactly is the difference between the Christian Right and the Heartland Culture Warriors? I'm presumably one or the other, but I can't tell which, and that's a bad sign for a tribe.
Likewise, the smaller groups seem to be arbitrary in their own way. Is "Muslims and Other Faiths" really a coherent group that will have things in common? Are Latinos a religious group in-and-of themselves, distinct from Catholics?
Some ideas just don't work out well. This sounded promising at first, but I'm afraid it works poorly as a political analysis.
WorldMapper
worldmapper.org is a site devoted to demographic maps. That is, instead of maps based on physical geography, they base the size of various nations on a give factor- population, income, religion, or what have you.
The religion maps are particularly interesting. Here's the world map oriented by Christian population:
http://www.worldmapper.org/display_religion.php?selected=554
... which is almost normal-looking.
The map oriented by Islam:
http://www.worldmapper.org/display_religion.php?selected=564
...in which North and South America shrink virtually out of existence, and Africa balloons to enormous size.
Oriented by atheism:
http://www.worldmapper.org/display_religion.php?selected=582
... Which is basically Planet China.
There's a lot more stuff there, all of it interesting.
The religion maps are particularly interesting. Here's the world map oriented by Christian population:
http://www.worldmapper.org/display_religion.php?selected=554
... which is almost normal-looking.
The map oriented by Islam:
http://www.worldmapper.org/display_religion.php?selected=564
...in which North and South America shrink virtually out of existence, and Africa balloons to enormous size.
Oriented by atheism:
http://www.worldmapper.org/display_religion.php?selected=582
... Which is basically Planet China.
There's a lot more stuff there, all of it interesting.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Personalities and Places
Researchers have surveyed the US and discovered something really interesting: there are statistically-meaningful differences in the personality types of different regions.
There are several map-charts; it's interesting to look up your state and see how close (or far) you are from your state average. North Carolina is conscientious, friendly, and not very neurotic! Virginia, on the other hand... isn't.
There are several map-charts; it's interesting to look up your state and see how close (or far) you are from your state average. North Carolina is conscientious, friendly, and not very neurotic! Virginia, on the other hand... isn't.
Dr. Horrible
The trouble with deployments is that you spend six months or so out of touch; and then you spend the next year or so playing catch-up, finding all kinds of little things that everyone else saw ages ago.
On the other hand, getting to see cool stuff isn't bad, exactly. And better late than never!
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a Joss Whedon webmovie- a short supervillain musical. It came out last July, and by every account I've read it was a huge hit.
I can see why. Aside from Whedon's name-recognition (which is undoubtedly a part of it) the play is funny and character-driven (as much as supervillain musicals can be, anyway.)
On the other hand, getting to see cool stuff isn't bad, exactly. And better late than never!
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a Joss Whedon webmovie- a short supervillain musical. It came out last July, and by every account I've read it was a huge hit.
I can see why. Aside from Whedon's name-recognition (which is undoubtedly a part of it) the play is funny and character-driven (as much as supervillain musicals can be, anyway.)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Darwinia?
Robert Charles Wilson's Darwinia: A Novel of a Very Different Twentieth Century is just that. The premise is that in 1912, the continent of Europe is replaced by an unearthly wilderness. The geography is the same, but it's been supplanted by a completely new ecosystem. All of Europe's humans and human artifacts have disappeared, and turn-of-the-century America is left to deal with the mystery.
Wilson is good at building up the bizarre situation, and showing how people try to cope with and rationalize something that they will never be able to explain. With that in mind, I would almost rather than Wilson not have explained it; the phenomenon works better as a pure mystery than as the convoluted futuristic plot that develops.
"Darwinia" is a name given the continent as a joke, which somehow sticks in spite of the American embrace of fundamentalism. (I suspect that Wilson just liked the name too much to give it up.)
Character development is decent; the plot starts off with a bracing amount of weirdness, and if it doesn't sustain that, it's nonetheless very readable throughout.
Wilson is good at building up the bizarre situation, and showing how people try to cope with and rationalize something that they will never be able to explain. With that in mind, I would almost rather than Wilson not have explained it; the phenomenon works better as a pure mystery than as the convoluted futuristic plot that develops.
"Darwinia" is a name given the continent as a joke, which somehow sticks in spite of the American embrace of fundamentalism. (I suspect that Wilson just liked the name too much to give it up.)
Character development is decent; the plot starts off with a bracing amount of weirdness, and if it doesn't sustain that, it's nonetheless very readable throughout.
Shameless Self-Promotion!
What's my blog's educational reading level? Why, I'm glad you asked!
(Yes, I do feel more intelligent now.)
(Yes, I do feel more intelligent now.)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Steampunk
A clever article here about steampunk, and the reasons it appeals to people. Lots of good quotes; this was probably my favorite:
A lot of kids in today’s steampunk music & style scene used to identify with the goth aesthetic — and are pleasantly surprised to discover that normal adults seem intrigued by this new thing rather than alarmed. Well, yeah. People think of goths as weirdoes who take vampires too seriously, and therefore they can’t help being worried on some level that a crazy goth might, you know, want to make them bleed. Whereas steampunks are — what? Weirdoes who take pocket-watches too seriously? What are they gonna do, vehemently tell you what time it is?
Sigh. That makes me all nostalgiac for playing a mad scientist.
A lot of kids in today’s steampunk music & style scene used to identify with the goth aesthetic — and are pleasantly surprised to discover that normal adults seem intrigued by this new thing rather than alarmed. Well, yeah. People think of goths as weirdoes who take vampires too seriously, and therefore they can’t help being worried on some level that a crazy goth might, you know, want to make them bleed. Whereas steampunks are — what? Weirdoes who take pocket-watches too seriously? What are they gonna do, vehemently tell you what time it is?
Sigh. That makes me all nostalgiac for playing a mad scientist.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Politics and Moral Reasoning
This is interesting.
It's a series of polls/studies that you can take to evaluate your own moral decision-making process. Not the moral choices themselves, that is, so much as the grounds by which we make choices.
The first one, the "Moral Foundations Questionnaire," divides moral reasoning into five categories: Harm, Fairness, Loyalty, Authority, and Purity. It ranks your interest in each of these categories, and then generates a chart comparing it with the averages for liberals and conservatives.
I find this kind of thing compelling, because so many political conversations seem to involve people talking past each other. They're not connecting in some way; and I think a lot of our mutual frustration comes from that.
(Well, aside from the frustration that comes from not getting everything we want, of course. Which is also a big part of politics.)
Anyway. The differences are really striking. My entries are in green, conservatives' are in red, and liberals are blue. (Tsk, that's unreadable! Click on it to get a more legible chart.)
It's a series of polls/studies that you can take to evaluate your own moral decision-making process. Not the moral choices themselves, that is, so much as the grounds by which we make choices.
The first one, the "Moral Foundations Questionnaire," divides moral reasoning into five categories: Harm, Fairness, Loyalty, Authority, and Purity. It ranks your interest in each of these categories, and then generates a chart comparing it with the averages for liberals and conservatives.
I find this kind of thing compelling, because so many political conversations seem to involve people talking past each other. They're not connecting in some way; and I think a lot of our mutual frustration comes from that.
(Well, aside from the frustration that comes from not getting everything we want, of course. Which is also a big part of politics.)
Anyway. The differences are really striking. My entries are in green, conservatives' are in red, and liberals are blue. (Tsk, that's unreadable! Click on it to get a more legible chart.)
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
What, No Laser Eye Powers?
Update on Real Life #1: I've just had Lasik surgery done to my left eye. I was hoping that a malfunction in the equipment might leave me with special visual superpowers, but no such luck. Tsk!
I've been nearsighted, particularly in my left eye, since my early teenage years. I never had the money to deal with it until now; to be fair, it wasn't that big a problem. I wasn't blind without my glasses, and I'd much rather be nearsighted than farsighted: needing glasses to read would be a pain.
(Unfortunately, reading glasses are probably in my future. One reason that the doctor didn't want to Lasik my right eye is that almost everyone becomes farsighted in their 40s, and my nearsightedness would defer that for a few years. Which is kind of cool, when you think about it.)
The surgery was uncomfortable, in the sense that you had to stay perfectly still and unblinking; but it was totally painless, for which I am grateful. Now I just have to keep up with the eyedrops, and get used to the fact that I'm not wearing glasses anymore.
(More of an adjustment than I expected- I feel like my face is naked.)
I've been nearsighted, particularly in my left eye, since my early teenage years. I never had the money to deal with it until now; to be fair, it wasn't that big a problem. I wasn't blind without my glasses, and I'd much rather be nearsighted than farsighted: needing glasses to read would be a pain.
(Unfortunately, reading glasses are probably in my future. One reason that the doctor didn't want to Lasik my right eye is that almost everyone becomes farsighted in their 40s, and my nearsightedness would defer that for a few years. Which is kind of cool, when you think about it.)
The surgery was uncomfortable, in the sense that you had to stay perfectly still and unblinking; but it was totally painless, for which I am grateful. Now I just have to keep up with the eyedrops, and get used to the fact that I'm not wearing glasses anymore.
(More of an adjustment than I expected- I feel like my face is naked.)
Well, It's Been A While...
My whole "Post By Email During Deployment" scheme didn't quite work out as planned. It turns out that blogging by email is oddly disspiriting; it's just like sending out emails to someone who never replies.
(Not that I get a lot of replies, granted; but I can see the output, and that's very helpful. On board the ship, it just felt like throwing emails into the void.)
So I'm back. And now, hopefully, I'll have things to say!
(Not that I get a lot of replies, granted; but I can see the output, and that's very helpful. On board the ship, it just felt like throwing emails into the void.)
So I'm back. And now, hopefully, I'll have things to say!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Code of the Speechmaker
James P. Hogan's Code of the Lifemaker starts off very nicely. An ancient alien survey ship, designed to set up automated factories on uninhabited planets, ends up damaged on the moon Titan. There, the imperfect automatons undergo their own kind of evolutionary process, ending up with something very like organic life.
(This prologue is the best part of the novel, and it's excerpted here.)
The rest of the novel deals with a human expedition to Titan, which over the ages since the prologue has evolved its own machine ecosystems and even sentient machine life. The robots are at a roughly medieval/Renaessance level of development, and the humans take great advantage of this as they prepare to make Titan into an economic colony.
The writing is solid. The characters, with one exception, are shallow but tolerable. Hogan works hard to make his bizarre mechanical-organic world plausible, and it kind of works.
There are two problems. The first is that Hogan puts speeches into various characters' mouths- mostly, in this novel, about the advantages of the scientific method. This gets old quickly.
The second problem is something I've noted about Heinlein: the assumption that politics is chess writ large, a completely rational and controllable game that smart people can arrange to their liking. This is implausible enough with humans, especially with religion added in; with an unknown alien race, the idea breaks down completely.
I suppose I was expecting a very different ending to the humans' various machinations and deceptions. But on Titan, you really can fool all the people all the time.
(This prologue is the best part of the novel, and it's excerpted here.)
The rest of the novel deals with a human expedition to Titan, which over the ages since the prologue has evolved its own machine ecosystems and even sentient machine life. The robots are at a roughly medieval/Renaessance level of development, and the humans take great advantage of this as they prepare to make Titan into an economic colony.
The writing is solid. The characters, with one exception, are shallow but tolerable. Hogan works hard to make his bizarre mechanical-organic world plausible, and it kind of works.
There are two problems. The first is that Hogan puts speeches into various characters' mouths- mostly, in this novel, about the advantages of the scientific method. This gets old quickly.
The second problem is something I've noted about Heinlein: the assumption that politics is chess writ large, a completely rational and controllable game that smart people can arrange to their liking. This is implausible enough with humans, especially with religion added in; with an unknown alien race, the idea breaks down completely.
I suppose I was expecting a very different ending to the humans' various machinations and deceptions. But on Titan, you really can fool all the people all the time.
38 And Counting...
It's my birthday today!
37 was a good year; 38 is beginning to feel the chill shadow of looming 40. But there's two long years to get ready for that.
It's been a good day. I just wish there was cake to be had!
37 was a good year; 38 is beginning to feel the chill shadow of looming 40. But there's two long years to get ready for that.
It's been a good day. I just wish there was cake to be had!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Happy Easter!
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
-1 Corinthians 15:50-56
I hope you all have a very happy Easter.
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
-1 Corinthians 15:50-56
I hope you all have a very happy Easter.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Returning to Land
We have come to port in the fine city of Limassol! As Wikipedia says, it is the second-largest city on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
I would like to say more, but I haven't actually seen it yet, as today is my duty day. Tomorrow will be interesting, however.
I would like to say more, but I haven't actually seen it yet, as today is my duty day. Tomorrow will be interesting, however.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The World Without Us
Alan Weisman's The World Without Us is a thought experiment in which humanity suddenly disappears- from the Rapture, or space aliens who kidnap us, or whatever. The point is that humanity is gone. How long do traces of human civilization last, without anyone to maintain them?
Some things vanish very quickly: most modern architecture is not designed to last for centuries even with human maintenance. Bridges will fall, subway tunnels will fill with water, sidewalks and streets will be broken by weeds, shrubs, and eventually by trees.
Some time ago I posted an article about the recovery of wildlife in the abandoned areas around Chernobyl. Weisman studies the area in detail, since it's a sort of test case for his whole experiment. Wildlife, including large animals, may recover much faster than anyone would expect.
Human-related animals will have a harder time. Cats will do very well; dogs less so. Cockroaches, contrary to what I've always heard about nuclear war, will not do well without humans; they're tropical insects and need constant heat to survive.
The longest-lasting deliberate artifact of humanity may well be Mount Rushmore. The longest-lasting unintentional artifacts will be nuclear wastes, sand-sized particles of plastic, and tires- which, vulcanized into a single superlong molecule, will prove a daunting challenge to any ecological process that tries to break them down.
Some things vanish very quickly: most modern architecture is not designed to last for centuries even with human maintenance. Bridges will fall, subway tunnels will fill with water, sidewalks and streets will be broken by weeds, shrubs, and eventually by trees.
Some time ago I posted an article about the recovery of wildlife in the abandoned areas around Chernobyl. Weisman studies the area in detail, since it's a sort of test case for his whole experiment. Wildlife, including large animals, may recover much faster than anyone would expect.
Human-related animals will have a harder time. Cats will do very well; dogs less so. Cockroaches, contrary to what I've always heard about nuclear war, will not do well without humans; they're tropical insects and need constant heat to survive.
The longest-lasting deliberate artifact of humanity may well be Mount Rushmore. The longest-lasting unintentional artifacts will be nuclear wastes, sand-sized particles of plastic, and tires- which, vulcanized into a single superlong molecule, will prove a daunting challenge to any ecological process that tries to break them down.
Chesterton on Loyalty
From his greatest work, Orthodoxy:
... a man criticises this world as if he were house-hunting, as if he were being shown over a new suite of apartments. If a man came to this world from some other world in full possession of his powers he might discuss whether the advantage of midsummer woods made up for the disadvantage of mad dogs, just as a man looking for lodgings might balance the presence of a telephone against the absence of a sea view. But no man is in that position. A man belongs to this world before he begins to ask if it is nice to belong to it. He has fought for the flag, and often won heroic victories for the flag long before he has ever enlisted. To put shortly what seems the essential matter, he has a loyalty long before he has any admiration.
One of the many appeals of Chesterton is that he makes cheerful, reasonable arguments for things that I never hear anywhere else. When was the last time someone made a justification for blind, uncritical loyalty?
Of course, the loyalty in question is a very primal thing, which seems to be Chesterton's point. We cannot critically evaluate primal questions like "Is life good?" We can only decide.
Shortly later, he discusses the notorious slum of Pimlico:
Let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing -- say Pimlico. If we think what is really best for Pimlico we shall find the thread of thought leads to the throne or the mystic and the arbitrary. It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico: in that case he will merely cut his throat or move to Chelsea. Nor, certainly, is it enough for a man to approve of Pimlico: for then it will remain Pimlico, which would be awful. The only way out of it seems to be for somebody to love Pimlico: to love it with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason. If there arose a man who loved Pimlico, then Pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles; Pimlico would attire herself as a woman does when she is loved. For decoration is not given to hide horrible things: but to decorate things already adorable. A mother does not give her child a blue bow because he is so ugly without it. A lover does not give a girl a necklace to hide her neck. If men loved Pimlico as mothers love children, arbitrarily, because it is theirs, Pimlico in a year or two might be fairer than Florence.
Some readers will say that this is a mere fantasy. I answer that this is the actual history of mankind. This, as a fact, is how cities did grow great. Go back to the darkest roots of civilization and you will find them knotted round some sacred stone or encircling some sacred well. People first paid honour to a spot and afterwards gained glory for it. Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.
... a man criticises this world as if he were house-hunting, as if he were being shown over a new suite of apartments. If a man came to this world from some other world in full possession of his powers he might discuss whether the advantage of midsummer woods made up for the disadvantage of mad dogs, just as a man looking for lodgings might balance the presence of a telephone against the absence of a sea view. But no man is in that position. A man belongs to this world before he begins to ask if it is nice to belong to it. He has fought for the flag, and often won heroic victories for the flag long before he has ever enlisted. To put shortly what seems the essential matter, he has a loyalty long before he has any admiration.
One of the many appeals of Chesterton is that he makes cheerful, reasonable arguments for things that I never hear anywhere else. When was the last time someone made a justification for blind, uncritical loyalty?
Of course, the loyalty in question is a very primal thing, which seems to be Chesterton's point. We cannot critically evaluate primal questions like "Is life good?" We can only decide.
Shortly later, he discusses the notorious slum of Pimlico:
Let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing -- say Pimlico. If we think what is really best for Pimlico we shall find the thread of thought leads to the throne or the mystic and the arbitrary. It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico: in that case he will merely cut his throat or move to Chelsea. Nor, certainly, is it enough for a man to approve of Pimlico: for then it will remain Pimlico, which would be awful. The only way out of it seems to be for somebody to love Pimlico: to love it with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason. If there arose a man who loved Pimlico, then Pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles; Pimlico would attire herself as a woman does when she is loved. For decoration is not given to hide horrible things: but to decorate things already adorable. A mother does not give her child a blue bow because he is so ugly without it. A lover does not give a girl a necklace to hide her neck. If men loved Pimlico as mothers love children, arbitrarily, because it is theirs, Pimlico in a year or two might be fairer than Florence.
Some readers will say that this is a mere fantasy. I answer that this is the actual history of mankind. This, as a fact, is how cities did grow great. Go back to the darkest roots of civilization and you will find them knotted round some sacred stone or encircling some sacred well. People first paid honour to a spot and afterwards gained glory for it. Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Helliconia Winter
Brrr!
This one was seasonally appropriate; I mostly read it while curled up in my blankets at home, wishing that it were summer already. But circumstances interrupted, and I wasn't able to finish it until recently, out here.
Brian Aldiss' Helliconia is a planet whose seasons last for several centuries. In that sense, it's conceptually similar to George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. But the resemblance pretty much ends there: in Martin's series, the extended seasons are a background detail which may or may not ever come up again; in Helliconia Winter, the change of seasons is the whole thrust of the plot.
The tone is dry and somewhat anthropological; there are several interesting characters, but the real appeal of the novel is seeing how society adapts to a seasonal change that they don't even have the records to remember; and then noting the hints that all of these changes are part of an ecological balancing act. Helliconia's humans seem to be "wired into" their planet's ecology in a much more direct way than Earth humans.
There are apparently two more novels: as you might expect, they're named "Helliconia Spring" and "Helliconia Winter." When I get home, I'll probably have to look them up.
This one was seasonally appropriate; I mostly read it while curled up in my blankets at home, wishing that it were summer already. But circumstances interrupted, and I wasn't able to finish it until recently, out here.
Brian Aldiss' Helliconia is a planet whose seasons last for several centuries. In that sense, it's conceptually similar to George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. But the resemblance pretty much ends there: in Martin's series, the extended seasons are a background detail which may or may not ever come up again; in Helliconia Winter, the change of seasons is the whole thrust of the plot.
The tone is dry and somewhat anthropological; there are several interesting characters, but the real appeal of the novel is seeing how society adapts to a seasonal change that they don't even have the records to remember; and then noting the hints that all of these changes are part of an ecological balancing act. Helliconia's humans seem to be "wired into" their planet's ecology in a much more direct way than Earth humans.
There are apparently two more novels: as you might expect, they're named "Helliconia Spring" and "Helliconia Winter." When I get home, I'll probably have to look them up.
Zorachus
I haven't only fallen behind on my blogging, I've gotten behind on my reading as well. Grrr.
Zorachus is a dark fantasy novel by Mark E. Rogers. The protagonist is a saintly young wizard who is thrust into a position of power and wealth in a very dark and corrupt city. What does he do with it? Can he do anything good with it?
There's lots of interesting philosophical discussion, and much of the novel seems to be set up something like a thought experiment. Khymir, the evil city, isn't just corrupt; it was actually founded and maintained by a demon as a proof that life is evil.
Zorachus is an immensely powerful wizard, and his position gives him enough wealth and social status to do almost anything. So his options, against this dark background, are wide-open: he can pursue almost any plan for reform that comes to his mind.
But how do you make people better, when they not only don't want to be moral: they think that "moral" is a strange kind of mental illness that afflicts people who don't live in Khymir?
Zorachus is a dark fantasy novel by Mark E. Rogers. The protagonist is a saintly young wizard who is thrust into a position of power and wealth in a very dark and corrupt city. What does he do with it? Can he do anything good with it?
There's lots of interesting philosophical discussion, and much of the novel seems to be set up something like a thought experiment. Khymir, the evil city, isn't just corrupt; it was actually founded and maintained by a demon as a proof that life is evil.
Zorachus is an immensely powerful wizard, and his position gives him enough wealth and social status to do almost anything. So his options, against this dark background, are wide-open: he can pursue almost any plan for reform that comes to his mind.
But how do you make people better, when they not only don't want to be moral: they think that "moral" is a strange kind of mental illness that afflicts people who don't live in Khymir?
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Another Plan Foiled!
It seemed perfectly reasonable at the time: since internet access was unreliable at sea, I’d just post via email.
Well.
As it turns out, we haven’t had email lately, either. But such is life. We have it now (obviously) and I’ll try to make up for lost time.
What to say? We’re at sea; therefore we’re not <i>at</i> anyplace in particular, at least subjectively speaking. The landscape is simply the endless sea in all directions; which is compelling or exasperating, depending on your mood.
(We went up on the mast to do some maintenance a while ago; and it’s odd how the difference in perspective changed nothing. From ground level, the sea goes on forever; and when you’re high, high, high off the ground, it still goes on forever. In one of Baxter’s novels, he talks about perspectives that are larger than our eyes are designed to deal with; and I think that this is one of them. Probably that’s why it inspires our imaginations.)
Cosmic intimations of the sea aside, most of the interesting (human, trivial) stuff happens on the ship itself.
Because we’re at sea, they allow <i>no-shave chits</i>. For a few dollars, you can stop shaving for weeks at a time. This is much more convenient than you might think; effectively, it’s the chance to sleep a few extra minutes every morning, and if you’re not a morning person that’s worth a lot.
Convenience aside, my beard comes in thick; and this year, it’s coming in with a fair amount of gray in it. Tsk! When did that happen?
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Blogging By Email
I'm going out to sea shortly. And internet connections will be a little iffy at times. So it's a good time to experiment with the post-by-email option that blogger gives us.
Let's see if it works!
Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! Learn more.
Edit: Argh! There's a commercial attached!
Oh, well. It's still going to be really useful.
Let's see if it works!
Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! Learn more.
Edit: Argh! There's a commercial attached!
Oh, well. It's still going to be really useful.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Rodentosaurus Rex
From The BBC:
Gigantic fossil rodent discovered
The fossilised skull of the largest rodent ever recorded has been described by scientists for the first time.
The remains of the one-tonne beast, found in Uruguay, indicate that it would have been as big as a bull.
It is thought that the three-metre-long herbivore would have roamed estuaries and forests 2-4 million years ago.
The mammal, which is more than 15 times heavier than the largest living rodent, is described in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The authors say the animal would have lived alongside carnivorous "terror birds" and sabre-toothed cats.
"If you are a rodent you cannot run so well so you would have had to fight with these predators," said Dr Rudemar Ernesto Blanco of the Institute of Physics in Montevideo, Uruguay, one of the authors of the paper.
"It might have reached this size to protect itself."
Fighting giants
The half-metre-long fossil skull was discovered by an amateur palaeontologist in a boulder on the Rio de La Plata coast in the south of the country.
The remains had lain in the Museum of Natural History in Montevideo for three years before being studied and identified as a new species, Josephoartigasia monesi.
It was recognised as a new creature by examining and comparing its teeth with other known species of Josephoartigasia.
"Its incisors are extraordinarily large - much larger than any other rodent," said Dr Blanco.
The researchers have speculated that the creature may have used the teeth to cut wood in a similar way to a modern day beaver.
"The other possibility is that they used them for fighting."
The team spent nearly one year estimating the body mass by comparing the skull with other living South American rodents.
Most weigh less than 1kg. However, there are exceptions such as the 60kg capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), and the closest living relative of the newly discovered creature: the pakarana (Dinomys branickii).
The comparisons allowed them to estimate the creature's weight at nearly one tonne (1,000kg) and predict its length.
"We think it was around three metres from the tip of the nose to the tail," said Dr Blanco.
The creature's tail would have been little more than a stump, according to the team.
Island paradise
The skull is not the first oversized creature to be discovered in South America.
Other finds have included car-sized armadillos, giant ground sloths and hook-beaked terror birds.
The previously largest-known rodent was Phoberomys pattersoni, a 700kg creature nicknamed "guinea-zilla" and discovered in Venezuela.
South America is well studied by biologists because its plants and animals developed in isolation to the rest of the world's flora and fauna.
Until the emergence of the isthmus of Panama, connecting it to Central and North America about three million years ago, the landmass had been cut off for tens of millions of years.
"It is highly probable that we can find more material of this fossil and other related species," said Dr Blanco.
---------------------------------------------
Giant rats!
Car-sized armadillos!
Terror birds!
How cool is that? Now all we need is King Kong.
Gigantic fossil rodent discovered
The fossilised skull of the largest rodent ever recorded has been described by scientists for the first time.
The remains of the one-tonne beast, found in Uruguay, indicate that it would have been as big as a bull.
It is thought that the three-metre-long herbivore would have roamed estuaries and forests 2-4 million years ago.
The mammal, which is more than 15 times heavier than the largest living rodent, is described in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The authors say the animal would have lived alongside carnivorous "terror birds" and sabre-toothed cats.
"If you are a rodent you cannot run so well so you would have had to fight with these predators," said Dr Rudemar Ernesto Blanco of the Institute of Physics in Montevideo, Uruguay, one of the authors of the paper.
"It might have reached this size to protect itself."
Fighting giants
The half-metre-long fossil skull was discovered by an amateur palaeontologist in a boulder on the Rio de La Plata coast in the south of the country.
The remains had lain in the Museum of Natural History in Montevideo for three years before being studied and identified as a new species, Josephoartigasia monesi.
It was recognised as a new creature by examining and comparing its teeth with other known species of Josephoartigasia.
"Its incisors are extraordinarily large - much larger than any other rodent," said Dr Blanco.
The researchers have speculated that the creature may have used the teeth to cut wood in a similar way to a modern day beaver.
"The other possibility is that they used them for fighting."
The team spent nearly one year estimating the body mass by comparing the skull with other living South American rodents.
Most weigh less than 1kg. However, there are exceptions such as the 60kg capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), and the closest living relative of the newly discovered creature: the pakarana (Dinomys branickii).
The comparisons allowed them to estimate the creature's weight at nearly one tonne (1,000kg) and predict its length.
"We think it was around three metres from the tip of the nose to the tail," said Dr Blanco.
The creature's tail would have been little more than a stump, according to the team.
Island paradise
The skull is not the first oversized creature to be discovered in South America.
Other finds have included car-sized armadillos, giant ground sloths and hook-beaked terror birds.
The previously largest-known rodent was Phoberomys pattersoni, a 700kg creature nicknamed "guinea-zilla" and discovered in Venezuela.
South America is well studied by biologists because its plants and animals developed in isolation to the rest of the world's flora and fauna.
Until the emergence of the isthmus of Panama, connecting it to Central and North America about three million years ago, the landmass had been cut off for tens of millions of years.
"It is highly probable that we can find more material of this fossil and other related species," said Dr Blanco.
---------------------------------------------
Giant rats!
Car-sized armadillos!
Terror birds!
How cool is that? Now all we need is King Kong.
Swim Call!
We had a swim call today.
Basically, that means that people can jump off the side of the ship and cavort around in the ocean for an hour. In the many years I've been on this ship, it's the first time.
You'd think that would be fairly common; but there are a dozen issues, from scheduling to water temperature to dangerous sealife, that can cancel it. So we're enjoying the rare opportunity.
We're also grilling lunch on the flight deck, and dueling with pummel sticks. (Pictures may be added when I get back to shore; there are security issues that prevent me from uploading them from here.)
It's a good day!
Basically, that means that people can jump off the side of the ship and cavort around in the ocean for an hour. In the many years I've been on this ship, it's the first time.
You'd think that would be fairly common; but there are a dozen issues, from scheduling to water temperature to dangerous sealife, that can cancel it. So we're enjoying the rare opportunity.
We're also grilling lunch on the flight deck, and dueling with pummel sticks. (Pictures may be added when I get back to shore; there are security issues that prevent me from uploading them from here.)
It's a good day!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The Ones Who Walk Away...
Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is another one of those stories that are science fiction only in the loosest sense of the word. If I had to place it, I’d probably call it religious fiction (though that isn’t exactly right, either, since there is no explicit reference to God or any organized religious doctrine.)
A fable, maybe? Or a thought experiment? Or just call it fantasy and be done with it.
At any rate, it’s very well-done; you feel the pull of those who walk away, while the analogy to life-as-we-live-it is close enough that it’s hard to be comfortable with that decision. Could we have a society in which there are no victims, at all, in any sense? If not, can-or-should we just walk out?
You can’t make Omelas without breaking a few eggs, after all.
------------------------
Postscript: Wikipedia helpfully clarifies some things. The full title, not included in this anthology, was "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (Variations on a Theme by William James)."
James' theme was as follows:
Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which Messrs. Fourier's and Bellamy's and Morris's utopias should all be outdone, and millions kept permanently happy on the one simple condition that a certain lost soul on the far-off edge of things should lead a life of lonely torture, what except a specifical and independent sort of emotion can it be which would make us immediately feel, even though an impulse arose within us to clutch at the happiness so offered, how hideous a thing would be its enjoyment when deliberately accepted as the fruit of such a bargain?
With all respect to William James: Le Guin's story tells it a lot better. But it does come to the same point.
A fable, maybe? Or a thought experiment? Or just call it fantasy and be done with it.
At any rate, it’s very well-done; you feel the pull of those who walk away, while the analogy to life-as-we-live-it is close enough that it’s hard to be comfortable with that decision. Could we have a society in which there are no victims, at all, in any sense? If not, can-or-should we just walk out?
You can’t make Omelas without breaking a few eggs, after all.
------------------------
Postscript: Wikipedia helpfully clarifies some things. The full title, not included in this anthology, was "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (Variations on a Theme by William James)."
James' theme was as follows:
Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which Messrs. Fourier's and Bellamy's and Morris's utopias should all be outdone, and millions kept permanently happy on the one simple condition that a certain lost soul on the far-off edge of things should lead a life of lonely torture, what except a specifical and independent sort of emotion can it be which would make us immediately feel, even though an impulse arose within us to clutch at the happiness so offered, how hideous a thing would be its enjoyment when deliberately accepted as the fruit of such a bargain?
With all respect to William James: Le Guin's story tells it a lot better. But it does come to the same point.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Canadian Comet of DOOM!
From NewScientistSpace:
Did a comet wipe out prehistoric Americans?
The Clovis people of North America, flourishing some 13,000 years ago, had a mastery of stone weaponry that stood them in good stead against the constant threat of large carnivores, such as American lions and giant short-faced bears. It's unlikely, however, that they thought death would come from the sky.
According to results presented by a team of 25 researchers this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Acapulco, Mexico, that's where the Clovis people's doom came from. Citing several lines of evidence, the team suggests that a wayward comet hurtled into Earth's atmosphere around 12,900 years ago, fractured into pieces and exploded in giant fireballs. Debris seems to have settled as far afield as Europe.
Jim Kennett, an oceanographer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and one of the team's three principal investigators, claims immense wildfires scorched North America in the aftermath, killing large populations of mammals and bringing an abrupt end to the Clovis culture. "The entire continent was on fire," he says...
If the team's impact theory holds up under scrutiny it could help explain three mysterious events that coincided around 12,900 years ago.
Cold spell
At this key time, the climate changed abruptly in the northern hemisphere, suddenly cooling in a period known as the Younger Dryas. In addition, the distinctive Clovis culture seems to have vanished in North America, while at least 35 genera of the continent's mammals went extinct – including mammoths, mastodons, camels, ground sloths and horses.
For years, many researchers have chalked up the onset of the Younger Dryas to a major change in North America's plumbing. Near the end of the last ice age, meltwater from the continent's principal ice sheet flooded into proglacial lakes in the centre of North America, and from there drained southward into the Mississippi river.
But by 12,900 years ago, the ice had retreated sufficiently from the northern Atlantic coast to let meltwater rush suddenly eastward. As an estimated 9500 cubic kilometres of fresh water poured into the Atlantic, it switched off the ocean's salinity-driven "conveyor belt" current, shutting down the Gulf Stream that carries heat from the tropics to eastern North America. It was this that triggered the Younger Dryas cooling, say many palaeoclimate experts.
However, some of the comet proponents now propose a different trigger for the cold spell. The massive airbursts over Canada could have destabilised the continental ice sheet, opening new drainage channels to the east. Additionally, dust and debris from the explosions may have darkened the ice, absorbing solar heat and accelerating melting. "What we suggest is that the meltwater outflow from the proglacial lakes and from the temporarily melting ice sheet was the result of extraterrestrial impact," says Kennett.
The comet-strike also offers a third and radical hypothesis for the massive extinction of mammals, which for years palaeontologists have blamed on the sudden Younger Dryas freeze, combined with the hunting prowess of newly arrived Clovis bands. In the 12,900-year-old carbon-rich layer at Murray Springs, Arizona, and in sediment cores taken from the Carolina Bays (see "Marks of a comet?", below), chemist Wendy Wolbach of DePaul University in Chicago has detected significant quantities of soot – a product of the intense heat of wildfires.
Raging wildfires
Moreover, geologist Luanne Becker at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has detected a chemical signature of wildfire – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – in samples taken from three of the team's study sites. Kennett and other team members say this suggests the cometary explosions ignited wildfires that swept across much of southern North America, wiping out large populations of animals. "I don't want to sound catastrophic here," he says, "but this is wild stuff. There is significant evidence of massive biomass burning."
If they are right, the cataclysm could also have devastated bands of Clovis hunters. Archaeologist Al Goodyear of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, reported at the Acapulco meeting that there is indirect evidence of a human disaster in what is now the south-eastern US. Chert points fashioned in the distinctive Clovis style disappear, and a new type of tool appears in the archaeological record: redstone points, judged on stylistic grounds to date from 12,750 years ago. Numbers of Clovis points outnumber redstones by 4 to 1. "If the number of points are diagnostic of the number of people there, which is a pretty reasonable assumption," notes West, "there was at least a 70 per cent decline" in the human population in the region.
Nonetheless, many researchers are likely to greet such apocalyptic scenarios with deep scepticism. Palaeontologist Paul Koch of the University of California, Santa Cruz, says he is intrigued by the new evidence of an impact, but he is far from persuaded by some of the team's sweeping claims. "I'm not convinced yet there were [widespread] wildfires," says Koch. "But if an impact just triggered the Younger Dryas, that in itself is a pretty big issue."
That's kind of staggering. Seventy percent of the people! To say nothing of the ecological devastation.
Who knows what North America might have grown into, if this disaster hadn't struck?
Did a comet wipe out prehistoric Americans?
The Clovis people of North America, flourishing some 13,000 years ago, had a mastery of stone weaponry that stood them in good stead against the constant threat of large carnivores, such as American lions and giant short-faced bears. It's unlikely, however, that they thought death would come from the sky.
According to results presented by a team of 25 researchers this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Acapulco, Mexico, that's where the Clovis people's doom came from. Citing several lines of evidence, the team suggests that a wayward comet hurtled into Earth's atmosphere around 12,900 years ago, fractured into pieces and exploded in giant fireballs. Debris seems to have settled as far afield as Europe.
Jim Kennett, an oceanographer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and one of the team's three principal investigators, claims immense wildfires scorched North America in the aftermath, killing large populations of mammals and bringing an abrupt end to the Clovis culture. "The entire continent was on fire," he says...
If the team's impact theory holds up under scrutiny it could help explain three mysterious events that coincided around 12,900 years ago.
Cold spell
At this key time, the climate changed abruptly in the northern hemisphere, suddenly cooling in a period known as the Younger Dryas. In addition, the distinctive Clovis culture seems to have vanished in North America, while at least 35 genera of the continent's mammals went extinct – including mammoths, mastodons, camels, ground sloths and horses.
For years, many researchers have chalked up the onset of the Younger Dryas to a major change in North America's plumbing. Near the end of the last ice age, meltwater from the continent's principal ice sheet flooded into proglacial lakes in the centre of North America, and from there drained southward into the Mississippi river.
But by 12,900 years ago, the ice had retreated sufficiently from the northern Atlantic coast to let meltwater rush suddenly eastward. As an estimated 9500 cubic kilometres of fresh water poured into the Atlantic, it switched off the ocean's salinity-driven "conveyor belt" current, shutting down the Gulf Stream that carries heat from the tropics to eastern North America. It was this that triggered the Younger Dryas cooling, say many palaeoclimate experts.
However, some of the comet proponents now propose a different trigger for the cold spell. The massive airbursts over Canada could have destabilised the continental ice sheet, opening new drainage channels to the east. Additionally, dust and debris from the explosions may have darkened the ice, absorbing solar heat and accelerating melting. "What we suggest is that the meltwater outflow from the proglacial lakes and from the temporarily melting ice sheet was the result of extraterrestrial impact," says Kennett.
The comet-strike also offers a third and radical hypothesis for the massive extinction of mammals, which for years palaeontologists have blamed on the sudden Younger Dryas freeze, combined with the hunting prowess of newly arrived Clovis bands. In the 12,900-year-old carbon-rich layer at Murray Springs, Arizona, and in sediment cores taken from the Carolina Bays (see "Marks of a comet?", below), chemist Wendy Wolbach of DePaul University in Chicago has detected significant quantities of soot – a product of the intense heat of wildfires.
Raging wildfires
Moreover, geologist Luanne Becker at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has detected a chemical signature of wildfire – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – in samples taken from three of the team's study sites. Kennett and other team members say this suggests the cometary explosions ignited wildfires that swept across much of southern North America, wiping out large populations of animals. "I don't want to sound catastrophic here," he says, "but this is wild stuff. There is significant evidence of massive biomass burning."
If they are right, the cataclysm could also have devastated bands of Clovis hunters. Archaeologist Al Goodyear of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, reported at the Acapulco meeting that there is indirect evidence of a human disaster in what is now the south-eastern US. Chert points fashioned in the distinctive Clovis style disappear, and a new type of tool appears in the archaeological record: redstone points, judged on stylistic grounds to date from 12,750 years ago. Numbers of Clovis points outnumber redstones by 4 to 1. "If the number of points are diagnostic of the number of people there, which is a pretty reasonable assumption," notes West, "there was at least a 70 per cent decline" in the human population in the region.
Nonetheless, many researchers are likely to greet such apocalyptic scenarios with deep scepticism. Palaeontologist Paul Koch of the University of California, Santa Cruz, says he is intrigued by the new evidence of an impact, but he is far from persuaded by some of the team's sweeping claims. "I'm not convinced yet there were [widespread] wildfires," says Koch. "But if an impact just triggered the Younger Dryas, that in itself is a pretty big issue."
That's kind of staggering. Seventy percent of the people! To say nothing of the ecological devastation.
Who knows what North America might have grown into, if this disaster hadn't struck?
Sandkings
“Sandkings” is the thoroughly-creepy, and engrossing, entry from George R.R. Martin. Simon Kress likes exotic pets- especially violent, predatory ones. An imports dealer sells him four “Sandkings”- ant-like insects that build castles and fight wars with each other. They also worship the human being that feeds them, creating huge (from their perspective) carvings of Kress’ face on their castle walls.
(In other words, it’s a sort of live-action “Populous.”)
Some people can handle absolute power; Kress is not one of them. He starves the insects, tests them against small predators, and generally shows himself to be much less sympathetic than the insects. This creates some unease on his part, of course, as the insects grow larger; it’s only a matter of time before they get out and stage their own personal Reformation.
(In other words, it’s a sort of live-action “Populous.”)
Some people can handle absolute power; Kress is not one of them. He starves the insects, tests them against small predators, and generally shows himself to be much less sympathetic than the insects. This creates some unease on his part, of course, as the insects grow larger; it’s only a matter of time before they get out and stage their own personal Reformation.
The Tunnel Under the World
Frederik Pohl’s “The Tunnel Under the World” is a beautiful, Philip K. Dick-like story about paranoia and underlying questions of reality. (Actually, it reminds me of Dick’s novel Time Out of Joint- which was also about a thoroughly-normal suburban world that turned out to be completely artificial and false.)
The ending makes the story; and my biggest regret is that, with the advance of computers, the ending is no longer really plausible to modern readers. They could update it, I suppose; but virtual-reality simulations just aren’t the same.
The ending makes the story; and my biggest regret is that, with the advance of computers, the ending is no longer really plausible to modern readers. They could update it, I suppose; but virtual-reality simulations just aren’t the same.
"Repent, Harlequin," Said the What?
“’Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” was the contribution of Harlan Ellison.
Ugh. I’m sorry, but this was the only story that I really could not find any liking for at all. Or, rather, I found a great deal to dislike. The pretentious Thoreau quote at the beginning. The affectedness of the names: Harlequin? “Ticktockman”? The offhand remark that no one’s made jellybeans in centuries (then where did he get them? And how did everyone know what they were?)
I got the odd impression, after reading it, that Ellison first came up with the title and then tried very hard to write a story to fit it. And the story just isn’t that good.
Ugh. I’m sorry, but this was the only story that I really could not find any liking for at all. Or, rather, I found a great deal to dislike. The pretentious Thoreau quote at the beginning. The affectedness of the names: Harlequin? “Ticktockman”? The offhand remark that no one’s made jellybeans in centuries (then where did he get them? And how did everyone know what they were?)
I got the odd impression, after reading it, that Ellison first came up with the title and then tried very hard to write a story to fit it. And the story just isn’t that good.
Robot Dreams
It’s peculiar that they chose “Robot Dreams” for Isaac Asmov’s contribution to the collection: it’s a very uncharacteristic Asimov story.
Asimov’s whole point in writing his robot stories was to fight the “Frankenstein complex,” the irrational sense of doom that people had about technology. He felt that AI would inevitably have safety precautions built in, and that robots would almost inevitably end up to be less dangerous than human beings themselves.
As I said, “Robot Dreams” is unusual for Asimov; it's not abou that at all, except perhaps in the sense that the Frankenstein complex afflicts even the robot-makers. I suppose they picked it because it was one of his last stories, and because it’s undoubtedly very good.
Asimov’s whole point in writing his robot stories was to fight the “Frankenstein complex,” the irrational sense of doom that people had about technology. He felt that AI would inevitably have safety precautions built in, and that robots would almost inevitably end up to be less dangerous than human beings themselves.
As I said, “Robot Dreams” is unusual for Asimov; it's not abou that at all, except perhaps in the sense that the Frankenstein complex afflicts even the robot-makers. I suppose they picked it because it was one of his last stories, and because it’s undoubtedly very good.
Two Stories About Music
“Tunesmith,” by Lloyd Biggle Jr, and “A Work of Art,” by James Blish, are superficially alike: they’re both about brilliant composers who are misunderstood and neglected by society. The differences are considerable, though.
“Tunesmith” is about a man fighting for the composition of quality music, in a world where all music is controlled by the advertising industry. “A Work of Art” is more introspective; it’s about a man trying to recover the genius of his youth.
What’s interesting is that “Tunesmith” seems much less science-fictional than “A Work of Art”; it’s essentially social commentary with a big shaggy-dog pun. “Art,” by contrast, is sf from beginning to end (especially the end!)
"Art" is ultimately a better story, I think; not just because it’s clearer science fiction but because it seems to be more about the act of creation, whereas “Tunesmith” is about society’s reaction to the artist. The former is a better story for introverts, at any rate.
“Tunesmith” is about a man fighting for the composition of quality music, in a world where all music is controlled by the advertising industry. “A Work of Art” is more introspective; it’s about a man trying to recover the genius of his youth.
What’s interesting is that “Tunesmith” seems much less science-fictional than “A Work of Art”; it’s essentially social commentary with a big shaggy-dog pun. “Art,” by contrast, is sf from beginning to end (especially the end!)
"Art" is ultimately a better story, I think; not just because it’s clearer science fiction but because it seems to be more about the act of creation, whereas “Tunesmith” is about society’s reaction to the artist. The former is a better story for introverts, at any rate.
All You Zombies
“All You Zombies,” by Robert Heinlein- it’s probably the best mind-blowing time travel paradox story ever written. (Which is saying something.)
What’s interesting, and what I didn’t really pick up until this reading, is the point of the title. The protagonist knows that his circumstances are really unusual, but he’s accustomed to them- what baffles him is how everyone else manages get along.
It’s bizarre to take his point- his life, logically, actually does make sense. It’s our lives, causally sloppy and indeterminate, that require a great effort of explanation.
What’s interesting, and what I didn’t really pick up until this reading, is the point of the title. The protagonist knows that his circumstances are really unusual, but he’s accustomed to them- what baffles him is how everyone else manages get along.
It’s bizarre to take his point- his life, logically, actually does make sense. It’s our lives, causally sloppy and indeterminate, that require a great effort of explanation.
Masterpieces
I’m working my way through Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century. It’s an excellent collection of short stories.
It’s not necessarily easy to review, though, since it’s a collection of short stories from different authors on different themes from different decades. I may just have to do different posts on every story; or, at least, on the ones that seem to require several paragraphs of thought.
It’s not necessarily easy to review, though, since it’s a collection of short stories from different authors on different themes from different decades. I may just have to do different posts on every story; or, at least, on the ones that seem to require several paragraphs of thought.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Red Prophet Picture Book
Orson Scott Card is best known for his novel Ender's Game, which is fair enough. I like it a lot myself.
But my favorite Card novel is Red Prophet, the second novel in his "Alvin Maker" series about a fantasy frontier America where folk magic works.
Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son, and this mystical conjugation makes him a Merlin-like figure of magical destiny. The first novel dealt with all this; and it was certainly interesting. But Red Prophet goes into the broader world, where ambitious White men plot among and against each other, and Red Indians are slowly dying of rampant alcohol addiction.
Two brothers seek to change this: Tenskwa-Tawa, the Red Prophet of the title, who wants to segregate Red men from White men and pursue his vision of a great Crystal City; and Ta-Kumsaw, the great military leader, who simply wants to drive the White men from North America entirely.
If Ender's Game is a story about how institutions (especially the military) use and exploit people for their own purposes, Red Prophet is about religion and social reform. That is probably part of why I like it better; it's a theme that's closer to my heart.
So I was quite taken to find that there's a graphic novel version of Red Prophet. I bought the first volume and eagerly consumed it.
In retrospect, I could have guessed that there would be problems.
Card has a very strong narrative voice in this book. It's not just happening, as many novels try to suggest, with you as an observer; someone is telling you this story. (If I remember correctly, the series actually confirms this at some point; the narrator is Taleswapper.)
This doesn't translate at all well into comics format, where the ideal is to show things visually. Visually presenting the events of the book loses almost all of the appealing style.
And so they don't. Instead, they cram as much text as they possibly can into text boxes. Virtually every panel in every page is loaded with a few sentences from the novel. The effect is to make it a sort of Red Prophet Picture Book- an unhappy compromise that loses the advantages of both novel and graphic novel formats.
Some novels don't make good comic books. That isn't a sign that anything is wrong with them; it just means that the novel format has its own specific advantages, which other media don't share. Foremost among these advantages is the ability to get inside someone's head- to share their thoughts and feelings.
Card is good at this. Comics aren't. It's a sad way to realize the fact; but at least I've learned something from the Red Prophet graphic novel, after all.
But my favorite Card novel is Red Prophet, the second novel in his "Alvin Maker" series about a fantasy frontier America where folk magic works.
Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son, and this mystical conjugation makes him a Merlin-like figure of magical destiny. The first novel dealt with all this; and it was certainly interesting. But Red Prophet goes into the broader world, where ambitious White men plot among and against each other, and Red Indians are slowly dying of rampant alcohol addiction.
Two brothers seek to change this: Tenskwa-Tawa, the Red Prophet of the title, who wants to segregate Red men from White men and pursue his vision of a great Crystal City; and Ta-Kumsaw, the great military leader, who simply wants to drive the White men from North America entirely.
If Ender's Game is a story about how institutions (especially the military) use and exploit people for their own purposes, Red Prophet is about religion and social reform. That is probably part of why I like it better; it's a theme that's closer to my heart.
So I was quite taken to find that there's a graphic novel version of Red Prophet. I bought the first volume and eagerly consumed it.
In retrospect, I could have guessed that there would be problems.
Card has a very strong narrative voice in this book. It's not just happening, as many novels try to suggest, with you as an observer; someone is telling you this story. (If I remember correctly, the series actually confirms this at some point; the narrator is Taleswapper.)
This doesn't translate at all well into comics format, where the ideal is to show things visually. Visually presenting the events of the book loses almost all of the appealing style.
And so they don't. Instead, they cram as much text as they possibly can into text boxes. Virtually every panel in every page is loaded with a few sentences from the novel. The effect is to make it a sort of Red Prophet Picture Book- an unhappy compromise that loses the advantages of both novel and graphic novel formats.
Some novels don't make good comic books. That isn't a sign that anything is wrong with them; it just means that the novel format has its own specific advantages, which other media don't share. Foremost among these advantages is the ability to get inside someone's head- to share their thoughts and feelings.
Card is good at this. Comics aren't. It's a sad way to realize the fact; but at least I've learned something from the Red Prophet graphic novel, after all.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Wendell Berry
I was reading about Huckabee, across the internet, and came across a reference or two to Wendell Berry. This provoked my curiousity.
The amazon.com page for his essay collection, Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community is intriguing; not because I agree with everything he says, but that he seems to say things in a way that suggests he shares my deeper principles. I'll have to read it to find out, I suppose.
In the meantime, there's poetry!
You will be walking some night
in the comfortable dark of your yard
and suddenly a great light will shine
round about you, and behind you
will be a wall you never saw before.
It will be clear to you suddenly
that you were about to escape,
and that you are guilty: you misread
the complex instructions, you are not
a member, you lost your card
or never had one. And you will know
that they have been there all along,
their eyes on your letters and books,
their hands in your pockets,
their ears wired to your bed.
Though you have done nothing shameful,
they will want you to be ashamed.
They will want you to kneel and weep
and say you should have been like them.
And once you say you are ashamed,
reading the page they hold out to you,
then such light as you have made
in your history will leave you.
They will no longer need to pursue you.
You will pursue them, begging forgiveness.
They will not forgive you.
There is no power against them.
It is only candor that is aloof from them,
only an inward clarity, unashamed,
that they cannot reach. Be ready.
When their light has picked you out
and their questions are asked, say to them:
"I am not ashamed." A sure horizon
will come around you. The heron will begin
his evening flight from the hilltop.
- Wendell Berry
The amazon.com page for his essay collection, Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community is intriguing; not because I agree with everything he says, but that he seems to say things in a way that suggests he shares my deeper principles. I'll have to read it to find out, I suppose.
In the meantime, there's poetry!
You will be walking some night
in the comfortable dark of your yard
and suddenly a great light will shine
round about you, and behind you
will be a wall you never saw before.
It will be clear to you suddenly
that you were about to escape,
and that you are guilty: you misread
the complex instructions, you are not
a member, you lost your card
or never had one. And you will know
that they have been there all along,
their eyes on your letters and books,
their hands in your pockets,
their ears wired to your bed.
Though you have done nothing shameful,
they will want you to be ashamed.
They will want you to kneel and weep
and say you should have been like them.
And once you say you are ashamed,
reading the page they hold out to you,
then such light as you have made
in your history will leave you.
They will no longer need to pursue you.
You will pursue them, begging forgiveness.
They will not forgive you.
There is no power against them.
It is only candor that is aloof from them,
only an inward clarity, unashamed,
that they cannot reach. Be ready.
When their light has picked you out
and their questions are asked, say to them:
"I am not ashamed." A sure horizon
will come around you. The heron will begin
his evening flight from the hilltop.
- Wendell Berry
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Into the Woods
Stephen Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods" is a comedy based loosely on several classic fairy tales. I haven't actually listened to it in ages, but I came upon the old MP3s recently.
It deserves relistening. Like most of Sondeim's music, the emphasis is on lyrics, which are clever and highly detailed. Here's Agony, in which two princes discuss the hardships of questing after their destined princesses.
It deserves relistening. Like most of Sondeim's music, the emphasis is on lyrics, which are clever and highly detailed. Here's Agony, in which two princes discuss the hardships of questing after their destined princesses.
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