environment

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Aug 1-7, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

And now, it’s time to get your mental corn popping.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: did last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests change anything? The New Yorker

Matt Stroud relates how an automated policing program got one Black man shot—twice. Shades of Minority Report? Not quite, but close. The Verge

Anthony Conwright: today, it’s critical race theory; 200 years ago, it was abolitionist literature. Mother Jones

He lasting legacy of racist pseudosciences. Kadija Mbowe

Bertrand Cooper unpacks the issues around who actually gets to create Black pop culture? Current Affairs

The magical minority trope is still a problem. The Take

Premilla Nadasen explains how capitalism created the care economy. The Nation

Livia Gershon exposes life in Indigenous boarding schools (in the US). JSTOR Daily

Ben Westcott and Hilary Whiteman: Australia to establish $280 million dollar reparations fund for “stolen generation.” CNN

Sarah N. Lynch: FBI agent used provocative photos of office staff in sex-trafficking sting. Reuters

Ed Simon: return to pirate Island. “The history of piracy illustrates a surprising connection to democratic Utopian radicalism—and, of course, stolen treasure.” JSTOR Daily

Caroline Wazer considers healing and memory (and Mnemosyne) in ancient Greece. JSTOR Daily

Charlie Jane Anders: dear James Webb Space Telescope. How you will show us the future. National Geographic

Brian Heater shows us how Cassie the bipedal robot runs a 5k. TechCrunch

Eric Brain reports that Honda has developed an in-show navigation system for the visually impaired. Next feat: ensuring that all accessibility tech is, in fact, accessible to everyone who needs it. HypeBeast

Amanda Schupak: is working from home better for the environment? Not necessarily. The Guardian

Olivia Box wonders, could more urban trees mitigate runoff and flooding? JSTOR Daily

Helena Horton: Norfolk’s rediscovered “ghost ponds” offer up trove of long-lost plants. The Guardian

The real circle of life – In our nature. It’s okay to be smart

Giant panda in French zoo gives birth to “lively” twin girls. Associated Press

Thank you for visiting and I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

WorldCon 2016: Alienbuilding

/ Melanie Marttila

Disclaimer: I am not perfect and neither are my notes. If you notice anything that requires clarification or correction, please email me at melanie (dot) marttila (at) gmail (dot) com and I will fix things post-hasty.

Alienbuilding

Panellists: Caroline M. Yoachim (moderator), G. David Nordley, Ctein, Larry Niven, Sheila Finch

Joined in progress …

GDN: To build aliens, you have to start with the system, planets, and so on down.

C: When it comes to the aliens themselves, a top-down approach means psychology first.

LN: I’ve created aliens with handles on the skull. Humans have bilateral symmetry on the outside. Inside, not so much. An alien can have two dominant arms for fine manipulation, or one extra-muscular arm for heavy lifting. Why not a dwarf elephant with two trunks and fingers on the trunk-tips?

SF: It happens all at once for me. I have an image of the alien. I take a step back and consider what environment might have produced it. Then, I develop the psychology and language. The metaphors used are linked to physiology.

C: I’m happy to steal if it works. I have a species I based on puppets.

CMY: Do you have to balance strangeness with relatability?

GDN: I’m not bothered by aliens that have commonalities with humans. Our basic drives are all the same.

C: There are special, species-related characteristics. Will aliens have religion? Will they be acquisitive? Are they into body augmentation?

SF: Corvids are acquisitive.

LN: I ask myself, what’s the weirdest thing about an alien? Then I extrapolate back.

SF: Sentience and self-awareness have been proven to exist in animals.

C: One notable characteristic of humans is that we build. If there’s an advanced species out there that doesn’t build, what do they do?

LN: What’s the process of adapting humans to their environments?

CMY: What pitfalls do you see? What are your pet peeves?

GDN: Characters that don’t have survival value.

LN: There was a story based on a hospital station—everyone got sick. [Mel’s note: not every disease will attack every species by the same vector. Zoonosis is not common on Earth. And then, there’s immunity.]

SF: Plant aliens that aren’t done well. Sequoias, for example, would have a chemical intelligence.

C: When the physical worldbuilding isn’t related to the story. If it’s all about the display of worldbuilding prowess, it’s essentially scenery.

CMY: When all the aliens are the same, are they truly “alien” aliens?

GDN: Silicone and oxygen might be able to produce something similar to DNA and RNA. Truly alien aliens are difficult to figure out physiologically and biologically.

SF: With truly alien aliens, their physiology becomes the story. It’s all about explaining how they function.

And that was time.

I’ll have one more WorldCon 2016 session to share with you this month, and it’s more worldbuilding (are you sensing a theme?). Next weekend: Political worldbuilding in science fiction.

Be well, be kind, and stay strong until next I blog.