Exploring one universe at a time.
Interested in #Nature, #Photography, #NaturePhotography, #Science, #ScienceFiction, #Physics, #Engineering.
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With her friends vanishing and her home planet of Ayeshij crushed under the weight of …
On reclaiming your homeworld with subterfuge; and violence.
3 žvaigždutės
On a world whose inhabitants are ruled by off-world people, one local is determined to reclaim her world from the conquerors. But the plan would require communicating with native birds, possible betrayal, and a shocking ending involving gore and a lot of teeth.
In a future where human souls take the form of animal companions, Hairuo struggles to …
On the care and feeding of cats and souls
3 žvaigždutės
The story of a world where human souls can be given form as a companion, usually as a dog, to be fed and nurtured. In this story, the protagonist's companion is a cat. But her efforts to nurture and feed it with stories she creates don't seem to be going well, and neither is her job as a designer. Then, she meets a fellow worker who attracts her and has an interest in her. But it is only after meeting his big, mean cat does she realize what they feed on to nurture themselves at her expense.
The fascinating, untold story of how the Chinese language overcame unparalleled challenges and revolutionized the …
I've read Thomas S. Mullaney's previous book, "The Chinese Typewriter: A History" and found it a fascinating deep dive into the history of East Asian keyboards. So I'm looking forward to reading this.
When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.
Moscow …
Mammoths have been revived: now they have to survive.
4 žvaigždutės
A fascinating story of a scientist and passionate elephant conservationist whose consciousness was scanned and later put into the mind of the matriarch of a group of revived mammoths, in the hope that she can teach the group how to be mammoths again in the steppes of Siberia. As the story begins, she discovers the deaths of several male mammoths from hunters. Thus, begins her own vendetta against the hunters to protect her group.
As the story develops, we learn the backstory of the scientist and the state of the world, where elephants have been hunted to near extinction for their ivory and other body parts. While mammoths are protected by the huge wilderness they wander in, they are no longer safe from hunters, unless the scientist, and the mammoth body she inhabits, can push the group into doing something they have never done before: becoming the hunter.
A story …
A fascinating story of a scientist and passionate elephant conservationist whose consciousness was scanned and later put into the mind of the matriarch of a group of revived mammoths, in the hope that she can teach the group how to be mammoths again in the steppes of Siberia. As the story begins, she discovers the deaths of several male mammoths from hunters. Thus, begins her own vendetta against the hunters to protect her group.
As the story develops, we learn the backstory of the scientist and the state of the world, where elephants have been hunted to near extinction for their ivory and other body parts. While mammoths are protected by the huge wilderness they wander in, they are no longer safe from hunters, unless the scientist, and the mammoth body she inhabits, can push the group into doing something they have never done before: becoming the hunter.
A story full of thrills, suspense, and a look at what a passionate person can do if given the chance the inhabit the body of her passion. But now, her choice is to decide what to do with body she has been granted.
An engineer who frequently travels for her job, suddenly finds herself in airports other than …
On travelling between airport terminals faster than a plane can fly.
3 žvaigždutės
The story of a person who, while walking through an airport terminal, suddenly discovers herself wandering in another airport terminal. Her attempts to figure out how it happened becomes an obsession when it happens several more times. Finally, as she gives up on finding an explanation, it happens once again, but this time, perhaps she can just accept it as a fact without explanation.
This e-book (pdf, 33MB) is a collection of public contributions to celebrate the impact of …
The impressions a 'plucky' little comet explorer had.
3 žvaigždutės
An interesting book that collects the thoughts and feelings of people who have been following the Rosetta space probe and Philae lander as it approached and studied comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P).
As told in their own words, poems, images, linked videos and internet links, the book shows just how much the little space craft has affected the lives of many people (including young children) who have followed the mission through to its amazing conclusion.
You won’t find many details about the actual mission itself in the book, but you will get an idea of just how effective ESA’s media outreach and attempts to make people relate to the mission were as recorded in the words of the people themselves.
Even death is no match for a trio of elderly, stubborn, ever-sparring sisters, who refuse …
On arguing ghostly sisters, and a cat.
3 žvaigždutės
The parents of three sisters with nearly the same age required them to share possessions and personalities since young. Naturally, they hate each other and left as soon as possible. But now they are elderly, and events has bought them back to their parent's house. As the sisters die, their ghosts remain tied to the house, arguing with each other. But perhaps the ghost of a childhood cat can show them a path to leave the house that would involve them acting in a way they haven't done before.
While learning the ropes from a crafty Jazz Age bank robber, a young stowaway discovers …
Bank robbers that travel on unusual, and maybe dangeroous roads.
3 žvaigždutės
A young girl runs away with two bank robbers to get back an item they robbed from an earlier bank. But the journey would be an unusual one, for the robbers make use of unusual roads to get away from the cops, roads that only one of the robbers can sense. As their relationship develops, the young girl takes on the task of driving the getaway car and getting a sense of the roads. But danger is never far, either from the police or from the possibly dangerous inhabitants on the roads.
There are creatures in the water of Con Dao.
To the locals, they're monsters.
To …
On trying to communicate with other sentient beings.
3 žvaigždutės
An interesting near-future thriller mainly set on the Con Dao archipelago in Vietnam, where a species of intelligent, communicative octopus have been discovered. To try to communicate with them, a specialist in octopus has been called in, and she will have to work alongside an android, which may be the first sentient AI created, and a security officer who is deadly serious in protecting the area from all intruders.
The attempts at communication with the octopus is the main basis for the story. But layered upon it are philosophical discussions over the nature of the octopus itself, how they may see the world and how you approach and communicate with sentient beings that don't share the same senses or even a brain network with us: octopus limbs can operate independently of the brain, and they send messages by changing the patterns on their skin.
Subplots in the story focus on …
An interesting near-future thriller mainly set on the Con Dao archipelago in Vietnam, where a species of intelligent, communicative octopus have been discovered. To try to communicate with them, a specialist in octopus has been called in, and she will have to work alongside an android, which may be the first sentient AI created, and a security officer who is deadly serious in protecting the area from all intruders.
The attempts at communication with the octopus is the main basis for the story. But layered upon it are philosophical discussions over the nature of the octopus itself, how they may see the world and how you approach and communicate with sentient beings that don't share the same senses or even a brain network with us: octopus limbs can operate independently of the brain, and they send messages by changing the patterns on their skin.
Subplots in the story focus on a hacker who has been asked to hack into an extremely sophisticated neural network, and on a slave crew on an AI controlled ship hunting for fish in a world where predatory fishing companies have overfished the oceans and are eager to exploit the remaining places with fish. They serve to flesh out this world where wars have been fought, and new regional nations have risen, eager to make their mark on the world. AI technology has also matured and taken over many jobs, while people feel more isolated in a world where AI mediated communications is the norm.
At the end, various parts come together to show that the octopuses have their own ideas on communicating and dealing with humans, leaving the future open for further interactions, but on the octopuses terms.
Part of the new Ladybird Expert series, Bubbles is a clear, surprising and entertaining introduction …
A book on bubbles: cool!
4 žvaigždutės
A short and easy to read book about bubbles: what are they, and why they fascinate us. The author looks at all kinds of bubbles, from 'ordinary' soap bubbles to air bubbles in water, anti-bubbles and foam. The author shows why we find bubbles so fascinating and how we can discover more about the world from what bubbles can tell us.
