17 Thursday Sep 2015
Tags
author, etymology, fun, math, mystery, News, quizzaciously, Science, Stephanie Beavers, Vsauce, words, writer, writing, Zipf
As an author, I of course have a degree of fascination with words. Check out what VSauce has to say…
In other news, Fire Within is now available in print! Check it out on Amazon.com and CreateSpace.
14 Monday Sep 2015
Posted in News
Tags
animal, animals, author, breeding, cat, cats, dog, dogs, history, inbreeding, pets, philosophy, science news, Stephanie Beavers, wildlife, world's ugliest dog, writer
…Or at least we haven’t bred as many deformities into them yet.
Cunning Cats Forced Dogs To Evolve… Or Go Extinct
IFLS wrote the above article, summarizing how when cats came to North America, their superior predatory skills forced the dogs already living there to either adapt and improve or go extinct. Both cats and dogs are powerful predators and exclusive carnivores, so in the wild, they’re in direct competition with one another. Scientists compare this extinction/adaptation result to be on par with what you see from drastic climate changes.
Nature has always done a pretty good job of keeping things balanced. Then, along came humans…
Dogs are their primary victims. I know lots of people like the various breeds, like pugs and bulldogs, but the truth it, they’re being bred into helplessness. We’re exaggerating traits for aesthetic effects (and frequently inbreeding them in the process), and this is having a detrimental effect on their health and well-being. Wanna see the worst of them?
Of course, cats have suffered from our tampering too…
Don’t get me started on those short-legged cats they’ve been breeding… Animals are beautiful the way they are. A little selective breeding is fine (great, even!) but when it causes health problems and other detrimental side effects? I disagree with that path.
Oh yes, and cats rule, dogs drool. ;)
What do you think, readers?
10 Thursday Sep 2015
Posted in Fun
03 Thursday Sep 2015
Posted in Fun
Tags
author, bears, fierce, flowers, frolic, fun, polar bears, Stephanie Beavers, teddy bears, wildlife, writer
31 Monday Aug 2015
Posted in News
Tags
animal, animals, author, cancer, detection, dog, dogs, medicine, pet, pets, Science, science news, Stephanie Beavers, writer
…at detecting cancer, studies suggest.
Cancer-Detecting Dog Trials Approved By The NHS
Studies are suggesting that dogs may be better at detecting cancer than many of the tests we use to screen patients, so now the National Health Service in the UK has authorized dogs to be used in trials to detect prostate cancer.
Ruh-roh!
I think this is amazing progress. After all, why reinvent the wheel? Additionally, studies have also shown that being around animals can aid healing regardless.
Check out the article for more of the scientific details – as always, IFLS does a wonderful job of breaking it down.
27 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Fun
Tags
"real" Disney, Aladdin, art, author, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Disney, fandom, Hercules, Little Mermaid, Pocahontis, portraits, prince, princess, realistic cartoons, Sleeping Beauty, Stephanie Beavers, Tarzan, writer
The I Can Has Cheezburger network recently featured a pretty sweet set of pictures; check out this art of Disney heroes/heroines made “real.” I have at least one friend who will love this…
24 Monday Aug 2015
Tags
author, books, Calling On Fire, Esset, fantasy, Fire and Stone, Fire Within, independent author, indiepub, reading, self publishing, selfpub, Stephanie Beavers, Stories of Fire and Stone, Toman, writer
The sequel to Calling On Fire is finally here!
Fire Within is now available!
Two brothers with magical abilities must defeat the evil mage who seeks to annihilate them and everyone they’ve ever known.
For now, the novel is only available in ebook form, but I’m working hard to get it printed as well!
You can buy the ebook here:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Smashwords
Multiple formats are available through Smashwords. Other retailers will become available as Smashwords distributes them.
Novel description:
Toman and Esset, the Animator and the Summoner, sacrificed everything in their battle against the evil mage Moloch, and they still failed.
Even so, they’re not willing to give up. Not that they have a choice: Moloch has fixated on inflicting suffering on those they love.
Tseka, a Nadran warrior, has thrown in her lot with theirs. Her race of snake-like people are once again at risk from the evil mage’s cruelty. She’s just not sure she has the strength to be more help than burden. Can Tseka keep up with the brothers, or will she end up a casualty of war?
Erizen, the mercurial mage, has joined their team as well. His knowledge and power are invaluable to Toman and Esset. The only problem: they can’t be sure they can trust him. Will Erizen fight at their side, or will he betray them before the end?
Toman and Esset have new allies and new abilities, but also new scars. Toman’s very soul is crippled. Esset’s new-found power is unpredictable at best and deadly at worst. And Moloch’s power has only grown in turn.
How can they hope to win when the most powerful mage in existence can now call upon the powers of death itself?
20 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Fun
Tags
animal, animals, author, bear, bears, entertainment, hot tub, humor, lol, Stephanie Beavers, summer, swimming pool, wildlife, writer
Check out this bear going for a dip in some folks’ swimming pool and hot tub. Who says bears can’t enjoy the good life too?
17 Monday Aug 2015
Posted in News
Tags
apocalypse, author, evil overlords, evolution, fun, robot apocalypse, robots, Science, science news, Stephanie Beavers, technology
IFLS: “Mother” Robot Builds Evolving Babies
The end is nigh: we have taught robots to create other robots, and not only that, but for each successive generation to be more efficient and effective than the last.
I am not the first to comment that teaching robots to not only build, but improve upon, themselves might not be the best idea. I seem to recall a line from I, Robot that also lamented this lack of foresight. The Stargate series also had robots called Replicators that could do this that frequently threatened to kill everything, everywhere.
But still, this is really cool. Maybe we can learn more about intelligent evolution and how to better design and breed things. And of course, it will save us time and energy if we can work alongside machines to the same end.
Providing it’s the same end, and they don’t decide we’re taking up too much space and resources and start a robot apocalypse.
But this is just a first step. The assembly-line “Mama” robot is given a few pieces and creates her “babies” with those pieces. Then “she” watches them walk down the table. “Better” babies are able to walk further, faster. After 10 generations of babies, there is a distinct improvement in their efficiency.
Meet the instrument of our demise:
What do you think, readers?
13 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Fun
Tags
adorable, animal, animals, art, author, cat, cats, cosplay, Doctor Who, Eleventh Doctor, entertainment, fun, Harry Potter, humor, kitties, kitty, lol, pet, pets, Spock, Star Trek, Stephanie Beavers, The Doctor, Thor, writer, Zelda
Yes, I’m on another cat pictures kick. If you follow my twitter, you’ve probably already noticed. But who doesn’t like cats on the internet?
Here‘s some more. They’re cosplaying.
Stephanie Beavers 