17 Monday Feb 2014
So two weeks ago I posted on humanity’s progress towards invisibility. Well guess what? If you thought it was cool, and want to know more, check out this article by someone far more science-savvy than I:
New Invisibility Cloak Completely Conceals Objects
03 Monday Feb 2014
Posted in News
Tags
inspiration, invisibility, metamaterials, News, Science, science fiction, stealth, Stephanie Beavers
So I ran into this brief article on the potential future of invisibility: How do you make things invisible?
“Metamaterial” is apparently the future of stealth: not just invisibility, but undetectability. Now, I was curious for a more in-depth look at the stuff, so I of course consulted Wikipedia. I was subsequently reminded that my degree was a BA, not a BSc. As it turns out (and it’s not really a surprise), metamaterials are pretty complicated.
What I took away from it though, was that a Harry Potter-esque invisibility cloak was unlikely. This caused the fangirl portion of my brain so lose most of its interest, although a healthy dose of academic curiosity remains. So while I failed to achieve a comprehensive translation of the entirety of the article, I learned that metamaterials actually have potential uses in many areas (including various sensors and communications). Despite my lack of a thorough understanding, I am still inspired. I love it when I can walk away from even a short article going, “That is awesome.”
So here’s to science. Keep being awesome. (And keep making awesome things.)
27 Monday Jan 2014
Posted in News
Tags
books, fun, interactive, interactive books, Science, science fiction, sensory fiction, Stephanie Beavers
So I read this article the other day: Book changes temperature or vibrates, depending on the plot The article is really short, and here’s the main quote from it:
This “Sensory Fiction” project is the creation of MIT’s Media Lab, who explain:
The ‘augmented’ book portrays the scenery and sets the mood, and the wearable allows the reader to experience the protagonist’s physiological emotions. The book cover animates to reflect the book’s changing atmosphere, while certain passages trigger vibration patterns.
Changes in the protagonist’s emotional or physical state triggers discrete feedback in the wearable, whether by changing the heartbeat rate, creating constriction through air pressure bags, or causing localized temperature fluctuations.
My first response was “huh, cool. I doubt I’d spend money on it (since it would probably be really expensive), but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.” Then I began to wonder if it was really a good idea. Empathy is already a pretty powerful tool for immersion and feeling what the characters in the book are feeling. Is it healthy to push it further? Or would “sensory fiction” even be able to do what it claims? I’d be willing to try it, but I have my reservations.
Well readers, what do you think?
16 Monday Dec 2013
Posted in News
Is The Universe a Hologram? Physicists say it’s possible. I’ve always been fascinated by the multitude of theories that proliferate in the scientific community that try to explain the nature of the universe, and even more controversially, its origins. Now, I have my own opinions on the matter, but since they’re rather controversial and that’s not what I want my blog to be about, I’m not going to go into them. Suffice to say, I’m a Christian, and many of my beliefs stem from there.
No, here I want to look at articles and theories like the ones from the article linked above from a perspective totally different from what’s “right.” Instead I want to regard it from a position of awe. Let’s face it: we don’t have any solid idea what the universe really is or how it works. It’s possible we’re not even capable, as human beings, of full comprehending it. But every time I see science advancing (or at least expanding) in this area of research, I’m drawn in, fascinated and inspired.
What I find interesting about the article is that they touch on the idea that the universe is a hologram (and how it could explain so much about science if it is), but they don’t reflect on what that would mean. So if it’s a hologram, WHY is it a hologram? Was it designed to be that way? Is it just that way through some fluke of the universe? HOW is it a hologram?
This is why I keep tabs on science news. How amazing is this world we live in? What amazingly inventive idea will we come up with next? And how might our world surprise us by (at least seemingly) verifying some of the most bizarre of them?
So the universe is a hologram. What happens if someone turns it off? :P
09 Monday Dec 2013
Posted in News
Tags
Elder Scrolls, fandoms, fantasy, giant mushrooms, News, Oblivion, prehistory, Science, science fiction, Shivering Isles, Stephanie Beavers
According to science news, Long Before Trees Overtook the Land, Earth Was Covered by Giant Mushrooms.
So like the Shivering Isles?
Elder Scrolls IV’s Shivering Isles. Giant mushrooms and crazy starscapes ftw.
Honestly, after reading the article, I had a hilarious mental picture of a bunch of bespectacled men in labcoats hucking grocery-store mushrooms at each other while they argued whether a fungus, lichen, or other similar organism could grow to 8 meters. It’s a valid question, but imagining a reasoned debate around a microscope was too tame. (Although I suppose if the thing’s 8 meters the microscope wouldn’t always be necessary. Stereotypes ftw!)
Seriously though, I love it when scientific data leads people to painting pictures of what the planet looked like before we started writing things down. Barring time travel, we have no way of knowing – and that’s awesome.
20 Wednesday Nov 2013
Tags
computers, entertainment, fun, future, News, Science, Stephanie Beavers, technology
The mind of a writer works in weird and wonderful (but mostly just weird) ways. It’s not necessarily better, just frequently different. And it’s not that I believe mine (in particular) is entirely original either. Even so, it’s always a little eerie to come up with an idea for a story (wink wink), and then stumble across a story in the news or life that reveals how that “different” idea may come to pass in the not so distant future…
I speak of stumbling across these videos:
Computer Chips In Your Brain
Connecting The Mind To The Internet
(Sorry they’re links and not embedded. They were not embed friendly.)
But like I said, it’s not like I thought these were original ideas… I just didn’t think they were quite this close to becoming reality…
Fascinating stuff in science, guys. Where will we go next? I’m stoked to find out.
07 Thursday Nov 2013
Tags
animals, bees, dinosaurs, fantasy, inspiration, News, Science, Stephanie Beavers, writing
Bees Underwent Massive Extinctions When Dinosaurs Did. Articles like these are one place where I find inspiration. The title inspires questions – most notably “why?” and “what if…?” It’s just a simple statement, a single fact, but it holds an immense amount of potential. Someone could write an entire book based on that one sentence – fiction OR non-fiction (although that doesn’t mean anyone will). Me, I write fantasy, so I immediately start thinking of supernatural.
Even just putting bees and dinosaurs in the same sentence can inspire something (albeit something B-movie): Beezilla! Half bee, half dinosaur! Tokyo is doomed! Or maybe: Mutant Bees Vs Tyrannosaurus Rex, Battle for Jurassic Earth (Let’s face it, “Jurassic” is a pretty epic-sounding word and would’ve found itself in a movie title some day even if Jurassic Park had never been made.)
Does he look angry to you? He looks angry to me.
Image compliments of Jon Sullivan, pdphoto.org
But even a mystery or thriller writer could do something with that idea. Maybe it’s a conspiracy! They could link that fact to something that’s happening now, something no doubt nefarious. Maybe scientists are conducting experiments. Maybe a secret society is engineering the downfall of our countries so they can take over the world – or at least control it.
I’m not saying any of this would be award-winning material (although it could happen), but it would definitely be fun.
So there you have it, folks. For every writer who has ever been asked where their inspiration came from, the answer is going to look something like this. They saw an image. They read a single sentence (or an entire book) on some random subject. They heard a song. Heck, they tasted a particular flavor or felt a particular texture. And when they did, it evoked an emotion. It evoked an idea. It evoked inspiration.
Fortunately, it’s also often better stuff than bees and dinosaurs. Then again, not every bit of inspiration gets written down, and even less of it gets published. So be afraid. Be very afraid. A writer’s mind is a scary place. As Colin Nissan said,
A writer’s brain is full of little gifts, like a piñata at a birthday party. It’s also full of demons, like a piñata at a birthday party in a mental hospital.
So when someone says inspiration just happens, it’s true. It’s wonderful and inexplicable. That’s why it’s inspirational.
24 Thursday Oct 2013
Tags
abominable snowman, animals, bigfoot, fantasy, fun, mythology, News, Science, Stephanie Beavers, yeti
The other day, National Geographic did an article on Yetis/Bigfoot/the Abominable Snowman. Basically, they collected a bunch of hairs from various people, all of which were supposed to belong to yetis (or one of the other varieties). As usual, everything is inconclusive, but it’s fun to theorize. The tagline of the article sums it up: “Scientist has linked “Yeti” hair samples to DNA from an ancient polar bear jaw.”
Image compliments of christooss on Flikr
Now, I have to admit, I’ve never been a big believer in Bigfoot (as “he” is more commonly known as where I’m from), but to be honest, I haven’t given it much thought. Still, when someone’s out in the wilderness and see a large, hairy creature, I’m more inclined to think they’ve seen a bear or another person or some such, rather than a mythical creature. I’m a bit skeptical that a mammal that large could have escaped capture or even high-quality cameras for so long. It’s simply improbable. That being said, I haven’t done in-depth research on the subject, so maybe there’s something I don’t know. Certainly I would never say, “Bigfoot definitely doesn’t exist.” I just have my doubts.
So what do you think, readers? Am I missing something? Is there some evidence I’m not aware of? Do YOU think Bigfoot (or yetis or abominable snowmen) exists? At any rate, the article is worth a read.
Stephanie Beavers 