Science of the Week, 6/29/18

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Georgia Tech uses nanotechnology to create world's smallest ad

"Stealth" material hides hot objects from infrared eyes

Bandage which sticks inside the mouth will revolutionize treatment of oral conditions

Assyriologist discovers evidence of lost city in Iraq

With gene editing, researchers cure blood disorder in fetal mice

This hydrogel could regenerate stronger, healthier nerves in injured soldiers

New photodetector could improve night vision, thermal sensing, and medical imaging

Have a good weekend, everyone, and see you on Monday!

Where Women Rule!--Instafreebie Giveaway

If you like either women's fiction or fantasy, then I have 101 choices for you. There's a giveaway on Instafreebie called Where Women Rule running through July 3rd where you can download a copy of Scattered Seasons (if you don't already have it) and a hundred other books, including Hereafter by my blogging buddy Terri Bruce. I have to check out some of the other books myself, so I hope you will too!

Lady Gwendolyn lo Havil is an Ava Spring, born to heal others and lead the Season Avatars of her generation. Season Avatars with divine magic must work in groups of four to save the country of Challen from Chaos Season, times when all of the seasons appear at once. When the current Ava Spring dies in a riding accident, Gwen must find the other three Season Avatars she will link with.  But two of them are missing, and with Gwen's own magic crippled by a cursed pottery shard, she will have to use all of her skills to find the Avatars scattered across the country of Challen. During her journey, she meets a stranger who claims to know the shard's origin. Is he truly an ally of the Season Avatars, or is he trying to stop them from uniting?

Jurassic World: Fallen Kindom--Review by Stan, Rex, and Oscar

Stan: Hi, I'm Stan, the T-Rex. I was named after an actual T-Rex fossil.

Rex: I'm Rex the brachiosaurus. Don't confuse me with Stan. I was actually named after Captain Rex from The Clone Wars.

Oscar: And I'm Oscar the Orca. I'm the oldest, and I wasn't named after anybody.

Stan: So, last week, our family took us to see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It was awesome! There were T-rexes and raptors and...

Rex: ...and not enough sauropods. (sniffs) How could they leave the sauropods behind? So tragic....

Oscar: They didn't have enough room on the boats for such big creatures, Rex. And Stan, you know the people only wanted the carnivores to make money from them.

Stan: Well, you know what I want from humans, Oscar? Lunch!

Oscar: Yeah, there was a whole lot of lunching going on, though I think it would be more accurate to say midnight snacking.

Stan: There were people running everywhere, afraid of us!

Rex: And there were a whole lot of dinos and other animals on the island...

Oscar: But really, it was just like all the other movies in this franchise. Sure, they threw in a couple of twists at the end, but they didn't discuss them in detail.

Stan: This is an action movie, Oscar, not a thinking movie!

Oscar: Well, next time, can we see a thinking movie?

Rex: I think it's usually what the kid wants to see, Oscar. So we'll probably go see this again and again while it's in the theater.

Oscar: Sigh.

Stan: T-Rex wins! T-Rex always wins! Rrrrarrrhhhrrr!

Science of the Week--6/22/18

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

New algorithm can discover materials with unusual characteristics--including invisibility

System allows surveillance cameras to "talk" to the public through individual smartphones

Toothpaste and hand wash are causing antibiotic resistance

Can nanotechnology help treat Alzheimer's?

Envisioning a future where all the trees in Europe disappear

Have a good weekend, and see you Monday!

The Physics of Star Wars

I just finished reading The Physics of Star Wars: The Science Behind a Galaxy Far, Far Away. As the title suggests, it looks at various aspects of the Star Wars universe, such as planetary science, the Force, robotics, and weapons. For each item that the author covers, he includes some information about which films (the most recent movie he discusses is Rogue One) reference the topic, which physics concepts are introduced, Star Wars back story, how the physics works in Star Wars, and how the physics actually works in real life. Some of the concepts turn out to be rooted in fact (like planets orbiting a binary star system) while other still remain more fiction than fact (alas, light sabers and Force jumps are part of this group.) I'm not sure whether this book is meant to be more of a physics primer with a fun slant or a book about a specific aspect of Star Wars.

Do you like books that analyze the scientific aspects of a fandom, or do you think the explanations destroy the wonder and "unweave the rainbow"? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

KU--To Renew or Not to Renew

I've never had much luck with Kindle Unlimited (KU) as an author, but last year, I decided to try it as a reader during Amazon Prime Day last year, when it was available at a reduced price. Soon I'll have to decide if I want to renew it or not.

Although I consider myself a voracious reader, it's hard for me to get my money's worth of reading out of KU each month. Part of this is because if I discover a book during its free period, I'll "buy" it instead of borrowing it. Since my Kindle and Kindle apps display the newest books first, the books I do borrow will get buried quickly if I don't read them immediately. The Kindle and Kindle apps aren't set up for me to manage my KU books there, so I have to log into my Amazon account if I want to find and return any KU books. The exception is when I try to borrow an eleventh book; the Kindle or app will prompt me to return one of my ten books I already have and continue. Of course, having access to all the books in the KU library doesn't stop me from buying plenty of other books outside the library.

All the complaints aside, I will say that my use of KU comes and goes in spurts. While I may go for a while without using it, I've read at least two books (maybe three) in KU recently. There are some authors I follow in KU, so it's convenient for binging on their books. I like to think they will get more money for a $0.99 book if I borrow it instead of buying it.

Are you (or have you been) part of KU or other subscription service for books? If so, what did you think of it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Science of the Week, 6/15/18

Here are some of the most interesting science news stories I read this week:

Changes in Earth's orbit could explain rise and fall of ancient species

Building a robotic eel that swims through your body

Researchers reverse cognitive impairments in mice with dementia

Oak Ridge Lab launches America's new top supercomputer for science

In desert trials, next-generation water harvester delivers fresh water from air

Research finds tipping point (hint: it's 25%) for large-scale social change

Choice matters: the environmental costs of producing meat, seafood

New system recovers fresh water from power plants

Mineralogy on Mars points to a cold and icy ancient climate

AI senses people's pose through walls

Evidence for a new property of quantum matter revealed

Higgs tangoes with top quark in latest physics discovery

"Gut instinct" may have been the GPS of human ancestors

Have a good weekend, everyone, and if you have the chance to spend some time with your father, do it! See you on Monday!

A Plethora of Projects

As if I didn't have enough to do already between writing, crocheting, and making a new set of Jawa robes, I've discovered a new project: making lanyards. My family and I are planning to attend Star Wars Celebration next year, so naturally we need suitably themed Star Wars lanyards for our badges. Rather than spend $10 each for the official Celebration ones, I did a little searching and found instructions for making my own lanyards from porg-patterned fabric I already had. (See photo.) They're so (or sew) easy even a beginner like me can make them, though it takes me longer than ten minutes (as promised by the pattern). I plan to make more, but this project cuts into time I need for other activities. I'm not sure exactly why I'm inspired to do so many other projects, though it could be a way of avoiding my current writing project.

How many projects do you juggle at once? Do you find yourself spending more time on projects that are lower priority than the ones you really need to do? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

The Tale of Genji

Last month, as I was browsing my library's online catalog of ebooks, I discovered they had a translation of The Tale of Genji, which was written almost a thousand years ago by a Japanese noblewoman and is considered the world's first novel. Naturally, I decided to read it. It's about 1,100 pages, so it took me almost the entire lending period (three weeks) to plow through it. Although there were footnotes, they weren't hyperlinked to the relevant text, which made it difficult to match them up. Nevertheless, I managed to get the gist of the work, though I'm sure there are a lot of subtle details I missed.

The Tale of Genji is more of a biography (albeit of a fictional character) than a plot-driven book that we would consider a novel. It focuses on the life of Genji, the son of an emperor and a beloved concubine. Due to his mother's low rank, he's not eligible to become emperor himself. Today, we might consider Genji a "Marty Stu," as he's extraordinarily handsome, charming, and talented in many areas--and he has quite a few romantic dalliances. It's actually difficult to track all of the women he becomes involved with, especially since it was conventional at the time not to refer to people by name. Genjis' relationships take up much of the story. Characters quote poetry at each other, travel to view cherry blossoms or autumn leaves, and participate in impromptu evening concerts. The tale focuses on day-to-day events, not conflict. That said, there is a time when Genji falls out of favor when a new emperor takes the throne, and he's exiled from court for three years. During this time, he fathers a daughter who becomes the next empress. However, the story doesn't end when Genji dies, but instead focuses on two of his descendants and their rival relationships with women. The story ends abruptly, and there's debate on whether this ending is intentional or not.

Given that this story was written so long ago, relationships between men and women are much more formal than today, and women's lives are quite restricted. Women not only live in separate parts of a house from the men, but also have screens separating them from male visitors. If a man manages to sneak a peek through the screens at the woman, it's a big deal. If he sneaks past the barriers and meets the woman face-to-face, he apparently can have sex with her without much resistance. In fact, a bride and groom spend three nights together before they are betrothed. There are a couple of instances where a man takes a girl and raises her up to be his wife when she comes of age; today, we'd find that repulsive. Genji does this with his second wife, and she's quite shocked when he consummates the relationship. Women in this society can become very house-bound and asocial; for example, one of Genji's lovers refuses to leave her house after her father dies, even though there's no one to help her run it. Many of her servants leave, and the house starts to fall apart before Genji finally learns what's happening and helps her. A pair of sisters also resist leaving their home to go with men who love them after they lose their father. At least two women involved in affairs end up taking religious vows after they have children. I'm not sure how these incidents would have been received by the women who made up the original audience for this story.

The original manuscript of this story no longer exists, so we're lucky that it's been copied down and passed on to us. Story structures have evolved quite a bit since The Tale of Genji was written. It's interesting to look back at older works and see what parts still appeal to us. (For me, there were a couple of passages about stories and wanting someone to share experiences with that resonated with me.)

What's the oldest work you've read, either in the original language or in translation? Did you find it difficult to follow? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Science of the Week, 6/8/18

I don't think there's much news that can top the discovery of organic matter and methane on Mars (which isn't life itself, but possible evidence of life). If you're into particle physics, new Higgs Boson observations and new neutrinos might be more your speed. Otherwise, here are some of the (other) most interesting science news stories I read this week:

Scientists develop material that could regenerate dental enamel

Smart containers to reward people for recycling properly

Spooky quantum particle pairs fly like weird curveballs

The psychosocial toll of our increasingly online lives

Growing "green" rice

How do you weigh a galaxy? Especially the one you're in?

Is an immunization for stress on the horizon?

Have a good weekend, and I'll see you Monday!

IWSG: Names and Titles

Welcome to the June 2018 post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, a group to support fellow writers. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. Our hosts this month are Beverly Stowe McClure, Tyrean Martinson, and Ellen Jacobson.

Our question for this month is What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

I would say book titles are more difficult for me because I change them more often than I do character names. For example, Twinned Universes was originally called To Thine Own Self Be True, then Across Two Universes (which I decided was too similar to Across the Universe, which was used for a YA SF title before I published my book) before I settled on the final title. Lyon's Legacy was originally titled Move Over Ms. L.,which was the title of a John Lennon song I quoted in an early draft. I ended up writing my own song lyrics instead to avoid legal issues. Short stories can go through several name changes as my understanding of the story evolves during writing and revising.

I generally don't change character names so often because they are core to the character. It does happen, however. In the Catalyst Chronicles series, Paul's full name was originally Paul Richard Lennon Harrison, a reference to the four Beatles. Currently it's just Paul Lyon Harrison. Sometimes I change character names if I decide to change their background. Julia is a secondary character in the Catalyst Chronicles series. I don't remember what her original surname was, but when I realized she was half-Navajo, her last name became Kee. Finally, in my current work in progress, I changed the name of a dryad prince when I realized I'd been naming the other dryads with adjective-noun combinations (Redbark, Longleaf) instead of more traditional human names. Now I just realized another character doesn't follow this naming convention. Back to brainstorming!

How often do you change names or titles? Feel free to share examples in the comments.

Joliet Star Wars Day 2018

This was our third year dressing up for Joliet Star Wars Day, which is held every year on the first Saturday in June. (Alex and I attended this event in 2015 before we became members.) This is one of the biggest events of its kind in the area, and it draws troopers in from other states. It starts with a parade, followed by a commemorative picture of all the parade participants. After that, there are lightsaber battles, talks about Star Wars, activities for the kids, and vendors (including Star Wars authors and artists). I didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few of us:

 Standing in front of a Rogue One tank that came all the way from Kentucky for this event.

 I'm the Jawa in the middle of the picture.

 A selfie in front of a "Jawa Trading Post." I should have had someone else take it to get in more of the post.

 Posing with the Rebel Legion.

 Alex held a sign for the Death Star School of the Galactic Academy (the Star Wars costuming group for minors).

  Alex takes his turn guarding the tank.

Science of the Week, 6/1/18

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Origami inspires new tech for tissue regeneration

An elastic fiber filled with electrodes set to revolutionize smart clothes

Broccoli in space: how probiotics could help grow veggies in microgravity

Phone app effectively treats mental illness, study shows

Ingestible "bacteria on a chip" could help diagnose disease

Effort to reduce methane at University of California, Davis dairy showing promise

Mars rocks may harbor signs of life from 4 billion years ago

Aggression neurons identified

No more sweet tooth? Scientists switch off pleasure from food in brains of mice
(sounds horrible to me!)

Have a good weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.

MCSI: Magical Crime Scene Investigation Kickstarter

Today is a very important day: my son's eleventh birthday! Happy Birthday, Alex, and many more birthdays to come! (And no, you can't drive my car--at least, not yet.)

And now for something completely different: MCSI: Magical Crime Scene Investigation. This is the anthology (by Otter Libris) that will include my short story "Henry's Harness," and it's live on Kickstarter! Pledges start at $2, ebook rewards at $6 (available in multiple formats), and paper copies at $20. Higher tiers offer multiple copies of this book in multiple formats, and you can add on custom dice and other books by Otter Libris. This project only needs $1,500 to proceed, and with over $1,100 already pledged after the first week, it's likely to meet goal. If the project reaches $2,000, it'll unlock a secret stretch goal. There are still almost four weeks left to back this project. Back it today, and you can read "Henry's Harness," along with many other intriguing stories, this August.

Some Thoughts on Solo:: A Star Wars Story

I have to admit Han Solo never appealed to me much, so my expectations for Solo: A Star Wars Story weren't high. It turned out to be an OK movie, though I liked The Last Jedi better.

Solo starts with Han already a teenager/young adult, part of a street gang and in love with another member, Qi'ra. When Han manages to steal a small amount of a precious fuel, he uses the opportunity to get off planet. Unfortunately, Qi'ra is forced to remain behind at the last moment, leaving Han determined both to become the best pilot in the galaxy and to go back for her. To meet these goals, he first joins Imperial forces (we don't get to see much of that part of the story, even though he's enlisted for three years), he deserts to pull off caper after caper.

The pacing of the movie was pretty good. Some of the opening shots were quite dark, but otherwise the visuals and effects were also good. I particularly liked the droid L3, who is female, quite opinionated, and has a too-brief appearance in the movie. Lando was also well-done, matching what we see of him in The Empire Strikes Back.

 Han gets the surname "Solo" when he enlists in the Imperial forces. (It's odd that he mentions his father later on in the movie but doesn't want to acknowledge belonging to anyone.) Although belonging and betrayal are themes in the movie, I may have missed some of the dialogue developing those themes. I'm sure I'll get a chance to listen to the dialogue when we return to the theater for multiple viewings.

If you saw the movie this weekend, what did you think of it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Science of the Week, 5/25/18

Here are some of the most interesting science news stories I read this week:

Robots grow mini-organs from human stem cells

"Living drug factories" may one day replace injections

What we inherited from our bug-eating ancestors

Rehabilitating the addicted brain with transcranial magnetic stimulation

Researchers crowdsource brain mapping with gamers, discover six new neuron types

First interstellar immigrant discovered in the solar system

Quantum physics may be even spookier than you think

Floridians could far (sic) far more frequent, intense heatwaves

Every cell in your body has the same DNA. Except it doesn't.



Have a good weekend, especially if you're celebrating Memorial Day. Hopefully Monday I'll have my review of the new Star Wars movie posted.

Conventions and the Indie Writer

Normally I would be posting my WisCon schedule this time of May, but for multiple reasons, I'm not attending this year. (I could theoretically get a one-day pass for Sunday at the door, but there's only one panel that afternoon I'd want to attend, and I'd miss the Guest of Honor speeches anyway.) I'll miss seeing my friends and visiting the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, but I admit it is nice saving money on the hotel and not juggling convention plans along with a birthday party for my son.

When I first started attending WisCon twenty years ago, I wanted to break into professional publishing. I was super excited about meeting not just authors, but agents and editors. I participated in writing workshops and learned "money flows to the author." I participated in panels and Broad Universe readings to get my name out there. How useful are these activities to an indie author? Well, I feel improving my writing craft is a lifelong journey, but these days I work on it mostly by reading books on writing and working on different projects. It's always nice meeting other authors, and I may want to hire another editor at some point for developmental or copy editing, but I'm no longer interested in acquiring an agent (or letting one acquire me). I've never sold enough books at WisCon to justify the expenses, and there are local comic cons and literary festivals I can participate in for little or no cost.

WisCon's emphasis on intersectional feminism makes it unique, and I love the excuse to return to my favorite city in the springtime. Hopefully next year I'll be able to attend. (At least there won't be any Star Wars movies opening Memorial Day weekend.) In the meantime, I have a comic con at my local library to prepare for in September.

Do you go to conventions? If so, do you find them helpful for writers? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Kindle Organization

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed my announcement last week that I appear to have run out of storage on my primary Kindle. Of course, all of my books and samples are stored in the cloud, so I can download them and delete them at will. The problem is that when I first started my Kindle library, I was able to sort my items into collections by genre and read/unread status. I probably have thousands of items now, which makes it impractical to keep my collection sorted. (I discovered recently that you can put items into collections through the Amazon website, which is easier to use than the Kindle. However, since you still have to assign items to collections individually, and the status isn't immediately apparent, it's tedious work.) So I keep unread items on my Kindle and delete them as I read them. However, I still add items to my library faster than even I can read them, so at some point, I may have to delete unread items from the Kindle, which means I'll forget about them.

Any recommendations on how to better organize my collection? If so, feel free to share them in the comments.

Science of the Week, 5/18/18

Here are some of the most interesting science news stories I read this week:

A hangover pill? Tests on drunk mice show promise

Atmospheric seasons could signal alien life

How poverty changes your mind-set

Forensic accounting can predict future food fraud
(Food fraud is something I have to think about for my day job in Quality Assurance)

Mini tractor beams help arrange artifical cells into tissue structures

How our ancestors with autistic traits led a revolution in Ice Age art

How primordial life on Earth might have replicated

A green approach to making ammonia could help feed the world

Climate change should help Midwest corn production through 2050

A quantum entanglement between two physically separated ultra-cold atomic clouds

Have a good weekend, and see you Monday!

The Future of Humanity (and a Group Giveaway)

Michio Kako interviewed both scientists and science fiction authors for his recent book The Future of Humanity. If you want to think about the long-term future of the human race, this is a book worth reading. Kako lays out in an orderly fashion how we can establish a settlement on the moon; then gradually work our way to Mars and moons in the outer solar system; and leave the solar system, the Milky Way, and possibly even our universe. Of course, there is the slight problem of overcoming the current obstacles we face first. Besides colonizing space, Kako also suggests that we may overcome death (I wonder if I'll live long enough to see that) and will adapt ourselves to new planets while still retaining our basic humanity. I guess it's up to the science fiction writers to fill in more details about that.

Speaking of speculative fiction, I'm part of another group giveaway on Instafreebie. You can check it out at this link. The giveaway runs through the end of the month and includes science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I hope you find some interesting new books there!