biotechnology
Living Battery: Given the amount of biotechnology around the place, it should not surprise you that there are, yes, more than a few living batteries. It’s just that they’re all lifeforms specifically created to serve as living batteries – large cultures of Spheroporus electri inside microbial fuel cells, artificial
religion
(The kind that’s made of ideas, not the kind that outgrabes…) So, Mark Atwood sent me a link to this: Who worships an evil god? Someone has realized that the lovecraftian gods are effective as myth because they are basically the eikones of the human species, hiding in plain
trope-a-day
Literal Genie: This is what you get quite often if you have a big ol’ liking for Asimovian AI-constraints, because it turns out it’s bloody hard to write (in, y’know, code) a version of the Second Law – A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings
galactography
Solar eclipses are a relatively frequent phenomenon within the Worlds, occurring on any planet which possesses a moon large enough to elevate its occasional traversal of the primary from a mere transit. The majority of these are annular eclipses, although – even if we discount those habitable gas giant and superlithic
worldbuilding
(Somewhat belated, for which I apologize, but day-job-wise, it’s been a hell of a month. Actually, it continues to be, hence the dearth of postings in August, and now I’m about to ship off to Maryland for a week on a business trip, so… Yeah. Sorry, folks.) Without
eldraeic language
(I realized upon using the word in a comment thread here that I’d never actually given the full definition, so…) zakhrehs: “barbarians”; specifically those sophonts who are alien to the Imperial ethical and moral traditions, in re libertism, negentropy, and gentlesophly behavior. It should be noted that this term
meta
Well, the start-of-month postings were delayed somewhat by our delightful Internet outage. (Turns out the cable was unplugged at the pole, which has a variety of explanations, all of them either bizarre or reflecting terrifying incompetence. This shit should not fly in the cloud-dependent 21st century, people!) But things are
worldbuilding
So, I saw this posted on G+ recently: What’s New In The World Of Robot Sex? Relevant excerpt: But the worries remain. And last week, news broke of a robot called “Frigid Farrah” that’s meant as a sex companion for a person, but with a twist. According to
trope-a-day
Lightworlder: Tending to the tall and skinny, yes. Not, however, particularly delicate, both since the problem of microgravity-induced bone and muscle degeneration has long since had the shit scienced out of it, and because while gravity may be greatly lessened Up There, inertia is still exactly the same.
Lumenna-Súnáris System
(Author’s note: for those not remembering the galactography, much as Sialhaith is the Venus-like planet orbiting the primary star of the eldrae home system, Elémíre is another example of the same class orbiting its binary companion…) Unlike its cousin, Sialhaith, the ecopoesis of Elémíre proceeded to schedule. No longer
eldraeic language
talisqor: (from talis “truth” + qori case tag: standard): the perspective of truth; objectivity, science, and mathematics; reality-as-it-is; existence; history; positive claims. aelvaqor: (from aelva “beauty” + qori case tag: standard): the perspective of beauty; ambijectivity, art, and the numinous; reality-as-it-ought-be; creation; mythology; normative claims. alathqor: (from alath “wisdom” + qori case tag:
trope-a-day
Life Drinker (Although Not Really): Not in any literal sense, obviously, this being firm SF and thus vitalism very much not in vogue. But consider the case of the experience addict, who eats forcibly taken memories, or those who take an individualist approach to group-mind transcendence by attacking others to