Back again for another Freestyle Friday for some swag. Don’t worry, I gotcha. As for me, I made some good progress. Got 2 and a half chapters done on Scarlet Phoenix. Okay, two and a quarter. Still. It was a little rough, because one of them is a super critical point for one of the main characters, a real pivotal moment. It kind of cements my plan for them, even if I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that yet. I did get another post out this week, but not what I thought it was going to be. Instead I posted a thing I’d written a little while ago on Space Tourism.
But, you’re not here for my B.S…. On to the goodies.
Web Comic Highlight:
So… I have an issue with Batman. Okay, so my issue is a little less with Batman himself, than it is with all of the hyper-BATS-IS-THE-BEST fans out there. This comic completely explains how I feel about it.
Free Books
Books, books, books and more books. Untz-untz-untz!
The Wind Rose by: B. Roman
The Unlikely Occultist by: Isobel Blackthorn
The Resurrection Wager by: Christopher Coates
Our Land of Palestine by: Malcolm Archibald
The Malvern Mystery by: Helen Susan Swift
Knee Deep in a Sea Breeze by: Laila Sholtz-Ames
Spirits’ Gold by: John H. Paterson
Switch by: Nick Sweet
Conspiracy by: David N. Pauly
The Quest For The Bone Idol by: Tony Lewis
Science!
Ancient ‘Texas Serengeti’ had Elephant-Like Animals, Rhinos, Alligators and More
While the “Texas Serengeti” thing is really cool, the hidden gem in this is that nearly a century ago the gov/university put people to work digging up fossils. Like, people are hurting so let’s put them to work for science. And over the last 80 years, they’ve been chipping away at that treasure trove of data. This is fantastic.
Credit: The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences
AI Agent Offers Rationales Using Everyday Language to Explain its Actions
Great, so Skynet will be able to explain to us why in language we’ll understand as it wipes humanity away. That’s a comfort. Seriously though, this kind of dialogue really starts to cross into the Uncanny Valley, in my opinion. When computers ACTUALLY talk like people, we’re well on the path to making the two indistinguishable.
Credit: Georgia Tech
Family Caught Selling Diseased Body Parts to Medical Centers
HOLY FORKING SHIRTBALLS! This story is bonkers. Not only was this father and son duo SELLING body parts that were donated, but they were selling ones that were infected with deadly diseases. This pair are comic-book-level villains for real.
NASA Invests in Potentially Revolutionary Tech Concepts
And for today’s dose of space, though tangentially… NASA actually often funds crazy projects, and these are no slouch in that arena. I think my favorite might be balloons on Venus, though research into mining the moon for spacecraft propellant is pretty cool.
Credit Nasa/JPS-Caltech
#NerdArt
Got a few extra NerdArt bits for you today, just because they’re that awesome. Don’t forget to click through some of the links here, some of these are parts of fantastic series.
