I’ve been thinking for years that SF’s love affair with nanotech was really just a symptom of a disease afflicting both physicists and technocrats in general: microorganism envy, or rather, the envy of those who work with the fascinating microworlds of biology. Well, this article has some interesting suggestions about how the growing realization of just how much of a role bacteria play in human life, and the biosphere generally. Bacteria-mediated and bacteria-friendly surgery. The human Microme project. The mental health effects of bacteria in yogurt. This is definitely an article to check out for anyone who wants some idea …
Month: October 2010
Dear Mr. Shocked Subway Rider
Look, man… you get to pick two of the following three. Two maximum. You can… … stand right in the middle of the space through which people need to pass to get into and out of the subway car, in a way that explicitly blocks the exit to the subway car, and don’t look around to see if someone behind you needs to get out (or even position yourself such that you’ve considered the fact someone might want to get on or off the train). … act shocked when the force of someone trying to push through the rest of …
Seoul SF Crit Group
I forgot to mention this, but looks like we have ourselves a “speculative fiction” (SF and fantasy and horror, I guess?) critique group in Seoul. This is something I’ve been wanting to set up for years, but I never knew enough people in the area who were writing. (I did have a frustrating brush with a local open mic night–groan–but the thing is that with crit groups, you kind of need the people critting to be familiar with the genre you’re writing. Otherwise, you’re in the same position as asking a fan of Mozart to give you pointers on your …
Jane Goodall Retrospective
It’s a funny coincidence that this should be up now, since I’m currently reading Jane Goodall’s book Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating–a book I received as a present some time ago, and only got to now–but I noticed on Boing-Boing’s Twitter feed regarding a link to a retrospective on her career and discoveries–titled “Being Jane Goodall”–at National Geographic, as well as a lovely cache of the photos contributed by her to the magazine. Both the article and the photos are worth your time, so go and check them out. The thing that’s fascinating to me about the …
More Books on Belgian Beer (and More)
I mentioned reading Jeff Sparrow’s Wild Brews a while back, and noted that I wanted to read about the other Belgian styles of beer, covered in other books in the same series. Well, I wish I’d gotten to them sooner, but I have finally gotten to Stan Hieronymous’ famous Brew Like a Monk: Trappist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales and How to Brew Them, and Phil Markowski’s Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition. Both books are really good, though the latter is slimmer than the former. I don’t have a great deal to say about them, in part …