Metaverse Described for the People Who Prefer IRL

Here's a short (2:50), informative video over at the BBC describing what this is about.

Since the 1980's I've seen these things come and I've seen these things go.  However, this time I think it might stick.  The concepts have been floating around for decades, the hardware seems finally up to the task, the basics behind the software have been there for a while, but most of all there's finally a business driver behind it now.  Integration of all the parts seems to be happening very quickly.  We shall see, and likely fairly soon.

BTW, Ted Chiang's novella The Lifecycle of Software Objects, addresses some of the unexpected twists that partially existing in a shared interactive virtual world can take.  It's in his 2019 collection Exhalation, which I highly recommend.  I'll write something up about it just as soon as I finish the last third.

The Clash's 20 Greatest Guitar Moments

Short & sweet: https://guitar.com/guides/essential-guide/the-clash-greatest-guitar-moments/

Even if you don't listen to more than a clip of each song, it's still a treat.  And an education.

When Paleontologists go Oystering

A short article over at Atlas Obscura describes how paleontologists are digging into oyster bars in Apalachicola Bay to get some baselines on what a normal, healthy bay once looked like.  It's a convoluted tale and it's still developing, so I won't try to summarize further than saying that it's a sub- 5 minute read.

Interesting, and I wish them all the best.

"Tetra-Neutron"? Sure, why not.

Article here, with actual links to the actual paper.  Go & read (it's short), come back for commentary.

OK, got all that?  It does seem likely that this group has managed to make atoms (and I use that term very loosely here) of neutronium.  That and an equal amount of carbon-10 as a by-product, which is pretty cool all by itself, by smacking two lithium-7 nuclei together.  I'd like to see a confirming experiment though.  It ought to be pretty easy to do with a time-of-flight chamber, a fat E-dE diode detector, and some elementary kinematic deconvolution.  Interesting stuff.

Not actual size.

So, what was that in last Thursday's pic?

It was a very strange Soviet sort-of airplane.  Video here.  Wikipedia article here.  And a little more here.

The Single Sentence Sci-Fi Challenge

Prodded by this post, here's my attempt.

With my cut from the Miami run in hand – a supposedly untraceable combination of cash, crypto, and lint – I hit the return-to-hanger control on the ekranoplan and stepped into the apartment to finish the black sapote I'd picked up at the turn-around point.

Eh, it doesn't have to be good, it just has to sound good.  Now it's your turn.

Happy First Day of Not Hurricane Season

 

Some Season's Greetings that everyone can get onboard with.