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blue-lollipops-and-ice-clouds · 2 months ago

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Rock Sound 25 Icons - Sleep Token Article (Transcript).

Transcript written by yours truly!

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ROCK SOUND 25 ICON

SLEEP TOKEN

WITH A METEORIC RISE UNLIKE ANYTHING THE HEAVY MUSIC WORLD HAS SEEN BEFORE, SLEEP TOKEN HAVE BECOME ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUCCESS STORIES IN MODERN ROCK HISTORY. AS THEY ACCEPT THEIR ROCK SOUND 25 ICON AWARD, WE EXPLORE HOW THEIR GENRE-PUSHING VISION HAS RESONATED WITH FANS ACROSS THE WORLD, WITH SOME OF THE BAND'S FORMER TOURMATES AND SUPERFANS REFLECTING ON THEIR INCREDIBLE JOURNEY.

WORDS

MADDY HOWELL

PHOTOS

ANDY FORD

[page break]

LIVE PHOTOS

ADAMROSS WILLIAMS

It took less than seven minutes for the Sleep Token explosion to hit.

Gathering momentum in the UK underground scene with their 2019 debut 'Sundowning' and its 2021 follow-up 'This Place Wil Become Your Tomb', in early 2023 the masked collective set the internet ablaze with 'The Summoning'.

Nonchalantly dropped just 24 hours after the emotionally driven 'Chokehold' arrived, the inferno came out of nowhere for many heavy music fans. The song's gnarly down-tuned guitars and crushing metal riffs resonating deeply, its ominous, poetic lyrics searing with passion, and the voice of the band's masked frontman —Vessel — soaring over its huge, otherworldly chorus. It was the kind of mastery that proved difficult for any metal fan to ignore, but after five minutes, something wholly unexpected happened The riff-laden chaos segueing into a two-minute funk outro, from that moment - the stage was set for a revolution.

Forging their sound whilst remaining insistent on resisting genre classification, Sleep Token had been darting between progressive metal, R&B, and glossy pop with ease since their formation in 2016. Adding new styles and influences into their arsenal at every opportunity, from the second they erupted into the mainstream consciousness their expansive vision was impossible to ignore.

Capturing something elusive, something that had long felt absent from the contemporary heavy music scene, 'The Summoning' defied easy categorisation. Blending sounds in ways that were as unpredictable as they were seamless, the track catapulted the band to viral fame on TikTok. Clips of the song's outro paired with memes, fan art, and incredulous reactions from listeners flooded the app's feed, and within days the band's cult following began to expand rapidly, each new fan clamouring for more information about the mysterious masked group that were suddenly dominating their social media timelines.

"It's pretty crazy when you think about it,"' laughs John Famiglietti, bassist and producer of experimental band HEALTH.

"A lot of this stuff really doesn't have precedent but when TikTok was created, they built the concept of virality into the code. It needed to become the fastest route to virality, and they wanted to destroy YouTube. Sleep Token is the perfect example of that in action, because that song was released in what the music industry calls 'The No Zone'. It had a visualiser of a copyright-free Elden Ring boss, and it was nearly [page break] seven minutes long. That kind of thing just doesn't get big."

What John explains is vital to understanding the magic behind Sleep Token's rise, because simply put - the whole thing is almost impossible to believe. From making their live debut in front of less than 500 fans at London's The Black Heart in the summer of 2017, to dominating the social media algorithms of thousands, their sudden and overwhelming rise is entirely unprecedented.

The release of 2023's Take Me Back To Eden' swiftly followed by a Best UK Artist award win at the Heavy Music Awards and an announcement of a standalone headine show at Wembley Arena, the excitement surging through the scene was palpable — evident as fans scrambled to acquire tickets for the landmark evening. Selling out within ten minutes of going on general sale, Sleep Token were officially an arena-filling rock band.

"It's not often you see that kind of leap anymore," John continues.

"In the span of eight months, Sleep Token went from small clubs to headlining arenas. For me, that's the most exciting part. I can't remember the last time I saw a band do that."

With HEALTH playing alongside them that historic night in London, John recalls the atmosphere vividly. Looking back then, how does he think Sleep Token's stratospheric rise happened?

"They're bringing pop elements in through the language of heavy music, and that's a big part of the appeal," he explains.

"When you're at a Sleep Token show, you can see the kids connecting with that shit and singing along. It's a big show, it's theatrical, and when everyone's singing along…that's where you get the chills. The crowd makes it, and you can see the smiles on people's faces. For a lot of these kids, it's their first concert. If your music can bring new people into this world, that's the most powerful thing possible."

With 'Take Me Back To Eden' landing the band their first ever Top 5 album, as well as becoming the most-streamed metal album on Spotify in 2023, Sleep Token's Wembley Arena ritual served not only as a celebration of a remarkable year — but a declaration of the future of metal.

Asserting that the scene was ready for change, from the moment that Vessel emerged into the stage's central spotlight, all12,500 fans gathered in the room knew that a new era of heavy music was beginning. With striking [column break] nu-metal inspired masks for band members II, III and IV unveiled on Instagram just moments before the band's scheduled stage time, the energy surging through the crowd was nothing short of electric.

A sonic and visual spectacle, from the assaulting intensity of 'Vore' to the raw catharsis of 'Ascensionism' each moment of the show shone with intent. The night blooming into a powerful karaoke session as Vessel suddenly became unable to sing mid-performance, by the time proceedings culminated in a heartfelt rendition of 'Blood Sport", everyone filtering out the doors of Wembley Arena knew they had witnessed something groundbreaking.

A remarkable achievement from a simply remarkable band, to understand how Sleep Token ended up taking their songs to a stage like Wembley, we need to take things back to the beginning.

Debuting the project with 2016 EP 'One' and 2017's 'Two', the groundwork for the world they were about to build was lain. A world filled with technical metal, expansive atmospheres, and an unapologetic commitment to musical experimentation, the band's early releases demonstrated an unusual level of ambition for a fledgling band. Not just blending genres but entirely blurring the lines that segregated them, their metalcore and djent influences bled into lush soundscapes, with emotionally raw vocals and progressive song structures constantly throwing the listener off-guard.

Evading every potential classification, songs like 'Nazareth' and 'Calcutta' felt cinematic yet intimate, drawing from ambient electronica and R&B with a steadfast spirit of eclecticism, yet never feeling disjointed. Carrying a coherent emotional thread — a mood of longing, heartbreak, and spiritual seeking — their vision resonated deeply with a small but passionate group of early fans.

Among those early to hop aboard the Sleep Token train was Holding Absence vocalist Lucas Woodland, who recalls his first encounter with the band.

"The first song I listened to was 'Nazareth', and it just blew my mind," he nods.

"It was just so cool, and to this day, I think that's Sleep Token's greatest strength. It's cool for kids that are just getting into this genre of music, but it's also cool for people like me who listen to bands like Radiohead and Bon Iver. It somehow manages to scratch two very cool but very different itches. Throw that together with vocals that are so out of this world… you' ve got something special. I was shocked to discover how small they were at that point." [page break]

With that, Lucas became one of the band's earliest champions. After discovering them, he immediately shared Sleep Token's music in the Holding Absence group chat, urging his bandmates to check them out.

The Welsh band joining forces with Loathe for a split EP titled 'This ls As One' the two bands were in the process of mapping out a co-headline tour. With shows set to take place in early 2018, they knew they had to find a way to get Sleep Token involved. Picking a local band to join them on each date of their joint UK run, they decided to offer the slot for the two biggest shows — London and Manchester — to the genre-slashing newcomers. Witnessing the earliest iterations of the band's live show, their full vision may not have been realised back then but already something was brewing.

"It was surreal," Lucas nods.

"The first two times I saw them were supporting us on that 2018 tour, and it was early days for them, but there was still this magical element to them. I remember speaking to Vessel after the show, and he was like, 'Sorry can't catch your set, I've got to run off and wash this I paint off'."

"When you look back on that, it's crazy to think that there was a period of time where they painted up, got on stage, played to 50 people, and then quickly ran off to have a shower in a Travelodge," he laughs.

"The third time that I saw them though, they played St Pancras Church to around 120 people. By that point, the vision was realised, and that was the moment where I realised that this was their turf now. Everyone in that room saw what this could be. It was a seated show, and it almost felt like a sermon. For that to be one of your first headline shows, and for it to captivate people in the way that it did..that's crazy."

Looking back on what shift may have occurred between the band he saw onstage that evening and the band Sleep Token have become, Lucas explains.

"When 'The Summoning' came out, barely anything had changed.. everyone else had just woken up to it."

"I honestly believe that the vision of the band, the message, and the sound has been there since day one. It's so cool to think that the band I watched in that church all those years ago and the band that is now playing to tens of thousands of people now is the same band."

The heavy music world had long been craving the kind of shake-up Sleep Token brought. Much of the scene tired of existing in a lull of stagnation as artists began to take [page break] bigger risks with their sound and experiment with fresh influences, a sense of scepticism transformed into intrigue.

Despite a growing longing for something different though, it takes something truly special to bowl in and completely shatter the boundaries of everything that existed before it. With little of the band's core identity changing since its inception, for Sleep Token to achieve such an explosion — the moment had to be right. With the world emerging from a global pandemic and grappling with a growing reliance on social media, Lucas reflects on the circumstances that led the band to greatness.

"It's important to note that every important band ever was in the right place, at the right time to ignite the culture,"" he explains.

"If Slipknot came out today, they wouldn't be the band that they are. If Metallica came out in the 60s they wouldn't have been as successful. Everybody has lived their lives terminally online for so long now. As musicians, for so long we were told that we must engage with our audience, because it's never been so easy to do it. We're told that we should be tweeting every day, we should be posting photos every day, and nothing is sacred anymore."

"You can engage with your fans at any given moment, but we reached a point where that almost plateaued. People are sick of hearing everyone's opinions, and they just want to hear the music. There are music fans who can't remember a world without the internet, and they can't remember a world where anonymity existed. They can't remember a world where mystery exists."

It's understandable then how the band's anonymity and carefully curated lore have forged a large part of their appeal. Whilst they are far from the first band to adopt masks and a hidden identity — with the likes of Slipknot, Ghost, and Hollywood Undead coming before them — Sleep Token's anonymity feels different. With social media making it easier than ever to know everything about a band, the collective have chosen to withhold almost everything, and that has only elevated fan's desperation to unearth more.

In a world obsessed with personal branding, where artists often cultivate parasocial relationships with their fans through constant interaction and engagement, Sleep Token's decision to remain an enigma marks a decidedly different approach to their peers. Their identities remaining closely guarded secrets Vessel- who has spoken just a handful of times in interviews early in the band's [page break] career has built a persona around the idea of serving an ancient deity known only as Sleep.

Carving out a role that feels entirely other-worldly, at the same time, there is something deeply human in Vessel's character, Wracked with emotion, pain, and a desperation to grow, their ability to tap into the deepest, darkest caverns of the human feeling is unrivalled. Their larger-than-life image clashing with the humanity and vulnerability of Vessel's lyrics, whilst fans may not know the identity of the men behind the mask, they can connect deeply with every word he says.

Because of this, the band's anonymity has proved much more than a gimmick, it's become a vital part of the identity that has forged a fanatical community. Stripped of a name and a human visage, Vessel is not a rock star in the traditional sense. He doesn't present himself as a relatable figure or even a person at all — he's an idea. An invitation to immerse yourself in the band's universe, the inability to put a face to the name makes every part of Sleep Token feel universal. Stripping away the distractions of celebrity and ego, it's allowed listeners to project their emotions and interpretations onto the songs like never before.

"They managed to line up this beautiful thread through the needle moment because everyone is so hungry to find out more about them," Lucas nods.

"We live in a world where we know everything about everyone, and they have been able to use that in a backwards sense. They've not only kept hold of the anonymity, but they've embraced it. They've turned II, III and IV into characters, and they're relevant parts of the band and the culture. They've always been important musicians on stage, but I remember being drunk at a house party and seeing the mask reveals on my Instagram feed. It felt like a new character had just been unlocked. It was such a moment."

That feeling of grandiosity is something that Sleep Token have become well-versed in creating. Each fresh reveal feeling monumental, it's elevated their live shows from simple performances to powerful rituals [column break] as though they've been a part of something much bigger.

As Sleep Token's rise has continued, word of their live shows has spread far beyond the UK. Kickstarting a new era after wiping their Instagram in early 2024 — leaving just a bio that read 'Nothing lasts forever' — North America were invited to bear witness to 'The Teeth Of God' tour.

A 21-date run taking place throughout April and May, they were joined by Empire State Bastard for the shows, with both bands playing to packed out venues night after night.

"It was an incredible spectacle to witness each night," guitarist Mike Vennart reflects.

"Their audience is hardcore. The most dedicated and obsessed fans. The best audience a band could hope for, really. Not to ruin the magic, but the lads in the band are wonderful too."

While many bands take years, even decades, to build up a loyal fanbase, Sleep Token have culminated a rabid community of fans in record time. Their collision of influences uniting people from vastly different sonic backgrounds, there are moments that speak to every kind of music fan.

Whether it's the ethereal melodies of 'Alkaline', the crushing heaviness of 'The Offering', or the gutting piano melodies of 'Blood Sport', their refusal to be confined has become their calling card. Retaining a core heaviness whilst pulling from pop, R&B, progressive rock, and jazz, they've spawned a sound that speaks to people from all walks of life, never alienating any one group.

Before they were headlining rooms to thousands of fans Stateside though, one of the first US bands to recognise Sleep Token's potential was Issues. Looking for an opener for their 'Beautiful Oblivion' tour — celebrating their third and final allbum — their booking agent threw Sleep Token's name into the conversation. Having recently begun working with them, he sent over their debut EP, and bassist Skyler Acord felt an immediate connection to their willingness to push boundaries.

"It felt like it came completely out of left field," he recalls.

Everybody who's a fan of Sleep Token knows the feeling of finding them where you're like, 'What the hell am I listening to? Where did this come from? Why does he sound like that? Where are the masks for?' … I went through that whole experience." [page break]

With only a few songs out in the world at that point, a series of internal discussions took place about whether it would be a better move for the band to acquire an opener who was little more well-known However, with Acord recognising the potential Sleep Token had it didn't take long before they were on the bill for their first US tour. Watching the British band play some of their earliest shows, each night Issues felt more and more certain that they'd made the right choice to take a chance on Sleep Token.

"They're doing something really interesting and really different, and rock absolutely needs that," Skyler nods.

"I could tell that they were going to be huge, and I wanted to be the first to take them out. I love giving a leg up to anybody doing something different, because rock is so boring. especially in America. In America, rock is the most conservative popular genre I can think of. If you stray a little too far outside of the norm, you get shut down. However, Sleep Token found a niche. A vacuum that was just dying to be filled."

"As soon as we started playing with them, I could tell that they really wanted it. The crowd would start with confusion, it would slowly develop into intrigue, and by the end of their set it was all they were talking about."

Since forming in 2012, Issues have made it their mission to change the shape of rock's future, and whilst the sound and aesthetics of their respective projects may differ — Skyler recognised a kinship between the two bands. A drive to alter the music world's perception of rock, and a passion to confuse, captivate, and involve fans, he was instantly in awe of the world they were creating.

"Vessel is the creative force behind a lot of the project, and you can tell that he is coming from the perspective of a piano player," he says.

"That was confusing at first because I was like, 'Where are these riffs coming from?' They're cool, they're simple, but they're heavy. That dude is just a sick keyboard player, and any time you hand that type of great musician a guitar, they're going to come up with something that you never would have dreamed of coming up with."

Inviting Vessel to rip piano solo in the middle of the band's 2019 track 'Get It Right" throughout the run, Skyler and his bandmates had no doubt that Sleep Token would go on to accomplish huge things. Admittedly though, they never expected them to get to where they are quite so rapidly. [page break]

"I'm a huge metal fan, and the only bands that really make a diference are the ones doing something different, and doing it well," Skyler nods.

"Every once in a while, there's a band with a lot of hype, and when you check them out, they just sound like everybody else. There's nothing that special about it when you peel back. By removing identity out of the equation and digging into the mystery of it…Sleep Token mastered it. That approach worked for basically all the bands that I love who have mattered. It worked for Ghost, it worked for Black Sabbath, and it worked for all the black metal bands loved when I was in high school."

For Lorna Shore vocalist Will Ramos, Sleep Token's success also represents a turning point for the entire metal genre. A self-proclaimed superfan of the band, he penned an impassioned essay on the band to celebrate them taking home the title of Best British Artist at the 2023 Rock Sound Awards.

In the piece, Will spoke about seeing the band perform for the first time at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival, rushing over to the stage from Lorna Shore's own 'meet and greet' elsewhere on site.

"Ten seconds into running turned around and saw Of Mice & Men's singer, Aaron Pauley, following me. We started running through this huge crowd together, and everybody was so excited I'm not the type of guy to leave a meet and greet early, but I needed to witness that set. It was an act of true love!" He laughs.

"That's where it started to set in how freaking massive Sleep Token were becoming. They're one of the biggest metal bands that I'm aware of right now, and there were so many people watching that set. They refer to their live shows as rituals, their fans are the congregation, and the stage as a place of worship. It's something that could easily seem tacky if a band did it with little consideration for the details, but they're so committed to what they do."

"Even when they post on Instagram after shows, the captions are always like, 'The ritual has been completed in Copenhagen'. They totally absorb themselves in the spiritual aspect, physically, visually, and sonically. It's a brand, and they completely own that brand. They've made it exactly what it is, and they stick to it."

"The whole experience does feel super spiritual, and they don't just give 50 per cent to the theming, it's 100 per cent. People feel the emotion, see the way they embody this ideal, and hear this incredible music — and I think thats why people are so ready to absolve themselves in this spiritual moment. Everybody has a different connection to every song because of the different things [column break] everyone goes through in life, but they get to experience all of that in a place where everybody else is feeling something too."

Speaking on his admiration of their ability to bring new fans into the heavy music world, the frontman is quick to point out that Sleep Token's genre-blurring tendencies have not only broadened their fanbase, but have also breathed new life into the scene.

"For a long time, metal bands have been putting themselves in a box," he explains.

"It's so refreshing to see the evolution of music, and bands like Sleep Token out there bringing in all these different genres. Doing that brings in a whole bunch of different people, which is so important for the metal world. Half of the time, this genre is seen as dying, but then you hear something like this. There are all these people who didn't listen to metal before listening to Sleep Token, and I love that. It feeds into this community, because people who listen to R&B are listening to this band, and they're venturing further into the genre. It's welcoming to a lot of people, which is a beautiful thing."

What Will describes is a feeling that spreads far beyond music. Bringing together music fans from worlds that once would have clashed, Sleep Token's story is the perfect example of how a movement begins.

Embracing our differences and welcoming all into a world devoid of boundaries and specifications, behind the mystery and the lore, Sleep Token have tapped into some of the most vital, vulnerable parts of our human need for connection. Each note speaking to each person in a uniquely different way, their ability to unite has positioned them as one of the most important bands of this generation, and somehow it still feels as though this is just the beginning.

Reaching heights that most bands work for decades to hit, there is simply no other story quite like Sleep Token's. Each release taking a step forward, a deeper dive into their evolving, immersive sound, they continue to push the boundaries of not only what heavy music can be — but what it should be.

An invitation to feel, to come together, and be a part of something, they've given us a front-row seat to one of the most explosive musical phenomena of our time. Swerving all expectations pushed by the industry, their rise has become a reminder of why music matters. Inspiring a new generation of heavy music artists to strive for something bigger, Sleep Token are proof that with enough belief and commitment in a cause, there are truly no limitations on what you can achieve.

#sleep token #rocksound 25 icons #sleep token article #what did noah spend an hour doing? this obvi!#no new will interview but he still managed to fill up the most space #that ending paragraph tho...like yes exactly #please let me know if you see any mistakes i will only cry a little!

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encyclopediacr · 11 months ago

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Last month year at the wiki — 2023

As we all head into our second full week of 2024 (already!), we at Encyclopedia Exandria are taking the time to look back at what we accomplished in 2023 in this special edition of Last Month At The Wiki.

Encyclopedia Exandria reached its first anniversary in June 2023. We the editors are still proud of our decision to become an independent wiki, and we continue to work hard on our coverage of all things happening at Critical Role Productions. Here's a look at some of the work last year:

We moved episode transcripts into their own special namespace in February. Check out the post about the change and what this meant for the wiki. We also started creating transcripts in languages other than English.

Cuisine for Exandria is a wonderful new article from 2023! We're looking toward creating more broad topic articles like that one in the future.

In April, we completed a first pass rewriting text plagiarized from episodes. This was an issue inherited when we split into our own wiki in 2022 that affected especially late Campaign 1 and early Campaign 2 articles. We've been working on it ever since and continue to work toward a plagiarism-free wiki.

We've done a lot of work on Campaign 1 items! Some notable additions and overhauls include: Horn of Fog, Bloodseeker, Mantle of the Tempest, Circlet of Wisdom, Titanstone Knuckles, and Philter of Love.

Articles for Geek & Sundry era Critical Role episodes were updated to include current thumbnails, tabbed in the infobox behind the originals. It's been wonderful to cross that longstanding item off the to do list. Check out examples at Vorugal (episode) and The Chapter Closes.

Midst and Candela Obscura joined the channel in 2023. We're pleased to be covering both shows as well, but it's hard to link to all of it here. You can navigate through our Midst and Candela Obscura topics off the main articles and using the navboxes at the bottom.

All character articles now have verified "Appearances and mentions" sections! Before we were an independent wiki, character articles had these sections collated using a script from a list that used to live in the infoboxes and from "Featured characters" sections on episode articles. These lists were slowly checked manually to ensure that they they were properly formatted, organized, and correct. That work is finally completed.

With the Frozen Sick topic completed this year, we now have complete coverage for all adventures in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount!

Over time, we changed the way we formatted our 4-Sided Dive articles. Earlier articles were finally brought into line with the newer formatting this year, delivering information to you in a more consistent manner. Such quality of life maintenance for readers often goes unnoticed but is critical to ease of use.

Some other new articles that we're real proud of this year? Battle of the Red Center, Quest for Vestiges, Angels of Iron conspiracy, Currency, Fjord's crew, and Comics.

This is not nearly all of the work we've done. It's only a small slice of the work we accomplished and are proud of in 2023. If you've got a favorite update to the wiki not mentioned here—a new article, an overhaul, a quality of life change, or a backend update—let us know!

If you want to contribute to the wiki in 2024, we welcome you! Our wiki is open to editing by all readers, and our coverage is maintained and improved by our community. Everything from plot summary additions to spelling and grammar corrections are an immense help. If you need any help, feel free to check in with us on article talk pages and at the wiki's Discord.

We hope to continue to maintain this wiki throughout this year.

#Critical Role #Critical Role wiki #last month at the wiki

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radiomogai · 2 years ago

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calling all LIOM blogs

one of the pages in our tag guide is for blog recommendations, and we're hoping to start filling it up today! the blog recommendations page is intended to be a way for people to explore more LIOM and MOGAI blogs, to promo other blogs, and to help boost smaller blogs. we'll be including not just coining blogs, but also hoard blogs, edit blogs, transcription blogs, and really anything that has to do with any aspect of LIOM. with that said, if you're interested on having your blog featured on it, please let us know through a reblog, comment, ask, etc! in addition, we'll be going around and asking blogs if we can feature them on the page as well

each blog will be put under a section of the page {archive, coining, collection/hoard, edit/flags, mixed, personal, transcription}, with their blog's icon, a short description, and a link. if you want to provide your own icon and/or description however, you're more than welcome to!!

the page can be found here (https://roomy-cold-f3c.notion.site/Blog-Recs-e6e596c3b51a435c92992c2ee58e0262). the formatting is mostly done, although we need to fix the transparent squares thing, and mostly just needs the content for now

let us know if you want to be untagged!! @revenant-coining @hypnosiacon @mogai-sunflowers @neopronouns @cielos--angelphilia @noxwithoutstars @jackettranscribes

#blogtalking

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sunmontuewrites · 5 months ago

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Anyone with a Masters degree in materials engineering (or potentially related field) background looking for a PhD scholarship in New Zealand? I'm about to post this on my work LinkedIn...

PhD scholarship – Large format 3D printing with biocomposites

Background: We have a fully-funded PhD scholarship as part of the MBIE Endeavour project “Āmiomio Aotearoa: A Circular Economy for the Wellbeing of New Zealand”. The project is a collaboration between universities, research institutes, industry, community groups and government ministries hosted by the School of Engineering at Waikato University. It aims to pave the way through materials science, engineering, energy, economics, kaupapa Māori, business, law and regulation, social science and public policy for a more sustainable New Zealand.

As a PhD student at the University of Waikato, you would be focused on advancing sustainable manufacturing practices through the development and application of biocomposites.

The successful candidate will explore the use of biopolymers, recycled thermoplastics, and natural fibres to formulate high-performance biocomposites suitable for large format 3D printing (furniture, small structures, interior design). The research will delve into multiple aspects of these materials, including their performance, printability, design optimisation, and life cycle assessment.

This interdisciplinary project provides a unique opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research at the intersection of materials science, environmental sustainability, and advanced manufacturing technologies. We invite passionate and driven individuals to join our team and contribute to this transformative research endeavour.

Your ideal background:

MSc/ME in a related Science/Engineering discipline

experience with natural materials

familiar with CAD design and 3D printing is a plus

experience in life cycle assessment is a plus

a willingness to learn, up-skill and work in multidisciplinary group

a professional attitude, good writing and time management skills

resilience to take on the challenge of the research experience

Value: a stipend of NZ$30,000 per year, domestic tuition fees and insurance, and support for research materials.

Application documents required

CV including contact details for 2-3 referees (including at least one academic reference)

Academic transcript from previous study undertaken (and thesis if available/applicable)

A personal statement (max 1 page) describing your motivation, interests and background related to the research project

English language Certificate where English is not the first language (IELTS/TOEFL)

LINKEDIN for contact details of the guy and you can see he's got the scholarship listed as well.

#PhD #materials science #engineering #scholarship

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macy-does-lang-stuff · 8 months ago

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Old Project

So basically this was a project I worked on in the summer of last year, before I abandoned it to focus on school. I worked on it for a month or two, but unfortunately never got around to naming it. I think I partially quit the project because it had a ridiculously complicated tonal system and a bunch of weird consonants, which made IPA transcription super tedious. With that out of the way, here's a quick(ish) overview of it:

Fundamental Ideas (the concepts I wanted to explore in the project)

Semitic-style consonantal roots, but with vowels instead (I'll get to that later)

Four-vowel system: /a/, /i/, /u/, and /ə/

Tonality and length: á (short high), a (short mid), à (short low), â (rising), ǎ (falling), a̋ (long high), ȁ (long low), ā (long mid)

No rhotic sounds

VSO sentence structure (ex. "Baked the baker a cake")

CCVVCC syllable structure

Base eight

No articles

(I'm sure you can already see that I was trying waaaay too hard to make it unique)

Phonetic Inventory

Phonemes are romanized as follows (ipa / romanised): a / a i / i u / u ə / e p / b pʰ / p t̪ / d t̪ʰ / t c / gy cʰ / ky k / g kʰ / k m / m n̪ / n ɲ / ny ŋ / ng ɸ / f β / v θ / th ð / dh ʃ / s ʒ / z ç / h ʝ / j x / kh ɣ / gh

Tonality and length are romanised as follows:

a̋ (long high) á (short high) ā (long mid) a (short mid) ȁ (long low) à (short low) â (rising) ǎ (falling)

/ə/ cannot have altered tone or length There are long versions of fricatives and nasals for when two of them are written in a row. For instance, if a consonant template goes p_p_n, and is filled in with e_ǐn_u, making it pepǐnnu, it would be pronounced /pəpǐn��u/.

Grammar

Verb-Subject-Object sentences (eg. “Rode I my bike” or “Baked he a cake”)

Adjectives and adverbs after nouns and verbs (eg. “the cat black” or “the woman old and wise” and “running fast” or “slept peacefully”)

To ask someone to do something/suggest something, use negative verb forms

A Sample Translation

Format:

Original text Romanized translation [Linguistic gloss] /IPA transcription/ “More direct translation back into English”

For example:

Would you mind running to the market for me?

fǔùn hatāj nyá, vúkyhekyâkyá būthāekh.

[2SG.POSS will.N in, intention-NEG-go.FUT market.]

/fǔùn̪ çat̪ʰāʝ ɲá, βúcʰçəcʰâcʰá būθāəx/

“By your will, won’t you go to the market?”

Looking back on it, that was an absolute abomination. I'd to to see you all's abominable past creations as well!

#conlang #conlanging #constructed language #language stuff

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letstalkwhump · 2 years ago

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Let's Talk Whump! No. 18

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! I’m Malice and I’ll be your host today.

Today I’m talking whump with the amazing @crash-bump-bring-the-whump!

Great to have you here, @crash-bump-bring-the-whump! Before we begin, do you mind sharing a little bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Ruin, I’m a graphic designer and I love horror, drawing, and playing video games!

Alrighty, let’s get started! What does whump mean to you?

Whump is the juicy bits of a story! It’s the conflict, the agony, the struggle! The good stuff that we’re all here for.

How did you find the whump community?

I found it because I was poking around for more hurt/comfort things to read! @friendlylocalwhumper and @sweetwhumpandhellacomf were actually the first blogs I followed! Lux and the Hunter, and Valerie and Eos were what inspired me to make my own blog.

Do you feel like your view on whump has changed since you joined?

Ohhh man all that’s super changed is that I’ve found more tropes that I like! I knew fevers and environmental and self-sacrifice whump were favs, like who doesn’t love a good sickfic or someone taking a bullet for their loved one, but I also really really discovered my love of gore and lab whump, which are just amazing.

Everyone’s favourite topic: whump tropes! Which are your favourites?

Oh man, so many right now! I love a good drowning, and bouts of hypothermia are fantastic. Those tend to go hand-in-hand though so I usually feel blessed when I find stuff with those. I also love a good fever, “Stay with me”, kidnapping, and self-sacrifice though I’m not as big a fan of death, so this usually also includes intensive caretaking and probably a lot of worry from the other characters which is also amazing.

And your favourite piece you've written?

Oh this is hard, I have a few favorites!

If I can cheat a little bit and name two, the first is MO-1620, which is my current fav OC Mariano’s prison psych transcript! It was super experimental for me, and I had a blast getting to explore his feelings about his imprisonment and how he sees himself versus the reality of his actions and behavior and circumstances. And the second is my first BTHB 2023 fill, for Possession ! I’d gotten House of Leaves for Christmas one year and the formatting just really grabbed me, so I wanted to try playing with that! Plus I love a good human AU, and my OC Will was too perfect for this prompt.

I love the style and formatting of MO-1620! That’s such a unique idea! Do you have a writing routine?

I usually write during the night! I usually have some flavored water, probably a little snack, and I definitely write best if I can just get a big chunk out at once. I try to write regularly while not putting pressure on myself, so it winds up being every few days at least, unless I’m just super grabbed by something and it won’t let go of my brain.

Is there an easy thing for you to write or anything you struggle with?

Oh I love writing horror. If I can incorporate horror into something, or explore what I think is scary about a situation, then it flows SUPER well. Or if I’m getting to do something with a lot of dialogue. Or lately, smut, because consensual NSFW writing has really been going well too.

I also tend to struggle with delving more into environmental, in-depth descriptions. Or diving hardcore into tactics with my military whump stuff because I…am not a clever man sometimes. Also patiently staying on a linear timeline is the worst. I can never do it. Which sucks, because it puts me in a situation like now, where I KNOW how a bunch of characters WILL be and I want to write about it publicly NOW but first I have to REINTRODUCE them AND get them through the initial “I want to kill you here and now” conflict.

Is there anything you're working on at the moment?

I’m working on so much right now! I do written roleplays, my drafts are 15 posts deep, and that’s not even counting my random google docs. Uh I’m working on introducing Mariano’s war buddies again, a bunch of smut, I have a grim reaper fighting a losing battle against a demon, a prompt game request for a friend, a response piece for my co writer, more therapy vignettes for said war buddies, and– you get the picture!

Sounds like you’re pretty swamped! Do you have any advice you’d like to share?

Write what makes you excited! If you don’t want to read what you’re writing, change it! Make it self indulgent! Make more OCs that are specifically catered to you and what you love and want to see! That’s more fun to read anyway, honestly, I love seeing passion!

Shout out to your favourite writing/whump blogs, bffs or people who've inspired you. We're hyping everyone up here!!!

YEAH HERE WE GO! I’ll shout out my co writer @brinkofdiscovery, my bestie @friendlylocalwhumper, my accomplices @comfy-whumpee , @that-one-thespian, and @painful-pooch, uh god there are so many more people. So many people are so sweet! @actress4him, and @inscrutable-shadow, and like everyone in the various servers I’m in, I can’t name everyone or this post would get so obscenely long so quickly…

Anything you'd like to add?

Thank you for this!! It’s super fun to see this happening, and I like getting to see everyone talking about stuff.

Thanks so much for joining us today!

And to all you folks at home, have a whumpder-ful day!

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insidemyfavoritemanuscript · 2 years ago

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Episode 18: Olivia Baskerville on the Great Survey, the Greek New Testament, and the history of England

Pages from the Codex Sinaiticus (l) and The Domesday Book (r)

In Episode 18 of Inside My Favorite Manuscript, we have a two-fer! Dot and Lindsey chat with Olivia Baskerville about her two favorite manuscripts: The Domesday Book and the Codex Sinaiticus. The Domesday Book, completed in 1086, documents a tax survey taken of most of England and parts of Wales after the Norman Conquest, while Codex Sinaiticus is a complete copy of the New Testament, written in Greek in the 4th century and sold to England by the Soviet Union in 1933. While very different in form and content, both manuscripts have played important roles in English culture, and we'll spend most of our time talking about the politics surrounding their creation and use over the course of England's history.

Listen here, or wherever you find your podcasts.

Below the cut are more images and links relevant to the conversation.

The Domesday Book at the National Archives (includes digitized images taken from the 1986 photographic facsimile, free to download in PDF format if you sign in)

Open Domesday (includes digital images taken from the 1850s photozincographic reproduction of Domesday, made by Ordnance Survey in Southampton. As Andrew Prescott points out on Twitter, the plates used to make this facsimile have been cleaned up and some marginalia removed)

Page of the Domesday book showing Bedford in Bedfordshire (image from the National Archives)

Codex Sinaiticus (transcription and digital images)

Codex Sinaiticus fol. 217b, the opening of the Book of Mark

The same page within the context of the website, transcription and translation on the right.

Example of a Canon Table from British Library Burney 41, f. 19v. From left to right, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John showing the divisions that were used before the invention of the modern system of chapter and verses. The numbers in the columns will be written alongside the text in the main part of the Bible. (Wikipedia page on Eusebian Canons)

The canon table that Olivia mentioned, from the Codex Amiatinus (digitized online at the Library of Congress)

Codex Sinaiticus fol. 217b, zoom in on the bottom right under standard light.

Codex Sinaiticus fol. 217b, zoom in on the bottom right margin under raking light. The ruling is so clear!

Wikipedia page on the Soviet sale of paintings from the Hermitage Museum (which happened around the same time that the Codex Sinaiticus was sold)

Newsreel Footage of Codex Sinaiticus from 1933, blog post by Brent Nongbri includes the movie footage embedded.

The CULTIVATE MSS project (2019-2024), funded by the European Research Council, explores how the trade in medieval manuscripts between 1900 and 1945 affected the development of ideas about the nature and value of European culture during this period. (Project website)

The Cost of Culture, the podcast of the CULTIVATE MSS project

#medieval #manuscript #england #history of england #codex sinaiticus #domesday book #nationalism #latin #greek #cultivate mss project #podcast #inside my favorite manuscript #imfmpod

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organchordsandlightning · 2 years ago

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Ooo can u rec a few of ur fav horror books love love love spooky reads :)

🤩oh man here we go let me open the book. a bunch of them under the cut!

Haunted House Classic - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Not the first haunted house story by any means, but a lot of modern haunted house stories draw from this one specifically. A wealthy old man invites a group of people to investigate his house to find concrete proof of the supernatural, only for things to go awry as they realize the house is haunted. Gets really mind-trippy towards the end. Modern - The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas Our protagonist marries a rich man to escape a life of poverty and gain some stability in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Mexican government. As she stays at the hacienda, however, it becomes very clear that something is haunting and watching her every move -- as the staff vehemently deny anything happened to the master of the house's first wife, the protagonist turns to an unorthodox priest for help.

Humor

Grady Hendrix is probably the biggest name in horror-comedy right now, and I'm really enjoying his stuff! My favorite so far of his is How to Sell A Haunted House: in the aftermath of her parents' sudden death, a young woman returns home with her burnout brother to try and figure out what to do with her parents' sizable (and possibly haunted) puppet collection. Really tugs at the heartstrings with the plot being utterly off the wall. Also enjoyed Southern Book Club Guide's to Slaying Vampires by him, about a small southern town that realizes they have a vampire in their midst!

Shlocky

I always have to recommend Riley Sager's books because they feel like reading a B-list horror film: they can be silly, they can be a little shallow, they can be full of unnecessary twists, but they're also a lot of fun and feel like they run with a lot of horror tropes. Home Before Dark is his best-known: growing up, the protagonist's parents exploited the so-called spookiness of their family home (very much a la Amityville Horror). As an adult, she returns to her childhood home and realizes it might not all have been fake.

Sci-Fi Horror

The Annihilation series by Jeff VanDerMeer is really good: a group of scientists given only by their title (the biologist, etc) explore this strange new territory filled with secrets and suspicious creatures, only to realize they may have a traitor in their midst. The first of this series is my favorite, and the dream-like narration might not be for everyone, but the imagery is stunning (and if you do read and like it, audio drama Syntax is heavily inspired by it!)

The Last Astronaut by David Wellington: My god, an asteroid is about to hit Earth (very, very slowly!). To investigate what it's about and how to stop it, a former astronaut and their team go to explore it... only to realize there's more secrets than they realize lying inside, and that it may not be an asteroid after all. Really spooky, ending made me emotional.

Fake Oral Histories (Oral Histories are some of my favorite subgenres of books in general! Basically like World War Z - not written in explicit prose format, but taking advantage of other ways of displaying the story - newspaper articles, interview transcripts, court hearings, etc!)

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks - Speaking of, the guy who wrote World War Z! A town is found massacred, seemingly by the mythic Bigfoot. Journals and various other articles are found around town that explain the weeks leading up to the final slaughter. Really tense, had a lot of fun.

A History of Fear by Luke Dumas - Grayson Hale, AKA the Devil's Advocate Killer, was sentenced for the murder of his fellow graduate student. His account of what happened is found in his jail cell following his death, where he describes how he was approached by a man who he believes to be the actual devil. The framing device for the book is an editor trying to explore more about the Hale case, and it is really fun seeing the editor's version of the story (interviewing people in the Hale statement, seeing conflicting newspaper articles, etc) and how it compares with Hale's. I do have to give a massive religious trauma/homophobia CW on this one though.

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven - I have commitment issues about calling any singular book my favorite, but Fantasticland holds a special place in my heart. In short: a series of interviews from a bunch of Disneyland-esque theme park workers, mostly teenagers, about an incident in the park. A hurricane forced everyone to evacuate but the employees, who hid in underground bunkers. Soon they emerge to see the damage, but in the several weeks it takes for the flooding to clear, all social order breaks down and gangs start to form: the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, the Mole People, all based on different areas of the park. I just think it's really cleverly done and a lot of fun (and also, you know, a little horrifying).

#a small book of recommendations but alas #every time i find another oral history book i devour it like a mongoose #such a fun genre #and yes! my god i read a lot of horror and there's so many different subgenres and so much going on rn

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thehorrortree · 11 months ago

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Deadline: February 29th, 2024 Payment: 0.015 per word Theme: A chronicle of something speculative fiction related (see below for more details!) Note: The pay is a bit lower than what we usually would list, however we don't always see newer podcasts pop up and thought it could be interesting for those who want to get in on the ground floor. A brand new audible zine centering the bizarre, the horrifying, and the what-ifs. New Episodes bi-monthly with an exciting new theme every time. Imagine attending an open mic story-telling night in the cellar of that haunted house on the hill or the canteen of a starship that traverses time and dark dimensions. What stories would you hear? Would they inspire awe or disgust? Hope in the future or existential dread? Genres: Sci-fi, Slipstream, Weird Fiction, Near-Future, Retellings, Folk-Tales, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Surrealism, Cosmic Horror, Dark Fantasy, Speculative… Formats: Mainly Short Stories, Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Plays/Extracts, (but open to) Personal Stories, Dreams/Nightmares, Songs, Soundscapes, Fictional or Real Mini-Docs, Interviews, and whatever else you can dream up… CURRENT THEME: THE CHRONICLE Imagine the diary of an awakening A.I.'s consciousness, ship logs chronicling a perilous journey through an ominous patch of space, an unearthed time capsule housing century-old audio solving an enigmatic mystery. Does your chronicle unravel the epic tale of a forgotten civilization’s rise and fall or narrate the everyday escapades of a lone passenger adrift at sea? Perhaps your chronicle is a tangible artifact, a relic hidden by a secretive order, demanding protection... or destruction. Think intricate field notes of a planetary explorer, official documents from the desk of a demon, heartfelt letters exchanged between lovers existing in parallel dimensions, and ancient spells encapsulated in a mystical grimoire. Each entry unfolding a unique tale, from the artificial to the mystical… Send Your Submissions Here [email protected] Submission Guidelines: Original work only Compensation: 0.015 per word Up to 5 mins or 500 words for poetry/flash fiction/songs Up to 15 mins or 1800-3000 words for short stories/plays Include your name in the file name and the current theme in the subject of your email. You can either submit a recording of your work to be aired or a written version to be recorded/dramatised by us. Written work should be shared as a Google doc or docx file. Recorded work as a high-quality mp3/wav file (accompanied by a Google doc or docx transcript) to [email protected] If the current theme doesn’t suit, please feel free to send in your work anyway at any time, as it may be suitable and used for future themes. Clarkesworld’s list of “Hard Sells” is a good guide for what not to submit Current Deadline: Feb 29th 2024 Via: The Lost Poetry Club.

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stormblessed95 · 2 years ago

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Hi I’m an 8th/9th grade teacher and I’m looking to buy some new books for my classroom and you seem to be reading a lot of YA recently!! Would you mind sharing some recommendations you think are uh appropriate for me to purchase through the school? You seem to read a lot of fantasy/sci fi/romance which is a lot of what my kids like 🥰 thanks!

YA fantasy/scifi and romance! Yessss I can!

I just finished Legendborn by Tracy Deonn and started it's sequel today and it was AMAZING. Highly recommend. It's a King Author + magic retelling, Black Main Character written by a Black Author and done SO WELL because duh, own voices. It's dark academia fantasy and such a killer debut novel FOR SURE. And it's got a the classic YA love triangle and some romance thrown in too. Plus February is Black History Month, great time to support BIPOC authors 💜 (Duolgoy)

Scythe by Neil Shusterman is a YA SciFi dystopian and its SO GOOD. It's a story about how in the future, death no longer exists. The only way a human can die is by being gleaned, aka murdered, by the Scythes. They are trained to deal out death to those who deserve it and contain the human population in the most humane way possible. Yet, there is lots of betrayals and power plays and double crossings happening between those in power of the Sycthe organization. And yes, a very cute side plot romance here too (Trilogy)

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. It's a YA Paranormal Urban Fantasy. It's actually like the YA verison of one of my favorite adult series of hers and it's set in the same world with little Easter eggs connecting the series. But can be read as a standalone trilogy. It follows Chloe discovering she is a necromancer and thrust into this supernatural world and all that comes with it, including a werewolf love interest and the classic YA love triangle and romance. Still so good honestly too. (Trilogy)

This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab. It's a YA Dark Urban Fantasy that basically explores the overall themes of how humans can be the monsters too. It's SO GOOD. Basically 2 kids of powerful men on either side of a war that is destroying their city, must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake.... and while one is human, one might be something else entirely 👀 Literally it's so good. And yes, it does end up having romance too (Duology)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. It's a YA Paranormal fantasy story about a gay trans boy who while trying to get his family to accept both his gender and his powers (the men are traditionally spirit guides and the women are healers), accidentally summons a ghost, who then refuses to move on. And yes, its got a VERY sweet and cute romance here too. Plus own voices trans rep (Standalone)

Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. A YA SciFi Trilogy where it's one of the most unique formats of crafting a story I've ever read. It's told through a series of files and emails and transcripts and it's SO FUN. It follows the story of Kady and Ezra and the journey they go on after their tiny space mining colony was attacked and destroyed. And oh yeah, they had just recently broken up but they Still love each other 😏 and what in the AI happens in this book too! Lol (Trilogy)

And I really wasn't kidding about it being a uniquely written book and yet somehow the audiobooks are just as well done too lol

Warcross by Marie Lu. A SciFi YA Dystopian Novel that is basically like an emersive video game. It follows our main character as she becomes lowkey a spy and bounty hunter. Yes, it's got romance and betrayal and plot twists and rainbow hair and constant reminders that nothing is truly as it seems. And it's so good. (Duology)

As always, make sure you look up content warnings. I didn't list them here this time. But these are all scifi/fantasy YA novels that include a fun romantic side plot that I've LOVED when I read them. Hope this helps and thanks for asking! I have more I can suggest too of course

#storm recommendations #YA fantasy and scifi recs

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soundsofastar · 1 year ago

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I WILL EXPERIENCE YOUR CATEGORY 7 AUTISM EVENT (also what is he from)

SIGHS. ALRIGHT FINE CATEGORY 7/8 AUTISM EVENT INCOMING. Sorry to everyone in advance. Spoilers for the illuminae files under the cut

So. Long story short AIDAN right. Obscure blorbo for the past 4 yrs !!!!!!! He is an AI made to defend a spaceship battle carrier (the spaceship in question being the Alexander 78-V !!) This spaceship isss uhm part of the UTA which is essentially the government/military SSSOOO that means war crimes are about ti happen but i need to preface this with a very very Very Important fact that people seem to forget a LOT!

HE IS A DEFENSE AI !!! it's literally in his name !! It's an acronym that stands for Artificla Intelligence Defense Analytics Network !!!

He acts quite differently from the system standard (how he behaved before getting essentially lobotomised is explored in the prequel of illuminae called memento it's a really great read), the biggest differentiator being that he uses personal pronouns (I, me, myself) to refer to himself. This was apparently so concerning the head of the tech team on the Alexander tried to get the commander of the ship (General torrence) to shut him down so essentially his whole personality and conscious thought is a system error of immense magnitude!!! Later on when shit has already hit the space fan as I love to quote a post on this site somewhere one of the protagonists of the series challenges his belief of not being afraid of death because he can be remade, but that'd be only his core code, it wouldn't be what he's become. It wouldn't be what he's seen and felt and this actually stuns him so badly that he CRASHES. LET ME REITERATE. A military ai with the brain the size of a city CRASHESand I will never forget the impact of seeing the quote "I am afraid." After. Like holy shit hthis guys afraid of death?!,! AND THIS IS ONLY THE START OF HIS DEVELOPMENT.

IN AN AMAAAZINF feat of foreshadowing previously mentioned protagonist finds herself in theserver core and that's the first time (explicitly stated by him) that he's hated what he is. Do you wanna know WHY.

She was MOURNING HER FRJEND who she just witnessed DIE And AIDAN COULDNT COMFORT HER BY GIVING HER A HUG. yes i think about t this scene way more than i should!!!!

The bond he develops with this protagonist tears me apart because she's eventually forced to deactivate him and f. Even though she's killing him inn a way he still asks for her to keep talking to him and AHWFSHFGSN.not to mention he's actually only really as gentle as he is with her !!!!!! He pretends to flush another guy out an AIRLOCK AS A JOKE JUST FOR COMPARISON (best scene in all of the books don't @ me)

THERES SO MUCH MORE BUT THE LAST THING ILL MENTION is that these books are formatted pretty uniquely in the form of transcripts, wikipedia pages etc and he gets his own special kind of pages and tbeyre white on black and that sets him apart so nicely and the formatting and everything changes along with him and ahghwgwh it's such a great way to showwhat's happening to him and changing and HOW and its so amazing and so good please read the illuminae files for him. I beg.

#im actually currently reteadint them againnbecause i dont read gemina nearly enough *second book #i always say its a drag but i kinda forgey what hchabges ab him and i have to remember #sounds of a jesse #drowning in nonsense #bottled messages #yan fan tag (meeresengel)

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uwmadarchives · 2 years ago

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All Systems Go!

by Chloe Foor, Student Historian 2022/2023

It’s kind of crazy to think that almost a whole year has gone by so quickly! Since I’ve last written, I’ve wrapped up processing the oral histories. I have created transcriptions, indexes, and abstracts for six out of the seven oral histories that I’ve conducted, and am in the process of finishing up the last one! While this process is incredibly time consuming, it is also incredibly rewarding. I know that the work that I am doing will allow these oral histories to be accessible to anyone who might be interested in my research topic, and I hope that in the future, a student will find them and become as fascinated with my findings as I have been! These oral histories should be up on the archives website next semester, so make sure to check them out once they get uploaded!

Website for my own project

In less than a week, I will be presenting my research alongside Elisa, the other Student Historian, and Shelby, the recipient of the Undergraduate Research Award. I am super excited to share my research from the last year with everyone, and I know that Elisa and Shelby are also excited! If you want to come to these presentations, they will be Friday May 5th at 12:30 in Memorial Library room 460! If you can’t make it, it will also be recorded and uploaded to the Archives’ YouTube channel!

Finally, I am so excited to share that I have been offered to continue as Student Historian through the next school year! I am not completely sure what my topic will be just yet, but I know that I will likely continue researching the history of queer students at UW. Right now, I am toying with the idea of queer space-making here at Madison, such as the formation of the Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality, the GSCC, and other LGBTQ+ affinity groups on campus! We’ll see where that idea goes, but I do know that I want to spend more time in the archives next year! I was not in the archives that much this last year, I went to explore the Daily Cardinal and files on the Gay Purges and AIDS, but I know that the archives has a plethora of other LGBTQ+ materials that I would love to explore!

As always, thank you so much for reading about my journey! I am looking forward to continuing these blog posts through the next year!

#student historians #undergraduate research #uwmadison #madison wi #campus history #queer history #lgbtqia history #oral history

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tzeming-janice · 1 year ago

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Can crowdsourced information during COVID-19 pandemic mobilise the public into action?

Crowdsourcing is the process of exploring customers’ ideas, opinions, and thoughts available on the internet from large groups of people aimed at incorporating innovation, implementing new ideas, and eliminating product issues (Send Pulse, 2023).

Below are the four main types of crowdsourcing:

With the rise of social media platforms, crowdsourcing became a powerful tool for mobilizing the public. It involves communities worldwide in responding to emergencies and managing natural disasters like earthquakes, wildfires, floods and even major global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crowdsourcing initiatives to face Covid-19 crisis

As noted by World Health Organization (2018), crowdsourcing is increasingly contributing to the improvement of public health since it facilitates the mobilization of a diverse community through communication and collaboration (Nguyen et al., 2019). Also, crowdsourced research and development have proven valuable in the field of medical research (Callaghan, 2015). Additionally, crowdsourcing has been crucial in tackling the challenges of COVID-19 crisis by uniting the efforts of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Crowdfight COVID-19

First, Crowdfight COVID‐19 is an initiative within the scientific community aimed at mobilizing resources to combat COVID‐19. Researchers working on COVID-19 can share a wish or a task to explain their request. The request can go from simple time‐consuming task like data transcription to technical question beyond their expertise, or to setup a collaboration. Fellow scientists in the community then strive to understand and fulfil these requests (Vermicelli et al., 2021).

Call4Ideas COVID-19

The Openinnovability platform, created by Enel, is hosting the Call4Ideas COVID‐19 Challenge in collaboration with Marzotto Venture Accelerator and Campus Bio‐Medico University of Rome. This challenge invites individuals and companies to submit ideas that can be transformed into entrepreneurial projects or to share existing innovative projects that can help address the COVID-19 crisis in Italy. The competition covers various areas such as medical equipment, data analysis, telemedicine, and cybersecurity, with a deadline for participation on May 31, 2020 (Vermicelli et al., 2021).

Kaggle’s CORD-19

Kaggle's CORD-19 project aims to provide the global research community with a comprehensive and regularly updated dataset for applying recent AI techniques. Researchers can post complex data analysis problems with monetary rewards for the best solutions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kaggle has made the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19) freely available, containing over 59,000 scientific articles, including more than 47,000 full-text articles related to COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and related coronaviruses. They also encourage AI experts to develop text and data mining tools to support the medical community in their ongoing battle against COVID-19 (Vermicelli et al., 2021).

The classification of the initiatives has been analyzed as follows:

Source: (Vermicelli et al., 2021)

From the information provided above, we can see that one of the common tasks of crowdsourcing in health is surveillance and the aggregation of information in a unified format. The mix of resources and contributions of the public, together with financial support from public sponsors is structured and coordinated by the intermediary platform. This process leads to the generation of fresh insights, inventive solutions, and the facilitation of cooperation among diverse and complementary stakeholders (Vermicelli et al., 2021).

Will the impact of fake news on social media influence crowdsourcing initiatives?

The utilization of social media and search queries to gather information about the progression of diseases is continuously expanding, encompassing platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Trends, Bing, Yahoo, and others (Depoux et al., 2020). This has given rise to information overload, coupled with the proliferation of deceptive and false news, commonly referred to as 'fake news' (FN). In the twenty-first century, fake news has become a prominent term to describe misinformation disseminated by mass media, predominantly on social platforms, which now play an increasingly integral role in people's daily lives (Naeem et al., 2020). The prevalence of false news has consequences for public health as it fuels panic among people and erodes trust in the scientific community among the public (Rocha et al., 2021).

From my point of view, the influence of fake news on social media can significantly impact crowdsourcing initiatives. Fake news and misinformation can undermine the quality and credibility of data collected via crowdsourcing platforms, making it harder to obtain accurate information. Distrust issues may arise, causing people to be skeptical about their involvement in such initiatives. Information overload and manipulation by malicious actors using fake news can further complicate the mobilization of crowdsourced efforts. To mitigate these challenges, crowdsourcing organizers can implement enhanced verification processes, promote transparency, engage with the community, and educate participants about media literacy. Overall, addressing the impact of fake news is crucial for maintaining the credibility and effectiveness of crowdsourcing initiatives.

References:

Rocha, Y. M., de Moura, G. A., Desidério, G. A., de Oliveira, C. H., Lourenço, F. D., & de Figueiredo Nicolete, L. D. (2021). The impact of fake news on social media and its influence on health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review. Zeitschrift fur Gesundheitswissenschaften = Journal of public health, 1–10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-021-01658-z

Send Pulse. (2023, March 22). Crowdsourcing. https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/crowdsourcing

Smith, T. (2023, October 06). Crowdfunding: What it is, how it works, and popular websites. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdfunding.asp

Sprout Social. (n.d.). Crowdsourcing. https://sproutsocial.com/glossary/crowdsourcing/

Vermicelli, S., Cricelli, L., & Grimaldi, M. (2021). How can crowdsourcing help tackle the COVID‐19 pandemic? An explorative overview of innovative collaborative practices. R&D Management, 51(2), 183–194. https://doi.org/10.1111/radm.12443

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