#geographic information science

[communistkenobi]

media studies people for some reason keep publishing articles about the colonial/imperial problems with data collection & information science. my question is who asked you

[deception-united]

Let's talk about worldbuilding.

Worldbuilding is a crucial aspect of writing fiction, particularly in genres like fantasy and science fiction.

Remember that worldbuilding is a dynamic process that evolves as you write. Don't be afraid to experiment and make changes to your world as needed to serve the story.

Here are some tips to help you build a rich and immersive world:

Start with a Core Concept: Every world begins with an idea. Whether it's a magic system, a futuristic society, or an alternate history, have a clear concept that serves as the foundation for your world.

Define the Rules: Establish the rules that govern your world, including its physical laws, magic systems, societal norms, and cultural practices. Consistency is key to creating a believable world.

Create a Detailed Map: Optional, but helpful. Develop a map of your world to visualise its geography, including continents, countries, cities, and landmarks. Consider factors like climate, terrain, and natural resources to make your world feel authentic.

Build a History: Develop a rich history for your world, including key events, conflicts, and historical figures. Consider how past events have shaped the present and influenced the cultures and societies within your world.

Develop Cultures and Societies: Create diverse cultures and societies within your world, each with its own beliefs, traditions, languages, and social structures. Explore how different cultures interact and conflict with one another.

Flesh Out Characters: Populate your world with memorable characters who reflect its diversity and complexity. Consider how their backgrounds, motivations, and personalities are shaped by the world around them. (See my post on character development for more!)

Consider Technology and Magic: Determine the level of technology and the presence of magic in your world, and how they impact daily life, society, and the overall narrative.

Think about Economics and Politics: Consider the economic systems, political structures, and power dynamics within your world. Explore issues like inequality, governance, and social justice to add depth to your worldbuilding.

Show, Don't Tell: Instead of dumping information on readers, reveal details about your world gradually through storytelling. Show how characters interact with their environment and incorporate worldbuilding seamlessly into the narrative.

Stay Consistent: Maintain consistency in your worldbuilding to ensure coherence and believability. Keep track of details like character names, historical events, and geographic locations to avoid contradictions.

Leave Room for Exploration: While it's essential to have a solid foundation for your world, leave room for discovery and exploration as you write. Allow your world to evolve organically and be open to new ideas and possibilities.

Revise and Edit: Carefully review your worldbuilding to identify any inconsistencies, plot holes, or contradictory elements. Pay attention to details such as character backgrounds, historical events, and the rules of your world's magic or technology. Make necessary revisions to resolve any issues and maintain the integrity of your worldbuilding.

Happy writing!

Previous | Next

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - July 15-21

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735! (Or check out my new(ly repurposed) Patreon!)

1. Thai tiger numbers swell as prey populations stabilize in western forests

“The tiger population density in a series of protected areas in western Thailand has more than doubled over the past two decades, according to new survey data. […] The most recent year of surveys, which concluded in November 2023, photographed 94 individual tigers, up from 75 individuals in the previous year, and from fewer than 40 in 2007. […] A total of 291 individual tigers older than 1 year were recorded, as well as 67 cubs younger than 1 year.”

2. Work starts to rewild former cattle farm

“Ecologists have started work to turn a former livestock farm into a nature reserve [… which] will become a "mosaic of habitats" for insects, birds and mammals. [… R]ewilding farmland could benefit food security locally by encouraging pollinators, improving soil health and soaking up flood water. [… “N]ature restoration doesn't preclude food production. We want to address [food security] by using nature-based solutions."”

3. Harnessing ‘invisible forests in plain view’ to reforest the world

“[… T]he degraded land contained numerous such stumps with intact root systems capable of regenerating themselves, plus millions of tree seeds hidden in the soil, which farmers could simply encourage to grow and reforest the landscape[….] Today, the technique of letting trees resprout and protecting their growth from livestock and wildlife [… has] massive potential to help tackle biodiversity loss and food insecurity through resilient agroforestry systems. [… The UN’s] reported solution includes investing in land restoration, “nature-positive” food production, and rewilding, which could return between $7 and $30 for every dollar spent.”

4. California bars school districts from outing LGBTQ+ kids to their parents

“Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the SAFETY Act today – a bill that prohibits the forced outing of transgender and gay students, making California the first state to explicitly prohibit school districts from doing so. […] Matt Adams, a head of department at a West London state school, told PinkNews at the time: “Teachers and schools do not have all the information about every child’s home environment and instead of supporting a pupil to be themselves in school, we could be putting them at risk of harm.””

5. 85% of new electricity built in 2023 came from renewables

“Electricity supplied by renewables, like hydropower, solar, and wind, has increased gradually over the past few decades — but rapidly in recent years. [… C]lean energy now makes up around 43 percent of global electricity capacity. In terms of generation — the actual power produced by energy sources — renewables were responsible for 30 percent of electricity production last year. […] Along with the rise of renewable sources has come a slowdown in construction of non-renewable power plants as well as a move to decommission more fossil fuel facilities.”

6. Deadly cobra bites to "drastically reduce" as scientists discover new antivenom

“After successful human trials, the snake venom antidote could be rolled out relatively quickly to become a "cheap, safe and effective drug for treating cobra bites" and saving lives around the globe, say scientists. Scientists have found that a commonly used blood thinner known as heparin can be repurposed as an inexpensive antidote for cobra venom. […] Using CRISPR gene-editing technology […] they successfully repurposed heparin, proving that the common blood thinner can stop the necrosis caused by cobra bites.”

7. FruitFlow: a new citizen science initiative unlocks orchard secrets

“"FruitWatch" has significantly refined phenological models by integrating extensive citizen-sourced data, which spans a wider geographical area than traditional methods. These enhanced models offer growers precise, location-specific predictions, essential for optimizing agricultural planning and interventions. […] By improving the accuracy of phenological models, farmers can better align their operations with natural biological cycles, enhancing both yield and quality.”

8. July 4th Means Freedom for Humpback Whale Near Valdez, Alaska

“The NOAA Fisheries Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline received numerous reports late afternoon on July 3. A young humpback whale was entangled in the middle of the Port of Valdez[….] “The success of this mission was due to the support of the community, as they were the foundation of the effort,” said Moran. [… Members of the community] were able to fill the critical role of acting as first responders to a marine mammal emergency. “Calling in these reports is extremely valuable as it allows us to respond when safe and appropriate, and also helps us gain information on various threats affecting the animals,” said Lyman.”

9. Elephants Receive First of Its Kind Vaccine

“Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus is the leading cause of death for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) born in facilities in North America and also causes calf deaths in the wild in Asia. A 40-year-old female received the new mRNA vaccine, which is expected to help the animal boost immunity[….]”

10. Conservation partners and Indigenous communities working together to restore forests in Guatemala

“The K’iche have successfully managed their natural resources for centuries using their traditional governing body and ancestral knowledge. As a result, Totonicapán is home to Guatemala’s largest remaining stand of conifer forest. […] EcoLogic has spearheaded a large-scale forest restoration project at Totonicapán, where 13 greenhouses now hold about 16,000 plants apiece, including native cypresses, pines, firs, and alders. […] The process begins each November when community members gather seeds. These seeds then go into planters that include upcycled coconut fibers and mycorrhizal fungi, which help kickstart fertilization. When the plantings reach about 12 inches, they’re ready for distribution.”

July 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[fatehbaz]

[E]very [interspecies] meeting in fact reminds us that the being we meet is and always shall be strange to us […]. When beings meet there is a distance between, such that in encountering the slug we also encounter something beyond the slug – a multitude of life we cannot sense. [...] So despite shared histories and the close proximity in which slugs and [humans] live, the slug retains a certain darkness as a creature apart; something is held in reserve […]. And so fleeting awareness of the irretrievability of the lives of others intensifies poignancy, such that despite a gulf separating the [human] from other creatures, some connection, however fleeting, is made to something – however strange. Refusing to dismiss the everyday and the banal is an ethical response. […] Slugs are there: sliming, chomping, and oozing around quietly and that should be enough to give them consideration.

[Text by: Franklin Ginn. “Sticky lives: Slugs, detachment and more-than-human ethics in the garden.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Volume 39, Issue 4. 2013. Bold emphasis added by me.]

---

So, can an insect speak? And if yes, do we understand it? Wittgenstein maintained that ‘if a lion could speak we would not understand him’, by which he implied that we do not share the ‘form of lion-life’ that would make lion language fully transparent to us […]. A similar insight was [...] expressed by [...] [a twentieth-century] honeybee researcher [...]: Beyond the appreciable facts of their life we know but little of the bees. And the closer our acquaintance becomes, the nearer is our ignorance brought to us of the depths of their real existence. But such ignorance is better than the other kind, which is unconscious and satisfied.

[Text by: Eileen Crist. “Can an Insect Speak?: The Case of the Honeybee Dance Language.” Social Studies of Science, Volume 34, Issue 1. 2004. Bold emphasis added.]

---

Animal studies scholarship tends to emphasize animal-human relations, encounters, and similarities. […] Jellyfish and other gelatinous creatures [...], however, float at the far reaches of our ability to construct sturdy interspecies connections [...]. Uexkull’s theory […] insists upon multiple worlds […], a capacious admission that a multitude of other creatures dwell as part of worlds that humans cannot readily or completely access or grasp. Three-quarters of a century later Terry Tempest Williams wonders what it would be like to be a jellyfish. […] [She] writes: “Perhaps this is what moves me most about jellies – their sensory intelligence […] the great hunger that is sent outward through the feathery reach of their tentacles. Imagine the information sought and returned.”

[Text by: Stacy Alaimo. “Jellyfish Science, Jellyfish Aesthetics: Posthuman Reconfigurations of the Sensible”. In: Thinking with Water. 2013. Bold emphasis added.]

---

Although we cannot ‘speak’ with nonhumans in any straightforward way, what we can and more importantly do do is become articulate with them in various ways. [...] If there is a way out of this historical impasse [alienation, climate crisis, global ecological degradation], [for some] it is not to be found in attributing some of ‘our’ qualities to ‘them’. It “would not be a matter of ‘giving speech back’ to animals […]. Perhaps the task is not to seek to compare the dance language of bees […] with human language, the ‘intelligence’ […] of Monarch butterflies with human intelligence, […] but rather (or at least in addition) to find a way of thinking about these ‘remarkable things’ that grants them positive ontological difference in their own right. […] [It] is concerned with what is always a multitude of others rather than a singular other […]; and it is radically nonanthropocentric […].

[Text by: Nick Bingham. “Bees, Butterflies, and Bacteria: Biotechnology and the Politics of Nonhuman Friendship.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Volume 38, Issue 3. 2006. Bold emphasis added.]

---

Starfish may seem to be still, but longer attention [...] shows them [slowly] moving, changing. [...] Then there are beings [like some insects] that experience hundreds, thousands of generations within a human lifetime. For such beings, the memories, learnings and modes of passing on experience are, it almost goes without saying (yet it must be said as it is so often not), radically different from any human’s in terms of the ways they experience change. The immensity of the alterity is, literally, incomprehensible to humans. We can't know what these beings know. But we can be aware that they have knowledges and experiences beyond us. [...] [W]e should know they live and experience and think beyond us. We should seek respect and be aware of how our lives are entangled […]. It is not abstract, or empty.

[Text by: Bawaka Country et al. “Gathering of the Clouds: Attending to Indigenous understandings of time and climate through songspirals.” Geoforum Volume 108. January 2020. Bold emphasis added.]

[brucesterling]

The Sharing Association is pleased to announce the 16th edition of the Share Prize, the competition dedicated to contemporary art focusing on technology and science.

The artworks nominated for the prize must follow the theme:

'ALL-NATURAL'

curated by Share Festival artistic director Bruce Sterling and curator Jasmina Tešanović

The platform invites artists from all over the world to submit their works.

Call for entries open from 12 April 2024 to 9 June 2024

The six prize nominees will be announced in July 2024. The announcement will be published on our website: www.toshareproject.it

The winner will be announced during the Share Festival Opening,in Turin from 28 October to 3 November 2024 during the Turin Contemporary Art Week.

Link website:

Link Call:

Link form:

Prize Summary: Winner gets 2500 euro prize Event date: April 12, 2024 to June 9, 2024 Location: Torino Deadline: 09/June/2024

"ALL-NATURAL"

Per la XVIII edizione di Share Festival vogliamo avanzare una proposta che sappiamo essere impossibile.

Qui nell'elegante Torino - città famosa per il suo caloroso sostegno verso ogni forma d'arte - non riusciamo a fare un respiro che non sia contaminato. Non è solo l'intera atmosfera del nostro pianeta a essere inquinata dai gas serra: a causa della sua eredità industriale e della sua peculiare situazione geografica, Torino si trova in una situazione particolarmente preoccupante per via dell'onnipresente foschia dovuta alle polveri sottili che includono metalli, prodotti della combustione e persino polveri agricole. Mentre voi leggete, noi stiamo respirando tutto questo.

Eppure, allo stesso tempo, la provincia piemontese è rinomata nel mondo per la sua dedizione all'artigianalità dello Slow Food, il cibo che nasce grazie alle varietà uniche di piante e animali presenti sul fertile suolo italiano.

Nel prossimo Festival vogliamo prendere di petto questa contraddizione e affrontarla attraverso il nostro mezzo d'elezione, l'arte tecnologica. Possiamo farla diventare un momento dialettico, invece che farla restare una mera contraddizione? Riusciremo a vedere della net-art plasmata sugli uccelli, gli insetti, le api e il paesaggio naturale e locale? Potremo interagire con robot fatti di legno, sculture digitali ricavate dal marmo e opere interattive composte da corni, canne, conchiglie, bambù, paglia, ossa, fossili o - ancor meglio - materiali naturali che rischiano di scomparire e interamente appartenenti alla regione da cui proviene l'artista?

"Difendere l'ambiente" non è sufficiente: questi materiali naturali saranno in grado di infiltrarsi nella sostanza innaturale del domani e prendersi la loro infestante, tremenda vendetta?

Fate del vostro meglio, per favore. Abbiamo bisogno di una boccata d'aria fresca!

Bruce Sterling, Direttore Artistico di Share Festival Jasmina Tesanovic, Curatrice di Share Prize

For the XVIII edition of Share Festival, we make this demand because we know it's impossible.

Here in glamorous Torino -- a city known for its cordial support of "every form of art" -- we can't take one natural, untainted breath. Not only is the planet's whole atmosphere polluted with Greenhouse gases -- here in Torino, thanks to our industrial heritage and our specific geographic climate, we're particularly badly off from an all-pervasive haze of PM2.5 micrometer pollution particles, including metals, combustion products and even agricultural dust. As you read this, we breathe that.

And yet, at the very same time, our Italian province of Piedmont is world-famous for its devotion to hand-crafted, artisanal "Slow Foods" grown from the unique plant and animal varieties of the fruitful Italian soil.

In our forthcoming Festival, we plan to tackle this contradiction headlong -- through our favorite medium of technology art. Can this become a dialectic instead of a contradiction? Can we witness net.art that is all about birds, bugs, bees and natural local landscapes? Can we interact with robots made of natural woods, sculptures digitally carved from marble, and interactive artworks composed of horn, reeds, seashells, bamboo, straw, bones, fossils, or better yet, severely imperiled natural materials entirely unique to the artist's own region in the world?

It's not enough to "defend the environment" -- how can natural materials infiltrate tomorrow's unnatural substance and take some terrible, weedy revenge? Please do your best for us. We need a breath of fresh air!

Bruce Sterling, Direttore Artistico di Share Festival Jasmina Tesanovic, Curatrice di Share Prize

[beautiful-basque-country]

What and how is the Basque identity?

The study ‘Basque identity(ies) in the 21st century: objective 2050’, promoted by Eusko Ikaskuntza and directed by Patxi Juaristi Larrinaga, professor of Political Science at the UPV/EHU, has been carried out since 2022 with the intention of understanding and proposing a renewed plural, cohesive and integrative identity for Euskal Herria.

The data was collected through personal stories and in-depth interviews with people of different ages, genders and geographical origins, and the analysis of different websites where associations, companies and institutions reflect the Basque identity in their digital spaces.

Some interesting ideas can be extracted from the information obtained. One of them is that the Basque identity is not monolithic, but rather has significant internal diversity. This diversity is manifested in Basque dialects, cultural traditions and political attitudes.

“Euskal Herria is very complex and diverse. This has been reflected in the interviews and in the discussion groups. There are differences even within the same territory. In Bizkaia, the area of ​​Enkarterri or Meatzaldea is not the same as that of Gernika or Lekeitio. Gipuzkoa also has its differences; Irun is not the same as Azpeitia. And what can we say about Nafarroa, which has different language policies in the north and in the south. In Northern Euskal Herria, the Basque identity is not perceived in the same way on the coast of Lapurdi as in Zuberoa,” explains Zaldua.

However, despite the differences, there are common elements that serve as a link: “There is no doubt that Basque is a fundamental part of our identity. The territory as a structure is also something very important.” Thus, some people associate being Basque with knowing Basque, speaking it or living in Basque. For them, without Basque there is no Basque identity. For other people, however, those who do not know Basque or have difficulties using it in everyday life, also have a Basque identity if they show their adherence to or express a feeling in favour of Basque.

In addition to Basque, there are different values ​​such as tradition, community, solidarity, non-conformity, the tendency to resist and participation, which make up the Basque identity.

“One of the main features of the Basque identity is the integration of all people. There is no attitude of fear towards immigrants. In the Idiazabal discussion group they pointed out the need to promote elements such as Basque, but integrating all the people who come here to work, live and share.”

The study leaves “the door open to continue the research,” says the author, who envisions a future where Basque identity continues to be a matter of deep interest and pride for all Basques. The key to success will be finding a balance between tradition and modernity, inclusion and diversity, ensuring that Basque values ​​and roots continue to be a guide in a constantly changing world.

[X]

[arendelle-archives]

The Archive is now officially open!

Hello everyone! Sorry it took a little longer than expected. I got myself distracted (like I usually do).

The concept for the Arendelle Archives came into fruition in 2021 when friends @saiten-gefroren and FrozenHeart began working on the Frozen timeline study “Annals of Frozen”. The project was released to the fandom in July, 2021 and quickly gained traction among other fans who were already invested in exploring and discussing the lore of the franchise.

Around the same time, @virtual-winter published his 3-part series “An Odyssey Through Frozen Geography" which explored the real-world inspirations behind the world of Frozen, which perfectly fits the theme of the "Archive".  Together with “Annals of Frozen”, these two projects acted as the catalyst works that would bring a group of fans together on a common platform under a common goal and banner, starting off as a Discord-server in April 2022 and now, finally, stepping into the world of Tumblr!

So, what is Arendelle Archives?

As for the concept itself, we imagine that the Arendelle Archives, aka the Royal Arendelle Archives, was a 19th century national institution of Arendelle tasked with the preservation and documentation of natural, historical and geographical records. Though founded by the royal family (by Agnarr and Iduna undoubtedly, not that Runeard guy), it was a neutral agency without affiliations with any political or commercial power.

Moving on to the 21st century, we have established ourselves as a group of ordinary but dedicated Frozen fans with varying backgrounds and areas of “expertise” who are on a mission to restore the records that were once under the supervision of the Royal Arendelle Archives, in line with the same values that defined the "native" institution.

As spiritual descendants of the original Arendelle Archives staff, we aim to collect as much information as possible centered around Arendelle and its neighboring lands with the help of official material like the movies, books, comics, etc. (the “facts” of the Frozenverse if you will), then compile and summarize these facts by studying the source material and by making logical deductions without the interference of personal preferences or prejudices — It is a “science” for our beloved fictional world, not a “fiction” with personal attachments riddled through the work.

What have we done so far?

For the past two years, our focus has been set on collecting and presenting the history, geography and lore of Arendelle and the rest of the Frozen world. Entering 2024, our work has resulted in nearly a dozen completed or ongoing “in-house” fan-projects as well as affiliated works by creators tied to the Archive:

Seek the truth – Unraveling Frozen II (1st and 2nd edition) by Yumeka (2020)

Annals of Frozen (1st and 2nd edition) by Saiten and FrozenHeart (2021-2022)

An Odyssey Through Frozen Geography by Virtual Winter (2021-2023)

The Frozenverse – Media, books, comics and more! by Virtual Winter

The Flora and Fauna of Frozen by Virtual Winter (2022)

Reproducing Iduna’s map from Frozen II by Virtual Winter (2023)

Every appearance of Hans’ ship by Virtual Winter (2023)

Frozen Canon Talk! (1st to 4th edition) by Great Queen Anna (2021-2023)

Anna and Elsa’s lost family members by Virtual Winter (2023)

(links to the individual works will be added later)

What's next?

We are always “on the hunt” for like-minded fans with similar fan-projects in their portfolio. Just in time for Christmas of 2023, such an encounter resulted in the impressive video project “Frozen: The History of Arendelle”, a timeline study very much in tune with “Annals of Frozen”, created by Youtuber Geekritique in collaboration with us.

Just around the corner also lies the creation of a detailed Arendelle family tree based on the findings in “Anna and Elsa’s lost family members”.

After this? Only Ahtohallan knows… But with more Frozen content on the horizon, our work as archivists and record keepers will surely not be over any time soon and updates and refreshes of past works will definitely be coming in the near future!

Arendelle Archives on Tumblr

The decision to finally start this Tumblr came in November 2023. From now on, we will use this platform as the base of our operation and republish our previous entries, now finally unified under a common “Archives” banner. It will also be the main platform for future projects as well as reblogs of Frozen fan projects from other sources.

All things considered, we hope that through our work, we will contribute to the Frozen fandom as a whole and allow for regular fans, artists, analysts, and fanfiction writers alike to get a clearer picture of the lore, trivia and backstory of the Frozen-series!

Welcome!

Virtual Winter, Saiten and the rest of the Archive team

[jokerislandgirl32]

🍩 💚 💼 for the ask game

Thank you so much for the ask! There are excellent questions! In response to this post! Sorry this took forever to get too, but I just had to do detailed responses to each! I hope you all enjoy reading alllllll of this!

The answers are below the cut. Please be aware of mentions of stalking, abuse, and abusive relationships.

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Violet’s ex partner Travis Carter is her arch-nemesis. Travis was a classmate of Violet in high school and college who was obsessed with her. Throughout high school he virtually stalked her and never let her be alone.

Travis took the same classes with her, engaged in many of the same extradition activities as her, he walked her to her classes and was waiting for her after class, ate lunch with her, hung around her aunt’s restaurant where she worked…he did anything and everything that would allow him to be closer to her because he desperately wanted to be with her. He constantly asked her out on dates, but since Violet was so in love with Zach, and she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Travis’s attention, she never accepted his offers.

Once Zach starts dating Gourmand, when he’s acting like he does not care about Violet (when he really does), Violet is so distraught that she decided to give Travis a chance because anything was better than being alone…it was her worst mistake. Travis was so possessive over her that he became abusive in his attempts to keep her all to himself and keep her behavior “in check.”

The abuse Violet suffered in this relationship was so deeply rooted that it took her until she was expecting the twins to finally face him and make peace with Travis. But she never truly forgave him or got over it, the relationship scared her and defined her for life. But the one good thing the relationship did was lead her to Zach.

Picrew Link

Violet’s rival, until Varina’s birth, was Aviva. From the time Violet went to science camp until Varina was born, Violet had a very poor relationship with Aviva. This initially developed because of Aviva’s harsh treatment of Violet during their time together at camp. Aviva believed Violet’s sour behavior at camp was due to the influence Zach had on her. Aviva did not stop to realize that it was the turmoil Violet was going through in the wake of her parents’ deaths that caused her to act out of turn. So, she constantly judged Violet and treated her unfairly.

The rivalry between them developed when Zach expressed growing feelings for Aviva to Violet. Zach despised Aviva, but out of this loathing came feelings for her. Zach and Aviva developed something of a flirtatious relationship during this summer at science camp. And Violet, who was falling for Zach, found Aviva as a rival for Zach’s affections and attention.

Zach spent so much time inventing with Aviva (instead of Violet) once they started messing around at science camp, and after Zach and Aviva’s falling out, he spent years obsessed over Aviva’s inventions. Violet felt as if she couldn’t compare to Aviva in Zach’s eyes. Zach had feelings for her and valued her superb inventions, therefore Violet saw Aviva as a rival.

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Violet’s gender identity is Female; she uses she/her pronouns. Violet’s sexuality is Demisexual primarily, but she also identifies as Aroflux and Biromantic.

💼 - What do they do for a living?

First and foremost, Violet is Zach’s personal assistant/invention partner. She completes all of the typical tasks associated with a personal assistant, such as keeping his coffee cup filled, keeping track of his business meetings and appointments, completing any secretarial tasks, and then some. Namely, she supports Zach and his evil plans in many different ways.

One of the most important tasks associated with her position as Zach’s assistant is that she uses the skills acquired through her GIS (Geographic Information Systems) degree to help locate theWild Kratts team for Zach. Violet also serves as Zach’s backup pilot, coming to his rescue whenever his plans fail and the Wild Kratts beat him or the animals he used in his inventions seek their revenge on him 😂. It’s not something I’ve discussed in detail yet, but I hope to soon, but it’s worth noting that Zach personally paid for lessons and helped to teach Violet to fly as a teenager.

Violet also (not per Zach’s request, but from her own caring heart) takes care of the varmints Zach captures. She will feed them, give them water, make sure they are as safe and comfortable as possible. Because, no matter how much she loves Zach, she cannot stand to see the animals suffering. She would rather hear his whining and face his anger than let them suffer…this also means that Violet…sometimes 😉….lets the animals…wander free…or, does not do anything to impede the Wild Kratt’s efforts in helping to return the animals to living free and in the Wild.

She also serves as an huge emotional support to Zach, so she is something like a therapist to Zach: she helps him to confront and talk about all of his emotions…especially after his defeats 😂.

Additionally Violet serves as a singer, model, and performer (dancing and aerial acrobatics) for Donita in her fashion shows. This technically was the occupation Violet held prior to becoming Zach’s personal assistant and invention partner. Violet’s dream was to sing and dance/perform for a crowd of people, and Donita wanted to incorporate live music into her shows instead of boring prerecorded songs, so she decided to look for individuals to spice up her shows…and when Zach caught wind of this, he recommended Violet to Donita, and after an audition Donita just had to have Violet for her shows.

After Zach and Violet get married and have children, Violet continues to fulfill all of the above mentioned roles while taking on the responsibilities of a mother and a wife. Which are full time jobs in and of themselves!

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Hey Asmi,

I saw the whole geographic revelations post and I just have to ask: What are your thoughts on Bielefeld?

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never heard of it. Just purely based on reading the name, do you think it exists?

Btw this question is for… science… kinda

H-hello maggot *trembles at seeing the word geographic* Um. Um. Well.

On one hand, Transylvania apparently exists (I'm so sorry to my Romanian maggots for thinking you were a mythical and/or extinct, albeit beautiful, land. At least you were all nice about it. My knowledge of India is even worse than my global knowledge, so when I go outside here, which I rarely do, my strategy is to keep my mouth shut.)

So given that Transylvania exists, I'm inclined to say yes to everything ever. On the other hand, that name looks suspiciously innocent. Now I have geographical trust issues. Thanks, maggots.

I'm gonna say... uh. Uh. Yes?

I'm beginning to question everything. I have been reliably informed that Wakanda is not real. Mongolia is real. I'm going to assume SoHo from good omens is real. Loch Ness is apparently an actual place. Is Birmingham in London, I couldn't make out from the Staged episode. Oceania is not an underwater kingdom that Barbie: A Mermaid's Tale made up.

Life is a lie.

And to those who asked why I don't google these things: I am afraid of the bloody internet and all the political can of worms that X throws at my face whenever I google anything related remotely to politics, which countries fall under. I do not want to know about the mayor of some city's affair with the undersecretary's second-cousin and the resultant wave of transphobia. I am afraid.

Now I rely on you all and the nice and accurate education that tumblr is, hopefully, giving me.

[roach-works]

hi! I've always admired how you include infrastructure systems in your worldbuilding, and I was wondering if you have any book/documentary/podcast/etc. recs for someone who wants to go into gnarly detail about (for example) wastewater processing, O2 production, and simulated weather systems on a generation ship, but whose current level of knowledge is just "I read a lot of sci-fi?" I find the stuff fascinating in other people's writing, but figuring out where to start research is overwhelming.

shit, that's tough. most of my qualifications are 'i also read a lot of sci fi' but i also read a lot of those pop-up pocket news articles about technology and the environment... my brain isn't one of those kinds of brains where there's much differentiation between what im reading, what im writing, and who im in conversation with. im just always reading everything and having opinions on it and telling my friends what i just learned and learning more about what they learned and so on... tumblr's great for that, honestly. follow a lot of environment and good news blogs, and you'll get an interesting feed of interesting updates on the global ecology.

i would also suggest browsing national geographic, wired, and make magazine websites, if you can. get some good paywall blockers, or dish out for a subscription... the atlantic also has interesting stuff here and there.

'how it's made' type videos are great, especially older mr rogers era stuff, where the machines are less digital and more manual.

get a library card, especially for ebooks--if you're american you can use libby--and browse nonfiction. you can also just ask librarians to help you find stuff. i really admire science writers mary roach and randall munroe, think ryan north is very entertaining, and find malcom gladwell and bill bryson interesting if not particularly trustworthy.

hope this helps! i don't have any more specific suggestions, sorry.

EDIT: GET DUCK DUCK GO AS YOUR SEARCH ENGINE AND FIREFOX WITH UBLOCK AS YOUR BROWSER. i can't emphasize enough how much more useful your search results will be when you need to learn real information about things like ships and sewage systems and oyster farming. these days google only sends you to amazon, wayfair, and pinterest, it's fucking useless if you're not shopping, and sucks even if you are shopping.

there's other, more specialized browsers too that are worth a look.

and of course the internet archive has the wayback machine plus a lot of cool old books for free:

edit edit: here's another post on good search engines

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I took time out today to go to the OMSI Science Festival; last year I was a presenter, but this time around I just went for the fun of it since I was so impressed by the 2023 event. This year had an equally great mix of informational booths featuring everything from science camps for kids to a chance to see live reptiles up close and personal.

I got to say hi to my friend Simran Gleason, a very talented oil painter specializing in plein aire work. Each year of the festival he's captured moments from the event on his canvases, and it never ceases to amaze me how well he uses color to portray the energy of a given vignette as it happens. I also dropped in at the Rewild Portland table to say hey and check out all the cool handmade bone and stone tools, woven baskets, and other neat artifacts they've created. They're one of the organizations I recommend to my foraging students who want more opportunities to explore the outdoors and what it has to offer.

I think the highlight of my day was getting to meet paleoartist Mark Hallett in person. I was first introduced to his work in the 1980s that he did for Zoobooks (Dinosaurs and Wild Dogs) and National Geographic, but this was my first time getting to see originals in person, including a VERY cool 3-D, mixed media sculpture of a saber toothed cat head with fur on one side and the musculature exposed on the other.

I just had to have a copy of his book On the Prowl: In Search of Big Cat Origins. It's the right combination of crunchy factual goodness getting into the evolution of feline megafauna, but written with an inviting voice--and, of course, accompanied by those incredibly rich illustrations Hallett is known for. I was very excited to get my copy signed, and I mourned the fact that my childhood Zoobooks were long gone as I'd love to have those signed as well.

The OMSI Science Festival will be happening tomorrow (9/15) too; highly recommend it for anyone in the Portland, OR area.

[communistkenobi]

“We need to expand our idea of data capture beyond the extraction of personal data through digital platforms, which is frequently at the center of the debate [about the colonial implications of data collection]. We must consider other types of valuable data including biodata and data from objects, nature, and geophysical exploration.” perhaps this is a mind blowing fact in media studies but the fact that states and corporations collect geographic and biological data from populations is such a pedestrian fact that you don’t even need to assert that this is true in geographic disciplines. this is like if somebody from the humanities published a paper about biology and was like did you guys know about this natural selection business? pretty crazy right?

[max1461]

I have said this before, and also gestured at it in a lot of my recent posts, but every time I think about it I am increasing convinced that the explanation for the Great Divergence is basically "there's nothing to explain".

Ok, maybe that's a little unfair: there is something to explain. Western European states and the US saw a series of remarkable technological leaps during roughly the period from 1600 to 1900, which allowed them to achieve astonishing wealth and global political power. There is an explanandum here.

But what I mean when I say there's nothing to be explained is the following. We already have good reason to believe that technological growth is approximately exponential. Technology is self-compounding: the more of it you have, the more of it you can develop. And very many metrics that we would expect to correlate with technology, like agricultural yield and life expectancy, seem to grow exponentially. So I think the idea that technological growth is more-or-less exponential is well evidenced. When something grows exponentially, there is necessarily going to be a point of rapid take-off, a "foom". This is also something we see with technology, and life expectancy, and so on, particularly around the time of the industrial revolution.

This is fairly uncontroversial.

Another fact that I think is uncontroversial is that technological and scientific growth are subject to network effects, and subject to local material conditions. Societies that are generally wealthier may have more time and resources to spend on science, etc., and once you have a bunch of scientists working together in a specific place and sharing ideas, you get more rapid advancement. This seems true even in today's highly interconnected world, which is presumably related to why a small number of universities produce so much cutting edge research—they have the funding and the networks of top people. And I think there really is a sense in which you have many more opportunities for fruitful research and collaboration at e.g. an R1 university than an R2 university. The network effects still matter a lot. In the world before the twentieth century, when information traveled much slower, network effects would presumably have been much more important.

This is, again, a conclusion that I think is independently obvious and uncontroversial. If there was some sense in which it was not true, that would deeply surprise me.

But, look: the conclusion of these too facts taken together is basically that the observed course of history was (in a sense) inevitable. The second fact predicts that you'll get localized "scientific booms" through history, where a bunch of progress is being made in one area. We see this multiple times, with "golden ages" of science and philosophy in the Bronze Age Near East, in the Greco-Roman world, in ancient India, Tang China, the medieval Islamic world, and so on. Obviously I think in some sense "golden ages" are post hoc constructions by historians, but I think there's likely at least some reality behind them. So you have these localized scientific booms that slowly contribute to the exponential increase in global scientific knowledge. And it follows, if scientific growth is exponential, that there's going to be a foom. And it follows that whoever's having a boom when there's a foom is going to benefit a lot—in fact, exponentially more than anyone has before!

I am tempted to call this the "boom and foom theory" of the scientific and industrial revolution.

But it's not really a theory. It's a prediction of two existing theories about technological growth generally, taken together.

And it seems consistent with observation to simply say that Western Europe got lucky, to be having a boom when the foom happened. This is what I mean when I say "there's nothing to explain". I am not really sure we need anything extra to explain why this happened where it did geographically. I mean obviously you can dig in to the historical particulars, but ultimately... it was bound to happen somewhere.

Maybe there's something I'm missing here, or maybe I'm being excessively deterministic. But I think probably that any more particular theory of why the Great Divergence happened needs to justify itself against this one; it needs to explain why it adds anything to the picture that this does not already account for. But I don't know.

[rjzimmerman]

How many of you get excited when you see a monarch butterfly? If you do, did you get excited as a kid, or is the excitement a function of their possibly pending extinction? If you do not, can you imagine a world without monarch butterflies?

Excerpt from this story from E&E News/Politico:

Judgment day approaches for the monarch butterfly.

Bound by a court settlement, the Fish and Wildlife Service is supposed to decide by early December whether the monarch warrants listing as threatened or endangered. Although the agency misses many Endangered Species Act deadlines, it appears determined to meet this one after several years of study.

“We wanted to make sure that we have all the best science available … and we wanted to make sure that we were able to gather all that information and make a quality decision,” said Nicole Alt, director of FWS’ Center for Pollinator Conservation.

With the migratory butterfly passing through dozens of states, a decision to list the species could be accompanied by the designation of an expansive critical habitat. Combined with other regulatory implications, this could make the long-delayed monarch listing call one of the most consequential actions in the history of the ESA. It also appears likely, some monarch experts say, given the bleak population trends that led FWS to conclude in 2020 that “monarch viability is declining and is projected to continue declining over the next 60 years.”

Despite the dire circumstances, a campaign to help the monarch butterfly has been advancing on multiple fronts but without a unified commander in chief. Rather, the monarch’s allies march under different flags that reflect a dispersed approach toward species conservation. Some study the insect, some set aside habitat and some tinker with new tools, all without reference to a species recovery plan that an ESA listing would mandate.

Consider:

From an urban office building, a program administered by the University of Illinois, Chicago’s Energy Resources Center has recruited energy companies, state departments of transportation and counties into conserving hundreds of thousands of acres as butterfly habitat on rights of way, such as the medians between roads.

On sprawling Fort Cavazos — formerly Fort Hood — in Texas, biologists prowl the grounds in search of adult monarchs as well as eggs and larva. Since 2017, they estimate they have collected information from more than 10,000 tagged adult monarchs and forwarded this data to another team of collaborators with the Monarch Watch program based at the University of Kansas.

From her Denver office, Alt oversees four geographically scattered FWS staffers and collaborates with others in and out of government. With yet another allied group called Monarch Joint Venture, for instance, the Center for Pollinator Conservation is supporting studies of drones and artificial intelligence in measuring milkweed distribution on wildlife refuges.

And, scattered as they are, the various monarch teams, researchers and advocates periodically gather for a meeting of the minds, as they did in the summer of 2022 for a first-of-its-kind Capitol Hill butterfly summit where Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced establishment of Alt’s pollinator center.

“It’s really been exciting to see the level of interest from lots of different sectors,” Alt said, adding that “different people want to work in different ways and in different spaces … and in the vast majority of situations they are all advocating for the same thing.”

Some conservation groups, however, want to see a more urgent focus on the problem, saying Congress needs to dramatically increase funding to help the monarchs truly recover. In letters sent last week to House and Senate appropriators, the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups called on lawmakers to provide $100 million annually to restore 1 million acres of pollinator habitat in this country each year and another $30 million to preserve forests in Mexico where some of the butterflies spend their winters.

The groups noted how people over generations have heralded the black-and-orange butterfly’s “spectacular beauty and epic, life-affirming migrations.”

“Dedicating $100 million a year to monarch conservation gives these beloved butterflies a fighting chance at survival,” one letter said.

[paleopalsfacts]

The dinosaur that shouldn’t have been named

For a while before we had dinosaurs like Microraptor and Archaeopteryx we had the theory that Dinosaurs were linked to Birds but didn’t have the hard evidence like a linking species between the two to prove it.  During this look for a “missing link” farmers in China were digging for fossils illegally and looking to sell what they could find on the black market.  Eventually a farmer did find a rare fossil that did prove interesting and might have been that “missing link” paleontologists were looking for.  The only problem was that it was incomplete, Incomplete fossils are less valuable then complete fossils so to remedy this the farmer combined a different fossil from a nearby site in a way he thought looked correct to him in the hope no one would notice.

“Archeoraptor” fossil [A]

When the fossil was brought to the US it was sold to the The Dinosaur Museum in Blanding Utah.  The museum was run by Stephen A. Czerkas and his wife Sylvia Czerkas.  Stephen did not hold a degree in paleontology but was a dinosaur enthusiast and made some beautiful sculptures.  He arranged for patrons of his museum to provide the $80,000 needed to purchase the fossil.

The Czerkases got in contact with Phil Currie a well-known Canadian Paleontologist to take a look at the fossil under the condition that it would eventually go back to China as according to authorities no fossils were to leave China.  Phil then contacted the National Geographic Society who intended to get the fossil published into the scientific journal Nature and then follow up with a press conference and a spotlight in an issue of the National Geographic magazine.

Initially the Dinosaur museum wanted to keep the fossil in their museum for 5 years before sending it back to China but after Christopher Sloan (the writer for the National Geographic article) said he would not write on it if it was not sent back home immediately after publication they changed there mind.

This is also about the time they flew Xu Xung, a well renowned paleontologist from China to help work on analyzing the fossil.  When Phil did the initial examination on the fossil it was immediately clear that something was off.  And after a CT scan it became clear that some amount of fraud was afoot.  The Czerkas then insisted on keeping this information private.  Phil sent his preparator Kevin Aulenback to get the fossil ready for further study.  Kevin also concluded that the fossil must be a composite skeleton but the Czerkas denied this and still never told National Geographic about any of this.

The team then started creating the paper for Nature, In the paper it was specified that parts were composited.  Nature rejected the paper because National Geographic refused to delay their publication so there was no time to peer review the paper.  The paper was then submitted to Science, a different scientific journal and was also rejected because Science learned about the fossil's suspicious past and origins. 

National Geographic decided to publish without peer review and the fossil was revealed to the public in a press conference in October 1999 and was then put into the November copy of National Geographic.  It was described as a missing link that helped provide the connection between dinosaurs and birds.  Worst of all though it was named "Archaeoraptor liaoningensis" (with a disclaimer saying this name wouldn’t count but with the assumption that the Czerkas paper would eventually be released).  This is horrible because it sidestepped the academic process of naming a new species through a scientific paper and took the honor of naming the new species away from the people who did the work and opened the door for journalists to rush publication to cement a name they wanted instead.  Along with, you know, naming a dinosaur that didn’t exist confusing further any future papers on the subject.

Image showing the two separate species that make up Archeoraptor 

National Geographic then started their investigation into all of this unraveling this whole tangled mess of miscommunication and hurt egos.  In the end the Czerkas showed remorse in their part in these events saying they made "an idiot, bone-stupid mistake".  Most participants in this also felt regrets for their part.

“Archaeoraptor '' is often used by uninformed people to dismiss the connection between birds and dinosaurs and to discredit paleontologists.  In reality though all paleontologists and professionals who came in contact with the fossil noticed something was wrong and it was simply the lack of any communication and probably a bit of sunken cost fallacy that lead to this embarrassment.  Also many connections have now been found that validate the bird dinosaur connection including. “Archaeoraptor” will serve as a lesson for future paleontologists on knowing the origins of the specimens they study and working with private collectors.

Sources Bellow

Images

Jonathan Chen, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Entelognathus, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Links:

Bonus!

Fun pictures from the Dinosaur Museum:

[breelandwalker]

So, how do you start? I know so many people say that Wicca isn't "one size fits all", but I genuinely don't know where to start or what to look for, or what to do.

Understandable! There's a lot of information out there and a lot of paths and subjects to choose from. It's easy to feel overwhelmed.

In my experience, the best way to start is to pick something that already interests you and start there. It doesn't have to be bound to a particular path or belief system or type of magic. You can just go, "Hey, I like plants, I'm going to learn about plants," or whatever your preference is, and go from there.

As you're researching whatever bit of the craft strikes your fancy, pair it with some practical research to provide a bit of context. With the plants example from before, you might look into plant-based spells and green witchcraft, but you'll also want to read up on botany and dendrology and perhaps pick up a field guide to local plant species.

Or, if you're approaching things from a deity angle, pick a mythology or pantheon that interests you and learn about that. There's no need to pick anyone or anything or start venerating or making offerings right away - you can just research until you find something that feels right. And again, pair it with practical research on culture and religion, as well as the geographic location of origin, if it's different from your own.

Once you've got yourself a foothold in a subject that interests you, pick something else and study that. If a topic holds your interest, explore it and make connections to other things you've learned or would like to learn. (Taking notes or journaling will help you keep track of your progress.) If a topic doesn't hold your interest or turns out to be something that's not to your liking, put it aside and try something else.

It sounds simple, but it takes some getting used to. You'll run into dead ends and there will still be a certain amount of discernment, critical thinking, and prioritizing that you'll need to do along the way, but it becomes easier as you go.

In all things, know your science, know your religion, and know your history. This will make things SO much easier in the long run, because it will allow you to build a strong knowledge base and a good bullshit detector.

I have a bunch of Advice for Beginner Witches here, if you'd like some additional tips, and I have a monthly podcast called Hex Positive that covers more information on building your craft and the history behind modern witchcraft beliefs. (There's also my sibling show, BS-Free Witchcraft, which covers similar material from a Wiccan perspective, but without insisting that Wicca is any kind of default or One Correct Way of doing things. Fantastic show, 10/10, do recommend.)

Hope this helps!