Sci-Fi Fuel #6
Time Travel With The Beatles + Other Weird News!
— This is a longer post than usual, so if you’re reading this via email, you might want to hop on over the the web version here to read the full thing! —
In This Newsletter:
Welcome to Sci-Fi Fuel #6
A cool quote of the week + quick analysis!
Weird science/tech news + jokes!
TV/film/video/podcast recommendations
Weird science/tech news minus jokes!
Welcome to Sci-Fi Fuel #6! —
— an Alternate Timeline series highlighting news from the realms of science, tech, history, and pop culture that will help fuel your imagination.
It’s the start of a brand new week in a brand new month! I woke up this morning in a bit of a time conundrum — not just because of daylight savings here in the U.S. (which always feels a bit like the government testing how well it can nudge us into anything), but because my computer was somehow convinced that it was October 31. It took me a while to realize it wasn’t just a daylight savings mix-up… it was literal, digital time travel — as this screenshot from my failed attempt to log in to Substack explains:
Now I feel like I need to write a short story called Error Code: Future Response!
Luckily I was able to nudge myself forward in time by manually updating the date. And, speaking of stories…
At the end of October (the actual October 31), I released a new short story called Ousted, which you can read here:
And at the start of this month I revealed the themes of the story I’ll be publishing here on November 30. You can catch up on that here:
Paid subscribers can look forward to some intel on the writing process for Ousted. I know that’s not much of a paid perk, but it makes posting about my specific writing process feel less ego-driven. More extensive paid perks will be launched in the new year!
Now, let’s go ahead and rummage through some brain tingling headlines and quotes from last week! (Note: I’ll be off next week to attend my sister’s wedding)
Find past Alternate Timeline stories here.
QUANTUM QUOTE:
It’s been a hard day’s week when it comes to The Beatles. When I first heard about their latest “final song,” I only had a passing interest in it. But as the buildup to the release intensified with articles, interviews, and mini-documentaries — it was hard not to meditate on how the band is one of the greatest science experiments of all time.
We don’t think of them as a boyband in the modern sense, mainly because they were friends who got together on their own accord for the love of the music they wanted to make. But elements of their rise have been used as the formula for lab-made groups like NSYNC and BTS in the years since (this Bloomberg article The K-Pop Mogul Behind BTS Is Building the Next BTS comes to mind). The four human beings who comprised The Beatles were quickly lifted into becoming archetypes in a broader public consciousness which, through the power of the far reaching British and American media, reached across the globe and still lingers with us to this day.
I was born in 1989 — 26 years after the first Beatles album — and by the time I was in high school, my peers were still debating which “Beatle” they were. This is only possible as a result of the way The Beatles were marketed during their debut, and how their fame led to them retreating further into the media machine, where they experimented with sounds, and tinkered with, combated, and questioned their pop culture personas in the process. They became in a sense, both the scientist and the experiment.
THE BEATLES AS “EXPERIMENT” THROUGH THE LENS OF “THE BRITISH INVASION”
At the time of the The Beatles’ rise, they were a mirror reflection of American music. So, from a U.S. perspective, they were at once a prideful sign of our influence, but also something to fear as the nation processed the question “Do audiences prefer the reflection more than its source?”
Empire problems, am I right?!
Then there’s the added (or, perhaps, original) layer of race. For Black artists at the time — they were probably thinking “First, Elvis — and now, this?!” However, the general consensus is that The Beatles’ and Rolling Stones’ fierce loyalty to their source material helped artists like Muddy Waters, The Isley Brothers, and Little Richard stay booked and busy. The irony of calling it the “British Invasion” is that it was an invasion of our own ideas, just with a different accent. For a glimpse into the era — check out this interview with the Isleys describing hiring Jimi Hendrix and reacting to The Beatles.
THE BEATLES AS “MAD SCIENTIST”
The first Beatles record was released in 1963. But they were so popular that it was impossible for them to hear each other at concerts due to all the screaming. So, by 1966 they stopped performing live. Meaning from the Revolver album onward, they never performed their songs live together outside of promotional music videos until the famous Get Back rooftop concert in 1969. This phenomenon made them retreat further into media machine. The Beatles became synonymous with sonic experimentation, and each album release was more like a novel that had to be dissected because it was the best glimpse at what was happening in the minds of the influential band. Thinking on that period now, it’s as if they were messing around with the internet, pre-internet — especially once you consider the level documentation they have of their own lives. Audio recordings… film… photographs… notes…
You’re probably wondering When is Tim gonna get to the quote?
I hear you loud and clear.
This week’s quote is the first to come from a piece of videos/audio rather than text. It’s source? This November 1, 2023 promotional short film for the final Beatles song:
The QUANTUM QUOTE is…
It took almost a quarter of a century for us to wait until the right moment to tackle “Now And Then” again. - Paul McCartney
SCI-FI ANALYSIS:
The beauty of Paul’s phrasing is that it comments on time in multiple ways.
“…almost a quarter of a century…”
“…to wait…”
“…until the right moment…”
“…Now And Then…”
“…again”
Perfect for describing the technological time travel utilized in making a song with the voice of John Lennon (dead since 1980), a guitar solo from George Harrison (dead since 2001), and the musical stylings of the still-living Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.
The sci-fi implications of this specific scenario were best (and hilariously) explored by webcomic creator John Cullen:
And this idea is digital ghosts of the Beatles doesn’t seem that far off when you watch the music video for their new song:
With all of the documentation of these four men, it’s entirely plausible that we’ll someday have digital versions of them running around — closely approximating how they’d actually respond to a question, sing a song, or pick their nose. Meta is already experimenting with bizarre variations of this with AI celebrity chatbots.
But bringing things back to time and sci-fi, this flurry of late-stage Beatle-mania has had me thinking about the 2000 film Frequency, where a strange space phenomenon allows a man to speak with a younger version of his dead father via radio.
And, of course, the use of digital tech to witness and commune with the past is something I explored earlier this year in my short story Watching Ghosts:
I’m sure there will be more “final” Beatles songs in the years to come…
— This is a large post, so if you’re reading this via email, you might want to hop on over the the web version here to read the full thing! —
ATTACK OF THE JOKES:
A few weird science/tech news items made it into my daily joke series over at Letters from African America last week:
Facebook and Instagram are launching a paid ad-free subscription — perfect for users who LOVE being inundated with posts from conspiracy theorists but HATE seeing ads for their “anti-woke moon water.”
President Biden is issuing the first regulations on artificial intelligence systems. However, he insists that this is an actual photo of his dear friend CornPop.
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is now worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it a year ago — cementing it as the only Musk product that consumers trust less than an approaching self-driving Tesla.
News on TikTok and Instagram is booming. To compete, legacy news networks are exclusively hiring journalists via the new hit game show So You Think You Can Dance AND Accurately Report On Middle East Conflicts.
According to Deputy White House chief of staff Bruce Reed — President Biden grew more worried about AI after watching Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. He confirmed that movies have influenced many of the president’s decisions — citing the time Biden watched When Harry Met Sally and couldn’t stop saying “I’ll have what she’s having,” instead of ”gazuntite.”
The Supreme Court heard arguments about whether elected officials’ social media accounts are allowed to block their constituents. Things got heated as they debated whether the official Denny’s Diner Twitter handle counts as a person. Court clerks reported overhearing one justice scream “I’ve had it over my hammy with you and your crap!”
China is offering cash to local space and rocket startups in an effort to challenge SpaceX. Isn’t it nice knowing that some of the starships used in future space battles were made by local mom n’ pop manufacturers? “Hey, where’d you get that Death Star? Etsy?”
Artificial intelligence can now ID individual geese. And there’s hope that the technology can soon help Americans tell these men apart:
Scientists have created a robotic seeing eye dog. Yeah, A.I has gotten so out of hand that both man and man’s best friend are out of work. 🥁
Now dogs are fetching newspaper’s for themselves so they can sniff out the Help Wanted section. 🥁
And, get this — the scientists say the robot seeing eye dogs are authentic to the real thing, with one exception: smellier poops.
A poll shows most US adults think AI will add to election misinformation in 2024. The same poll also shows that most U.S. adults will take that back if the all knowing A.I. TikTok voice tells them to.
A new study says that the lost planet, Theia, is hidden inside of the Earth. They were convinced after overhearing Earth plead the moon, “Baby, please. This isn’t how it looks. Theia is just a friend!”
So… did ya laugh? Mash that comment button if you’d like to tell me which was your favorite.
INCOMING TRANSMISSIONS:
READ: James III’s “Junior” Comic (2023)
I met James III when we were both staffed as writers on the recent All That revival. He’s since started his own comic book company called Rule of III, and Junior is one of the first releases under the banner. You can purchase digital or physical copies of it now! (Link) Description: After death, a young man is doomed to work in the Netherworld post office under the tutelage of the Post Office Manager, who just so happens to be the father he never knew on Earth.
LISTEN: In Our Time - “Plankton”
“Hello! Whenever you breathe in, half the oxygen in your lungs came from plankton…” — what a way to intro a topic at the start of a podcast. BBC’s In Our Time never fails.
WATCH: Scavengers Reign (2023)
Beautiful sights, sounds, and sci-fi ideas emerge in every frame of this series. Do yourself a favor and watch the original 2019 short before you dive into the show! (Link)
LISTEN: Wired Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy - “David Cronenberg Is The Master of Grotesque Sci-Fi” (Link)
NEWSTOPIA:
Some headlines that might get your brain moving.
October 29, 2023 — via Wired
Greece’s New Political Star Is a TikTok Creation (Link)
October 30, 2023 — via Popular Mechanics
In 2024, the Sun Enters Its Solar Maximum. Birds Don't Know What's About to Hit Them. (Link)
October 30, 2023 — via Newsweek
Babies in Space? Scientists Grow Mice Embryos 400 Miles Above Earth (Link)
October 30, 2023 — via Scientific American
A Possible Crisis in the Cosmos Could Lead to a New Understanding of the Universe (Link)
October 30, 2023 — via Popular Mechanics
A Solar-Powered Car Drove 620 Miles of Africa in One Trip. It Never Stopped Once. (Link)
October 30, 2023 — via Newsweek
Space Station Photos Reveal Earth's 'Bloody' Lakes (Link)
October 30, 2023 — via Popular Mechanics
Fast Radio Bursts Were Already Mind-Boggling. Now They're Even Faster. (Link)
October 31, 2023 — via Motherboard
The U.S. Is Building a New Nuclear 'Gravity Bomb', Pentagon Announces (Link)
October 31, 2023 — via Newsweek
Stunned Scientists Unearth Huge 160-Million-Year-Old Blood-Sucking Creature (Link)
October 31, 2023 — via Popular Mechanics
Blocking ‘Jumping Genes’ Could Drastically Increase Our Lifespan, New Research Shows (Link)
October 31, 2023 — via Newsweek
NASA Telescopes Spot Bones of 'Ghostly' Cosmic Hand (Link)
November 1, 2023 — via Scientific American
November 1, 2023 — via Motherboard
Years of Incarcerated Journalist's Reporting Deleted by Notorious Prison Telecom 'Inadvertently' (Link)
November 1, 2023 — via Popular Mechanics
Archaeologists Think They Might Have Found the Real Noah’s Ark (Link)
November 1. 2023 — via Newsweek
Jupiter Is a Black Sheep Which Protects All Life on Earth (Link)
November 1, 2023 — via Motherboard
Pentagon 'Strongly' Urges Military Members to Report UFO Programs Using New Website (Link)
November 1, 2023 — via Newskweek
Scientists Finally Solve Mystery of Where Starfish Keep Their Heads (Link)
November 2, 2023 — via Wired
The Ultra-Efficient Farm of the Future Is in the Sky (Link)
November 2, 2023 — via Newsweek
Map Shows Ozone Hole Was Size of North America at 2023 Peak (Link)
November 3, 2023 — via Motherboard
Scientists Are Researching a Device That Can Induce Lucid Dreams on Demand (Link)
November 3, 2023 — via Newsweek
Scientists Might Finally Know Where Shoulders Come From (Link)
November 3, 2023 — via Scientific American
NASA’s Lucy mission flew past an asteroid nicknamed Dinky, only to discover an even smaller space rock orbiting it (Link)
November 3, 2023 — via Newsweek
Psychologist Reveals How Restaurants Manipulate Your Sense of Taste (Link)
November 4, 2023 — via Business Insider
Elon Musk is getting ready to launch his first AI model to premium X users. 'Grok' will be 'based' and 'loves sarcasm,' Musk said. (Link)
That’s all for now. These updates will get better and more comprehensive as the weeks go by. But I also want to make them interactive. If there are any recent, weird science/tech news that you wish I listed here, drop it in the comments!
I’ll be taking next week off. But I’ll see you the week after that with more…