Sci-Fi Fuel #8

Farenheight451 + Guillermo del Toro + Official Doctor Who Podcast & Science/Tech Headlines!

— 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:

• Intro:

  • Welcome to Sci-Fi Fuel #8

• Quantum Quote:

  • A warning from Guillermo del Toro + quick analysis!

• Attack of the Jokes:

  • Weird science/tech news + jokes!

• Incoming Transmissions:

  • TV/film/video/podcast recommendations

• Newstopia:

  • Weird science/tech news minus jokes!

Welcome to Sci-Fi Fuel #8! —

— an Alternate Timeline series highlighting news from the realms of science, tech, history, and pop culture to help fuel your imagination.

Hello crew-members of the U.S.S. Sci-Fi Fuel. You can look forward to the release of my latest short story this Thursday (and get get a hint of what it’s about here) but until then, let’s reflect on all the scientific breakthroughs, compelling quotes, and intriguing programs that are sure to get those brain molecules of yours running up and down the stairs like Rocky.

Find past Alternate Timeline stories here.

QUANTUM QUOTE:

This week’s QUANTUM QUOTE comes from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro via ‘X’ of all places. On November 20, 2023, del Toro quote-tweeted this November 18, 2023 headline from the DiscussingFilm ‘X’ account…

https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1726012243349758123

…by saying… [↓↓↓QUANTUM QUOTE ALERT↓↓↓]

Physical media is almost a Fahrenheit 451 (where people memorized entire books and thus became the book they loved) level of responsibility. If you own a great 4K HD, Blu-ray, DVD etc etc of a film or films you love... you are the custodian of those films for generations to come.

(LINK)

SCI-FI ANALYSIS:

Farenheight451 is one of my favorite books. I first read it the summer before freshman year of high school. Since I was to be enrolled in honors English, we had a homework assignment before we stepped foot into class that required us to both read and comprehend Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel about a world in which firefighters burned books and everyone was distracted by wall sized televisions. We proved our comprehension by filling out dialectical journals—a practice I’ve considered making a regular habit in recent months. Part of my love for the novel is that it’s the first book that I’ve truly analyzed. And journaling about a book that is itself about burning books likely sparked my interest in meta works of fiction (films like Network and Adaptation come to mind).

del Toro’s fear comes at a moment when so many science fictional warnings from the past are coming to fruition. It’s not hard to imagine how Ron DeSantis’ hopes to eradicate Black history on the text book level in Florida and make book bans easier could lead to a Farenheight451 scenario… Or how former actress and SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee member Justine Bateman’s warnings of how the weak studio contract language around AI could expand into Ex Machina-like machine actors… Or how Elon Musk (a human megazord combo platter of every sci-fi villain ever conceived) will do or create anything that every sci-fi villain has ever conceived.

But perhaps the scariest thing about del Toro’s statement stems from the fact that he is a modern master of horror confessing to a fear that feels way too close.

What are the dangers of a forgotten visual history? And, if we take his fear one step further and, say, DVD and Blu-ray players stop working—what then is the equivalent of memorizing books?

No matter the answer, it adds way more pressure to the once simple act of going out to see a fun new movie on a Friday night.

Let me know what sci-fi movies, books, or shows come to mind for you based on the quote!

— 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:

So… did ya laugh? Mash that comment button if you’d like to tell me which was your favorite.

• According to The New York Times: The White House May Condemn Musk, but the Government Is Addicted to Him. Wow. Uh… Hey, U.S. Government. I know that Elon talks a good game and all, but as a friend, you should know that…

  

• OpenAI is on its third CEO in three days. Its new leader plans on breaking the trend by changing the company’s name to MonogamousAI.

• A scientist says he’s created a potato that could warn us about nuclear leaks. Aw. Poor guy thinks he invented baking them.

• Self-driving taxis have slowed emergency response times in San Francisco and Austin. Tech startups are now focused on the only rational solution: Self-driving hospitals.

• Tesla workers report explosions, concussions, and grisly robot injuries at Texas factory. Surprisingly, their biggest complaint is the coffee. “It’s too bland! We want flavor!” shouted employees in an awkward chant, followed by “But that could just be the explosions, concussions, and grisly robot injuries talking… Did we mention it’s too bland?! And we want flavor?! Well…”

• Media literacy is now a required subject in California schools. And, apparently, that doesn’t mean speed-reading movie subtitles. Great! Because there’s nothing worse than someone laughing before a joke is spoken out loud just because they read it faster on screen. Do us all a favor and follow the five second rule… That’s when you fake laugh after counting all the fingers on your hand. Don’t worry, no one will see you because they’re too busy watching the movie. [This joke is sponsored by The Association Of People Who Can’t Read.]

• A population of hard-to-eradicate ‘super pigs’ in Canada is threatening to invade the US. Joe Biden currently has his hand hovering over a red button, muttering “Who wants some Canadian bacon?”

• Scientists are baffled after extremely an high-energy particle was detected falling to Earth. Hate to break it to you, but that’s exactly how introverts feel when they know an extrovert is entering the room.

• The age of uncensored AI has already begun. So, if it looks like your son is spending hours on his computer staring at programming code, it could be a little more risqué than you think. Try sitting down with them and having chat if you catch them staring at code that looks like this:

  0101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

  ⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣴ ⠸⣿⣦⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣴⣿⣿ ⠀⢻⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿ ⠀⠀⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣾⣿⣿⣿⡇ ⠀⠀⠀⠙⢿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣄⠀⠀⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⢸⣿⣿⣿⡟⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢙⣛⣿⣷⣸⣿⣿⠟⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣠⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⡀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⢠⣿⣿⡀⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠛⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⠿⢻⣿⡿⠟⠋⠁⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣶⣬⣴⣿⢈⣤⠴⠖⠛⠁⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠀⠙⠻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

INCOMING TRANSMISSIONS:

• WATCH: RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop

  This hilarious clip went viral over the past few weeks and the entire documentary is just as entertaining.

• READ: Roll Back the Rock: An Oral History of We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story For Its 30th Anniversary (Link)

  

• LISTEN: The Official Doctor Who Podcast (Link)

NEWSTOPIA:

Some headlines that might get your brain moving.

• November 20, 2023 — via The New York Times

  • In Death Valley, a Rare Lake Comes Alive (Link)

    In the distance gleamed the white salt flats of Badwater Basin, the lowest place in North America, almost 300 feet below sea level. It was there, in the midst of salt-covered land, that a vast lake had appeared almost overnight, highlighting the ways in which a changing climate is altering life in one of the nation’s most remote landscapes.

• November 20, 2023 — via Wired

  • Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records (Link)

• November 20, 2023 — via Newsweek

  • New AI Can Mimic Human Brain, Use the Same Tricks as We Do (Link)

• November 21, 2023 — via The New York Times

  • The Long Shadow of Steve Jobs Looms Over the Turmoil at OpenAI (Link)

• November 21, 2023 — via 404 Media

  • CEO Reminds Everyone His Company Collects Customers' Sleep Data to Make Zeitgeisty Point About OpenAI Drama (Link)

• November 21, 2023 — via Popular Mechanics

  • Experts Made A Robot Replica of an Extinct Animal (Link)

    They started with the fossil record. By looking at these creatures’ body plans preserved in stone, researchers could get a pretty solid idea of how they would have looked when they were alive.

• November 21, 2023 — via NPR

  • Army ants use collective intelligence to build bridges. Robots could learn from them (Link)

    • FUN FACT: I spoke to an expert about this in an episode of Smash Boom Best!

• November 22, 2023 — via NPR

  • What can trigger an itch? Scientists have found a new culprit (Link)

• November 22, 2023 — via Newsweek

  • 'Vampire' Stars May Steal Mass to Become Strange Cosmic Phenomenon (Link)

    The researchers now think that the Be stars form by sucking the life out of a stellar neighbor, but that this neighbor may be a star in a triple system, being pushed closer towards the Be star by the third one. The researchers found evidence for Be stars being triple systems by analyzing data from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite.

• November 22, 2023 — via Wired

  • Sam Altman’s Second Coming Sparks New Fears of The AI Apocalypse (Link)

• November 22, 2023 — via Newsweek

  • Biologists Reveal How Sea Worm's Butt Swims Off on Its Own to Find a Mate (Link)

• November 22, 2023 — via NPR

  • Can we grow veggies on Mars? Fly larvae and synthetic soil may hold the answer (Link)

• November 22, 2023 — via Motherboard

  • Archaeologists Discover Vast, Complex Prehistoric Society That Rewrites History (Link)

• November 22, 2023 — via NPR

  • The world's worst industrial disaster harmed people even before they were born (Link)

• November 23, 2023 — via Newsweek

  • Marine Biologists Find Fish That Spend Whole Lives Swimming Upside Down (Link)

• November 24, 2023 — via BBC

  • Tyrian purple: The lost ancient pigment that was more valuable than gold (Link)

    For millennia, Tyrian purple was the most valuable colour on the planet. Then the recipe to make it was lost. By piecing together ancient clues, could one man bring it back?

• November 24, 2023 — via Newsweek

  • Extinct Sea Creature Fossils Help Solve Ancient Geography Puzzle (Link)

• November 24, 2023 — via The Los Angeles Times

  • USC neuroscientist faces scrutiny following allegations of data manipulation (Link)

• November 24, 2023 — via Newsweek

  • Mountain Twice as High as Tallest Building Found 'Hidden Under the Waves' (Link)

• November 24, 2023 — via Popular Mechanics

  • A Volcano Could Erupt in Iceland Any Minute Now (Link)

• November 24, 2023 — via Futurism

  • James Webb Detects “Unexplained Structures” in Heart of Our Galaxy (Link)

• November 24, 2023 — via NPR

  • What fossilized poop can teach us about dinosaurs (Link)

• November 24, 2023 — via Wired

  • Go on a Psychedelic Journey of the Internet's Growth and Evolution (Link)

• November 25, 2023 — via ABC

  • Pentagon's AI initiatives accelerate hard decisions on lethal autonomous weapons. (Link)

• November 25, 2023 — via Wired

  • China Tried to Keep Kids Off Social Media. Now the Elderly Are Hooked (Link)

• November 25, 2023 — via ABC

  • One of world's largest icebergs drifting beyond Antarctic waters (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 see you the week after that with more…