Sci-Fi Fuel #9
A New Short Story 'Data Collector' + Authenticity vs Artifice + Sports Illustrated AI + Tom Hanks Discussing Human Consciousness & Headlines To Fuel Your Imagination!
— 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 #9
The search for authenticity + quick analysis!
Weird science/tech news + jokes!
TV/film/video/podcast recommendations
Weird science/tech news minus jokes!
Welcome to Sci-Fi Fuel #9! —
— an Alternate Timeline series highlighting news from the realms of science, tech, history, and pop culture to help fuel your imagination.
Another Sunday, another issue of Sci-Fi Fuel. This issue is nimbler than past installments in some ways and weightier in others (mainly due to that classic end of the year scramble). But I’m hoping to strike a nice comfortable balance with these updates before the new year.
If you missed it, I posted a brand new story inspired by the heavy topic of A.I. misinformation surrounding the Israel-Hamas war called Data Collector:
As my sixth story entry here, I think its heavily flawed but still some of my best work. I’m excited to explore the ins and outs of that in a Behind The Story post for paid subscribers later this week.
But as far a last week goes, its been a whirlwind of crazy new information (like the scheduled returns of the dodo and woolly mammoth). It seems everywhere we turn things that once seemed impossible are frighteningly the opposite. With such rapid change, its important that the fiction we create travel faster and further than our present-day science.
This series is a means of unpack some of the fast-paced advances in science and technology and show how anything and everything can be explored through a sci-fi lens. As you read ahead, think of it as a window into my imagination before you turn around and walk deeper into your own. I’m excited to see what you all create, flaws and all.
-Tim
Before we dive in, I’d like to make a correction to the version of last week’s Sci-Fie Fuel that hit your emails. It’s since been updated on the web version, but in your inboxes you got this sentence:
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 28, 2023 headline from the DiscussingFilm ‘X’ account…
Spot the mistake? Yeah, I accidentally claimed that Guillermo del Toro did some time travel for his quote tweet. The tweet from DiscussingFilm was ACTUALLY posted on November 18, 2023. I like posting dates for just about everything here because it combats the timeless fluidity of the internet. I’m a firm believer that the things we do are cemented and tethered to time and I hate making mistakes about dates.
Okay… NOW let’s dive in!
Find past Alternate Timeline stories here.
QUANTUM QUOTE:
A November 27, 2023 NPR piece written by Emily Olson titled Merriam-Webster's word of the year definitely wasn't picked by AI (Link) covers the many likely reasons “authentic” was one of the most searched words of the year. And as Olson extrapolated on the definition of the word, she also won the award of having written this issue’s QUANTUM QUOTE #! ⚡:
It's a synonym for "real," defined as "not false or imitation." But it can also mean "true to one's own personality, spirit, or character" and, sneakily, "conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features."
This may be why we connect it to ethnicity (authentic cuisine or authentic accent) but also identity in the larger sense (authentic voice and authentic self). In this age where artifice seems to advance daily, we're in a collective moment of trying to go back, to connect with some earlier, simpler version of ourselves.
SCI-FI ANALYSIS:
A word that demands some stage time in that quote is “artifice.” In the structure of the piece, it emerges as the hidden antagonist to “authenticity.” Although I hear and use the word “artifice” often, the quote made me realize that I couldn’t confidently define it. And after looking it up on Miriam-Webster, I learned just how villainous it can actually be.
Artifice can mean “a clever or artful skill” (a.k.a. ingenuity). “an ingenious device,” “an artful stratagem (a.k.a “trick”), or “false / insincere behavior.”
Understanding this layered meaning of “artifice” adds weight to terms like “Artificial Intelligence”—ingenuous devices artfully developed to trick us into believing they’re authentic due to their believable yet false behavior… Not unlike the story last week about Sports Illustrated articles that were not only written by A.I. but also had fake author credits and A.I. generated images made to represent them and seem authentic (Link).
By far, the most popular film about these ideas is The Matrix (1999), which examines ad challenges “authenticity” on every level (especially as the franchise expands).
If a fake steak tastes just as good a real steak, why should the difference matter to us?
Can Neo truly “the one” if there have been many before him?
When artifice enters the body of the authentic, does it reach a state of authenticity or become something else? What about the other way around?
And if artifice isn’t aware that it is artifice, what should it do about the fact that it doesn’t meet our standards of authenticity?
Tell me, what does authenticity mean to you?
— 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.
Battery giants are putting their money on new sodium-based technology. This coincides with a surprising new series of books titled Duracell Soup For The Soul…
China tried to keep kids off social media. Now the elderly are hooked. Their last hope are middle aged warriors tasked with getting their children to stop feeding pigeons in the park and convincing their parents to stop TikTok pranking their grandchildren by pretending to be evil clowns in the park.
Google will delete unused accounts in December. The company says the deletions will free up enough space for them to keep claiming that you’re running out of it.
To keep up with the growing demand for avocados in the U.S., local officials and criminal gangs are torching Mexico’s forests. So, if you’re annoyed by hip, eco-conscious millennials ordering avocado toast each morning, just lean in and whisper “With each bite, a beautiful tree dies…” before sauntering away with your forest-cruelty-free Sausage McMuffin.
A commercial jet powered solely by waste fats and sugar flew from London to New York. Climate scientists say it’s “A bold new step for society… as long as we never allow Paula Deen on one of these flights.”
Amazon introduced an A.I. chatbot for companies called ‘Q.’ It will help employees do things like summarize strategy documents, and help employers do things like accurately place workers on a venn diagram of “hotness,” “fireability” and something called “fireahotness.”
A new study suggests dinosaurs were killed off by more than an asteroid. Sing along with me!..
Sports Illustrated published online product reviews under fake author names, possibly generated by A.I. But until we have definitive proof, the search continues for Sports Illustrated writers named Locutus Ofborg, Dalek Cyberman, and Definitely A. Human.
Elon Musk shouted ‘Go f--- yourself’ during a live discussion about advertisers fleeing X. To clarify, he didn’t intend on being rude. It happens to be a name he’s testing for the platform. “Don’t want Disney commercials on X? How about Go F—— Yourself instead?!”
A study finds that our galaxy’s black hole is altering space-time. When asked is this could explain how Trump won the 2016 election, a prominent astrophysicist responded “No. But it could explain why buffalo aren’t born with wild wings.”
Johnson & Johnson is investing in AI to fuel drug discovery — and based on these results, it’s discovered quite a bit already:
China is set to choke off supply of a key mineral for America. That’s right, folks. Get used to rationing Sweet Baby Ray’s.
Woolly mammoths haven't been seen for 4,000 years, but if scientists are successful, they could be walking around Alaska in just five years. “Incredible!” Said one excited Alaskan. “Now, bring back my dad.”
Pentagon scientists have discussed cybernetic 'Super Soldiers' that feel nothing while killing. Which is a fancy way of saying they’re making clones of Kyle Rittenhouse that wear Iron Man suits from Spirit Halloween.
INCOMING TRANSMISSIONS:
It’s all podcasts this week!
LISTEN: Fiction Science: “Can AI become conscious?”
LISTEN: People vs Algorithms: “What’s Next for the Open Web?”
LISTEN: Paul Giamatti’s CHINWAG with Stephen Asma: “(Tom) Hanks For Coming!”
Okay, okay. On the surface this doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with science fiction, but as I’ve mentioned before this podcast is just about Paul Giamatti and his pal Stephen Asma exploring weird things! Well, this one does the same thing but ALSO featured Tom Hanks! They discuss the rapid evolution of media and human consciousness.
LISTEN: House of R: “Doctor Who Anniversary Special Part1: ‘The Star Beast’ Deep Dive
NEWSTOPIA:
Some headlines that might get your brain moving.
November 27, 2023 — via Fresh Air with Terry Gross
How the Roswell 'UFO' spurred our modern age of conspiracy theories (Link)
November 27, 2023 — via NPR
To help protect the salamander, the National Autonomous University of Mexico launched a campaign asking people to virtually adopt an axolotl or help pay for one of its meals. (Link)
November 27, 2023 — via AP
How did humans get to the brink of crashing climate? (Link)
November 28, 2023 — via Newsweek
Scientists 'Surprised' by Antarctic Glacier Suddenly Doubling Its Speed (Link)
November 29, 2023 — via AP
A six-planet solar system in perfect synchrony has been found in the Milky Way (Link)
November 30, 2023 — via The New York Times
Electric Vehicle Push Returns North Carolina to Its Lithium Mining Roots (Link)
November 30, 2023 — via CNN
Tiny living robots made from human cells surprise scientists (Link)
November 30, 2023 — via Newsweek
'Cannibal' Sun Eruption to Hit Earth Friday, May Affect Satellites, Radio (Link)
November 30, 2023 — via Newsweek
Biologists Find Brainless Brittle Stars Can Learn—But We 'Don't Know' How (Link)
December 1, 2023 — via NPR
The iceberg cometh: It's the size of Oahu, and it's moving into the open ocean (Link)
December 1, 2023 — via Newsweek
How America's New Nuclear Bomber Is Using AI (Link)
December 1, 2023 — via CNN
Not so dead as a dodo: ‘De-extinction’ plan to reintroduce bird to Mauritius (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…