Tobias S. Buckell's Blog, page 41

Progress Report: Day Two

No cool picture to tag this one with.

My birthday was spent working most of the day on some ebook design on a last minute job, editing for the gadgets website. I got in an hour on the short story The Princess Mission that David Klecha and I are doing together before my birthday dinner.

I spent the evening relaxing and eating bad food for my mini-birthday celebration, and watched some Person of Interest. Then got back to editing The Princess Mission; another 2,500 words edited. I think The Princ...

Self-Cleaning Dishes? Yes Please

When can I buy a set?

“More accurately, the plate and bowl never get dirty at all. They are coated with a super-hydrophobic material like that found in nature on lotus leaves. The material repels water on the molecular scale, never letting anything actually stick to or completely touch the surface of the dishes. To wash them, all you have to do is tip the crumbs or leftovers off – you don’t even have to wipe them.”

(Via Self-Cleaning Dishes Never Need a Dishwasher or a Sponge | Designs & Ideas...

Ford develops car with solar panel roof that can recharge itself

I mean, that’s the fantasy, isn’t it? A car with solar panels in the top that can juice itself up enough for your driving needs?

“Ford has developed a concept model that runs primarily on solar power, which could bring the world one step closer to having a vehicle for everyday driving that is not dependent on traditional energy sources.

The C-MAX Solar Energi Concept is a collaboration between Ford, SunPower Corp. and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The concept car is expected to be unveil...

Today I turn 35, so it snowed a lot

When I left my house for my daily walk this greeted me. Lots of snow. The trees intercepted the worst of it there, once I got free of the house I was struggling through the sidewalks to get up to town.

Today I celebrate turning 35. Halfway through my 30s. I wish I came to you with any sort of profundity, but I’m still just excited I made 30. It was dicey, the transition from 29-30 spent in and out of the hospital, so my 30s see me always grateful for each passing birthday celebration. These la...

Progress Report: Day One

This is a picture of a name plate I had made up that makes me happy. It was commissioned back in November when I got the message that World Fantasy Con sent mentioning that some authors were important enough to get name plates and some weren’t, so we should all consider bringing our own. I wasn’t sure if I was in the ‘important’ designation (turns out I did get one, but then I promptly lost it) so I had a walnut and brass name plate created to bring with me!

Of course, I left it in my office.

B...

U.S. Pays $1 Billion for black farmer discrimination

Decades of this. Racism is still dogging things. And for everyone who says everyone should be able to self-bootstrap, how the fuck were the black farmers supposed to do that when the field was literally tilted against them?

“The U.S. makes loans and grants to small farms to help them buy the seeds and other items they need to get started with a new year’s crop, to expand their land, or to buy equipment. The program can be a life-line for family farms.

But that isn’t how it has worked for black...

AP is suddenly realizing other nations are racing to claim resources in the Arctic as it warms up

What’s particularly rich about this is that the Republican senator of Alaska never once mentions *why* all these resources in the Arctic are suddenly available…

“The U.S. is racing to keep pace with stepped-up activity in the once sleepy Arctic frontier, but it is far from being in the lead.

Nations across the world are hurrying to stake claims to the Arctic’s resources, which might be home to 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its untapped natural gas. There are emerg...

Year in review

Reader, it has been a complicated year. I’ve had my head down working hard, and as is my tendency when I’m overworked I tend to draw in on myself a bit. I might make passing mention, but I keep my cards close and work on what’s in front of me instead of leaning on the outside world. It’s the way my brain is set up. But it’s been a year. Sometimes I feel a bit self-conscious when there’s not a new novel out (as is the case for 2013), I still haven’t quite managed to arrange things to make this...

Cheap invention makes ocean water drinkable

Dude:

“Chemists with the University of Texas and the University of Marburg havedeviseda method of using a small electrical field that will remove the salt from seawater.

Incredibly this technique requires little more than a store-bought battery.”

(Via New Invention Makes Ocean Water Drinkable | TruthTheory.)

Of immense important to islands that often don’t have easy access to natural water supplies. Of importance to coastal regions.

And should bring down water makers on boats to even cheaper level...

Arctic Sea Ice: focus on the thickness, not the extent

Ramez hits the nail on the head:

“We usuallyhear about Arctic sea ice in terms of theareait covers. Every winter almost the whole Arctic freezes over. That’s changed very little. But in summers less and less is left. But what’s even scarier is that the ice is alsothinnerby about half. When we look at it in terms of volume, in the height of summer, three quarters of the ice volume from the 1980s is gone. Three quarters. There’s ice still covering water, but it’s thin, and fragile.”

(Via Arctic S...