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Random Articles - RAW 161216

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Welcome to the weekend, Here are some hand-picked articles to enjoy this weekend over your favourite beverage.



A hundred years on from Agatha Christie’s first novel, crime fiction is going cosy again | Books | The Guardian

Forget domestic noir and put down all those books with “Girl” in the title. Crime fiction is turning back the clock to its golden age with a host of books that pay homage to the genre’s grande dame, Agatha Christie, either intentionally or in spirit



John Cleese on the Five Factors to Make Your Life More Creative – Brain Pickings

Much has been said about how creativity works, its secrets, its origins, and what we can do to optimize ourselves for it. In this excerpt from his fantastic 1991 lecture, John Cleese (b. October 27, 1939) offers a recipe for creativity, delivered with his signature blend of cultural insight and comedic genius. Specifically, Cleese outlines the 5 factors that you can arrange to make your lives more creative



How Libraries Save Lives – Brain Pickings

Knowledge sets us free, art sets us free. A great library is freedom, Ursula K. Le Guin wrote in contemplating the sacredness of public libraries. If librarians were honest, they would say, No one spends time here without being changed, Joseph Mills wrote in his ode to libraries. You never know what troubled little girl needs a book, Nikki Giovanni wrote in one of her poems celebrating libraries and librarians.



Google AI invents its own cryptographic algorithm; no one knows how it works | Ars Technica UK

Google Brain has created two artificial intelligences that evolved their own cryptographic algorithm to protect their messages from a third AI, which was trying to evolve its own method to crack the AI-generated crypto. The study was a success: the first two AIs learnt how to communicate securely from scratch.



Proxima b Might Be a Habitable 'Ocean Planet'

The entire surface of Proxima b — the possibly Earth-like planet orbiting the closest star to the sun, Proxima Centauri — may be covered in a liquid ocean, according to a new study



Fermi Paradox | Questions No One Knows the Answers to (Full Version) - YouTube

In the first of a new TED-Ed series designed to catalyze curiosity, TED Curator Chris Anderson shares his boyhood obsession with quirky questions that seem t...




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Verner Vinge and The Fermi Paradox | A Fire Upon The Deep

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There are two things about this book that I really like: The first is Verner Vinge's take on the Fermi Paradox and the second are the Tines, an alien race he created for the story. [Would you rather watch the video edition of this post? - releasing soon.] I love reading Science Fiction and Fantasy stories and one of my favourite things about these books are all the different non-human races that we encounter. In Fantasy it’s normally just a handful of races like Elves and Dwarfs, but in Science Fiction there is an unlimited amount of different alien races out there… but what about in real life? In real life… Have you ever wondered where all the aliens are? Have you ever been looking at the stars and wondered ‘Are we alone in the universe ?’ If so you’re not alone. There has been a lot of discussion about this topic by people from all walks of life including philosophers, scientist and writers. In fact this discussion has a name: The Fermi Paradox. The Fermi Para...
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The Most Mysterious Book in the World - The Voynich Manuscript

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Bibliophiles who love a good mystery, or conspiracy, should be familiar with the Voynich Manuscript. In the article that follows I’ll take you through a quick overview on this mystery and then provide you with some links for further reading. Enjoy! The mysterious Voynich Manuscript has been hanging around for almost 500 years, most of that time it was lost among a private collection but is now the focus of intense of scrutiny. It is famous for being written in an unknown language or code which, so far, has yet to been deciphered. The Voynich manuscript, or Beinecke Ms. 408, is thought to be the only medieval document on the planet in that category. This handwritten codex famous for its indecipherable language also contains drawings of strange plants, Zodiac star charts, and what looks like women bathing in green water.
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Discover | An Oath of Dogs by Wendy N. Wagner

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A book that has sentient dogs... after reading the blurb about the book, my first two thoughts were, look's good and sentient dogs, ah, that reminds me of the Tines from Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep . The Tines are the dog-like species who live on the planet the main storyline is set, they are a medieval culture and as individual dogs not sentient but when in a pack they are a single sentient being, I wonder if Wagner will take this route? It's very interesting premises and a book I highly recommend you read,  A Fire Upon the Deep . However back to, An Oath of Dogs , the plot looks good and it's reminiscent of Vinge and Cameron's Avatar . Looking through the editorial reviews it looks like Wagner has written a book that is not only a good read but also one which will make you think, and to me that's good science fiction . Have you read it yet? I'd love to know what you thought.
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