A remarkably complex and detailed spec-bio project, with a focus on an alternative history where early 20th century ideas about the ecosystems of Mars turned out to be much more accurate than in our […]
Generate your own surreal landscapes and posters. Pick a style, give the algorithm a prompt, and just let it create something bizarre or wonderful. A great way to quickly iterate some ideas for […]
I had no idea that Tolkien ever considered a sequel to The Lord of the Rings, let alone one that had multiple revisions by the time of his death. This video into that potential book, with a […]
This looks like a very interesting world-building tool. Create maps, family histories, write stories, track campaigns, all from a single profile. Neat […]
A wonderfully whimsical fantasy art project, Terra Ultima is a collection of natural world mashups by Raoul. There's a book and a Tumblr for more, but I wanted to save a handful of the […]
The Bird Guides forum was an invaluable resource whilst we were failing to see the bearded vulture that made the UK it's home last summer, and I've continued to check in from time-to-time since. In […]
Time to make some use of the extended freedoms we still enjoy in Cumbria, with a road trip out to the Solway. It's the first time I've been around the industrial parks on the north edge of Carlisle […]
Darrell is one of those authors who really considers the world-building side of their work, so I've long found their blog fascinating. Recently, they've released a series of posts on the background […]
Amongst some general research into the British lammergeier, I stumbled onto this excellent resource. The entire forum and community are packed with great birding insights, but this rare-bird live […]
I love seeing new engineering ideas for creating low-energy buildings and the "earth, wind, and fire" method by Dr Ben Bronsema shows promise. Basically it uses a combination of solar energy/heating, […]
Is Prometheus a good movie or a bad movie? My answer is yes, and I feel like this deep dive into the mythology underpinning the film is part of why. There's a lot to […]
I'm a huge fan of Dougal Dixon's After Man and even managed to attend the 2018 (re)-launch party for the reprint of the book. That means I was lucky enough to see the original pitch […]
Can you use progressive enhancement when building a web app (whatever that is)? Of course you can, HEY have proven so (not that it should have needed […]
I'd never really considered the use of "race" as a term for species within fantasy settings (e.g. Dwarves, Elves etc.). Darrell has some interesting thoughts, written through the lens of his take on […]
At this point, surely access to the internet is at least a utility, if not a human right. Olu has put together a brilliantly reasoned argument for just that, and how to go about building for a world […]
A collection of interesting thoughts, quotes, and facts from the book McCarthy's Bar (reviewed here):"I can't see that a pint or two during the day is a sign of moral […]
The idea of an animal that can derive all or some of its energy needs from the sun is one that sci-fi authors have often touched on. Gert has proposed the nomenclature "bitroph" for such a creature, […]
It's a shame to see the "classical" sail-trees of Furaha are no longer making the reality-check cut, but the reasoning is (as always) […]