science

So about that robot butler…

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Well, humanity was nice while it lasted, and I’m not just talking the constant pesky threat of nuclear annihilation at the whim of a temperamental man-child on a pouty afternoon. We’ve got other things to worry about, which is unfortunate, because the Warehouse of Worries is bursting at the seams and boasts a six-hour wait list.

If you didn’t see the Hound from Fahrenheit 451 open a door for his hound buddy yesterday, here it is:

Built by Boston Dynamics, a technology company where no one seems to have read to the end of a single work of science fiction, this kinda looks like the beginning of the end. But in the words of infomercials, wait, that’s not all.

Nope.

There are also apparently ginormous mutant pigs roaming Hong Kong. Wild boars, if you want to be exact, and though we already knew Orwell’s 1984 was unfurling before our eyes, we never really expected Animal Farm. Or, perhaps more terrifyingly, the world of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam series.

Nightmare fuel for days. Now might be a great time to remind our porcine overlords that I don’t eat pork because pigs are very smart, and as for our future robotic ones, I say, nice robot. Who’s a good boy? Niiiiiiiiiiiceeeeeeeeee robot….

Check out my recaps of the hit new show “All My Traitors.” Recap of episode 2, “Lock Him Up” is available now!

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

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Aunty Ida got scienced. How’d she hold up?

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So this is probably the coolest thing ever. What’s that hypothetical reader? Sounds like hyperbole? Well, hold on to your hypothetical hat, because it’s really that cool.

If you were around during this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge, you probably came across A Back of the Envelope Calculation, and David, the scientist behind it. Through the month of April, David delightfully broke down the science of science fiction. Ready for the cool part?

Are you really ready?

What’s that, hypothetical reader? Milking it?

Never.

Well, hardly ever.

Anyway, today he’s taken the microscope (get it? It’s science humor!) to the science of Aunty Ida, and it’s all I’ve ever dreamed and more.

Aunty Ida, if you’re not familiar, is the owner, operator and mad-adjacent scientist of Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only).Though light science-fiction, it is still sci-fi, and meticulously researched to give the sense of Colbert’s truthiness.

So how does it hold up to scrutiny from a real, completely unfictional scientist?

Hop on over and check out Deep Frozen SQuID to find out!

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Taking in the Dinosaurs

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Sometimes I look at a goose and think you can almost just see a dinosaur, a scaled-down version, here in our modern world. They way they move; their necks; that sharp glint in their eyes. It makes me wonder how scientists didn’t see it all along, the connection between birds and dinosaurs.

It’s right there.

Now there is evidence that Tyrannosaurus rex, that (arguably) most fearsome of creatures among fearsome creatures was, in fact, related to chickens. Chickens.

Imagine that coming down in the world. Chickens don’t seem terribly fearsome at all. It’s like the tough guy, the neighborhood baddie, the guy who sends everyone into fits of shivers when they see him being uncovered as a closet rubber band collector. Not very scary.

Unless the guy is 40 feet long. Then his hobby probably doesn’t sound funny, no matter how silly it is.

It makes me think what mystery there is in this world, and how many answers are directly in front of us that we just can’t see.

 

A Neuroscientist Explains How Dogs Love Us

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Do you ever wonder how your dog thinks you’re so great while you may not be so sure about that? Wonder what’s going on behind those big, soft doggy eyes? This neuroscientist did, and took his specialty to man’s best friend.


How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain by Gregory Berns. Amazon for $5.99. The powerful bond between humans and dogs is one that’s uniquely cherished. Loyal, obedient, and affectionate, they are truly “man’s best friend.” But do dogs love us the way we love them? Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns had spent decades using MRI imaging technology to study how the human brain works, but a different question still nagged at him: What is my dog thinking?
After his family adopted Callie, a shy, skinny terrier mix, Berns decided that there was only one way to answer that question—use an MRI machine to scan the dog’s brain. His colleagues dismissed the idea. Everyone knew that dogs needed to be restrained or sedated for MRI scans. But if the military could train dogs to operate calmly in some of the most challenging environments, surely there must be a way to train dogs to sit in an MRI scanner.

With this radical conviction, Berns and his dog would embark on a remarkable journey and be the first to glimpse the inner workings of the canine brain. Painstakingly, the two worked together to overcome the many technical, legal, and behavioral hurdles. Berns’s research offers surprising results on how dogs empathize with human emotions, how they love us, and why dogs and humans share one of the most remarkable friendships in the animal kingdom.

How Dogs Love Us answers the age-old question of dog lovers everywhere and offers profound new evidence that dogs should be treated as we would treat our best human friends: with love, respect, and appreciation for their social and emotional intelligence.