‘It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it…’

Scientists discover tiny solar panels that create themselves.
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The late SF author Iain M. Banks has had an asteroid named after him, J.L. Galache announced:
“…asteroid (5099) was officially named Iainbanks by the IAU, and will be referred to as such for as long as Earth Culture may endure.”
Or as long as the asteroid may exist, anyway.
A fitting tribute.
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The Star Wars Episode VII casting details have leaked online and it’s typical Hollywood.
Look at the male calls : a couple of twenty something males (one of whom does not need to be “conventionally handsome”; thirty-something male; forty-something male; seventy-something male.
Women…? TWO. Both late teens, and “fit” (read “slim to skinny, model looks. If you’re older than 24, don’t bother coming in). Any decent parts are going to men. The women are going to be eye candy, either standing around looking pretty in sumptouopus costume and makeup or else being chased around by the twenty- to thirty-something males or waiting to be rescued by same.
Gah.
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Author Sofia Samatar posted a list to help you decide when your novel is done. Number five offers a wonderful definition of a novel.
“a prose narrative of some length that has something wrong with it.”
Sigh. Yeah, that.
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These ‘Normal’ Barbies show us what Mattel dolls might look like if based on actual women.