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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

This piece is a longread with a wide range of links to “stories of solitude-seeking, mountain-climbing, jungle-running women adventurers,” including many that were new to me.

There She Goes: A Reading List on Women Adventurers

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Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

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“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” 

― Laura Ingalls Wilder

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Photo by Ali Karimiboroujeni on Unsplash

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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

— Albert Einstein

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Photo by Ricardo Frantz on Unsplash

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What did the futurologists of a century ago think our era would be like? And how close will today’s predictions be in a hundred years?

See predictions for 2023 from 1923 newspapers

“Watch-size radio telephones will keep everybody in communication with the ends of the earth,” they added, hitting the nail on the head.

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Photo by Kristian Strand on Unsplash

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May you have a creative and happy Easter!

Ukrainian newcomers teaching the art of pysanka ahead of Easter

“I think that the main thing for the artists is to show their feelings, express their feelings, with the lines and with the colours and with the style they’re using. When you will be focusing only on the process and just your aim will be to get the perfect pysanka, at the end you can lose something. You have to look inside—what you have inside—what you want to show in your piece. Maybe your feelings, maybe your sadness, maybe your happiness, something to share with people. And you can show it on the surface of pysanka. This is the most important. And we don’t need ten perfect pysankas, we need ten unique pysankas with unique feelings on it.

— Oksana, Ukrainian who came to Canada in 2022, at a pysanky-making workshop in Ottawa

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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I have mentioned my love of all things Murderbot before, and I am not alone in that sentiment. Here’s an interview with author Martha Wells, discussing the making of this cranky yet beloved character.

The MurderBot Diaries author Martha Wells talks about the latest novel in the series, NETWORK EFFECT, her discovery writing process, and building a sci-fi universe around a unique protagonist.

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Photo by NASA on Unsplash

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NASA recently released the Artemis II roster for the next crewed lunar mission. As one article put it, “this is not your grandfather’s moon mission” and that’s a good thing. The crew is 25% female, 25% African American, and even (gasp!) 25% Canadian! (Think you too have what it takes? Here’s a link to get started: Astronaut Selection Program | NASA. Good luck!)

Why go to space? There are a lot of potential answers. Given the complex, diverse and fascinating future of exploration, here’s a collection of stories and essays that address this very question.

Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures from ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination

Stories by: Madeline Ashby, Steven Barnes, Eileen Gunn, Ramez Naam, Carter Scholz, Karl Schroeder, Vandana Singh

Essays by: Jim Bell, Lawrence Dritsas, Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, Emma Frow, Roland Lehoucq, Andrew D. Maynard, Clark A. Miller, Deji Bryce Olukotun, Steve Ruff, William K. Storey, Sara Imari Walker, G. Pascal Zachary

Interview with: Kim Stanley Robinson

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Photo by Armand Khoury on Unsplash

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A century ago gasoline-powered cars really came into their own. (In 1920, if memory serves, Ford sold a million Model Ts for the first time.) Now, a hundred or so years after that milestone, we’re living in the midst of another significant change. 

Mr Man and I were discussing electric vehicles today. As an example, in the space of a block we spotted half a dozen Teslas. Regardless of what one thinks about the company (or its owner’s shenanigans), it has been a pioneer and visible symbol of the shift from fossil fuels to electrification. Despite decades of resistance from established interests, that change is now happening at a rapid pace. 

That also got me thinking about the speed of technological change over humanity’s history, which brings me to this article. 

Technology over the long run: See how dramatically the world can change within a lifetime

…we live in a time of extraordinarily fast technological change. For recent generations, it was common for technologies that were unimaginable in their youth to become common later in life.

The graphic captures this well. 

Click for more detail. Used under CC-BY, credit to author Max Roser

It makes me think of my grandparents, born around the time of that Model T milestone. They lived to see the moon missions, internet and cell phones.

It’s been said before but it bears repeating. We’re living our ancestors’ dreams. Let’s make them good ones.

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Photo by Simon Zhu on Unsplash

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Most mornings I stop by the MIT homepage to see what new projects are in the works. Today I was particularly struck by the sense that these folks are freaking rockstars. 

Designing a flexible graphene supercapacitor for solar energy storage?

Rockstars.

Researching cell-based treatment for Type 1 diabetes?

Rockstar.

Advising the White House on space policy?

Rockstar.

Reducing concrete emissions, making affordable air quality sensors, supporting collaborative action, and addressing disparities in health care?

Rockstars all.

As someone who imagines the future, I love to see it being built. 

And it’s not just MIT, of course. The world is full of creative innovators at all levels, from cutting-edge research to finding solutions to everyday issues. Scientists or not, that’s kind of humanity’s thing.

Take a moment to remember a time when you identified a problem and worked to fix it. Have you ever soaped a sticky drawer, had a stoplight installed at a dangerous intersection, added pollinator-friendly plants to your garden, or tackled any of the many (many) problems we face every day?

Then you’re a rockstar too.

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Photo by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash

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It’s that time again, when Grist rolls out its annual climate fiction short story contest! Have something to say about the future, and how we might win it? This could be the contest for you!

Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest 2023: Submit your story

We’re looking for stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words that envision the next 180 years of climate progress – roughly seven generations – imagining intersectional worlds of abundance, adaptation, reform, and hope. 

Hopeful doesn’t mean “fatuous” or “unrealistic” or even “easy.” It does mean light at the end of this particular tunnel. If you’re wondering what a winning entry looks like, here are stories from previous iterations of the contest:

Here’s the listing on The Submissions Grinder (best submission tracking platform out there and did I mention it’s free?).

All genres welcome, no cost to enter, submissions close June 13, 2023. Head to the link for more details and the submissions portal.

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Photo by Felipe Dolce on Unsplash

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