(1) BIG PLANET. New evidence suggests a ninth planet is lurking at the edge of the solar system.
Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology announced Wednesday that they have found new evidence of a giant icy planet lurking in the darkness of our solar system far beyond the orbit of Pluto. They are calling it “Planet Nine.”
Their paper, published in the Astronomical Journal, describes the planet as about five to 10 times as massive as the Earth. But the authors, astronomers Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin, have not observed the planet directly.
Instead, they have inferred its existence from the motion of recently discovered dwarf planets and other small objects in the outer solar system. Those smaller bodies have orbits that appear to be influenced by the gravity of a hidden planet – a “massive perturber.” The astronomers suggest it might have been flung into deep space long ago by the gravitational force of Jupiter or Saturn.
Accompanying the Post article is a short video with the delightfully hideous title “Planet Nine from outer space.”
(2) IN WORDS OF MORE THAN ONE SYLLABLE. Read the paper here.
3. ANALYTICAL THEORY
Generally speaking, coherent dynamical structures in particle disks can either be sustained by self-gravity (Tremaine 1998; Touma et al. 2009) or by gravitational shepherding facilitated by an extrinsic perturber (Goldreich & Tremaine 1982; Chiang et al. 2009). As already argued above, the current mass of the Kuiper Belt is likely insufficient for self-gravity to play an appreciable role in its dynamical evolution. This leaves the latter option as the more feasible alternative. Consequently, here we hypothesize that the observed structure of the Kuiper Belt is maintained by a gravitationally bound perturber in the solar system.
(3) WORLDCON LODGING. MidAmeriCon II hotel reservations open January 25.
Heads up ! Hotel booking confirmed open from Monday 25th ???? watch this space for more linky previews over the weekend https://t.co/WdoBTjJ0Ml
— MidAmeriCon II (@MidAmeriCon2) January 20, 2016
(4) FAKING IT. According to The Digital Reader, the “Number One Book Brits Pretend to Have Read is 1984, But for Americans, It’s Pride and Prejudice”.
A recent survey of 2,000 Brits has revealed that 62% of respondents had pretended to have read one book or another in order to appear smart. The top ten books that people pretend to have read are an impressive list of books, with Orwell’s 1984 and War and Peace taking the top 2 spots.
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is sixth.
(5) HARLAN SAVES. Elon Musk described the influence of Harlan Ellison on his thinking during this interview. The reference comes at about 13:20 into the video.
It’s possible that Harlan will save the human race. Elon has funded research on A. I.’s with the idea that when they emerge that they will be friendly to us humans. “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” frightened Elon enough to get him to fund the research therefore, if that research helps avoid an unfriendly A. I., then Harlan saved all of us
In the second part of this interview, Elon Musk talks about Artificial Intelligence and the deep concerns its causing him. But first he talks about Tesla building an affordable car, Apple’ rumoured electric vehicle and the future of autonomous driving.
(6) REMEMBERING HARTWELL. Dozens of deeply moving and historically fascinating tributes to David G. Hartwell are appearing at this hour. Representative is Michael Swanwick’s memorial:
I was in Chicago a couple of years ago for Gene Wolfe’s induction into the literary hall of fame there when the phone rang and David Hartwell said, “I’m sitting in Fred Pohl’s kitchen with him, going through J. K. Klein’s photos, looking for pictures of old time writers. Do you want to join us?” You bet I did. I think back to that brief call and I can hear him grinning. The joy in his voice was infectious. That was the key to David G. Hartwell: he loved science fiction, he loved work, he loved making worthwhile things happen….
(7) SARTORIAL SPLENDOR. Here’s the David G. Hartwell Necktie Exhibit that celebrates his garish neckties.
(8) VIEW TIPTREE SYMPOSIUM. The first in a series of videos from December’s James Tiptree, Jr. Symposium at the University of Oregon is now online.
It shows Professor, Carol Stabile convening the symposium, welcome remarks by UO Dean of Libraries, Adriene Lim and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Doug Blandy, and the keynote talk by Tiptree biographer Julie Phillips, followed by Q&A.
(9) LIVED EXPERIENCE. Sarah A. Hoyt pays it forward in a column of mentoring for indie and other fledgling writers. In a few places I was nodding my head, especially section 3.
However, with the proliferation of indie, I’m seeing a lot more kid writers running around the net (and conferences) with their metaphorical pants around their metaphorical ankles and fingerpainting the walls in shades of brown.
I would hate for that to happen to one of mine, even if just one who follows my lessons here or over at PJM and as such, I’d like to at least ward off some of the worst behavior….
3- Speaking of marking you as a newbie:
Just a few years ago, I realized either a lot of people were naming their kids Author, Writer or Novelist, or the newbies in my field had got off their collective rocker.
This used to be advice given to us before social media: don’t put writer on your card. If you’re doing it right, they’ll remember that.
I guess it’s more needful than ever for people’s egos to affirm their real writerness (totally a word) now that there are no gatekeepers.
Look, the way to affirm you’re a writer is to write, and to take it seriously. Putting “writer” or novelist, or author on your card, your facebook page or your blog isn’t going to make you any more “real” than you are.
But Sarah, you’ll say, how will people know it’s me, and not another Jane Smith?
Well, if they’re looking for you, they’ll know.They’ll know because of your friends, your place of origin, the stuff you post. Fans are amazing that way.
(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY
- January 20, 1920 – DeForest Kelley.
- January 20, 1930 — Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon.
(11) SHOW HIM THE MONEY. Stephen Harper Piziks on Book View Café doesn’t work for free anymore.
“We just don’t have the money to pay you,” say the moochers. “We’re barely making our other expenses as it is. Even our president is a volunteer!”
Then maybe you should charge more for admission. Or get some sponsors. Or just realize that you can’t have speakers at such a low-budget event.
“But you’ll get exposure,” goes more whining.
Tell you what. You talk to the grocery store, the electric company, and the mortgage people and get them to accept exposure instead of cash, and I’ll speak for exposure.
I once showed up at a local convention where I’d been scheduled to speak on five panels (that’s five hours of public speaking) and was informed that I owed =them= $30 to cover my admission. It was only when I turned to walk out that they grudgingly allowed me free entry. Later, the con chair denigrated me by name on Twitter. I thanked him for the exposure.
And that brings me to final reason I charge. No one, including event organizers, values something they get for free. You get what you pay for, and an author who speaks for nothing is worth nothing. Certainly they’re treated that way. At festivals and conventions where I spoke for free, I’ve been ignored, pushed around, insulted, and denigrated. This has never happened at places that paid me.
(12) THE SECRET OF TIMING. Vox Day, while reporting this morning that David G. Hartwell was not expected to recover, identified him as part of this history:
Hartwell was John C. Wright’s editor at Tor Books; he was also friendlier to the Puppies than any of the SF-SJWs are likely to believe. I had the privilege of speaking with him when he called me last year after the Rabid Puppies overturned the SF applecart; he was the previously unnamed individual who explained the unusual structure of Tor Books to me, using the analogy of a medieval realm with separate and independent duchies. He wanted to avoid cultural war in science fiction even though he clearly understood that it appeared to be unavoidable; it was out of respect for him that I initially tried to make a distinction between Tor Books and the Making Light SJWs before Irene Gallo and Tom Doherty rendered that moot.
(13) IT’S A THEORY. Scholars told the BBC why they believe some fairy tales originated thousands of years ago.
Using techniques normally employed by biologists, academics studied links between stories from around the world and found some had prehistoric roots.
They found some tales were older than the earliest literary records, with one dating back to the Bronze Age.
The stories had been thought to date back to the 16th and 17th Centuries.
Durham University anthropologist Dr Jamie Tehrani, said Jack and the Beanstalk was rooted in a group of stories classified as The Boy Who Stole Ogre’s Treasure, and could be traced back to when Eastern and Western Indo-European languages split more than 5,000 years ago.
Analysis showed Beauty And The Beast and Rumpelstiltskin to be about 4,000 years old.
[Thanks to Gary Farber, Will R., and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day JJ.]
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Furst?
A moment of silence for David Hartwell…
And a moment of Oh, cool! for the lurker planet.
Will any other Filers be attending ConFusion this weekend? If the program does not decieve me, Laura Resnick will be there….
@Snowcrash: I loved Night Soldiers and Dark Star, but felt subsequent books became too mannered and comfy.
There was a lack of ticky. BTW, morbid curiosity made me check JCW’s site to see what Hartwell mention there might have been. There were two classy posts.
Well, I did not in a million years see that Pixel Scroll title coming. I was eating when I read it — and I ended up choking and coughing for 5 minutes. 😆
Wow, does Beale win the award for tacky or what! Dropping Hartwell into the middle of his culture war, when all the man deserves is our respect is a low blow by even his standards.
They had the thing about 1984 on an episode of QI (the British comedy/quiz show starring Stephen Fry). Fry had the members of the audience who had read 1984 raise their hands–then he penalized the entire audience 10 points for lying! 😀
I admit I actually haven’t read 1984, but not because I never tried. I just bounced off. Animal Farm was reasonably enjoyable, and I absolutely loved Brave New World, but Orwell’s supposed magnum opus just didn’t do it for me. I think it may have something to do with how much I loved Brave New World, but I’m not sure. I will argue that BNW is the better book, but I admit my arguments are not fully informed…
As for Pride and Prejudice, I bet the number of USians who have read it goes up quite a bit if you count the zombified version. Which I admit, I’m inclined to do, because I’m actually one of the few people liked both versions.
ETA: third fifth (though if I’d written quicker, I might have been first fifth…).
(12) So even while paying tribute to David Hartwell, Vox Day manages to fit in more namecalling?
ETA: Puts hand up as someone who hasn’t read 1984. It’s on that mountain of classics I keep meaning to get round to reading.
Not classy for VD to name David Hartwell as his claimed source the moment David isn’t here to dispute his claim anymore. 🙁
The only reason for writers to do fan run conventions is because they enjoy it. If they are enjoying the experience, promotional benefits may flow from it–including being more visible to the very fans most likely to nominate for and vote on the Hugos. Those benefits are less likely to flow if the writer isn’t having a good time connecting with (other) fans.
And no one should be doing conventions where they feel they are not treated with courtesy and respect.
However, the sad truth is that some pros do have an exaggerated idea of their monetary value to conventions. Even the GoH, with some exceptions, rarely has much impact on attendance.
I’ve read 1984 and Pride and Prejudice. Actually, I’ve read eight of those books (not War and Peace or the last two thirds of Crime and Punishment), not because they’re great literature but because librarians gave them to me at the right time and with the right sort of encouragement. I liked most of them quite a lot and I love Jane Austen (the librarian noticed I was checking out two books by Georgette Heyer and stuck Pride and Prejudice on my stack).
I’m undecided if the coolest thing in today’s scroll is the title, Planet Nine from Outer Space or the prehistoric nature of fairy tales.
I think 1984 and Brave New World are very different animals, one being dystopian satire, the other the most perfect example I know of of ultimate dystopian despair and horror. Orwell was dying at that point, he was broke and had seen Stalinism as the betrayal and destruction of every ideal he ever held dear.
I did read it: once. I can still feel the dread of reading the last pages. I wouldn’t push anybody into that experience.
@Jim Henley
Well, I was thinking more along the lines of Dr Augustus Furst and his particularly adventurous clan*, but sure, I’ll add those to Mt F770 too.
*=Any resemblance to any other family of adventurers lead by a science-hero is purely coincidental. I’m sure the creator** never even heard of any such instance.
**=Some obscure writer called Kurt Busiek.
I’ve read both 1984 and Pride and Prejudice. Oh, and no, not the zombified version.
Never read War and Peace, but I’ve never pretended to either. Bounced off it.
Stephen Fry can go suck rocks.
@LunarG: but does the lurker planet support you in email?
I’ve read and enjoyed* 1984, but I can definitely say I’m in no major hurry to read it again. On the other hand, when I was competing in my School’s chapter of Phi Rho Pi I did a short oral interpretation program on Revolutions and the “2+2=5” bit was a very effective part of it.
*for a certain value of “enjoyed”
(1) BIG PLANET.
If it is really there, would Ix be an appropriate name?
Lis Carey : Not classy for VD to name David Hartwell as his claimed source the moment David isn’t here to dispute his claim anymore. 🙁
I’m going to be playing a game of Paranoia tomorrow (“Somewhere in WHO Sector, all the cleaning robots have started attacking medical personnel… Don’t be tardy in getting to the briefing room”). It is a cliche in that game that the very best way to start a debriefing is for you to be there all on your lonesome, and lead off with the words “I can state without fear of contradiction…”
VD’s veracity strikes me as about as reliable as that lone debriefer.
@Soon Lee
Nibiru or bust.
Ix: Planet 9 from Outer Space?
I’ve read 1984. It was good, but not a book I particularly want to return to any time soon.
I’ve also read Pride & Prejudice. Well, the first third. I skimmed the rest of the book because hell, it’s so dull.
I’ve read everything on the first list except the Russians and Catcher… annnnd I tried to read the Bible. I bounced pretty hard after Exodus and landed in Revelations (probably the most fun book of the Bible – but then again I did skip rather a lot of it)
@Anna Feruglio Dal Dan
That’s probably a fair assessment. There are thematic similarities, and they’ve both contributed quite a bit to pop culture, but stylistically, they’re worlds apart.
@Cheryl S.: I sort of went from Heyer to Austen as well, although in my case, the person who introduced me to both was my mother (also a huge SF fan).
If we can’t have Pluto, can we have Hades instead?
From the American list I’ve read
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – multiple times
Ulysses by James Joyce – possibly
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville – tried and failed even though required for school
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – yes school related
The Bible – (which one?) yep age 8ish after a fight with my grandmother she gave me a copy from her Catholic Church in 1970s Connecticut
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – 2-3 times as a pre-/early teen
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – several translations for HS
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – not sure if read in HS if so required
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – required reading for school
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James – tried sample
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – multiple times
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky – started not sure finished as teen
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – multiple times
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – school required
Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling – tried but didn’t finish
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – multiple times
Enjoyed Pride, Prejudice, & Zombies. Sea monsters not so much.
LunarG: Will any other Filers be attending ConFusion this weekend? If the program does not decieve me, Laura Resnick will be there.
Well, if you see her, tell her that her acerbic wit has certainly been missed on File770, at least by me.
Read 1984 and enjoyed it, in a bleak sort of way. Definitely guided my view of politics and communication — well, that and moving from England to America (Boston), and learning how the story of the American Insurrection was told here.
Read Animal Farm as a teenager too, but was a bit confused. My primary model of talking animals was Walt Disney cartoons and The Wind In The Willows, so I had the weirdest mental images and head-space for the story. It didn’t help.
1984 was probably better before the Internet. I’ve just met too many people who read the Cliff Notes version and decided they now know everything there is to know about politics to take it seriously anymore.
But War and Peace is totally on my to do list. Getting around to it abound day now. Week after next, tops.
There is only one true name for “Planet Nine,” but I haven’t settled on the spelling. My first choice is Plutwo, but Plutoo is also acceptable. I draw the line at Plu2, though.
Ulysses is on the American list but not the one from the UK? I’ve never read it, although I tried once when I was planning a stay at the Sylvia Beach Hotel. Joyce and dyslexia are not a good combination.
I remember reading 1984 and feeling ever more distressed. I think I’ve blanked out the experience though, because the summary doesn’t bring up a single memory. For 50 Shades, I too read the sample and then had to look up the word execrable to make sure it meant what I thought it did. And, um, I didn’t read the last 50 pages of the last Harry Potter book. Maybe the last 100.
I first met David Hartwell at an early Balticon, back before he knew everybody. He wanted to abandon the parties one night, and he and my wife Ann and I went back to his room and talked for hours. He was our house guest at least once, and was one of the first people who ever got to root around in the Tiptree papers when they were in our basement. (He was also one of the few invited to Alice Sheldon’s house.) I didn’t see him often enough.
Speaking of Tiptree, the whole symposium is up on the University of Oregon’s website — use Mike’s link to the first one and enter Tiptree in the search field. Part 1 is Julie Phillips’ talk, and she’s always interesting. Part 2, students reading aloud some of her correspondence, is great. It ends with her letter to Ursula Le Guin admitting her true identity, and then Ursula getting up and reading her reply. This is the part I’d most recommend. Part 4 has David Gerrold’s story about just driving up unannounced to Tiptree’s house back in the early 70s, startling the woman who answered the door. Part 6 has audio recordings of her, if anyone wants to hear her actual voice. (Part 5, me, is eminently skippable, I think.)
I have never read 1984, but I’ve read Brave New World several times. I once told Bob Silverberg that I hadn’t been thrilled with his latest novel, but maybe it was because I had just reread BNW. And he said, yeah, well, do me a favor, and the next time you reread it, don’t read me right afterward, it’s just not fair.
Yes, we now only have Beale’s word that David was his insider, and no one would want to speak ill of David now with that level of reveal. Terribly convenient that Beale’s version of their relationship can’t be confirmed at the moment.
On the other hand, if anyone was going to try and be a peacemaker, it would have been David. Which is as good a way to remember him as any.
Cheryl S.: For 50 Shades, I too read the sample and then had to look up the word execrable to make sure it meant what I thought it did.
I read the Kindle sample and thought, “I’ve read better writing from high-schoolers.” If you had handed that excerpt to me to read, without me knowing any of the background on it, I’d have thought it was something written by (maybe, if I’m being generous) a 14-year-old.
I don’t begrudge people reading whatever trips their trigger — especially if they would otherwise not be reading at all. What I do begrudge is that millions of women (and girls) are reading that book thinking that it is romantic, rather than understanding what it really is — which is a detailed recounting of an emotionally-abusive relationship. 😐
I’ve read 1984 and I would suspect a reasonable number of people my age did. It was a set book for O level for my year at school. At that point of time there were a number of different exam boards so it would not have been everyone.
I haven’t read Fifty Shades, and I’m certainly not going to see Fifty Shades of Black. I’ve seen the commercial several times, and it looks like a solid ninety minutes of NOPE for several reasons, any one of which would suffice. If I want to see a portrayal of a twisted D/s relationship between a rich Mr. Grey and his employee, I’ll pop in my copy of Secretary.
Big Planet: Obvious name, Terok Nor…
(I’ll get my coat, it’s cold out there…)
Either you’ve misremembered the film’s title, or you need to turn up the brightness on your monitor.
The Lurker Planet Supports Me In Email would be a great PixelScroll title.
4) Looking at those lists….
Read and enjoyed: 1984, Lord of the Rings, Moby Dick, Catch-22, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights.
Read: Crime and Punishment, Catcher in the Rye, the Bible (yes, all of it), Tale of Two Cities.
Honestly not sure if I’ve read it or just picked it up by cultural absorption: To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice. (I know the stories, I know the characters… there are well-thumbed copies of both books around the house… I’m just not sure that I’m the one who’s thumbed them!)
Not read: everything else.
I tried to read James Joyce once. I thought I would ease myself in gradually, starting with Dubliners and working up to the towering titans of Joycean prose. Problem is, Joyce actually is a very effective writer, and the stories in Dubliners are so depressing, by the time I’d finished it, I didn’t have the heart to go on.
So Mr Wright was far more classy about Hartwell’s passing than Beale.
Quelle surprise.
Re 1984: It wasn’t a mandatory book in High School for me. but I read it because I’d heard so much about it that I felt I had too.
Years later, in discussing mandatory High school books with someone who had grown up outside of New York City, I discovered not every curriculum had had a heavy Bernard Malamud content as my Staten Island High School did…
(and FWIW, technically THE NATURAL is an Alternate History!)
The demotion of Pluto conveniently prevents this new discovery from being Planet 10, which of course would mean … Lectroids. Understandable they’d do this to avoid panic.
Moby Dick would be the book I’ve most not read, started it several times without finishing.
Who pretends to have read 50 shades if they have not? I’m surprised.
I was wondering about that too. Seems way more likely that someone would pretend not to have read it when they did.
People pretend to read books if their subculture expects them to have done so. I suspect it’s old hat now, but there was a point when it was the book that people who didn’t read books read and were talking about. So if everyone else is in the office and they keep trying to lend you copies you might well fib about having read it.
Theoretically. Not in my bit of the office.
(1) and (13) are both fascinating, in a good and mind-expanding way. That some fairy tales could be as ancient as the pyramids is just cool.
(12) is fascinating in a much more troubling way. Trust Beale to be innovative enough to pioneer social media-borne libel as the 21st century way of almost desecrating a body.
I forgot to link to my new SF Signal Mind Meld yesterday. So let me do it now:
I asked a few genre people about what spaceship they’d want to borrow or captain, excepting the Firefly and the ‘Falcon
Brave New World versus 1984…
Both were required reading in High School.
Huxley has more ideas and complexity. Reading it though felt like a chore. My first thought is BNW was satire. Outside it’s current cultural references and context, satire doesn’t always translate. Then again writers like Swift or Twain still map out well past their times. Giving it more thought: Huxley’s writing just comes off clunky and dated which made for a slog.
The Orwell has clean, memorable prose. By focusing on a central idea, rather than Huxley’s shotgun of ideas, it achieves a more powerful vision. It’s the ultimate in grimdark and likely a timeless classic. It’s bleak though. Don’t read it on a day you already need kitten pics and hugs.
re: Hartwell – Until this past week I don’t think I had even heard of Hartwell. Now I deeply regret that oversight. I’m heading to ConFusion this afternoon. I hope I get to hear some stories.
re: 50 Shades of #999999 – I have not read any of the books, but a few years back someone created a “fifty shades generator”, which was good for some horrified chuckles. I understand it was, in fact, better than the books.
(4) The books I haven’t read, on both lists combined, were:
A Tale of Two Cities (It’s a book that I was like, surely I must have? But no.)
War and Peace (started it once, but didn’t get very far)
Anna Karenina (maybe I have something against Tolstoy?)
Moby-Dick (I’m actually superstitious about reading this one)
I have not read 50 Shades, nor seen the movie, but this I’d go to in a heartbeat:
I really have read 1984, back in the 70s, and I occasionally still have nightmares about rats.
I always bounce off Pride & Prejudice, though–it’s too well-written. I get to admiring the prose, and lose track of what’s going on in the story.
War & Peace: I’ve read the war parts; bounced off the peace parts.
And I’m not a puppy, despite the foregoing.
Stoic Cynic: Those two books are a nice microcosm of the tension inherent in writing SF — Brave New World is better science fiction (in the classical sense — and in my opinion, of course), but 1984 is a substantially better book.