Happy Christmas 2023

It seems having a full time job, a young family and catching Covid at Christmas (again) doesn’t leave much spare time for hobbies, so this year has been an abject failure on the blogging front. Clearly, after the initial experimentation, I should have just let AI write the blog for me…

I have found some time to expand the Multiverse page with further details on Exordium, Paracosm and miscellaneous Ephemera. I just have too many ideas going around in my head and I find it difficult to devote enough time to any one of them to describe them in depth. Perhaps these little snippets are of use to someone though. If so, please do let me know.

Clearly, instead of spending time writing blog posts, I again spent too much time on Reddit with several posts on AI:

• Why GPT detectors aren’t a solution to the AI cheating problem
• ‘It’s the opposite of art’: why illustrators are furious about AI
• ‘Godfather of AI’ quits Google with regrets and fears about his life’s work
• AI matches human performance at developing good test questions

There were a few others on areas of science and technology for worldbuilding:

• NASA Validates Revolutionary Propulsion Design for Deep Space Missions
• New biocomputing method uses enzymes as catalysts for DNA-based molecular computing
• One-third of galaxy’s most common planets could be in habitable zone
• A gel cocktail uses the body’s sugars to ‘grow’ electrodes in living fish
• Can photosynthesis be used to remove the need for an organism to breathe?
• Hycean worlds might be particularly good places for life
• A fairy-like robot flies by the power of wind and light
• In the absence of other information, what is a “sci-fi world” to you?
• How do you prefer sword fighting in futuristic/space settings to be justified?
• Oxygen is seen as a key biosignature gas but is complex life possible without it?
• Caecilian inspired alternate evolution
• How would technology be different in a resource depleted biotech future?
• Brain activity decoder can reveal stories in people’s minds
• What changes could be made to Earth’s history to produce a magic free fantasy world that still contains humans?

I also dabbled a little in fantasy worldbuilding too, which may be of interest:

• Are guns a counter to mages?
• Are animals just flesh elementals?
• Practical polytheism
• Steampunk: plausible or fantastic?

In retrospect, if I had written blog articles rather than Reddit posts I would have produced a new post every fortnight, so perhaps I should stop spending time on Reddit. I am aware that social media really is a time sink as I already complain at my children for watching too much YouTube rather than doing their homework!

Finally, Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year to anyone who actually reads this. I will really try to do something with this blog next year, without relying on AI minions of course.