#it's a sort-of an artificial classification

[thunderboltfire]

Peoples of Isaldi, ft. the Wanderers. I've wanted to make the scheme of how fantasy races work in Isaldi, but it looked a bit bare, so I sketched faux-manuscript inspired illustrations of various Wanderer knights representing each of the peoples. I've decided I shouldn't reference everything only to my main OCs, so some of the side characters make their first proper entrance:

Persi, Oster, Shnár and Hedwinne are Kestrels, Wanderers trained in Wirjenów castle and knighted during the war. Persi and Oster were Argo's roommates in the castle. Ilveyn is one of the masters who supervised the training and "Spearhead" Manasi is a historical figure, as in the time of the events of the plot, there are no gnomes among the Wanderers.

In general, humans and elves are more biologically similar to each other than to any of the shorter people, and vice versa - dwarves and halflings are related closer to each other than to any of the taller people. The only known interspecies unions that produce offspring are humans + elves (the outcome is a half-elf) and dwarves + halflings (the outcome is a gnome).

Half-elves are very diverse - they inherit traits from both parents in a way that cannot be foreseen, the only constant is that their ears are almost always pointy, but shorter than elven. Lifespan, eye color, iris shape, bodytype, resistances to toxins, allergies and intolerances, even body hair patterns vary wildly from one half-elf to another. Oster, for example, passes for a human more easily than Igna, but sees better than her in low-light conditions (he also happens to be near-sighted, but that's an unrelated issue).

Gnomes, in contrast are a subject to hybrid speciation. They tend to be rather similar to one another in terms of physical traits - instead of forming a spectrum in between dwarvish and halfling-like apearance, they have a distinct look consisting of a similar set of dwarvish and halfing traits they often inherit from their parents. There are entire gnome settlements, and they're considered a people of their own to an extent half-elves are not.

[togglesbloggle]

For the Reverse Unpopular Opinion meme, Lamarckism!

(This is an excellent ask.)

Lamarck got done a bit dirty by the textbooks, as one so often is. He's billed as the guy who articulated an evolutionary theory of inherited characteristics, inevitably set up as an opponent made of straw for Darwin to knock down. The example I recall my own teachers using in grade school was the idea that a giraffe would strain to reach the highest branches of a tree, and as a result, its offspring would be born with slightly longer necks. Ha-ha-ha, isn't-that-silly, isn't natural selection so much more sensible?

But the thing is, this wasn't his idea, not even close. People have been running with ideas like that since antiquity at least. What Lamarck did was to systematize that claim, in the context of a wider and much more interesting theory.

Lamarck was born in to an era where natural philosophy was slowly giving way to Baconian science in the modern sense- that strange, eighteenth century, the one caught in an uneasy tension between Newton the alchemist and Darwin the naturalist. This is the century of Ben Franklin and his key and his kite, and the awed discovery that this "electricity" business was somehow involved in living organisms- the discovery that paved the way for Shelley's Frankenstein. This was the era when alchemy was fighting its last desperate battles with chemistry, when the division between 'organic' and 'inorganic' chemistry was fundamental- the first synthesis of organic molecules in the laboratory wouldn't occur until 1828, the year before Lamarck's death. We do not have atoms, not yet. Mendel and genetics are still more than a century away; we won't even have cells for another half-century or more.

Lamarck stepped in to that strange moment. I don't think he was a bold revolutionary, really, or had much interest in being one. He was profoundly interested in the structure and relationships between species, and when we're not using him as a punching bag in grade schools, some people manage to remember that he was a banging good taxonomist, and made real progress in the classification of invertebrates. He started life believing in the total immutability of species, but later was convinced that evolution really was occurring- not because somebody taught him in the classroom, or because it was the accepted wisdom of the time, but through deep, continued exposure to nature itself. He was convinced by the evidence of his senses.

(Mostly snails.)

His problem was complexity. When he'd been working as a botanist, he had this neat little idea to order organisms by complexity, starting with the grubbiest, saddest little seaweed or fern, up through lovely flowering plants. This was not an evolutionary theory, just an organizing structure; essentially, just a sort of museum display. But when he was asked to do the same thing with invertebrates, he realized rather quickly that this task had problems. A linear sorting from simple to complex seemed embarrassingly artificial, because it elided too many different kinds of complexity, and ignored obvious similarities and shared characteristics.

When he went back to the drawing board, he found better organizing schema; you'd recognize them today. There were hierarchies, nested identities. Simple forms with only basic, shared anatomical patterns, each functioning as a sort of superset implying more complex groups within it, defined additively by the addition of new organs or structures in the body. He'd made a taxonomic tree.

Even more shockingly, he realized something deep and true in what he was looking at: this wasn't just an abstract mapping of invertebrates to a conceptual diagram of their structures. This was a map in time. Complexities in invertebrates- in all organisms!- must have been accumulating in simpler forms, such that the most complicated organisms were also the youngest.

This is the essential revolution of Lamarckian evolution, not the inherited characteristics thing. His theory, in its full accounting, is actually quite elaborate. Summarized slightly less badly than it is in your grade school classroom (though still pretty badly, I'm by no means an expert on this stuff), it looks something like this:

As we all know, animals and plants are sometimes generated ex nihilo in different places, like maggots spontaneously appearing in middens. However, the spontaneous generation of life is much weaker than we have supposed; it can only result in the most basic, simple organisms (e.g. polyps). All the dizzying complexity we see in the world around us must have happened iteratively, in a sequence over time that operated on inheritance between one organism and its descendants.

As we all know, living things are dynamic in relation to inorganic matter, and this vital power includes an occasional tendency to gain in complexity. However, this tendency is not a spiritual or supernatural effect; it's a function of natural, material processes working over time. Probably this has something to do with fluids such as 'heat' and 'electricity' which are known to concentrate in living tissues. When features appear spontaneously in an organism, that should be understood as an intrinsic propensity of the organism itself, rather than being caused by the environment or by a divine entity. There is a specific, definite, and historically contingent pattern in which new features can appear in existing organisms.

As we all know, using different tissue groups more causes them to be expressed more in your descendants, and disuse weakens them in the same way. However, this is not a major feature in the development of new organic complexity, since it could only move 'laterally' on the complexity ladder and will never create new organs or tissue groups. At most, you might see lineages move from ape-like to human-like or vice versa, or between different types of birds or something; it's an adaptive tendency that helps organisms thrive in different environments. In species will less sophisticated neural systems, this will be even less flexible, because they can't supplement it with willpower the way that complex vertebrates can.

Lamarck isn't messing around here; this is a real, genuinely interesting model of the world. And what I think I'm prepared to argue here is that Lamarck's biggest errors aren't his. He has his own blind spots and mistakes, certainly. The focus on complexity is... fraught, at a minimum. But again and again, what really bites him in the ass is just his failure to break with his inherited assumptions enough. The parts of this that are actually Lamarckian, that is, are the ideas of Lamarck, are very clearly groping towards a recognizable kind of proto-evolutionary theory.

What makes Lamarck a punching bag in grade-school classes today is the same thing that made it interesting; it's that it was the best and most scientific explanation of biological complexity available at the time. It was the theory to beat, the one that had edged out all the other competitors and emerged as the most useful framework of the era. And precisely none of that complexity makes it in to our textbooks; they use "Lamarckianism" to refer to arguments made by freaking Aristotle, and which Lamarck himself accepted but de-emphasized as subordinate processes. What's even worse, Darwin didn't reject this mechanism either. Darwin was totally on board with the idea as a possible adaptive tendency; he just didn't particularly need it for his theory.

Lamarck had nothing. Not genetics, not chromosomes, not cells, not atomic theory. Geology was a hot new thing! Heat was a liquid! What Lamarck had was snails. And on the basis of snails, Lamarck deduced a profound theory of complexity emerging over time, of the biosphere as a(n al)chemical process rather than a divine pageant, of gradual adaptation punctuated by rapid innovation. That's incredible.

There's a lot of falsehood in the Lamarckian theory of evolution, and it never managed to entirely throw off the sloppy magical thinking of what came before. But his achievement was to approach biology and taxonomy with a profound scientific curiosity, and to improve and clarify our thinking about those subjects so dramatically that a theory of biology could finally, triumphantly, be proven wrong. Lamarck is falsifiable. That is a victory of the highest order.

[vigilskeep]

going off your arcane bolt post and how it becomes spirit bolt in 2, what do you think is the distinction between the arcane and spirit schools? it's interesting that spells which were spirit in dao were moved to arcane to fill it out for da2 (mind blast, crushing prison) and the sort of overlap where both include various shielding methods 🤔

OUGH good question

so for reference for those less familiar, the arcane tree in dao is the very basic single tree with arcane bolt and arcane shield, and spirit is an entire school with two anti-magic trees, the walking bomb/necromancy tree, and the excellent and delightful telekinetic tree. in da2, arcane is a full tree featuring arcane shield, but also elemental weapons which it stole from the elemental/primal schools, and the telekinesis tree (mind blast, barrier, and crushing prison) which it’s stealing from spirit. the spirit tree has spirit bolt (the stolen version of arcane bolt), and then the spells it’s always had like dispel magic, death syphon, and walking bomb.

when you read the codex entries about the schools of magic in origins there are very distinctly four schools: primal, creation, spirit, entropy. the first thing i’d like to establish about my understanding is that these are artificially created distinctions and are not “real”, in the sense that mages trying to understand magic have created classifications to argue about as people love to do. by the way, i absolutely believe these arguments take place in-world, and i as the person who sticks their hand up in the back of the lecture and says “well school distinctions aren’t even REAL so—” am the annoying student that all senior enchanters hate to see coming

the second point i’d like to make is that even by the people who treat these classifications as fact, the school of spirit has the least clear boundaries of the four. it is described as an “esoteric” field of study and “the school of mystery, the ephemeral school”. translation: we don’t know what the fuck we’re talking about here. the school of spirit is said to draw its power from the fade itself, but of course that’s how all typical magic works, so theoretically all spells belong to the school of spirit. (now i sound like a spirit magic student who has beef with evokers who think they’re better than me.) but broadly spells that get categorised into the school of spirit tend to be ones where you’re not interfering with or creating anything “real”, you’re working directly with “magic itself”. so in origins it’s the spells that work directly with combating or destroying or stealing another mage’s magic reserves, it’s the necromancy tree which as we’ve seen with a lot of detail in later games uses spirits, and it’s the telekinesis tree which throws, crushes or protects with invisible force.

(with regard to the telekinesis tree and also the force magic specialisation: i have a pet theory that many centuries later when thedas discovers modern physics, we’d see a split between the school of spirit and some kind of school of forces now that we acknowledge the force crushing prison applies as something “real” rather than “just magic”. i don’t know enough about physics to develop that line of thought and i also wonder if the study of magic would have thrown away the entire system of schools by then but it’s just funny to me to imagine.)

another point to be made is that there’s also a lot of crossover between the school of spirit and the school of creation, the latter for example inexplicably containing the spell to have a wisp buddy in dao. and those two schools actually get fully put in the blender together for the diabolical dai approach to it all. but that’s a whole other can of worms.

to return to the arcane vs spirit question, you’ll have noticed that arcane is not any of the four basic schools, it doesn’t count as a school. you’ll also have noticed that arcane bolt and arcane shield, working purely with fadestuff and protective force, are absolutely spirit magic on the same grounds as the telekinesis tree. a tree which is so similar to arcane it gets recategorised as arcane in da2! i actually do not think there is any academic difference between arcane & spirit and i think arcane spells all get folded into spirit by anyone who is writing essays in-world (and it constantly pleases me that people are definitely writing essays in-world). so what is the difference, you ask? why are they separated in my skill trees? for practical application and training!

the real difference between arcane and spirit to Me is that arcane contains the fundamentals every single mage should know, and spirit is for eccentric researchers who crawl out of their libraries with a finished book once a decade, and who definitely aren’t even slightly possessed, they promise. arcane has the basic attack, the basic defense, and in da2 also contains the basic support. these are technical fundamentals. they’re going to be the first lessons you sat through as a kid even if you specialise in something else and never touch them again. and they are spirit spells because drawing on the power of the fade is the most basic definition of magic, even if the spells that requiring deeper understanding of the fade are also the most complicated field of study. when i’m assigning spells with character in mind (and i always have character in mind) i tend to put points in arcane for quite rigid/technical casters who would rely on those fundamentals and then points in spirit for those who truly study the fade. most mages would never have points in spirit but the type of mages who are in a protagonist’s party are not representational

so that’s what i think. in the normal number of paragraphs. and to get slightly meta my favourite hc about the da2 skill trees less exactly matching the academic rigour of dao skill trees is that you and your mage companions are all apostates and the way you think about magic is different and more fluid even if it draws on the same principles. ok thats my stance cutting myself off byeee

[whencyclopedia]

Stone Age Tools

As the Stone Age covers around 99% of our human technological history, it would seem there is a lot to talk about when looking at the development of tools in this period. Despite our reliance on the sometimes scarce archaeological record, this is definitely the case.

The Stone Age indicates the large swathe of time during which stone was widely used to make implements. So far, the first stone tools have been dated to roughly 2,6 million years ago. The end is set at the first use of bronze, which did not come into play at the same time everywhere; the Near East was the first to enter the Bronze Age around 3,300 BCE. It must be recognised that stone was by no means the only material used for tools throughout this time, yet it is the most stubborn one when it comes to decaying and thus survives a bit better than the alternatives.

Time Periods

It is important to realise that the ways chosen to divide up the Stone Age into bite-size chunks (see below) depend on technological development, and not on chronological boundaries. Because these developments did not occur at the same time in all areas, strict date ranges are out of the question. Of course, this method has some difficulties, as the characteristics defining each stone tool culture are determined by us. As with all such artificially constructed ways of classification, they oversimplify things and leave many grey areas, for instance when it comes to transition periods. However, as long as this is kept in mind it is still a useful way of adding some sort of structure to such a hugely long period of time.

The Stone Age is conceived to consist of:

the Palaeolithic (or Old Stone Age)

the Mesolithic (or Middle Stone Age)

the Neolithic (or New Stone Age)

The Palaeolithic spans the time from the first known stone tools, dated to c. 2,6 million years ago, to the end of the last Ice Age around 12,000 years ago. It is further subdivided into the Early- or Lower Palaeolithic (c. 2,6 million years ago - c. 250,000 years ago); the Middle Palaeolithic (c. 250,000 years ago - c. 30,000 years ago); and the Late- or Upper Palaeolithic (c. 50,000/40,000 - c. 10,000 years ago; some of these cultures persisted into the time when the Northern Hemisphere began warming up again). Furthermore, within these frameworks, various stone cultures are identified, some of which you will find below.

The Mesolithic saw humans adapt to the warmer climate, from around 12,000 BCE until the transition to agriculture, which happened at different times in different regions, the earliest of which was around 9,000 BCE in the Near East (which due to its lightning speed sort of skipped the Mesolithic altogether). At the other extreme, farming took until around 4,000 BCE to spread all the way to Northern Europe.

The Neolithic, then, has no clear chronological starting point either, but is defined by the move to a more settled way of life based on farming and herding. The introduction of bronze marks the end of the Neolithic, which gradually happened in various areas from around 3,300 BCE onward.

Continue reading...

[lucent-nargacuga]

newly rewritten pikmin wraith headcanons because one theory being confirmed completely destroyed what I had

obligatory disclaimer that this is not canon nor a theory, this is my interpretation and also my pikmin au (but everyone is welcome to use my headcanons 👍)

note that the following are ocs: thermo wraith, the mudwraiths, the ghoulid classification, phantoms, and (technically) the revenant

wraith types

there are two types of wraiths: wraiths without a core and wraiths with a core. (as all wraiths are liquid, each type has two subtypes, cold wraiths and hot wraiths. this only has to do with what a wraith's body is made of. both the waterwraith and plasm wraith are cold wraiths.) coreless wraiths originate from beyond pnf-404 in meteorites, while wraiths with cores originate from pnf-404 itself.

what are wraiths?

all wraiths are souls of sapient beings trapped inside liquids. these souls can never move on to the afterlife as being trapped inside a liquid for hundreds of years corroded them beyond recognition.

wraiths with cores are specifically human souls, and the core is the soul itself as well as the memories from its past life. there are two notable artificial wraiths with cores, those being the plasm wraith and the thermo wraith.

coreless wraiths are souls from alien races that are not humans.

wait, artificial wraiths? how is that possible?

pnf-404, once known as earth, became a living being countless years in the past. the resident humans did not leave the planet for about a hundred years after this apocalyptic incident occurred until the planet was too unstable to be fit for living. this gave human scientists a long time to experiment with the new lifeforms and new laws of nature.

why there are multiple waterwraiths (and mudwraiths)

a giant meteor containing countless trapped souls due to a bizarre mining accident broke up near pnf-404 and the pieces fell to the planet's surface, one by one. as the meteor was full of water, all those souls became multiple waterwraiths.

upon landing, the waterwraiths were significantly weaker than the ones seen ingame, only having a physical form that is easy to destroy. some of these wraiths had their bodies destroyed and were able to go to the afterlife- but due to their souls being corroded they were swiftly rejected and were sent back to the mortal realm, where they gained an odd, invulnerable form. however, they are not entirely stable and gravitational waves will make them temporarily revert to their former form. interestingly, when this body is destroyed too, the cycle will only continue.

mudwraiths are waterwraiths that landed recently enough to have not experienced having their body destroyed (or they may have landed longer ago but got very lucky and avoided danger). they cover themselves in mud or another substance as armour of sorts for protection. interestingly, they outnumber the "reborn" waterwraiths by a vast amount, yet they are seldom seen as they are anxious, shy, and nocturnal.

do ghoulids still exist?

yes! this is just a classification given to all creatures that are not organic/biological (with the exception of glow pikmin and the mechanical creatures, such as man-at-legs).

what about the phantoms?

phantoms are the supernatural equivalent of convergent evolution. they are almost the same as they were (before my headcanons had to change) and have no connection to wraiths, other than being coincidentally similar to wraiths with cores.

phantoms originate from another dimension. they are not trapped souls, but some theorize they may be reincarnations of otherworldly beings. nobody has a single clue as to why they can be found on pnf-404 in the first place, and the phantoms themselves don't seem to know either.

what about the revenant?

pnf-404 will still be considered the revenant until there's more canon information revealed.

wraith cores and "wraithstuff"

wraiths with cores are notably stronger than coreless wraiths due to their ability to regenerate; their bodies are impossible to destroy. the core, while being the soul and memories of the wraith, constantly generates a substance known as "wraithstuff". this substance is an extension of the core and is bound to the liquid that makes up the wraith's body.

in coreless wraiths, "wraithstuff" is the soul itself.

glow pikmin, glow sap, and what they have to do with wraiths

glow pikmin are extremely similar to wraiths. their bodies consist of glow sap with a pikmin soul within, yet they retain some features of still-living pikmin such as eyes and a stem. they are able to fuse their bodies together into an amorphous ball to perform a powerful attack known as a glowmob. however, despite the similarities, glow pikmin are not wraiths.

glow sap affects wraiths differently than organic beings. while it is still unknown what exactly happens, being touched by glow sap makes all wraiths react as if it causes them physical pain. wraiths avoid glow sap whenever possible due to this.

[jangmo-othewarrior]

The Intricacies of Demon Culture

(or a bunch of loosely based on DMC Canon headcannons and theories, take your pick)

Demons come in many different flavors, and the word 'demon' is essentially the same thing as saying 'rectangle; it is a broad category with smaller subsections within it.

Devils are inherently smarter and more powerful demons. The main way one can tell the difference between a lesser demon and a devil is the capability to speak a human language; devils often wish to at least interact with (kill) a human in their lifetime, so they go out of their way to be able to communicate. This is not always true, but it works as a good rule of thumb.

There are also artificial demons, but their classification is a little bit more broad then you would think. There are demon-made demons (Trish, Nightmare) and human-made demons (Lucia, all of the antagonists from DMC4) in this category, but this category also includes demons that do not naturally exist. Malphas is actually in this category due to her being a fusion of two separate demons (which was shown in Nico's notes)

Human blood is seen almost as a drug, as it gives demons power. However, non-devils tend to go crazy from too much, almost like an overdose. It is an issue in the demon world.

There are two main types of groups in demon culture: Family groups and Political groups.

Family groups function like extended families, with a priority on continuing the family line. Demons like Empusa fall into this category, with their priority on collecting blood and serving the queen, who furthers the line.

Political groups are when different species or multiple families group together for some reason. Mundus' army is a great example of this, but another great example are the Cerberus devils. They are referred to as a 'tribe' not a pack, so there must be multiple families within said tribe. The existence of a King Cerberus also implies some sort of political hierarchy, most likely based on power and age.

There are also groups of demons who merge these two categories, where different species co-exist in a family setting. The Cerberus tribe is another example of this, as KC refers to the Cerberus from 3 as 'kin' despite them looking nothing alike.

The Spardas are officially option 3 due to their already mixed heritage and the amount of different 'beings' they hang out with. Two artificial demons, 3 full blooded humans, the descendent of a demon summoner, and Kyrie, who Nero would say deserves her own category.

Everything with demons is physical. They disagree you? Be ready for a fight. They hate you? Be prepare for them to kill you. They do like you? They are still gonna fight you, but at least they aren't actively trying to take off limbs.

Sibling demons are known to fight constantly, both to shown superiority, and, in more close-knit demon families, to help each other become stronger.

[senka-mesecine]

What platoon members do you think would enjoy having a more feminine (but not ditsy, I have such hate for the bimbo trope in fanfic lmao) vs a more masc girlfriend? I love your writing?

-

― Taylor's undoubtedly been raised on the whole lady ideal because he's rich, he's affluent and he comes from that cushy position in life where this would be the norm for women at the time in higher society; you know, pearls around the neck, kitten heels and curlers. It's the late 60's, baby! That's undoubtedly his mom, his grandma and every woman he's ever known just about since college and before...which means he could damn as well be sick of it all by now in his own way. I mean, he must be, if he ran all the way to Vietnam to escape what he saw as conformity. Now, that's not to say he'd be repulsed by a ladylike woman. Nope. He might just like it. Could very well love it. But, simply not in that overblown fashion where it could be considered too much or artificial. Rehearsed. A must-have. A standard nobody's allowed to move past under any circumstances lest they be pushed out by their peers. Taylor's disillusioned by things he feels he has to do, not by femininity itself. Means that he might like a feminine girl who isn't afraid to relax and just be his girl instead of some sort of image or trope. You know? Kick back with him and just be. Maybe smoke some pot. Just being his person and not much more than that. No labels.

― C'mon now, O'Neill would love a bimbo. I just know it. He'd love the giddy laugh. He'd love the playfulness. He'd love the overall ditsiness. He'd love the ample boobage, the big hair, the bubble butt, the legs, the lashes, the extreme make up, the coyness, the seductiveness, the extravaganza of attire, the extravaganza of behavior, everything being oversexualized and dialed up to eleven --- he'd love it all. That's sure a woman, he'd might think. The kind you only see during USO shows. Makes his brain go haywire and a bit stupid. He's like Pepe Le Pew from the cartoon with his tongue wagging, enamored with a black cat. He's scored the type of girl other cocksuckers could only dream of and salivate over next to a picture of a locker room pin up doll. But, Red? Red's got the real deal and the fact makes him cocky, pride and even more insufferable than he usually is. He talks about it constantly. Brags about you to no end. Of course people might find it annoying, but Red's convinced it's simply because they don't have what to brag about like he does, and they're all secretly or not so secretly envious. His girl's hotter than Raquel Welch and it's simply due to the O'Neill seduction factor that he landed a girl like that and all the naysayers can drop dead.

― You really think someone like Bunny cares about these elaborate separations and classifications? A pussy's a pussy and a hole's a hole. Put that in your philosophy book, chief! Does it really matter if it's a bimbo, someone feminine, someone tomboyish, masculine or whatever the heck? He doesn't even know what half of those words mean and he sure doesn't care to find out; hilarious how if you blink (and plug your ears) Bunny almost comes off as enlightened and egalitarian with this stance...except he ain't. He's just crudely honest and perverse. Not a filter on that mouth. He just doesn't care what you are and how you present because you're his girl. That's just about all that matters. I don't know, sometimes you get dolled up and sometimes you ain't dolled up but all of these things can exist on the same piece of ass, right simultaneously? Right. It is both the stupidest, most narrow minded thing ever and possibly the most (accidentally) profound one because Bunny only really cares what turns him on and that's you and since he's gonna get turned on by your regardless you might as well present however you like even though, admittedly, he prefers you mostly naked. That's about the whole extent of Bunny's preferences. You asked and you got an answer.

― Man, King couldn't care less either even if he tried. He, in fact, might just downright laugh if faced with such a question in the first place because no hotblooded man should even be asked that or contemplate seriously answering, in his opinion. He thinks whoever does is downright crazy and wasting their time needlessly classifying and nitpicking this crap instead being happy with their woman. Go ahead and be and do whatever you like, babygirl. You're his, ain't you? Yeah, so that's about all that's really important here. Means he's won this rigged game called life. He's been in a war, or he's actively facing one right now, either ways, he's been through some serious shit, and being through said serious shit has left him grateful of a great many things people take for granted. Left him happy to be alive. It shifted his perspective and broadened his horizons, if you will; man ain't even gonna be in denial of this. He'll outright say it. One such thing is how his girl looks like. How she presents, dresses and acts. Don't matter none 'cos that's his girl right there. He's heads over heels in love regardless. And that's about one of the deeper takes one can anyone hear on the matter and King will almost come off as borderline wise and philosophical while explaining it with the biggest shit-eating grin imaginable

― I can downright imagine Rhah not only liking tomboys but actively being into what could almost be considered someone Gothy. Vamp. Someone alternative. In every sense, whether be it their gender, sexuality or lifestyle choices. Someone belonging to a Counterculture of sorts. Someone, perhaps, slightly or very much on the margins. This includes everyone and anyone ranging from Hippie chicks, Beatniks, Biker girls, Black Panthers, Spiritualists, Potheads, Wiccans, Jesus Freaks, Rastafarians, Rock 'N Rollers, Activists, Counter-Activists, someone protesting a cause, Drifters and my god, pretty much the member of every movement that arose anywhere between the early 60's and all the way down to the mid to late 70's. He thinks these are the only civilians back in the World that he can even imagine being around least of all talking to without feeling like he's interacting with a brainwashed robot; that they're perhaps the only type of people enlightened enough for his tastes and the things he's lived through and have their third eye open in a way these ordinary assholes might not, meaning that this is precisely the type of woman that would attract him too --- someone going against the mold, either with their behavior, presentation, worldviews or all three. Literally, if one ever found Rhah enamored with the strangest and most bizarre individual you've ever seen back in civilization this would be a surprise to nobody.

― I bet Wolfe loves a traditionally feminine woman in every sense of the word. Pearls, kitten heels, cardigans, stockings and the whole shebang. I think the man has an ideal of being the college graduate who returned from Vietnam a Lieutenant (no matter how unsuccessful and often times disastrously textbook clumsy he actually was at the role) and have an equally perfect textbook wife waiting for him...you know...the exact opposite of what Taylor wants. Or, for example, what Elias down below might want. If his girl isn't this? She will be in due time. Don't you worry. A man can dream. The same way he might dream of returning a decorated Lieutenant to top it all off even though his military career isn't that spick and spam sparkling as to be deserving of accolades and it was his veteran inferiors that ran the show constantly instead of him. Thing is, I tend to imagine that even though his army life was something he was always fit for he'd have a life back home that literally belongs in a catalogue to contrast it all; somehow, Wolfe flops at being a soldier but my god, his wife is just perfection and he's quietly a little cocky about it, like a smug weasel, compensating back in the world everything he didn't excel at during the war. For some reason I see this very vividly for him.

― Elias might just prefer someone more natural and when I say natural, I mean someone who's wholeheartedly non-pretentious and wholly and genuinely themselves rather that someone fitting into some mold. No unnecessary bullshit, for lack of a better word. He could very well like what people might call a Plain Jane, yes, even though the woman in question could very well be far from plain in the looks department. It's just that day-to-day simplicity he might go for. Not exactly a tomboy, but something closer to a girl next door. I feel Elias got burned pretty badly with what you'd consider hyperfeminine, overly high maintenance women in the past (his ex wife who was an actress or something along those lines?) and that discreetly left a really bad aftertaste in his mouth to the degree he could see that whole scene of people as very disingenuous and rotten. Not that he'd ever expect his significant other to be overly humble in their manner or way of aesthetic presentation, it's just that I think he's very much done with the frills, the feathers and the flashy extravaganza if you catch my meaning. He likes the straightforward laid back unspoiled honesty of people and I think same could be said for the type of woman he'd love too.

― Barnes is masculine and he likes the feminine. He's tough and he likes the soft. He's bloodthristy, cruel and rugged around the edges and he likes the tender. It's that simple for him, I think. I imagine he believes this is one of the universal truths of life that always were and always will be. The reality of things and the way things ought to be, if you will. But, even if you don't fit into this ideal, the thing about Barnes is that he's inherently so masculine all on his own that whatever his woman is like, he'll inherently and automatically overshadow them and make them seem small and vulnerable in comparison, both literally and figuratively, so genuinely, one can end up seeming soft and weak merely by being next to Barnes even if that's not what they started out as. You could be genuinely capable and even tough in your own right (and he won't even discourage it even though he does believe presenting masculinity comes with masculine obligations) but with Barnes next to you...yeah...you ain't anymore because his presence is generally so naturally overpowering. And yes, he believes that's the way of things. Thing is, Barnes won't force you to submit into any role through way of ordering you to. He'll just show up and you'll melt into whatever you melt into. That's what happens with a metal when it's smashed between the hammer and the anvil. So happens Barnes is both the hammer and the anvil. And molded you will be.

[dzthenerd490]

File: Earth to Echo

SCP#: ANR

Code Name: Mekhane’s Lost Child

Object Class: Somnum

Special Containment Procedures: Despite the best efforts of the Global Occult Coalition, the Eight Wings of Mekhane, and Church of Maxwellism, SCP-ANR made it off planet. Because it bonded with four young humans on our planet it does not seem to have harbored any ill intentions. As a result, though contingency plans should still be made in case SCP-ANR and the rest of its kind return, the making of said plans is not considered a priority. Besides this no further containment procedures are necessary as SCP-ANR is no longer on earth and is on a planet yet to be identified. 

Description: SCP-ANR is an artificial life form that takes on the form of a tiny mechanical bug-like creature consisting of a floating metal circular body, circular head with large luminescent blue eyes, and two wire-like arms with blue luminescent ends. SCP-ANR only stands about 8 inches tall and therefore can easily be perceived as fragile; however, its anomalous abilities show that it is anything but. 

While on earth it showed a powerful display of metal manipulation able to control all forms of metal and reform it into any shape imaginable with little effort. It was even able to take random pieces of metal around it and reforge them into pieces more suitable for itself as a sort of self repair method. Its own technology acts merely as a conductor to help enhance this ability as SCP-ANR while on earth spent most of its time within a pod made of its own technology. While within this pod it was able to increase the range, distance, and limitations of its abilities and even continue to expand as it repaired the pod as it was broken upon discovery. The largest item SCP-ANR manipulated was a truck in which it tore apart and reassembled at a safe distance without harming the driver. 

However because its technology acts as a conduit it is able to manipulate its entire ship into the smallest pieces and reform into the size of about 80 meters. Though as stated before SCP-ANR can reshape any kind of metal into anything else and this includes different forms of technology. SCP-ANR itself was benevolent but if it or any of its other members of the species decided to become hostile they could reform all human weapons into their own and arguably more powerful weapons. Though again SCP-ANR was benevolent and defensive at worst, this still remains a very likely possibility now that it has returned to its world. 

SCP-ANR was discovered in 2014 when it crashed into our world due to Group of Interest: PENTAGRAM shooting its ship down. Many of the parts were recovered but SCP-ANR itself was never found by them. It was however discovered by four children named [data expunged], [data expunged], [data expunged], and [data expunged]. They helped SCP-ANR repair itself and escape PENTAGRAM forces as well as GOC forces and Mekhanite agents. Though there was a close call SCP-ANR did eventually find its ship and managed to destroy it and rebuild it in the sky allowing it to leave the planet before MTF Apollo-1 could stop it. 

In normal situations the children would either be executed or sentenced to D Classification immediately. However, since their kindness to SCP-ANR allowed them to leave the world in peace despite clearly having more than enough power to take over the world, they were instead pardoned. Each one was given a trust fund of $50,000 which they will inherit once they all reach the age of 18. Additionally, they will all be allowed to keep their memories of the incident and be asked to join the Foundation once they are of age. As for SCP-ANR it seems they still somehow are able to contact it through phone ringtones to show they still remember it and think of it as a friend. Still, though there is no rush, counter measures are being made to prevent an SCP-ANR invasion if any of SCP-ANR’s species members decide to invoke retaliation of any kind.

.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub

[realcleverscience]

AI & Data Centers vs Water + Energy

We all know that AI has issues, including energy and water consumption. But these fields are still young and lots of research is looking into making them more efficient. Remember, most technologies tend to suck when they first come out.

Deploying high-performance, energy-efficient AI

"You give up that kind of amazing general purpose use like when you're using ChatGPT-4 and you can ask it everything from 17th century Italian poetry to quantum mechanics, if you narrow your range, these smaller models can give you equivalent or better kind of capability, but at a tiny fraction of the energy consumption," says Ball."...

"I think liquid cooling is probably one of the most important low hanging fruit opportunities... So if you move a data center to a fully liquid cooled solution, this is an opportunity of around 30% of energy consumption, which is sort of a wow number.... There's more upfront costs, but actually it saves money in the long run... One of the other benefits of liquid cooling is we get out of the business of evaporating water for cooling...

The other opportunity you mentioned was density and bringing higher and higher density of computing has been the trend for decades. That is effectively what Moore's Law has been pushing us forward... [i.e. chips rate of improvement is faster than their energy need growths. This means each year chips are capable of doing more calculations with less energy. - RCS] ... So the energy savings there is substantial, not just because those chips are very, very efficient, but because the amount of networking equipment and ancillary things around those systems is a lot less because you're using those resources more efficiently with those very high dense components"

New tools are available to help reduce the energy that AI models devour

"The trade-off for capping power is increasing task time — GPUs will take about 3 percent longer to complete a task, an increase Gadepally says is "barely noticeable" considering that models are often trained over days or even months... Side benefits have arisen, too. Since putting power constraints in place, the GPUs on LLSC supercomputers have been running about 30 degrees Fahrenheit cooler and at a more consistent temperature, reducing stress on the cooling system. Running the hardware cooler can potentially also increase reliability and service lifetime. They can now consider delaying the purchase of new hardware — reducing the center's "embodied carbon," or the emissions created through the manufacturing of equipment — until the efficiencies gained by using new hardware offset this aspect of the carbon footprint. They're also finding ways to cut down on cooling needs by strategically scheduling jobs to run at night and during the winter months."

AI just got 100-fold more energy efficient

Northwestern University engineers have developed a new nanoelectronic device that can perform accurate machine-learning classification tasks in the most energy-efficient manner yet. Using 100-fold less energy than current technologies...

“Today, most sensors collect data and then send it to the cloud, where the analysis occurs on energy-hungry servers before the results are finally sent back to the user,” said Northwestern’s Mark C. Hersam, the study’s senior author. “This approach is incredibly expensive, consumes significant energy and adds a time delay...

For current silicon-based technologies to categorize data from large sets like ECGs, it takes more than 100 transistors — each requiring its own energy to run. But Northwestern’s nanoelectronic device can perform the same machine-learning classification with just two devices. By reducing the number of devices, the researchers drastically reduced power consumption and developed a much smaller device that can be integrated into a standard wearable gadget."

Researchers develop state-of-the-art device to make artificial intelligence more energy efficient

""This work is the first experimental demonstration of CRAM, where the data can be processed entirely within the memory array without the need to leave the grid where a computer stores information,"...

According to the new paper's authors, a CRAM-based machine learning inference accelerator is estimated to achieve an improvement on the order of 1,000. Another example showed an energy savings of 2,500 and 1,700 times compared to traditional methods"

[wuxiaphoenix]

A Few Grumps with LitRPGs

You know, one story I’d love to read would be a previously-isekai’d main character getting back to modern Earth, possibly with friends... just in time for a System Apocalypse. Cue, “Aw heck. Now what?”

Seriously, what would happen? Would the abilities they earned get shoehorned into whatever in the System sort-of fit them? Would they even get classed as human, or as NPCs? There are all kinds of potential complications for someone who’d gained special abilities and training in a more natural paradigm now forced into a game-style universe.

If the story went the way I’d like, the main character would find a way to break the System, and artificial classifications of powers and skills would go up in smoke. Because this is the key thing that gets me about System Apocalypse settings, more than gruesome means of surviving or power plays or whatever other craziness the revised world inflicts on people. Human beings are not game icons.

There’s no such thing as a level 10 plumber, a level 15 programmer, or a level 20 neurosurgeon. These are people. Individuals with varying amounts of skill and knowledge in different areas. One neurosurgeon may be excellent working on adults, but not children; another may specialize in younger patients. The amazing jazz player may be a stockbroker by day. The expert welder may go home and tie breathtakingly realistic flies for fishing. People are unique.

And the first thing Systems stories do is reduce human beings to stat menus.

I don’t like it.

Here I must admit I’ve never been much of a gamer. I’ve played RPGs, because that was the form of social interaction in various situations I was in. And I’ve always loved gamebooks, with their descriptions of characters and kingdoms, monsters and powers. I love the bits you can put into a story.

Treating a character as just a bunch of stat blocks and equipped items? Leaves me cold.

Storywise, reader-wise, I’m not sure it’s all that healthy. We use stories as examples of how to live. Or sometimes as horrible examples of, “See that? That’s stupid, or evil, or both. Don’t do that.”

A steady diet of stories where the most important thing about a person is the artificial boxes they’re put in... we have enough problems with that in real life. The human brain is used to making snap judgments of “my tribe” or “not my tribe”. Hardwiring that means living in a civilized society takes constant work and self-control, so we’re not all bashing each other over the head with clubs when that jerk took the last donut-!

We do not need to give that hardwiring any help.

As a light entertainment? Well, horror stories and first-person shooter games are things, too. But I don’t think I could write a LitRPG. It seems too crushing to characters’ humanity.

Thoughts?

[hellscythearts]

Because I make so many AUs. Have Nos. SCP AU of MZ (technichally).

Description under the cut!

Designation: SCP-0667, Nos (derivative of Nosferatu) Sex | Species: Male | ??? Height: 12′7″ AppearingAge: Early 30s Age: As old as Humanity itself. Classification: Euclid, Keter class

Nos is an SCP, Keter Class. He's been around since Humans have existed, primarily because they are his food source.

How he eats is by piercing the flesh of a victim and then drinks the liquified insides until the body is nothing but dry flesh (think Cell). 

How this is done is through a symbiotic relationship Nos has with microscopic creatures (SCP-0667-B) that act as an extension of self. They essentially enter a target's body through any opening, usually under the nails or through being inhaled, or opening of some sort (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, wounds, etc). Upon breaching, they liquidize the prey from the inside-- Bone, blood, muscle, fat, anything and everything. The description of the victim before death as the insides are liquified for the SCP to eat is the unpleasant sensation of 'bugs' under the skin or the 'static' that comes with loss of feeling in a limb, like when it falls asleep, moving from the extremities of the prey first towards the center of the body, to reduce thrashing and expelling of the insides.

The reach of the 0667-B emits a sort of field also makes it easier for Nos to adapt to populated areas in his smaller forms (to blend in with the organics); the microscopic entities settle in a potential group of prey's brains, broadcasting brain waves to SCP-0667, essentially comparable to mind reading.

While inside the brain, the creatures emit endorphins that prevent victims from entering a panicked state, though they seem to have a side effect of allowing Nos to discern their language and thoughs, or to read their actions to a degree.

This field can cause minor amnesia, like a group of prey not realizing one of their own is missing, and triggers their brains to fill the gaps so that if one victim is picked off from the group, the rest of the herd will simply not realize the absence. 

It is noted that the creature's blood glows, and is shown through the veins in it's wings and dried scars, though it's teeth and claws seem to do the same. Despite this, Nos has a lethal weakness to light of any kind, regardless of if it is artificial or natural, and sunlight in particular is fatal. Lamps, flashlights, and even cell phone light all cause burns to appear on it's flesh. This weakness only weakens when its form seems to change (only witnessed by the SCP who calls himself Athen).

The creature is 12 ft tall, and has a 50 ft wingspan. This may change, however, depending on the state of hunger of the SCP. When full, he has the minor ability to hide in shadows, and his wings take the appearance of tattoos on the back. His height changes to around 7 ft, assumed so that he can try to blend in with his prey. He has trouble standing in direct sunlight without severe burns, but has a no repercussions from artificial light in this stage. His form only changes as his hunger grows, and the size will increase until he has achieved 12ft again.

[iryonin]

THE EARTH IS LIKE A CHILD THAT KNOWS POEMS BY HEART — — #IRYONIN: SELECTIVE, HIGHLY PRIVATE [ SAKURA HARUNO ] FROM MASASHI KISHIMOTO'S NARUTO SERIES. HEAVILY HEADCANONED. UNDER21 DNI. STANDARD RULES APPLY. BIOGRAPHY AND VERSE INFO UNDER READ-MORE.

— — i’m paranoid about thievery. bad experiences! so, you know, don’t lift my lore / take inspiration ('cause i’ll know) because i’ll turn into the hulk if the hulk was the hulk but worse. but also hi 💖 — — ask responses are left open-ended on purpose, to act as starters, considering i don't post starter calls often. feel free to continue them! * BLOG LINKS: PROMPTS. STUDY. META.

BASICS.

NAME: sakura haruno.     in japanese,   her full name can be interpreted as "spring field of cherry blossoms"   (春野桜,   haruno sakura)   or "cherry blossoms in spring"   (春の桜,   haru no sakura).  AGE: verse dependent,   12-33.     (part II is the baseline,   so upwards or backwards from there! i’m not caught up to boruto and i don’t really care about it,   either,   but the naruto timeline spans around 20 years,   give or take. by default, i write sakura in her late 20 / early 30s.) BIRTHDATE: march 28.   (an aries through and through!) SEXUALITY: bisexual. FAMILY: maternal grandparents. AFFILIATION: konohagakure. allied shinobi forces. shikkotsu forest. CLASSIFICATION: medical-nin. RANK: jonin.

* speaking of the basics, here's some extended reading!

APPEARANCE.  

HEIGHT: 5’9. HAIR: pink;   she keeps it relatively short   (shoulder-length)   for combat-convenience.  EYES: seafoam green;   her eyes used to be her biggest tell when she was younger.     still are,   if you know her.  OTHER DETAILS: 

her hands are pretty heavily scarred;   mainly the skin around her knuckles (from punching) but also the soft parts of her palm   (from palm strikes);   lots of healed-over blisters,   as well,   but the multitude of tiny scars on her knuckles are pretty immediately noticeable.     it was worse before she started wearing gloves   (her healing couldn’t keep up with it,   even with chakra coating)

her legs are the strongest part of her body;   stocky,   packed with hard,   dense muscle.     a lot of her taijutsu involves immobilization techniques so having strong legs to use in various locks comes in handy.

her nails stay trimmed short and neat,   but she likes to paint them;   her toenails too.     loves experimenting with colors.

she has a very faint scent... sort of leafy! medicinal, but organic — herb-like, like a home remedy. earthy, but fresh.  her hair probably catches the nose the most and smells the most like something definite; she deep treats and dry-conditions her hair so it's always distinctly sweet :)

her ears are pierced;   she has double sets of lobe piercings because she likes the one long/dangly   +   one stud earring combo,   but no other piercings,   and no artificial tattoos/body markings.

has freckles but they're so faint you don't notice them unless you’re super duper close to her face;   it’s like a little surprise :)

PREFERENCES.  

LIKES: sweet over savory desserts,   scoping out new restaurants to eat at,   feeding her friends and loved ones,   hair care,   memorizing difficult books on theory application she has no previous knowledge of,   visiting the market to pick out fresh produce,   following current trends,   meditation,   organizing dinner dates and little daily excursions in general,   feeling needed 👍 DISLIKES: weather that’s either too hot or too cold,   a messy work station,   protein bars,   rations in general,   being cooped up inside,   being on her own for too long,   foods that are too spicy,   being sedentary,   having her work habits criticized,   eating alone,   early-morning showers as opposed to late-evening ones,   feeling excluded👍 LOVE LANGUAGE: physical touch and acts of service.

PORTRAYAL NOTES.

almost totally immune to poisons and alcohol;   basically any inebriating substances have little-to-no effect on her.

has photographic memory! her hobby in the series is literally memorizing books on medical theory — this is also why she’s canonically super proficient at hand-signs.

sakura’s shallow chakra pool is a result of years of dietary restrictions and disordered eating: her poor self-image and her shaky relationship with food resulted in heaps of health problems;   she’s still working on it today and needs to stay mindful,   but her chakra pool does start growing once she starts focusing on her body’s needs.

combat medic 👍

canonically a sensor! this is so epic for her actually i’m so glad this was mentioned in the series.

* sakura’s old home ie. the haruno estate where she used to live with her parents gets completely destroyed in the orochimaru invasion;   she moves in with her maternal grandparents after the third’s funeral but eventually gets a place of her own some time during the blank period of the first timeskip.

she meditates every day;   it’s one of the ways in which she works on her chakra pool and her seal simultaneously.     her knowledge about chakra,   about the body,   about the connection between those two and her ability to mold it makes this a lot easier than it’d generally be for other ninja

her stamina’s her weakest point,   so she focuses a lot of attention on endurance exercises;   the seal helps,   of course,   but she doesn’t want to be put into a situation where she has to rely on it.

embodies medicine as an ideal;   something that's in place to serve your well-being,   and her approach to her patients exemplifies that.

VERSES.  

* under construction. the verses listed below are not the exhaustive list, but i have other shit to do. ask me about the others :)

NARUTO:     what it says on the tin; compliant with story canon. no boruto shit. MODERN: med school student. back alley doctor. other stuff going on. HAIKYUU: aoba johsai third year; nurse's aid. no volleyball for her! DRAGON AGE:     spirit healer + warrior berserker double-class.     resistant to mind-control   /   possession. JUJUTSU KAISEN:     part of the teaching staff generation,   but isn't actually part of the school in any official capacity. * NOTES. WITCHER: a traveling doctor. keeps her rates humble. older than she looks. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: keeping this simple: naruto verse sakura transmigrated into the forgotten realms; disguised as a cleric monk. doubles as a baldur's gate verse. THREE HOUSES: konoha's envoy. exchange student at garreg mach officer's academy.

[inkintheinternet]

The Tree of Unanswered Questions (Answered)

By Arjuwan Lakkdawala 

Ink in the Internet 

I have often been confused by the theory that we are primates, and that chimps and humans have 98% DNA similarity, and therefore it is "evidance" that we are primates. Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection is often cited by many as the backing for this claim, or that it is at the root of it.

I decided to investigate the claims regarding human evolution to the best of my ability. I wanted to get answers that would be clear for people who have not studied human evolution. It's one of the toughest research I have done.

Evolution in itself is such a sprawling subject, one would not know from where to begin.

I decided to make it as simple as possible, I would write the subject as a tree. My own version of the evolutionary tree, not the scientific one with its many intricate details and dead ends. Because to understand that most regular readers might lose their brain cells. I say this because anyone doing research on human evolution will find quotes like "it's complex" "not enough fossil evidance" "it's a tangled web." and so on.

So here I start, let us speak about the highest branch first.

Branch 1 - Hominins (ancient human  species)

Early humans are called hominins and there are according to evolutionary biologists many extinct species of humans from the genus Homo, but we the Homo Sapiens are the only living ones on earth.

In this branch there is Homo Erectus (upright human) this species is said to be the first "most human-like ancient hominin."

It is said that ancient hominins first appeared on earth six million years ago and they walked on four.

Bipedalism - the ability to walk on two legs evolved four million years ago in humans.

So Homo Erectus are the first to walk on two, they lived two million years ago, until at least 250,000 years ago.

I have seen online artificial imagineering of their faces, and you get a human face according to the artificial intelligence software.

But according to evolutionary biology they are not modern humans.

As with the example of Homo Erectus many hominin fossils have been found, and basically each has been classified as an extinct ancient human species.

There are hominins thought to be older ancrstors to Homo Erectus and those are called "super archiac."

Then in the branch after many hominins comes two of our most famous and closest cousins the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Again not modern humans according to scientific classification.

Neanderthals went extinct about 40,000 years ago.

Denisovans are said to have gone extinct 40,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Denisovans are closer to Neanderthals than modern humans according to the science.

It is said Neanderthals and modern humans interbreeded.

There is no explanation as to why or how Neanderthals became extinct.

How does evolution take place? Answer: By mutations.

According to the science of evolution it happens in two types of periods.

1. The Microevolution (short period) in this period minor changes get made to species according to natural selection. The difference in anatomy is considered not to be significant.

2. The Macroevolution (long period) in this period great changes get made to a species, and even evolving it into a whole new species.

But there has to be the existence of an intermediate species in the chain or branch of evolutionary changes.

Example: 

Charles Darwin was hoping to get palaeontological evidance of an intermediate species. Two years after the publication of his book 'On the Origin of Species' the fossil 'archaepteryx' was found. The fossil link between birds and dinasaurs.

"This extraordinary fossil—bearing feathers as well as teeth, claws, a bony tail and other reptilian traits—was just the sort of creature that Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection predicted should exist. The feathers left no question that the Jurassic Archaeopteryx was a bird, but the creature also had a suite of saurian traits that pointed to a reptilian ancestry." - Smithsonian Megazine

However, anthropologist Briana Pobinar, says that the term "Missing Link" is not accurate because it depicts a linear chain in evolution, which is not the pattern they see.

Pobinar says evolution “produces a tree-like branching pattern with multiple descendants of an ancestor species existing at the same time, and sometimes even alongside that ancestor species.” - Smithsonian Megazine.

The human that is supposed to connect modern humans with primative ancestors has never been found.

So much so that it appears that it's a "ghost" species. What it means is that there is no fossil or DNA evidance to make a scientific connection. 

In fact a new study published in Nature Journal challenges previous notions about hominin contribution to modern Homo Sapiens.

"New model for human evolution suggests Homo sapiens arose from multiple closely related populations.

A new study in Nature challenges prevailing theories, suggesting that Homo sapiens evolved from multiple diverse populations across Africa, with the earliest detectable split occurring 120,000-135,000 years ago, after prolonged periods of genetic intermixing." - Scitech Daily

This means that modern humans evolved from similar other modern humans. There is no genetic evolutionary notable impact from primate like hominins.

(Study is very new released in May 2023) 

So what really makes modern humans different to so called other species of humans. I would say it's the brain and cognitive ability, and this brings me to the second branch of the tree.

Branch 2. (Human Brain Development)

The fossils so far found of "extinct human species" help scientists determine bone structure and facial features of those individuals, but brain tissue is not preserved well, so scientist know little about the cognitive abilities of these species.

So archealogy is the best option for researchers to try and understand the thinking abilities of more recent species like Neanderthals and Denisovans.

As I have read in an article, this too is extremely complicated, as it raises the question are the primitive tools found in excavations and cave paintings really a sign of limited intelligence or underdeveloped environment. Can we really assume that Neanderthals and Denisovans if in a modern world would not be able to think like a modern human?

Researchers have observed differences in brain case size of extinct humans. But does this imply higher or lower cognitive abilities.

To answer to this question or shed some light on it as I was so curious, I decided to take my research from evolutionary biology, history, and archaeology to neuroscience and investigate the development of the human brain.

The confusion of brain development and cultural effect is because of neuro plasticity. In a study done chimps it appeared had rigid neuro plasticity compared to humans. So what is brain plasticity? It is the brain's ability to rewire itself structurally and functionally according to experience and injury. There are even ongoing studies about if plasticity itself can evolve. The more plasticity the stronger cognitive abilities.

Neuroscience is one of the hardest and active field of research. So I'll not get into other aspects of the brain. Here I'll examine the aspect of brain development in regard to neuro plasticity.

"The neocortex—the outermost layer of the brain characterized by the squiggly sulci, or brain folds—is the region that gives all primates their exceptional intelligence. In both chimps and humans, this brain region continues to grow and organize for years after birth, allowing us to learn and develop socially. The brain's ability to reorganize in response to environmental cues is known as plasticity, and it is this flexibility that allows us to learn things we never knew at birth." - Science.org

There lingers the question of brain size regarding the hominins or Neanderthals, Denisovans, if brain tissue of their fossils cannot be examined, we can instead try to find out if a larger brain (large brain cases of fossils) mean higher intelligence or the ability for modern human cognition.

"Having an unusually large brain doesn't necessarily make someone a genius, and large-scale research suggests only a slight and tenuous relationship between brain size and intelligence." - Psychology Today.

With this I conclude the second branch, and start the third branch which is about intelligence in apes and other animals.

Branch 3. (Intelligence in the animal kingdom)

Animals that have shown high Intelligence in comparison to most animals are apes, parrots, crows, ravens, mice, elephants, dogs, and new research suggests octopuses.

"The more that researchers examine octopus genetics, brains and sensory capabilities, the more they find startling similarities to our own minds, hand in hand (or sucker-covered arm in sucker-covered arm) with bizarre differences between how our species experience the world." - Discover.

However, there is nothing close to the level of human intelligence.

Charles Darwin had based his theory on physical changes, he did not know about genetics. 

The Theory of Evolution incorporated with the study of genetics is called 'Modern Evolution Synthesis."

What I have done in this tree is summarise the theory of human evolution based on physical and biological research. 

What I have found is so far scientifically there is no fossil or genetic evidance that says Homo Sapiens evolved directly from apes.

We are in the 21st century with sophisticated technologies and molecular biology. There is nothing stopping scientists from searching for fossil or genetic evidence except that it can't be found. 

Neanderthals and Denisovans have said to have existed in the Ice Age, and there were hominins in the Stone Age.

Copyright ©️ Arjuwan Lakkdawala 2023

Arjuwan Lakkdawala is an author and independent journalist. Twitter: @Spellrainia Email: arjuwan.writer@gmail.com

Sources:

Metode Science Studies Journal, 7 (2017)

Human Brain Evolution - How increase in brain plasticity made us a cultural species - Aida Gomez Robles and Chet C. Sherwood

What Is Neural Plasticity?

Rommy von Bernhardi et al. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2017.

Smithsonian Megazine - Riley Black, Natural History Museum- Katie Pavid

Natural History Museum- Josh Davis

National Geogrphic - Tim Vernimmen

YourGenome.org - Society and Behaviour

Australian Museum - A Timeline of Gissil Discoveries - Fran Dorey

Britannica - Homo Sapiens

Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History - Introduction to Human Evolution

Live Science: What is Darwin's Theory of Evolution - By Ker Than, Ashley P. Taylor, Tom Garner

Discover Megazine

Psychology Today

Daniel Graham, Ph.D.

A Bigger Brain is Not Necessarily Better

Science.org - David Shultz

New DNA Research Changes Origin of Human Species -

Scitech Daily - University of California - Davis

National Library of Medicine - National Center for Biotechnology Information -

Front Hum Neurosci. 2013; 7: 707. 

Published online 2013 Oct 30. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00707

PMCID: PMC3812990

PMID: 24194709

Evolution, development, and plasticity of the human brain: from molecules to bones

Branka Hrvoj-Mihic,1,2 Thibault Bienvenu,1 Lisa Stefanacci,1,2 Alysson R. Muotri,2,3 and Katerina Semendeferi1,3,*

What may have given modern humans an edge over Neanderthals, according to new research

By Katie Hunt, CNN

Study.com - People and Society in the Stone Age

Jessica Holmes, Joanna Harris

[modern-heresy]

One of my uni courses covers this sort of technology a bit! These algorithms are already getting better than human users in quite a number of applications (meaning their misclassification rate is lower than a normal tech's)

That sounds a bit weird, so here's how we know:

First, take a bunch of medical images (like the breast cancer example above), and have a bunch of trained doctors and techs carefully classify each of them as cancerous or non-cancerous.

Then, you train your classification algorithm. This is a complicated process that mostly boils down to having the computer examine every possible combination of details in the images to find the ones that tend to be most strongly correlated with cancer. Then, it checks whether its conclusion matches the doctor's.

Once it's trained, you can start feeding it new pictures that haven't been already classified to see what it says!

The other huge difference between analytical AI and gen AI is that analytical AI improves much faster as a matter of course: just keep telling the model when it got things right (after you test it).

Bonus fact: the modelers have good control over whether it is more likely to give a false positive (order a biopsy to find no cancer) or false negative (ignore cancerous cells), and in medicine, they lean heavily towards false positive.

The potential is really exciting, and is being put into practice!

Article source: https://news.mit.edu/2021/robust-artificial-intelligence-tools-predict-future-cancer-0128

[globalnodes]

Key Features of Our OCR & Intelligent Document Processing Solution

In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses deal with massive volumes of documents daily—invoices, contracts, receipts, and forms—that require accurate and efficient processing. Traditional manual data entry is time-consuming, error-prone, and costly. This is where an Intelligent Document Processing Solution powered by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes into play.

At GlobalNodes, we provide a cutting-edge Intelligent Document Processing Solution that automates data extraction, classification, and validation, helping businesses streamline workflows, reduce errors, and improve productivity.

In this blog, we’ll explore the key features of our OCR & Intelligent Document Processing Solution, how it works, and why it’s a game-changer for industries like finance, healthcare, logistics, and legal services.

What Is an Intelligent Document Processing Solution?

An Intelligent Document Processing Solution combines OCR, AI, and machine learning (ML) to automatically capture, classify, and extract data from structured and unstructured documents. Unlike traditional OCR, which only converts scanned text into digital format, an AI-powered document processing system understands context, validates data, and integrates seamlessly with business applications.

Why Businesses Need It

✔ Eliminates manual data entry – Reduces human errors and processing time. ✔ Improves compliance & accuracy – Ensures data consistency and regulatory adherence. ✔ Enhances operational efficiency – Automates workflows for faster decision-making. ✔ Scales with business growth – Handles increasing document volumes effortlessly.

Key Features of Our Intelligent Document Processing Solution

Our Intelligent Document Processing Solution is designed to handle diverse document types with high accuracy. Here are its standout features:

1. Advanced OCR with AI-Powered Text Recognition

Our solution uses AI-enhanced OCR to accurately extract text from scanned documents, handwritten notes, PDFs, and images. Unlike basic OCR, it: ✔ Supports multiple languages and fonts✔ Reads handwritten text with high precision✔ Processes low-quality scans and distorted documents

2. Smart Document Classification & Sorting

Not all documents are the same—invoices, contracts, and IDs require different handling. Our Intelligent Document Processing Solution automatically: ✔ Classifies documents (e.g., invoices vs. receipts) ✔ Routes them to the correct workflow✔ Identifies key fields (dates, amounts, vendor names)

3. Context-Aware Data Extraction

Traditional OCR extracts raw text, but our AI-driven solution understands context, such as: ✔ Invoice numbers & payment terms✔ Customer names & addresses✔ Contract clauses & key datesThis reduces manual corrections and speeds up processing.

4. Automated Data Validation & Error Correction

Mistakes in data entry can be costly. Our system: ✔ Cross-checks extracted data with existing databases ✔ Flags inconsistencies (e.g., mismatched invoice amounts) ✔ Suggests corrections using AI-powered validation

5. Seamless Integration with Business Systems

Our Intelligent Document Processing Solution integrates with: ✔ ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, QuickBooks)✔ Cloud storage (Google Drive, SharePoint, Dropbox)✔ CRM platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot)This ensures smooth data flow across departments.

6. AI-Powered Fraud Detection

For industries like banking and insurance, detecting fraudulent documents is critical. Our solution: ✔ Identifies forged signatures & tampered documents✔ Checks for duplicate invoices & fake IDs✔ Alerts compliance teams in real-time

7. Scalable & Cloud-Ready Deployment

Whether you need on-premise, cloud, or hybrid solutions, our system scales to meet your needs. Benefits include: ✔ High-volume processing (thousands of documents per hour) ✔ Secure cloud storage with encryption✔ API access for custom workflows

8. Customizable Workflow Automation

Every business has unique document workflows. Our solution allows: ✔ Rule-based automation (e.g., auto-approve invoices under $1,000) ✔ Human-in-the-loop validation for complex cases ✔ Custom reporting & analytics dashboards

9. Compliance & Audit Trail

For industries with strict regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, SOX), our solution provides: ✔ Full audit logs of document processing ✔ Role-based access control✔ Secure data redaction for sensitive information

10. Real-Time Analytics & Insights

Beyond extraction, our Intelligent Document Processing Solution offers: ✔ Trend analysis (e.g., peak invoice processing times) ✔ Performance metrics (accuracy rates, processing speed) ✔ Predictive analytics to optimize workflows

Industries That Benefit from Our Intelligent Document Processing Solution

🏦 Banking & Finance

✔ Automates loan applications & KYC verification ✔ Detects fraudulent transactions

🏥 Healthcare

✔ Processes patient records & insurance claims ✔ Ensures HIPAA compliance

📦 Logistics & Supply Chain

✔ Automates shipping labels & customs forms ✔ Tracks inventory via purchase orders

⚖ Legal & Compliance

✔ Extracts clauses from contracts ✔ Manages case files efficiently

📑 Government & Public Sector

✔ Digitizes citizen records ✔ Automates permit & license processing

Why Choose GlobalNodes’ Intelligent Document Processing Solution?

✅ Higher Accuracy – AI reduces errors compared to manual entry. ✅ Faster Processing – Cuts document handling time by 80% or more. ✅ Cost Savings – Reduces labor costs and operational overhead. ✅ Security & Compliance – Ensures data privacy and regulatory adherence.

Final Thoughts

Manual document processing is no longer sustainable in the digital age. Our Intelligent Document Processing Solution leverages OCR, AI, and automation to transform how businesses handle documents—improving speed, accuracy, and efficiency.Whether you’re in finance, healthcare, logistics, or legal services, our solution can be tailored to your needs

[bottleinspectionmachine]

How AI and Machine Vision Are Revolutionizing Bottle Inspection Machines

Introduction

The demand for high-quality bottled products in industries such as beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and chemicals continues to rise. To meet strict quality control standards, manufacturers rely on bottle inspection machines to detect defects, ensure proper labeling, and maintain product integrity. Traditional inspection methods, while effective, often struggle to keep up with high-speed production lines and complex defect detection requirements.

With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Vision, bottle inspection technology has undergone a revolutionary transformation. These advancements enhance accuracy, speed, and adaptability, reducing human intervention and improving overall production efficiency.

1. AI-Driven Defect Detection and Classification

Traditional bottle inspection machines rely on predefined rules and static algorithms, which can be limited in detecting complex or subtle defects. AI-powered systems leverage deep learning and neural networks to:

Identify a wide range of defects, including cracks, scratches, deformities, and contaminants.

Learn and improve over time, adapting to new defect patterns without requiring extensive reprogramming.

Minimize false positives and false negatives, ensuring more precise inspection results.

2. Machine Vision for High-Precision Inspection

Machine vision technology uses high-resolution cameras, sensors, and advanced imaging algorithms to inspect bottles at ultra-fast speeds. Key benefits include:

360-degree bottle scanning, ensuring complete coverage of surface defects and labels.

Real-time analysis enables immediate rejection of defective products without disrupting the production flow.

Multi-spectral imaging can detect imperfections invisible to the human eye, such as internal cracks or microscopic contaminants.

3. Automated Cap and Seal Integrity Verification

Proper capping and sealing are crucial in preventing leakage, contamination, and product spoilage. AI-powered inspection machines can:

Analyze cap alignment and torque to ensure proper sealing.

Detect missing or misapplied tamper-proof bands.

Assess pressure seals using non-invasive techniques to maintain product integrity.

4. Fill Level and Volume Detection with AI Precision

Accurate fill levels ensure compliance with industry regulations and consumer expectations. AI-based inspection systems use:

Advanced image processing algorithms to measure fill levels with high precision.

Infrared and X-ray technology to assess liquid volume in opaque bottles.

Predictive analytics helps manufacturers adjust filling processes in real time to prevent waste and inconsistencies.

5. Smart Label and Barcode Verification

Accurate labeling is essential for brand consistency and regulatory compliance. AI and machine vision enhance label inspection by:

Reading and verifying text, barcodes, and QR codes with optical character recognition (OCR).

Detecting misaligned, wrinkled, or missing labels.

Comparing label colors and designs to ensure consistency across production batches.

6. AI-Powered Contaminant Detection

Contamination in bottled products poses serious health risks and can lead to product recalls. AI-enhanced bottle inspection systems use:

X-ray and infrared imaging to detect foreign particles inside bottles.

AI-driven anomaly detection to differentiate between harmless variations and actual contaminants.

Real-time contamination alerts allow manufacturers to take immediate corrective actions.

7. Integration with IoT and Smart Manufacturing

AI-driven bottle inspection machines are increasingly integrated with Industry 4.0 technologies, enabling:

Cloud-based data storage and remote monitoring provide real-time insights into production quality.

Predictive maintenance, where AI identifies potential machine failures before they occur, reduces downtime.

Seamless communication with robotic automation systems, optimizing sorting and rejection processes.

8. Enhanced Speed and Scalability

Traditional inspection methods often struggle to keep pace with high-speed production lines. AI-powered machines can:

Process thousands of bottles per minute with minimal error rates.

Adapt to different bottle shapes and sizes without requiring extensive reconfiguration.

Scale with growing production demands, ensuring long-term investment value.

9. Reduction in Manual Labor and Costs

AI and machine vision drastically reduce the need for human inspectors, leading to:

Lower operational costs by minimizing labor-intensive quality control processes.

Increased accuracy and reliability, as AI-driven machines are not prone to human fatigue or errors.

Faster decision-making, as AI can analyze and classify defects in real time.

10. Regulatory Compliance and Quality Assurance

Manufacturers in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries must comply with stringent safety and quality regulations. AI-based bottle inspection systems ensure compliance by:

Automatically generating compliance reports and audit trails.

Identifying deviations from regulatory standards in real time.

Providing actionable insights for continuous quality improvement.

Conclusion

The integration of AI and machine vision into bottle inspection machines has revolutionized quality control in manufacturing. These technologies enable faster, more accurate, and adaptive defect detection, ensuring that only the highest-quality products reach consumers. By leveraging AI-driven automation, manufacturers can enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and meet stringent industry standards—ultimately securing a competitive edge in an increasingly demanding market.