#or a computer scientist by trade

[horsesarecreatures]

Horses are among the world’s most elite athletes: When galloping, they can consume twice as much oxygen per kilogram as the fittest humans. All that oxygen supercharges horses’ cells’ energy-producing compartments as they crank out ATP, the chemical needed to power their impressive muscles. But making so much cellular fuel so quickly comes with a catch: the manufacture of pernicious byproduct molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can wreak havoc in cells.

How horses dealt with this biological trade-off and evolved into premier endurance athletes has long intrigued biologists. Researchers report today in Science that they have uncovered a big part of it, identifying a key mutation that lets horses safely produce so much ATP. The trait helped pave the way for horses to go from dog-size critters millions of years ago to the high-endurance athletes we know today.

The study’s detailed molecular work makes it “exceptional,” says José Calbet, an expert on the cellular responses to exercise at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria who wasn’t involved with the study.

The mutation in question occurs in the gene that encodes a protein called KEAP1, which acts as a biochemical bouncer, binding to a different protein called NRF2 to prevent it from entering the cell’s nucleus, where it would otherwise activate stress-response genes that help blunt cell damage.

But ROS can help NRF2 sneak in by causing KEAP1 to release its bind on the protein, allowing it to enter the nucleus and trigger the cell’s stress-response genes.

Johns Hopkins University ophthalmologist and clinician scientist Elia Duh, a senior author of the new study, didn’t set out to study horses. Initially, Duh was interested in the KEAP1-NRF2 system because its role in activating stress-response genes makes it a tempting target for treating inflammation—and aging-related conditions, such as blinding retinal diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, and neurodegeneration.

Duh wondered whether any insights could be gleaned from studying the evolution of these proteins in different animals. So, he teamed up with Gianni Castiglione, an evolutionary biologist and biochemist at Vanderbilt University. Together, they scanned hundreds of vertebrate genomes looking for notable mutations to the gene for KEAP1.

The team’s genomic work revealed birds had almost completely lost the gene, presumably an adaptation to the extreme demands of flight. When they looked in horses, researchers noticed what initially appeared to be a DNA sequence that encoded an unusually short—and therefore presumably nonfunctional—version of the KEAP1 protein. But when Duh’s and Castiglione’s team grew horse cells in culture, it discovered the protein was very much there and working. “Naturally, I was worried I was doing something wrong,” Castiglione says. “Then one day, a light bulb went off.”

As it turns out, the computer algorithm scientists had used to scan the horse genome had made a mistake. The algorithm had spotted a specific kind of mutation in the part of the KEAP1 gene that changed the messenger RNA from CGA—which codes for the amino acid arginine—to UGA, which is what’s known as a “stop codon.”

Normally, the cellular machinery interprets UGA as a sign to stop translating the RNA into a protein. But instead, the horses’ genetic machinery recodes the stop codon into a different amino acid, cysteine, causing it to ignore that order. This phenomenon, known as a stop codon read-through, is common among viruses but rare in multicellular organisms.

“The identification of this evolutionarily significant UGA recoding event represents a potentially seminal finding, offering a model for uncovering other yet-unidentified cases of stop codon read-through,” says Hozumi Motohashi, a biologist at Tohoku University who has studied KEAP1 and NRF2.

That the replacement is a cysteine is particularly notable, Castiglione says. KEAP1 senses cellular stress through its cysteines, which contain sulfur atoms whose reactions with ROS, induce the chemical changes that cause KEAP1 to let go of NRF2. The mutation the researchers had identified adds another place on KEAP1 for ROS to interact, which makes the protein more sensitive to stress—and lets horse cells respond much faster to the cellular stress of intense exercise. “It does make complete sense [that] by introducing another cysteine, another sulfur, you would have heightened sensitivity,” Castiglione says.

What’s more, this tweaking of KEAP1 is a “[key] genetic component to the puzzle of the evolution of horses,” Duh says. “Once they figured out how to run, they could occupy all kinds of ecological niches,” Castiglione adds.

The finding could also point the way toward new kinds of drugs to treat diseases by targeting the specific parts of the KEAP1 protein that help horses hoof it. “By looking at what evolution has figured out, we know this is a viable strategy,” Castiglione says.

Source

[reasonsforhope]

"Scientists have developed a way to dramatically reduce the cost of recycling certain electronic waste by using whey protein.

Their method allows for the easy recovery of gold from circuit boards at a cost of energy and materials amounting to 50 times less than the price of the gold they recover—these are the numbers that big business likes to see.

Indeed, the potential for scalability depends on this sort of cost savings, something traditional e-waste recycling methods just can’t achieve.

Professor Raffaele Mezzenga from ETH Zurich has found that whey protein, a byproduct of dairy manufacturing, can be used to make sponges that attract trace amounts of ionized gold.

Electronic waste contains a variety of valuable metals, including copper, cobalt, and gold. Despite gold’s public persona as being either money or jewelry, thousands of ounces of gold are used in electronics every year for its exceptional conductive properties.

Mezzenga’s colleague Mohammad Peydayesh first “denatured whey proteins under acidic conditions and high temperatures, so that they aggregated into protein nanofibrils in a gel,” writes the ETH Zurich press. “The scientists then dried the gel, creating a sponge out of these protein fibrils.”

The next step was extracting the gold: done by tossing 20 salvaged motherboards into an acid bath until the metals had dissolved into ionized compounds that the sponge began attracting.

Removing the sponge, a heat treatment caused the gold ions to aggregate into 22-carat gold flakes which could be easily removed.

“The fact I love the most is that we’re using a food industry byproduct to obtain gold from electronic waste,” Mezzenga says. In a very real sense, he observes, the method transforms two waste products into gold. “You can’t get much more sustainable than that!” ...

However the real dollar value comes from the bottom line—which was 50 times more than the cost of energy and source materials. Because of this, the scientists have every intention of bringing the technology to the market as quickly as possible while also desiring to see if the protein fibril sponge can be made of other food waste byproducts.

E-waste is a quickly growing burden in global landfills, and recycling it requires extremely energy-intensive machinery that many recycling facilities do not possess.

The environmental value of the minerals contained within most e-waste comes not only from preventing the hundreds of years it takes for them to break down in the soil, but also from the reduction in demand from new mining operations which can, though not always, significantly degrade the environments they are located in.

[Note: Absolutely massive understatement, mining is incredibly destructive to ecosystems. Mining is also incredibly toxic to human health and a major cause of conflict, displacement, and slavery globally.]

Other countries are trying to incentivize the recycling of e-waste, and are using gold to do so. In 2022, GNN reported that the British Royal Mint launched an electronically traded fund (ETF) with each share representing the value of gold recovered from e-waste as a way for investors to diversify into gold in a way that doesn’t support environmentally damaging mining.

The breakthrough is reminiscent of that old fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin who can spin straw into gold. All that these modern-day, real-life alchemists are doing differently is using dairy and circuit boards rather than straw."

-via Good News Network, July 19, 2024

[nevadancitizen]

-> CH. 1: A SILENT DOG & STILL WATERS

synopsis: the soviet union has been producing robots for a long time based on a miracle compound: polymer. but that was invented in 1941. the current year is 2038, and, due to rising tensions in the arctic, americans aren't as kind to soviets as they once were. it's too bad you're a russki, and it's really too bad that you work in cybersecurity. and honestly, with the case fowler has put you on, you're at risk of losing your job. it doesn't help that you're stuck with lieutenant hank anderson and some new android apparently called connor.

word count: 2.6k

ships: Connor/Reader, Hank Anderson & Reader

notes: based on an au i literally had a dream about. it's basically d:bh with elements of atomic heart :P this ch. is half exposition and half hank being an alcoholic lolololol

HEAD OF FALSE SECURITY MASTERLIST

The Soviet Union had always been very good at spying on and stealing American technology. They did so with the atomic bomb, the B-29 superfortress, and the space shuttle – with no lack of effort on America’s side of trying to keep them secret. 

But one thing set the USSR above the rest: polymer. A miracle compound that formed the backbone for every technological evolution that came after. It mimics a human neuron, including its ability to interpret input signals. With tinkering from top Soviet scientists (and a whole lot of luck), a gigantic neural network was established, the maximum computing power of which was orders of magnitude higher than the power of a conventional network.

With polymer, the Soviets reigned supreme as the only real international superpower. The other countries could play at being powerful, but the USSR was top dog – and she wasn’t keen on letting the others forget.

But that was in the past. And the past is boring. That was in 1941, and something you learn about in history class. Polymer is now regularly sold and traded and built upon and shared. After the Cold War ended, it was expanded outwards and is no longer a precious commodity. It was even needed to build a modern technology – androids. Ones that could pass the Turing test, unlike the TER-A1 Tereshkova (which was a human-looking robot, sure, but one that had an unsettling, unmoving mask for a face). 

And androids are simply better than Soviet bots. They’re versatile and able to be mass-produced without specialization development. They’re not big and clunky like the chimpanzee-esque MA-9 Belyash and can still accomplish the same installation, plumbing, and welding work. They can do the same agricultural work an ARU-31/6 Rotorobot can do without the risk of accidentally endangering humans while in use.

Again, they’re simply better. In the current year of 2038, American androids just trump similar Soviet tech in every way.

But that doesn’t mean that the Soviets aren’t still trying. They’ve invaded the Arctic with intent to claim the land, heavy with NA-T256 Natasha bots and the claim that the “heavy-duty ground-based loader bots can squeeze up to five liters of blood from a human body in under twenty seconds,” as a deterrent to American forces.

And this action has made your workplace a hell away from home.

Even though you immigrated from Chelomey, Russia to Detroit, Michigan in 2027, before all this business went down, people still eyed you warily – like you secretly enjoyed living under communism and the ever-watching eye of the Kremlin. Like you were just itching to get your grubby little paws on American secrets so you could report them to Comrade Molotov and a beautiful girl back home called Katya. Yeah, right.

These small, under-the-breath and glance-of-the-eye accusations weren’t helped by your current occupation: as a screen jockey for the Head of Cybersecurity of the Detroit Police. They acted like you hadn’t worked just as hard as everyone else for your position – for your polymer glove and the privileges that came with it.

Polymer gloves have come a long way from their prototype in 1955. They’re a single fingerless glove – one glove, as a person doesn’t need two – with an adjustable wrist strap. In the middle of the palm is a small silver star that can retract to expose prehensile, tentacle-like wires that can interface with terminals and other technology. 

But it doesn’t stop there – with a single gesture (holding your hand out and making an “L” shape) the glove can scan the surroundings of the user. Paired with an artificial polymer retina, the user can have information about the environment that they otherwise wouldn’t have. 

And, of course, you’re outfitted with the top versions of both – on the precinct’s credit card, obviously. 

But, again, you’re just a screen jockey. One of the best, but still just a worker bee that reports to a higher-up. There’s little to no interaction with the other departments, as cybersecurity is mostly isolated without any related crimes. Maybe cyberterrorism, but cases of that are few and far between. 

And you thought that’s all you’d ever be until you heard Fowler’s bellowing voice call your last name.

When you pop your head up from behind your terminal, you see him standing halfway through the glass door to his office. You swallow and trot over, a nervous idea tickling the back of your mind. Is he mad? Did you do something wrong? Shit… did you accidentally leak something?

You push open Fowler’s door and slowly shut it behind you. He’s sitting behind his desk, stark against the blue-grey backdrop of the wall behind him. His constantly furrowed brow and permanent frown lighten a little when he sees you.

You fold your hands behind your back politely. “Yes, sir?”

Fowler gestures to the seat in front of his desk. “Go ahead and take a seat.”

Oh, fuck. Oh, shit. You definitely did something wrong.

You walk over and sit in the chair. It screeches with a horrible sound.

You lean back in the chair and cross your arms. “What is this about, sir?”

Fowler leans back in his chair and drags a hand down his face. Immediately, the worst things pop into your head. You fight the urge to worry your bottom lip. 

“You have experience with androids, yes?” Fowler asks, but it doesn’t sound like a question – rather, a statement.

“Yes, sir.” You nod.

“And you have experience with Lieutenant Hank Anderson?” 

Your eyebrows furrow a little, but you still nod. “Yes, sir.”

Fowler turns to his terminal. “How do you feel about him?”

You bite your bottom lip as you think, then let it slip from your teeth. “I don’t know what you want me to say. He’s my friend. He is still a valuable member of the force, even if he has presented a few problems in the past couple of years.”

Fowler laughs. “A few?”

“Ah…” You smile, but it’s a bit forced. “More than a few. A lot. More problems than solutions, if I’m being honest.”

“That’s just how it goes sometimes.” He shrugs and sighs. “Do you know about the new case he’s been assigned?”

“Yes, sir,” you say. “He won’t shut up about it.”

He hums and leans forward, resting his chin on folded hands. “Always one for discretion, that one.”

You duck your head, instead looking down at your lap. “Yeah. But I think he can do better – be the cop he was before.”

“An optimistic Soviet.” Fowler laughs lowly. “That’s a new one.”

You just clench your jaw and meet his eyes. “What is this about? If you’ve called me in just to poke fun at me and gossip about Hank, I’d like to go back to my desk. Uh, sir.”

“No, no.” He holds a hand up. “Tell me what you’ve heard about Hank’s case.”

You think for a second. “Deviant androids murdering their owners. It sounds like it would’ve been labeled self-defense if it was a human-on-human crime, but…” you shrug. “I’m not in Homicide. I’m in Cybersecurity.”

“Well, you’re getting some experience.” Fowler pulls a cord from his terminal, one you recognize as a port compatible with a polymer glove. “You’re on the case.”

“I’m on the case?!” You repeat in disbelief. “Sir, I – I don’t –”

He holds up a hand for the second time. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re the best screen jockey with the most field experience I can spare.”

He gestures with the cord still in his hand. “Now, c’mon. Jack in and download the files.”

You swallow your objections and outstretch your gloved left hand. The thin metal of the star retracts, and the prehensile wires extend towards the port, waving like blades of grass. The ends of all six find their homes in the port, still wiggling like black tapeworms. 

Documents appear in the corner of your eye, one after another, like pop-up ads. You blink hard to dismiss them, then disconnect.

Fowler feeds the cord back into his terminal, then leans back in his chair. 

He looks over at you. “What’s that one saying you Soviets say? Something about champagne.”

You look up at him, then down to your glove. The star retracts, then goes back to its original position, like it was winking at you. “He who doesn’t take risks won’t drink champagne.”

“Well, I hope you have a taste for harder liquor,” Fowler says. “Hank’s at having a drink somewhere nearby. Go find him.”

And Lord, did you know right where to find Hank. 

On the door to Jimmy’s Bar is a firm warning, reading: NO ANDROIDS ALLOWED – OWNERS WILL BE PROSECUTED. You just hope that they don’t extend the same kindness to russkis. 

When you open the door, everyone in the bar turns to look at you. You nod and, once they see who you are, turn back to their conversations or nursing their drinks. 

You spot Hank at the bar with what looks like a Tennessee whiskey. You sidle up onto the barstool next to him, easing into the creaky seat. As you drape your rain-speckled coat on the back of the chair, you glance at the clock on the wall. It reads just before twenty past eleven.

“Bartender?” You call. Your thick accent immediately catches his attention, and so does the money you slide onto the bartop. “Vodka, please.”

The bartender, presumably Jimmy, picks up a bottle of Stolichnaya from the shelving behind him. “This good?”

You nod. “More than good.”

He pours vodka into a tumbler glass, then pushes it across the bar. You accept it readily, and the tiny sip you take gives your throat a nice burn on the way down.

“A Soviet and vodka,” Hank mumbles against the lip of his glass. “Like a moth to a flame.”

“It’s what my mother served with dinner,” you say. “I’m just glad Jimmy’s got enough sense not to keep us from his bar.”

Hank chuckles and raises his glass to that.

“Fowler’s gone beyond the pale.” You sip at your drink. “Have you heard?”

“Yup.” He sighs, setting his drink on the bartop harder than necessary. “Don’t know why a kid like you has business with an old timer like me.”

“Oh, believe me,” you say, your voice heavy with sarcasm. “It’s nice to visit, but it’s better to be home. I don’t know what he’s thinking. A Cybersecurity worker partnering up with someone in Homicide? Next, we’ll have androids doing our thinking and philosophy instead of our laundry and dishes.”

Hank snorts into his drink. “Hell, with all these runaways? They might as well be.”

“I mean, I can see his line of thinking.” You swirl the vodka in your glass, watching the way it catches and reflects the low light of the bar. “Cybersecurity, androids… makes sense, but me? A russki? With all that’s happening in the Arctic? If we don’t do well, my job is on the line.”

Hank sips his whiskey. “It really sounds like Fowler’s settin’ you up to fail.”

“Setting us both up to fail.” You correct and mirror him, sipping at your vodka. 

The sound of the door opening and the rain outside cuts into your conversation. Nothing you’d usually take a glance at, but what puts you off is the sudden silence of the bar. Bars shouldn’t be silent – especially not Jimmy’s.

You look over your left shoulder and see a nice looking man that’s just walked through the door. He looks a bit dorky, sure, and a bit like a lost puppy dog, but that could look nice on certain guys. And the asymmetrical tuft of loose hair that’s escaped his hair gel looks –

There’s a blue triangle just above where his left breast pocket would be. On the other side of his blazer reads RK800 in even, white text. He’s an android, not a man. He meets your gaze and you inhale sharply.

Your eyes return to your drink, and so does Hank’s. This isn’t what you want to deal with right now – or ever, actually. It’s Jimmy’s establishment, so it’s Jimmy’s problem.

But still, as soon as the android saw you, he started making a beeline for you. His footsteps are quick, measured, and even. 

“Excuse me,” he says, putting a hand on your shoulder. He addresses you by your title, and your gut clenches.

“No.” You try to wave him off. “No English. Sorry.”

“Officer, you passed each of your TestEaFL’s with flying colors,” he says, narrowing his eyes a little. “You can speak English perfectly fine.”

You cringe a little, but then a thought strikes you – how would this android have access to the scores of your Test of English as a Foreign Language? But before you can ask, he’s turned to Hank and started speaking.

“Oh, Lieutenant Anderson.” He moves so that he’s standing beside Hank. “Just the other person I was looking for.”

He glances between the two of you. “My name is Connor. I’m the android sent by CyberLife. Captain Fowler said that you were both having a drink nearby. I was lucky to find you at the fifth bar.”

You snort and your eyebrows shoot up. If you didn’t know better, you’d say that there was a hint of… something other than monotone indifference in his voice.

“What do you want?” Hank grinds out.

“You were assigned a case early this evening. A homicide, involving a CyberLife android.” Connor glances at you, like he’s reminding you that you were also assigned this case. “In accordance with procedure, the company has allocated a specialized model to assist investigators.”

“Well, I don’t need any assistance.” Hank jabs a thumb at you. “I’ve got all the unwanted assistance I need right here, and I don’t need any more. ‘Specially not from a plastic asshole like you. So just be a good lil’ robot and get the fuck outta here.”

“He’s right,” you chime. “And it doesn’t really look good to have androids investigating androids. What if you snap, too?”

“I will not.” Connor meets your eyes, and you can almost see the switch flick in that little android brain. Great, now it’s your turn to be grilled.

He circles so that he’s standing beside you and leans down a little, putting his hand on the bartop. You keep your eyes down, firmly on your drink. 

“I’m sorry, Officer, Lieutenant, but I must insist,” he says. “My instructions stipulate that I have to accompany both of you.”

“You know where you can stick your instructions?” Hank chimes in with a throaty laugh.

You glance over at Connor, who looks thoroughly confused. You smile and bring the glass to your lips. 

“No,” Connor says. “Where?”

Your throat seizes around the sip of vodka you were trying to take, causing you to cough it out as you try to suppress your laughter. You slam down the glass (effectively spilling most of it) and bring a hand to your chest, trying to ride it out as Hank pats your back.

“чёрт возьми!” You wheeze, your voice hoarse. Your chest burns. “Oh, fuck.”

You wipe your eyes as the burn dulls, still coughing slightly. Connor purses his lips before coming to a conclusion. 

“You know what?” He offers. “I’ll buy you both one for the road.”

“You better,” you say. “You made me spill mine.”

“Bartender!” Connor calls, and slips money onto the bartop. “The same again, please.”

“See that, Jim?” Hank says. “Wonders of technology. Make it a double.”

Jimmy pours a healthy amount of Jack Daniels into Hank’s glass, and starts to pour Stolichnaya into yours. You cut him halfway with a raised hand and a “Someone’s gotta drive us home safe.”

You knock back your drink, then let out a low whistle at the nice burn. Hank follows soon after and sighs heavily. 

He leans back and looks over at Connor. “Did you say homicide?”

[jettboat]

Lab AU character facts under the cut!

Ren: 99% of the time, he has his guitar with him. He's also hit a scientist in the face with it once.

Martyn: Accidentally gave Cleo ringing ears after they got into an argument, he feels horrible about it.

Etho: He wears his mask to make sure he doesn't accidentally get people sick, he's only taken it off when he needs a breather.

Big B: Loves making the scientists forget things like names, colors, faces, ect. The scientists are slightly scared of him now, often daring each other to interact with him.

Skizz: He often takes Mumbo's wounds without the other noticing, he doesn't like seeing his friends hurt.

Impulse: If he's too sore from tests, he'll float all his needs towards him. The plate of cold food? Floating. The glass of vitamin water? Floating. Bdubs one time found himself floating, Impulse needed a hug.

Bdubs: Afraid to touch anyone, even the powerless scientists. After he accidentally drained Impulse's energy, he never wants to use his hands again.

Grian: Watches the scientists for fun, he often puts his eyes in subtle places where they won't find them. His eyes disappear from his face while he does this.

Jimmy: There's several dents in the cell bars from him just full on punching it, he's stopped after denting a few of his metal fingers but has since resorted to kicking it.

Pearl: Gossips with one of the scientist's dog, her name is Tilly, they'll have conversations for hours.

Gem: Makes illusions of life outside the facility for her and Lizzie to look at, they once had a feast at a fancy restaurant.

Tango: He once hid in a computer for a few hours until the scientists threatened Jimmy, he did a number on that computer's system though.

Mumbo: The scientists have to check his pockets before letting him back into the cell. They once forgot and he brought trading cards for him and Skizz.

Scar: Often spends time in a dimension covered in sunflowers and he lives in a little cabin until he has to return.

Lizzie: Wants to taste test everyone's nightmares, she calls herself a nightmare connoisseur. She says Gem's taste like wasabi.

Cleo: Sometimes they'll mind control Martyn to say or do things for them, nothing extreme, but they believe he deserves it after messing up their ears.

Joel: Favorite thing in the facility is the race track. They let him drive a race car for an hour. Only thing he likes about the place.

Scott: Even though he's mad at Pearl after their argument, he still grows her favorite flowers for her and put them all around their cramped cell.

Will I draw these guys? Yes. Will it take an insanely long time. Also yes. Please be patient haha

[strangebiology]

Paleontology Job Opening!

If anyone is looking for a paleontology job, this one in the Green River Formation in Wyoming is hiring! It's a lot of 52-MYA fish. TONS of fish. Very occasionally, there's other stuff like bats, birds, and very early horse ancestors.

$19/hour

Full time with federal benefits

App due November 25, 2024 or when they receive 80 applications (whichever comes first, so hurry!) Requirements:

One year of experience required (paid or unpaid, professional or volunteer) in "the fields of paleontology, geophysics, or geology; assisting fossil preparation, field work in paleontology, paleontology research, paleontology database management, paleontology monitoring, paleo art, or specimen management of fossils; assisting with natural resources research projects; compiling and analyzing scientific data into reports; operating complex sampling, monitoring, and laboratory equipment; or using computer programs such as databases to compile, store, retrieve, analyze and report resource management data. Experience as a laboratory mechanic or in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work was performed in close association with physical scientists or other technical personnel and provided intensive knowledge of appropriate scientific principles, methods, techniques, and precedents."

Successful completion of at least a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in an appropriate field of physical science, such as paleontology, geology, earth science, earth history or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as physical science, engineering, or any branch of mathematics except for financial and commercial mathematics. 

I don't know if paleontologists usually have to have higher levels of education, but I think this job is called "physical technician (paleontology)" to evade that.

If you're interested, go ahead and send in an application sooner rather than later. You can always withdraw later.

This is very close to me, so if you have questions about life here (that aren't easily Googlable) I'm happy to help! It's quite rural. If you're wondering what the rental market looks like, here's a Facebook group where people post rentals. I'm mostly JTM (just the messenger) but I may have a little more insight.

[hisuian-history-makers]

Indigo Park: Salem the Skunk (Theory and Headcanons).

Truthfully, we don’t know much about Salem besides the fact they are a potion maker and briefly appear in the arcade game. Their bio revealed that they’re an antagonist to Rambley.

Theory: Salem is the most recent character in the Indigo Park cast.

Their punk design doesn’t really fit the rest of the cast and Rambley’s lines when you show the retro Lloyd Plush has an interesting detail.

“Where’s my limited edition throwback plush?! Where’s Mollie’s? Where’s Finley’s?”

Immediately he mentioned the rest of his friends not getting a retro plush either. Granted, this could be a situation where he dislikes Salem so much he doesn’t mention them… Yet he always mentions Lloyd/doesn’t refuse to say the lion’s name. So what’s the deal with Salem?

The Finley cutout’s line about Rambley knowing him for 100 years could potenially just be flavor text, but the retro plush info mentioned there was an actual old cartoon.

Not too sure about the theories which pin Salem as turning the animatronics(?) against the park guests. That seems a little too cut and dry for me given Salem was part of the cast too.

———————————————————————

Headcanons:

—Salem’s also known to use contraptions to get out of hairy situations in their character bio. Leading me to believe they weren’t always a potion maker, but rather a Scientist!

—The original documents on their character design were lost leading to many people not knowing Salem’s gender, thus non-binary. They could have stolen their own designs actually…

—Ironically, they and Mollie can stand to get along due to both of them knowing a great deal about engineering/tech. Mollie does crash her plane often enough that learning how to repair it would make sense. I could see Salem helping her repair the plane to get the macaw out of their forest. (This annoys Rambley to no end.)

—Because of Finley’s shyness, the two have rarely interacted. Though—I could see the first meeting have been when Salem went potion ingredient hunting and stumbled upon Finley. They were intimidated by his sheer size, surely.

—Salem dyes their hair stripe. Not always pink.

—The skunk uses the employee utility tunnel to photo bomb park goers, Rambley’s Railroad, and even selfies. They love sneaking up on people because they don’t think a six-foot purple skunk would be even remotely stealthy.

—Them and Lloyd will trade verbal barbs in mock offs behind the scenes. He’s the only one who gets their vicious sense of humor.

—Whether as an animatronic or AI, Salem often steals items from the gift shops to “decorate” statues around the park. They hate the one statue of Rambley and Mr Indigo because the head can track them no matter how they move.

—Salem has accidentally caused the park to lose power a few times from their experiments getting out of hand. The fact these made the now AI-Rambley to get shut down doesn’t bring as much joy to them as you might think.

—The skunk is currently trying to juryrig a computer to be able to fit their paws so they can see what this “Minecraft” game is about. It had potion making apparently?

[aquietwritingcorner]

This Reminded Me of You

Title: This Reminded Me of You Day: 30 Days of Drabbles, Day 1 Prompt: "This Reminded Me of You Fandom:  TMNT 2003 Word Count:  209 Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating:  K Characters: Donatello, April O'Neil Warning: NA Summary: April finds something that reminds her of Don. Don is confused.    Notes: I picture this happening sometime early in the show, after they've only known each other for a little bit. ffn || AO3

________________________________-   

This Reminded Me of You

Don stared at the old, somewhat dirty, well-worn harlequin doll that April had handed him, and then looked back up at his new friend.

“This… reminded you of me?” he asked, not quite sure what to make of it.

April nodded. “Yep! And not just because it’s dressed in purple and green.”

Don stared at it, still not comprehending how somehow this ugly old doll reminded her of him. “Then why?”

April pointed to a medallion that was sewn onto the doll’s clothes. “See that? That’s Saint Albertus Magnus. He’s the patron saint of natural scientists, medical technicians, philosophers and scientists. He studied all sorts of things, like philosophy, physiology, mineralogy, astrology, geography, astronomy, music theory, natural science, alchemy, philosophy of law, diplomacy, theology and more. He was a bit of a jack of all trades, and from what I know of you, you are, too.” April shrugged. “I don’t know why that medallion is on that doll, but when I saw it, I thought of you.”

Don looked back at the doll thoughtfully, reconsidering it. “Thanks, April,” he said after a moment, and carefully tucked it away in his bag.

She smiled at him. “No problem. Now—let me show you the weird bug my computer’s started doing.”

[sweet-potato-42]

I ramble about the scientists and engineers on qsmp (mike, pac, tubbo, ramon and aypierre) and about what i think they specialize in:

Pac to me is a bio chemist/ pharmacist. He knows how to make antidotes as he did in the happy pills arc. He is the one in the tazercraft duo who learned medicine and chem. This man however does not know the meaning of "ethical practices". he picked up some physics and engineering knowledge from being with mike

Mike feels like a phycisist with some knowledge in other fields. It lfeels like he knows theory very well and has the problem solving skills for it. He knows some engineering stuff, some chem from pac and some computer science stuff. This is what helps him be a sort of jack of all trades and build things like the game arenas with pac.

Tubbo and ramon are very similar to me in that they are both just mechanical engineers who know some other stuff. They are create mod experts making them especially good at mechanical engineering but htey also know some electrical stuff and maybe some computer science. They are both well versed in physics though not professionals as they can do shit like time machines or build the radio reciever. Tubbo in particular is also a logistics nerd which is what pushes him to make large interconnected systems and factories.

Aypierre feels like a robotics and software expert. He might also be a create mod user but the way he does it and his factories give a much more modern fancy robot vibe. He certainly approaches the mod in a more 1 project at a time way which is closer to working on computer science. He also always makes displays that show what the factory is producing. Other evidence for this is the ayrobot shit.

Im convinved these 5 have had intense joke arguments over whihc science or field is the best. Theyve done it several times. By now pac has given up on fighting since hes the only biologist.

i need more scinecy art and shit frm them. Especially for pac. I need fitpac moments where pac is just rambling about some complicated chem stuff and fit is like :)

[balek-nosleep]

No real reason for it im just thinking about it as my computer can't run Minecraft anymore.

If the batfam started a minecraft server here their roles/what they like to do on the game and some warnings.

Tim: He the mad scientist of the group ,he like to experiment with tnt, redstone and want to collection every item and block of the game. He also may or may not have develop a massive trading town were he sequestrate a massive amount of villagers(he may have triggered memories of the plague when he did that) that he protect with his own military made of golems.

Dick:Explorer/miner, he like to go around the world to farm more rare items,like totems and diamonds. And he die kind of a lot in dumbways, but he got real good reflexes and never miss a mlg.

Both of them are the sugar daddies of the server ,need anything?ask them but beware ,everything has its price.

Barbara: She is the farmer of the team,she don't want to stress herself when she play because her life is stressful enough and so she the one who played the less . She like to just farm foods and grops to make her brain work without too must strain. Constructed giant fields and a flower garden , watering and collecting systems, and probably a lot of automatic farms. Don't mess with her fields because she knows where Tim's tnt stash is at.

Jason and Damian: Builders ,their the reason why the batfam base isn't horrible looking, they stay together late in the morning after patrol building and they argue a lot about it, always ending up in one of them dying. (May wake up Jason's ptsd)

Duke and Steph: They don't do much that can be considerate valuable, they're the tricksters. They do meme builds, they killed each other the most and triggered at least 1 raide in Tim's trading town to mess with him. When it's about entertainment a conversation when playing you can count on them.

Cass: That girl is deep in the mine ,no torches she's rowdogging that shit and never died once since they started the server. She probably killed the dragon when nobody was around . And the craziest is that she never farm for anything not related to mines, or minibg efficiency. She stole everything she has (expect anything made with diamond) and still does but nobody accuse her of anything because ,well its Cass we're talking about.

Probably Steph and Barbare personal supplier of tools and armor.

And here the gimmick i think they would have ,they all try to kill one another in the most creatives ways or at least at any occasion possible .

Holes with walls made of crafting tables, thirty creepers stacked inside a house, army of dogs, every potions possible and of course pufferfush/lava under the rugs.

Anyway good night i have things to do as the adult im supposed to be 👔

[titan-speakerman-shitposts]

Screw it, asks open!

They can be anything, questions about my thoughts and/or headcanons about TSM (or any ST character), funny ideas you had, and, the big one

OC stuff!

That's right, for the low low price of free, you can ask me about my fucked up creations!

Here's some more about them

RIGHT (he/him

Right (full name being Righthand) is a very odd Speakerman. He does various odd jobs for the Skibidis, and hia only real goal is to prove his worth to them. Failure means he isn't worth keeping around. His backstory is that he was a sort of experiment for a less than humane Skibidi Scientist named Exploit (nicknamed Sploit via a funny misunderstanding). How did Right get to this point? That's a good question. He couldn't tell you. He's loyal to the Skibidis because that's what he can remember. His life has always been like this, and though Sploit is adamant that Hardwares cannot truly feel emotions and only fake them to manipulate and calm living beings, he loves his faction.

Because they're his family, obviously. And he can't leave his family.

FELIX (he/him)

A sort-of-TVman who can and will try and sell you garbage. He defected from the Alliance after a.. minor incident that caused the death of another unit, fleeing before he even knew what his punishment would be. Nowadays, he runs a shop that's strictly neutral grounds. His main products are explosive-relates weapons, but he buys and sells whatever he can get his grubby little paws on. He could give you an hour long sales pitch on why you should trade him your fancy knife for this cute Hello Kitty key chain (and he might even convince you). He's also got two pet pigeons named Molotov and Nitroglycerin that he loves very much.

VENUSTAS (he/they)

Venustas is.. skittish. His current job is a sort of janitory/maintenence person. They were infected by a parasite almost directly after the TVs joined the Alliance, and was the reason the Skibidis managed to reverse engineer teleportation (via studying him). He's since been cured, but is seen as a failure by many of the TVs and constantly fears being reinfected. They have something similar to OCD (not specifically saying OCD because it wasn't intended to be OCD, it just sort of ended up fitting the description) where they have very specific routines and rituals they have to do to feel safe. His scarf is a big one- if he doesn't have his scarf on, he's a nervous wreck. But another oddity is that they only ever refer to themselves using us/we pronouns instead of me/I, and have a very odd speech pattern.

DAVID (he/him)

I... haven't actually drawn David yet, somehow. He's a Cameraman whose main job is a sort of coroner/data retrieval specialist (his department is D.A.V.E., Data And Video Extraction). He does autopsies on dead units, extracting their memories to catalog their last moments for various uses. He's pretty dull personality wise at first glance, but deep down it's a coping mechanism to deal with the things that he's seen in his job. Death isn't meant to be experienced, but the fastest and most reliable way to recover the memories of death units is to run it through his own hardware and convert it to something he can save on a computer. So he experiences the feeling of dying and death every day.

Various doodles and memes including my ocs, some of which weren't mentioned here but you are free to ask about! I love talking about my little guys. Might even draw a few things if I'm feeling like it!

[darkmaga-returns]

The CBO seems to cherry-pick results either to create headlines or to justify its existence with elaborate reports that make them appear credible. But they aren’t.

On June 3 we read an article by Jay Davidson that the CBO thinks Trumps “Big Beautiful Bill” will increase the deficit by $3.8 trillion over 10 years. Color me skeptical. The CBO has absolutely zero inkling for how this bill will actually change the economic landscape of America over the next 10 years. Sure, a high-schooler can do the math of estimated federal income versus proposed spending, ignorantly assuming nothing else changes over the next 10 years, and come up with a number. After all, growth in the deficit is simply the result of cumulative spending more than cumulative receipts.

But now the CBO thinks the tariffs will decrease the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion. So, in a matter of days, we went from $3.8 trillion addition to the deficit to $2.5 trillion reduction of the deficit? How can that be?

The CBO arms itself with all kinds of really cool charts, graphs, and tables that are probably morphed into a computer simulation because no one person (except those with the last names “Trump” and “Musk”) could possibly reduce all these variables into a single prediction model. The CBO references such things as the “Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model,” “Input-Output Accounts Data,” “A Simplified Model of How Macroeconomic Changes Affect the Federal Budget,” etc.

But all they have proven recently is they’re just guessing. All those “climate scientists” also justify their predictions using complex computer models that no mere peasant could possibly understand, so we are to “trust the science.” Except none of us have notice the oceans swallowing up coastal cities yet.

[isisthedemon]

Poppy Playtime X Hunger Games

This part is mostly about Harley and Poppy, with a tiny bit of the main character at the end.

————————————————————————

Part 7

Poppy was running through the forest with a knife that was the size of her. Oh how she loooved being tiny one! She had been practicing using weapons that were bigger than her. She also has a note Harley gave her on their first day. 

There are bombs. Acid, fire, ice, electricity, and smoke, all of this stuff was in the supplies. Poppy needed to set a trap of some kind, trap someone.

She used some of the leaves, bark, and pine needles. Vegas came walking along and she stepped on the trap. She heard it before it activated, and she quickly evaded it. Vegas flipped her hair as Poppy silently got onto her backpack and found razor wire.

It would cut Poppy’s hands if she wasn’t china. Poppy used this to set one of the traps she’s learned.

She’s been practicing making traps, learning what plants to eat, how to purify water, how to use her small stature to her advantage. She even asked Harley, naturally he said yes for her to train.

Poppy set a trap just like she has a thousand times.

“I should have asked Harley for a preview of the arena.” Poppy whispered. Poppy climbed up a tree and saw Cruz walking by her.

“Okay this is fine,” Cruz says with panicky laughter. He trips the trap, but the razor wire  caught on his neck instead of his legs. Cruz claws at his noose, slicing his fingers. He flops around like a fish out of water. His fingers at the joint by the nail and his head got sliced off. Poppy looked away as his body crumpled onto the forest floor.

“I’m sorry Cruz….” Poppy says. While she never liked him she never wanted him to die. She takes the razor wire and runs at the cannon fires.

-

Harley Sawyer watches every screen that was playing like it was in his brain. It’s still horrifying, being a computer. He would cross his legs and watch if he still had a flesh body.

Now he has a body, a robot body but still a body. He called them Harley bodies, and he can split his consciousness into them and have them act on his own accord.

It felt dystopian to him, the man who made living toys. Even then he knew what he was doing was dystopian, and he wanted it.

“Mister Harley Sir?” It was the voice on microphone CC8337, he looks through the cameras in that room and an eye appears on the screen to accompany him.

“Yes?”

It was two 13 year old girls holding large handfuls of silver. They must have taken job after job, or even traded jobs for their friends.

“Uh- I was wondering- if we could-“ The one with the thick glasses chokes on her words. Her friend clears her throat. “We want the game more interesting. It’s going to be boring, only 4 people are dead out of 20! We were wondering if we could pay for a disaster. Make the game more interesting.” 

Harley chuckles.

“What a marvelous idea. I will allow it. Very Orwellian.”

“We already live in a dystopian world, why change it?” The one with the thick glasses says. Harley marked the one with glasses to become an experiment. The other one was marked to be a scientist. 

“What are your names?”

“Cassidy.” The one with the thick glasses says.

“Estella.” The second one says.

“Perfect.” Harley says, a form of nostalgia coming over him. He missed Estella, that stupid girl who was one of the only people who didn’t want him like this. She was his favorite.

“What did you have in mind ladies?”

-

Poppy walked and watched as the sun above her getting swallowed by pitch black. Poppy started to panic and she climbed up a tree. Poppy felt her eyes get wet. “Come on Poppy… if you can survive a heart attack you can survive a little darkness.” She whispered.

A bright light the hit her face as the Harley Body walked around, not caring if it was seen. 

“Poppy…. I know you’re here.” Harley calls out.

Poppy holds her breath as Harley walks past. Hours passed and the lights came back on. Surprisingly none of them died.

-

“Harley and Poppy are so cute!” Some guy says.

“Say that to my face.” Harley says so quickly that he forgot that he’s supposed to be eavesdropping. Harley has found a love for eavesdropping ever since he became a computer.

The man stays quiet. “I would talk to him before he makes the human centipede real.” Another man whispers.

“Ooooo! Good idea!” Harley says with no intention of doing that. The men look three seconds away from pissing themselves.

“I-I was just saying… you and Poppy have real enemies to lovers vibes.”

“Enemies to lovers- she’s 17! And I’m….. 30 in 94’….. I’m 69!”

“You’re just as old as Tessa!” A guy says.

“I’m more offended that you called me a pedo.” Harley says in a disgusting tone.

“Shipping can get you a lot money.” The man says. Harley sighs. “These experiments… are children. The oldest is Miss Delight at 21. The scientists are adults. The youngest is 20, the oldest is 64. This is a game to show how experiments interact in high stress situations. And how the human psyche would react to seeing their loved ones in the Hunger Games. This is not Fifty Shades of Grey!”

The two boys look at Harley.

“You know what that is?”

“Of course I know what that is? You don’t think I see all of you reading Twilight, and A Court of Thorns and Roses? Also a lot of you have looked up an unholy amount of fanart. I know damn well what it is. Speaking of what it is, both of your Adam and Eve products have arrived.”

The two men turn red.

“How did-“

“Maybe don’t log into that stuff on company hardware.”

‘The powers back on.’ A little voice in the back of his head says. Harley leaves the two men and goes back to watching the games. Millions of cameras were watching their every move.

Harley felt his brain ticking, someone’s playing Solitaire.

-

I hear the cannon go off and it makes my bones shaking. My brain goes back to …. Miles. I killed him. Me. I need something to get my mind off the sound of his eyes popping out. I spot Kissy Missy picking blueberries. 

“Kissy…” I walk up to her. She turns around and holds up her hand to show me some blue berries. I take some and eat them. “Thank you. Can we work together? Just for a little bit?” I ask. Kissy holds my hand. I help her pick blueberries. 

“Kissy. I’m really sorry you had to be here. I….. I probably could have done something. Xander liked me enough.”

Kissy pets my head. We both sit down and eat the blueberries. Then everything goes black, and I grab Kissy. She holds me close and starts to hum a lullaby. It’s the same one that Doey was singing!

“It’s okay Kissy.” I whisper to her. She’s shaking and holding me close. “It’s okay.” That’s when our faces were illuminated by a bright screen.

“You’re not Poppy, but you will do.” Harley says. The faint glow of a knife in his hand.

“Run.” I say as Kissy picks me up. She runs at inhuman speed away from him. And soon enough the lights turn back on. Kissy sets me down and nods her head.

“Yeah….  I hope we don’t have to run into each other again.” I nod and turned the opposite direction.

-

I open my eyes as shake Doey awake. “Hm? Is breakfast ready?”

“No, what was the lullaby you were singing?”

“When you woke up? It’s a silly old song that we sang to the littles in the orphanage. Something to get them to sleep. I-Ivan loved to sing. He was in the choir, sang as a soprano.”

“Do you mean tenor?”

“No. He can sing high.” Doey says with smile.

“Sing something so that I can hear.” I say quickly. Doey looks at me in panic. “S-Sing? Sing what?”

“Just something.”

“U-Uh…. I know you’re that wild and violent flame.” He starts singing. I don’t know why but I felt like playing the electric guitar. He comes to sing hitting every note.

“What’s that from?” I ask. It’s probably from a game, or an anime.

“Um Jammer Lammy. We have a PS1 in the orphanage. It’s dying, but it’s all we got.” Doey says with a shrug.

“When we get out I’ll buy them a new PlayStation.”

“A PS2?” He laughs. I laugh with him.

“No, like a PS5 of something.” I get up and walk to the entrance of the cave.

“He the blizzard is dying down!” I say as my stomach growls. I walk back to Doey.

“No! Don’t come near me!” Doey says quickly. He looks at me up and down, his stomach growling. 

“I’m hungry….” He mutters.

I stay away from him. I nod and sit away from him. 

“Doey… what’s life feels like as a dough thing?”

“It’s as if you’re water, you’re just flowing and forming.” Doey says with a smile. “It’s kinda nice. Nothings holding you back.”

“Yeah. I bet.” I say, bringing my knees to my chest. “Do you want to hear a story?”

Doey nods and I started to tell him a story from my childhood. Just some stupid story of when some girls got trapped in a school and pulled a Lord of The Flies. Doey falls asleep to my story and I put my jacket on him as the storm dies down.

————————————————————————

Sorry this part took so long, I had to add more to the original because it was a little too short. I hope you all love it!

[penrose42]

I know a lot of people say that Minecraft has mastered the atmosphere of isolation, and while I can kinda see where they're coming from I think Portal 2 just does it better, particularly in the chapters The Courtesy Call and The Fall.

Minecraft's got all these different animals and mobs and villagers, you're alone in the sense of 'I'm the only sapient being' but you can still interact with the world in a meaningful way that's not just you. You can trade with villagers, you can tame dogs, cats and parrots, you can house fish and frogs and axolotls in aquariums/paludariums. You can go out and explore, and the world is brimming with life that you can interact with.

However in both of the aforementioned chapters of Portal 2, it's literally just you.

The Announcer and Cave are talking respectively, sure, but they're not talking to *you*. The Announcer is just going through preprogrammed messages and Cave has been long dead by the time you fall down to Test Shaft 9. They're not talking to you in particular, they're just voices that automatically play; the tree isn't falling for you to hear it, it just happens to make noise as it does. The messages are for anyone in your place, they're not talking to you.

The empty observation rooms are always ominous, there's obviously someone supposed to be in there, why else would they bother putting in a place for direct observation, but they're just not. The one place of humanity found in Aperture, the reminder that you're not alone, and it's failing at its purpose, and in both chapters it turns it up a notch by adding a layer of time. The Courtesy Call having the overgrown aesthetic with plant life overtaking them, thriving using the florescent lighting that sparks on every now and again, drinking water that comes in from cracks in the ceiling whenever it rains, it's obvious that nobody's been in there for a good while and nobody's coming to your rescue. The Fall is even worse, having observation rooms that are seemingly pristine for the time they were created but by today's standards are horribly archaic. The 50's chambers having typewriters to log your every move, but the one we can actually go into directly isn't facing any testing area, implying that the observers took hand-written notes then went to type them out; the filing system back then must have been a nightmare for any secretary willing to take on such a Herculean effort. The 70's chambers having computers must have been an immense boon, but at that point with Aperture's financial history and liberal spending habits I doubt that the job was any easier. As you come closer to the upper layers it does seem clear where the current aesthetic comes from, the white tile and the sleek and professional look of the 80's really comes through, and it's almost uncanny, like a mix of the old and new.

As a side tangent, it really makes you think, though. It was abandoned long before the 'bring your daughter to work day' incident, meaning that the scientists were working on the upper layers for years while the 50's-80's chambers were just... there. Left to rot and decay. Don't get me wrong it was probably for good reason, i.e. the massive amount of asbestos, but still. Aperture just kept building up and up, and as soon as they were done with one project they moved up and on to another without a thought of trying to upgrade and modernize what was already there. Now by the time the upper layers came together, I could see the thought process of 'these old testing shafts are too outdated to modernize', but there's no real reason for typewriters to still be in the 50's chambers when there's computers in the 70's chambers unless they were just forgotten about. Perhaps the competition was just too menacing back then to even consider putting in the time to soup up what they already had.

[being-of-rain]

The last time I read an EDA, in 2024, I was on my flight to visit my girlfriend. This year I did the same thing. Which shows just how slowly I'm getting through this series. But hey, at least on this trip I read two of them! I'm forever optimistic that I'll pick up the pace eventually.

First things first, I'll talk about Anachrophobia. I'll make a second post about Trading Futures soon.

Anachrophobia is definitely one of the books that had been hyped up to me the most by EDA fans - and now that I've read it, I understand why! While I wouldn't personally rank it as one of my absolute favourites like some people would, it's an extremely atmospheric little sci-fi horror and it had me hooked. I'll start with what I liked, which is most of the book... and then move on to how the book ended. (So there'll be gradually heavier spoilers as this post goes on.)

Probably the best aspect of this book is how strong its aesthetics are. Consider the setting: A seemingly endless forest of dead trees that's forever a pitch black midnight and forever a bone-chilling snowy winter. An uninviting, utilitarian bunker with stark concrete walls that burrows several floors underground without much hope of protecting its occupants. Chunky computers and analogue clocks. Men in business suits and bowler hats. Soldiers and scientists being ground up by their capitalist system, who try not to give into despair while waiting for their next orders to help the war effort. Anachrophobia is bleak and brutalist, and, credit to Jonathan Morris, frankly a delight to read.

Add time-travel-related eldritch horror to this setting, and most of the book is a tense little base under siege story. I was almost surprised by how quickly things were moving when the majority of the supporting cast were dead (or undead) by the halfway point, but the remaining characters being forced to wait in a locked room while their enemy prowl the corridors outside just added to the claustrophobia. The book is well paced, and I'd say it definitely earns the eleventh hour setting change that it subtly builds up to.

It certainly doesn't earn every twist in its last act though. The book hopes that you overlook that one character vanishes for over fifty pages (which I didn't, as I was trying to keep track of where everyone was during the action), and then suddenly reveals that he's a robot. Which felt a little strange since I don't think it was hinted at before then. It makes for a good visual, at least.

The way that the Doctor defeats the unnamed antagonist is another thing that I'm not really sure if I liked or not. It played with the rules of the sci-fi elements in ways that hadn't been set up, and felt a little too much like making things up as it went for me. Which is a shame because it did have the makings of a great timey-wimey satisfying conclusion.

And another thing about the primary villain of the story (although not something that impacted my enjoyment of the book while reading it)... apparently they were intended by the author to be Faction Paradox, which is strange to me. That gels with their habit of forcing people to unwrite their own history, but in all other ways I really didn't get the Faction vibe. To me the villain felt far more like an eldritch and unknowable creature from outside spacetime than a society of refugees from another timeline.

Those are all minor nitpicks though. Now to talk about the other villain of the book, and the very ending. I might ramble a bit here. Halfway through the novel, it's heavily hinted that one of the characters, named Mr Mistletoe, is actually Sabbath. It's revealed that he has two hearts, and implies that one of them is the Doctor's. Now, I was a bit confused by that, because Mistletoe didn't act anything like Sabbath. And I was also excited by that, because ever since Henrietta Street I'd really been looking forward to Sabbath's proper second appearance. But that plot went nowhere for so long that I was starting to wonder if it was just trying to bait me into thinking Sabbath would be in this book. But then, literally two and a half pages before the end, Mistletoe reveals himself to be Sabbath. He tells team TARDIS that he brought them here, he "moulded your perceptions" of some of the adventure (with no explanation of how, why, when he did that, or what that means), tells them he's working with Evil Allies, then leaves as the book ends.

This all left me very disappointed. Not only did Sabbath only pop up at the very very end, but it felt like he was trying to take credit for everything while having seemingly no impact on the plot. I assume the "perceptions" he was moulding included Mistletoe's whole personality, but even so it felt more like something the Master would do than Sabbath, and one thing I really didn't want from Sabbath was to be a knock-off Master. The whole scene gave the impression that Sabbath was squeezed into the book at the list minute. And the fact that they didn't use his name during that scene also gave the strange impression that they were trying to avoid copyrite on him, which I have to assume wasn't the case(?) The arc elements that he hinted at didn't sound very interesting for the character either. Overall, the book raised my hopes for Sabbath's return, then made me wait over one hundred pages to disappoint me with a half-baked conversation at the end.

So yeah, it definitely felt like the book tripped and fell at the very last hurdle. It left a baffling and annoying taste in my mouth after finishing the book, but I'll try not to let that cloud my opinions of the rest of the story, which were very high. I can see why fans love this one so much. And it sure has motivated me to keep reading the series, so I can get up to a book where Sabbath actually fits into the plot.

[mariacallous]

As details emerge from the trade negotiations between the United States and China this week, one thing seems clear: Rare earths were an important part of the discussions. China has a monopoly on the production and processing of the minerals used in the production of high-end magnets and chips. In response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s massive tariffs, Beijing’s new restrictions on critical minerals ended up bringing the two sides back to the table.

The battle over access to rare earths is part of a larger competition between Beijing and Washington on artificial intelligence. Who is best placed to win it, and what will that mean for the world? On the latest episode of FP Live, I sat down with the two co-heads of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, Jared Cohen and George Lee, both of whom follow the geopolitics of AI closely. The full discussion is available on the video box atop this page or on the FP Live podcast. What follows here is a lightly edited and condensed transcript.

Note: This discussion is part of a series of episodes brought to you by the Goldman Sachs Global Institute.

RA: George, at a high level, where’s China at in its race to catch up with the United States on AI?

GL: What’s been fascinating is the generative AI revolution has provoked a pivot inside China. The surge of confidence, investment, and focus in this area is really fascinating. If you go back to 2021, [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] imposed a series of crackdowns on what was then the leading technology ecosystem in China. When we emerged from the COVID-19 [pandemic], with the rise of generative AI, China evinced some ambivalence early on. One can understand that in a more closed semi-authoritarian regime, a less controllable emergent machine is somewhat threatening. So, China imposed rigorous regulations around this space.

What’s changed is the emergence of a highly capable model from China. It expressed its own native capabilities and captured the attention of the global ecosystem around China’s ability to compete and lead in this space. That provoked a new policy response in China to lean into this technology and integrate it with its historical strengths in data, robotics, payments, etc.

So now we’re in the sprint mode of a real race for supremacy between the United States and China. And it’s really emerged as a critical vector of competition between governments.

RA: Where does DeepSeek fit into this, Jared? My understanding is that it didn’t shock computer scientists or insiders in the AI world, although it did shock the U.S. national security community. Why is that?

JC: There are a couple of reasons. One, there was a perception that robust export controls on China, particularly around GPUs, were limiting their compute power such that it was impossible for them to run large language models at the same scale. There was a sense that they had an uphill battle when it came to generative AI. But necessity drives innovation, not just smart computer scientists—and China has both. Part of what spooked everybody with DeepSeek is that it basically managed to perform at the same level as GPT-4 at roughly 5 percent of the cost. Whether or not it was operating at scale, it was a research milestone that introduced the idea that export controls on China was an insufficient strategy to holding them back.

The market’s reaction was outsized to the reaction from computer scientists, who knew what was going on. But as a result of the market reaction to DeepSeek, you’re also seeing the realignment of the Chinese private tech sector with the state-led system, as George mentioned. At the end of the day, that is the bigger consequence of DeepSeek than a technological or a research breakthrough.

RA: And, George, it strikes me that the Chinese system might have an advantage in its ability to corral public and private sectors together, whereas the American or even a Western system could have built-in checks that hold it back?

GL: On the one hand, Ravi, the United States and Western economies have thrived through the open, capitalist approach to innovation and problem-solving. Particularly with algorithmic advancements, that’s served us well. But you might jealously eye state-oriented actors like China for their ability to impose long-term plans for some of the predicates behind these models. Those include the ability to take a long-term view on building power resources, modernizing transition, sourcing resources like those critical minerals.

One of the things that was super interesting about DeepSeek is that it illuminated the fact that China can lead and innovate at the algorithmic model level. The technical work inside the DeepSeek-R1 model, the papers they’ve published, reveal some of the most interesting computer science work in making these models smarter, reason better, etc. So it’s clear China’s now at or close to the frontier on the algorithmic front. And they do have the advantages of more command control and consistency in marshaling resources like power, which will be really important here.

RA: The issue of U.S. export controls on the highest-end chips, coupled with China’s control of critical minerals, were both relevant in the U.S.-China trade talks this week. Jared, are export controls doing what they need to do from an American perspective?

JC: The [Trump] administration’s moves show their perception of the limits of export controls in the policy prescriptions. The Trump administration’s criticism of the Biden administration is that they focused on prevention—meaning export controls—and not enough on promotion, which I think is fair. And so, their approach is to simultaneously double-down on preventing China from accessing some of the critical technologies necessary to power AI while also flooding regional hubs with that same technology. It’s a stick followed by a carrot to other regions. The previous administration was less open to doing that latter part in places like the Middle East. One example: On the prevent side, the administration announced that anybody using the Huawei Ascend chip is violating U.S. export controls. This cuts off China from consumer markets that it desperately needs to cover many of the fixed costs associated with this buildout. But simultaneously, they got rid of the Biden AI diffusion rules that capped places like the Middle East at 350,000 GPUs. We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out.

It’s going to come down to the bigger question of whether the United States has the capacity to build the AI infrastructure fast enough to meet hyperscalers’ demand. There’s also a question of how comfortable they will be bringing sensitive IP associated with training large language models abroad and how comfortable they will be bringing sensitive customer data associated with training abroad. So those are open questions.

Now, the tricky part is that this isn’t unilaterally up to the United States. Because the supply chains are so intertwined, and because of the realities of globalization, everybody was comfortable moving supply chains that were dirty from an ESG perspective or had cheap labor to China until COVID-19. After COVID-19, the United States realized that it needed to access strategically important supply chains, including critical minerals and rare earths. The problem is the die has been cast. Everyone focuses on the lithium, the cobalt, the graphite, and the minerals that come out of the ground and gets euphoric when we find them outside China. The problem is, once you get them out of the ground, you have to crush those minerals, chemically treat them, purify the metal, and then, more importantly, you have to refine and process them into magnets and other things. And 92 percent of refining and processing rare earths into metals takes place in China. There are only five refineries outside China: Western Australia, Nevada, Malaysia, France, and Estonia. You cannot meaningfully move that supply chain. We in the West don’t have the human capital to grow that industry because we’ve retired a lot of the programs that produce human capital at universities. There are also ESG regulations. And when you have such a high concentration of the refining and processing capability and supply chain in China, it gives them a unique privilege to be able to manipulate prices.

GL: I’d add one thing, which is that the complexity of these machines can’t be underestimated. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, recently said that their current NVL72 system, which is their atomic unit of computation today, has about 600,000 parts. Their 2027 next-generation machine is going to have about 2.5 million parts. Now, he didn’t specify how much of that was foreign source. But that supply chain is intricate, complex, and global. And so, it’s unrealistic to believe that we can completely reshore, onshore, dominate, and protect an ecosystem to create this level of computation.

RA: On that, George, you have a debate between the AI accelerationists on the one hand and then China hawks on the other. This goes to Jared’s point about the trade-offs between prevention versus promotion. When you consider that China has a stranglehold on the critical mineral supply chain, doesn’t that undermine the arguments put forward by people who want to limit China’s AI development at all costs?

GL: It’s certainly constrained. But there are some who believe we’re approaching a milestone called artificial general intelligence, or AGI. One rationale behind the hawk strategy is that it’s a two- to three-year race. They argue we should do our best to prevent China from getting the resources to get there first, because once you achieve that nirvana-like state of AGI, you gain a sustaining advantage. Now, I would debate that but it’s a reasonable perspective. But I agree with you that the idea that we can cordon off China from advancing in this world is illusory.

JC: I would add to that there’s a macro geopolitical question creating a strategic mirage that may bias incorrectly toward some of the China hawks. It’s the idea that if you’re China, engaged in asymmetric competition with the United States, your biggest vulnerability is that the United States sits at the center of a multilateral economic architecture that allows it to overcome those asymmetries and level the playing field. And so, if you look at the current context, one could credibly ask whether, over the next three-and-a-half years, China’s strategy would be to play for time?

There’s a lot of infighting within that democratic economic order: tensions on trade between the United States and its two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico. There’s no trade deal yet with Japan, the United States’ only G-7 ally in the Indo-Pacific. No trade deal with South Korea, with Australia, with India, or with the European Union. And so, these moments where the United States and China seem to work toward a deal only to have it fall apart in subsequent weeks? This creates a perception of weakness or desperation that, if it gets conflated with the economic circumstances in China, could lend itself toward an incorrect narrative. I don’t know if they are in fact playing for time, but we have to ask that question because if they are, a hawkish approach could, in fact, play right into that strategy.

RA: George, does America lose anything by not being able to compete in the Chinese AI ecosystem? American companies are losing business, of course. But what is the long-term impact?

GL: This is the second-order question around export controls and restrictions. Jensen Huang has come out and said that a $50 billion business opportunity in China is largely foreclosed to him. Second, being unable to deliver U.S. technology into China, reciprocally, the Chinese lose access to the volumes of our consumer market, the global consumer market. But on the other hand, we are forcing them to use Huawei Ascend chips at scale, to navigate away from the Nvidia CUDA ecosystem, which is the software they wrap around their GPUs. Essentially, we’re conferring domestic volume advantages to them that otherwise might have been taken up by U.S. companies. And necessity is the mother of invention; we are causing them to scale up inputs to these models that will allow them to be more prosperous, get that volume, refine, be smarter, better, faster.

RA: Jared, you and I have talked before about what you call the geopolitical swing states, whether it’s India, Saudi Arabia, or Vietnam. How are they triangulating between the United States and China when it comes to AI?

JC: Before “Liberation Day,” I would have said that the geopolitical swing states realize that the limits of swinging with flexibility are around the critically important technologies. And that the United States, because of its advantages in generative AI in particular, had a lot of leverage in terms of being able to push countries to make a choice. At least for now, that is largely still true.

The caveat is, I think, the advantages over time will seesaw back and forth. As George mentioned, whoever gets to AGI first will have a unique posture in maintaining a competitive edge in this competitive coexistence. But countries will be chipping away at areas where they’re falling short for the rest of our lifetime.

These geopolitical swing states don’t block together. They act individually. It’s not a nonaligned movement. They look at their economic advantages and see a fleeting moment. They don’t know how long competition between the United States and China will be a framework for international relations. But they want to get as much out of it as possible.

Trump’s visit to the Middle East told this very important story: The narrative of the Middle East is no longer a story of security and shoring up energy supplies. It’s a story of investment and technology partnerships. And the three wealthy Gulf countries that Trump visited—Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—got public validation from the president of the United States that they are not just geopolitical swing states. They are major commercial players at the sovereign level in the most important and consequential technology invented since the internet.

GL: These swing states play an exceptional role in the world of this race for AI supremacy. The risk with AI is whether those swing states will be in an open, democratic U.S.-driven ecosystem or in a Chinese ecosystem? This is one of the perils of export control and of a less open approach.

RA: George, is this a case of a rising tide lifting all boats, even outside of the swing states? Or if you don’t have the clout, the money, or the energy, you just can’t keep up?

GL: Yeah, there’s a little of both. On the positive, whether this emerges from the United States, China, or likely both, the declining consumer cost of this technology means that whether you’re producing these intelligent tokens or simply consuming them, they are getting cheaper. So if you’re not on the leading edge of producing AI, you still get to benefit.

At the same time, if you don’t have native expertise, insight, and resources here, you are de facto dependent on others. Critical technology dependencies have real consequences—on defense, on culture. The impact on your economy, of not having your destiny in your own hands, is maybe threatening.

RA: Power is a big part of this. Jared, how have recent advances changed the power needs for the growth of AI? And how does that then play into the geopolitics of competition here?

JC: We’re grappling with hockey stick growth in terms of power demand without having prepared ourselves for that kind of an abrupt change. George mentioned Nvidia’s 2027 Kyber rack designs. These racks are now 576 GPUs on a single server rack that requires enough power for 500 U.S. homes. It requires 50 times the power of server racks that power the internet today.

When you talk about how many gigawatts of power the United States is going to need to bring online in order to meet the AI infrastructure demands, the numbers range from, like, 35 GW to 60 GW. That’s a huge delta in and of itself in between.

Some of the second- and third-order effects of this in the United States is a growing comfort getting back in the nuclear power game. But China is also experiencing the same thing. And one of the things that causes great consternation in the national security apparatus is China’s investment in nuclear for national security purposes. China is a huge investor in coal, in renewable, and in nuclear. So they get the power dynamics. And there’s not the same permitting challenges that we have in the United States and certainly not the same political challenges.

GL: In renewables alone, China added [the equivalent of the] United Kingdom’s power capability in the past year, so they’re building renewables to extraordinary scale. They have 30 nuclear plants under construction today. They have the ability and the willingness to scale coal, which is more controversial in the rest of the world. And this is actually an interesting artifact of their more command-and-control system, which can be both a bug and a feature. Plus, their lead in batteries. They produce 75 percent of the world’s batteries. And so, scaling batteries together with renewables, putting data centers that can benefit from that extremely low cost of intelligence per joule, it’s a very powerful thing.

RA: George, let’s talk about business implications. There’s so much volatility right now in everything you both are describing about the state of the AI race. How do companies navigate this?

GL: It’s inherently difficult. The pace of improvement of the technology is so steep. And as a technologist at an enterprise, you have to make a decision about when and where you shoot your shot. And so, you could move too early in this, make some decisions about deploying this technology too aggressively, wake up, and find the architecture or the leaders have changed. Or you could wait too long and see your competitors have established a sustainable lead over you. So, it’s very difficult.

The other thing I would observe is that it’s very hard to interrupt enshrined workflows in the enterprise. We’re all running experiments, which are beginning to become production projects that are yielding value. But while the technology is on this curve and enterprise adoption is slower, I’m optimistic that it’s inflecting upward. I think 2026 and beyond are the years where we’ll really start to see enterprise impact.

[circusrat13]

lame portal-ified disney song by me

*to the tune of "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast*

"Miss Caroline!"

CAROLINE

Scientists' town, Artificial village Ev'ry day New explosions there Underground Full of crazy people Waking up to say:

SCIENTISTS

Oh god! Oh no! Emergency! Hold on!

CAROLINE

Here's Mr. Wheatley with reports, like always I guess, some test-subjects just died Making science, bending time Since the day we dug that mine In the state of Michigan

WHEATLEY

Good Morning, Miss Caroline!

CAROLINE

Good morning, Wheatley.

WHEATLEY

Where are you off to?

CAROLINE

The turret production-line. Mr. Johnson wanted me to count How many bullets per bullet it takes to…

WHEATLEY

Y-Yeah, that's great. Jerry! Down the lift shaft! Hurry up, mate!

MALE SCIENTISTS

Look there she goes Miss Caroline, she's gorgeous Smart and collected, can't you tell?

LADY SCIENTISTS

But she's just some poor assistant!

RICK/ADVENTURE CORE

But her body's like a pistol

SCIENTISTS

She's a heart and soul of Aperture for sure!

MALE SCIENTIST 1

Hello!

LADY SCIENTIST 1

Good day!

MALE SCIENTIST 1

How's hard-light bridges?

LADY SCIENTIST 2

Hello!

MALE SCIENTIST 2

Good day!

LADY SCIENTIST 2

Where's Mantis Men?

MALE SCIENTIST 3

We need more cubes!

LADY SCIENTIST 3

They're in the storage

CAROLINE

We're forwarding the cause of science with our lives!

CAVE JOHNSON

Ah, Caroline!

CAROLINE

Good morning, Mr. Johnson, sir! I was just about to go the bullet expertise…

CAVE JOHNSON

Good, and what's about compensation vouchers? Are they ready?

CAROLINE

Yes, they're on your desk!

CAVE JOHNSON

Give them to the reception.

CAROLINE

Right! Of course!

CAVE JOHNSON

And tell the lab boys we need gel pipes In spheres from 12 to 20 up and running by Tuesday

CAROLINE

Will be done, sir! Is there something else I can do for you?

CAVE JOHNSON

Keep doing what you're doing. Oh, and remind the repair wing guy that we still have that leak in the west hall.

CAROLINE

Yes, sir.

CAVE JOHNSON

Thank you, Caroline. You're a gem.

CAROLINE

Oh, Mr. Johnson.

SCIENTISTS

Look there she goes, the essence of our science! (So close to Mr. Johnson, too) With her long thick brown hair And red scarf around her neck What a puzzle this Miss Caroline must be!

CAROLINE

Oh, isn't this a triumph? All the points of data ready to compute Here's in Aperture Science We can laugh at physics and just hope We won't get sued!

VIRGIL/MAINTENANCE CORE

Now it's no wonder that we kicked Black Mesa Our methods got no parallel

CRAIG/FACT CORE

But we signed their trading pact Borealis is a fact!

KEVIN/SPACE CORE

And my daddy gotta take it into space!

SCIENTISTS

We are the best researching team! We're making portals and we'll win this race!

GREG

Wow! It seems your pep talk got them all inspired, Mr. Johnson! You're the greatest boss in the whole world!

CAVE JOHNSON

I know.

GREG

But there are still some problems with the GLaDOS project. We don't have a required intellect substance.

CAVE JOHNSON

It's true, Greg. But I've got my sights set on one particular assistant.

GREG

You mean Miss Caroline?!

CAVE JOHNSON

She's the one. The only woman whom I can trust to run the facility the way I used to.

GREG

But she's -

CAVE JOHNSON

The most loyal assistant I had.

GREG

I know, but -

CAVE JOHNSON

That makes her the best. And don't Aperture Science deserve the best?

GREG

Of course it does!

CAVE JOHNSON

Right from the moment when I met her, saw her I said she is the one we need! She's the energy, no resting And has passion for the testing So I'm making plans to put her in the charge!

LADY SCIENTISTS

Look there He goes Isn't he handsome? Oh, Mister Johnson He's the best! My circuits blow I'm hardly breathing He's such a tall, clever and charming man!

[some banter that I cut out, because i had no inspo]

CAROLINE

We're forwarding the cause of science with our souls!

CAVE JOHNSON

Just watch, She's going to outlive you all!

SCIENTISTS

He chose Miss Caroline to be his heir It's such an honor, to be fair!

LADY SCIENTISTS

But what if she doesn't want it?

MALE SCIENTISTS

Then we make her, like he ordered!

SCIENTISTS

'Cause she really is our only hope She'll live forever like a God She'll rule facility for long Miss Caroline!