'We're precipitating an extermination rather than an extinction event'
1 October 2025 05:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
newscientist_feedBroadcaster and campaigner Chris Packham is on a mission to cut overconsumption, take on fossil fuel giants and create a fairer world
newscientist_feed
NASA's asteroid deflection test had unexpected and puzzling outcome
1 October 2025 04:00 pmnewscientist_feedThe DART mission achieved its goal of changing one asteroid’s orbit around another, but questions remain about why the orbit continued to alter over the following month
Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1872)
1 October 2025 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pauraqueSpooky season is here! This month I'll be reviewing books and games with a horror or generally Halloween-ish theme.
This vampire novella is said to have been an inspiration for Dracula (which I'll be reviewing next week) and gothic horror in general. It follows a lonely teenaged girl named Laura who lives with her widower father and their servants in a remote Austrian country house. When a passing carriage crashes near their property, they rush to help and find that the occupants are two older women and a girl Laura's age. One of the women begs them to take in her daughter Carmilla and allow her to recover from the crash, promising to return for her in a few months after she's finished her urgent but nebulous business elsewhere. This is all a bit suspicious given that Carmilla doesn't really seem injured and her mother has given strict orders that she's not allowed to reveal anything about herself or her family. But Laura is starving for the company of a girl her own age, and as for Carmilla, well... the modern reader will have already guessed that she's starving too.
I really enjoyed this. It definitely is rich with gothic atmosphere and prose that's literary but very clear. (Victorian prose can sometimes be a bit... much for me.) It is also very very very gay. It's not subtle or subtextual; Carmilla's passionate desire for Laura is overtly romantic as well as vampiric. Laura responds to this with flustered confusion, feeling both intense attraction and fear. It could be read as a cautionary tale of not inviting the scary lesbian into the house, but I found it more complex than that.
I thought it was interesting that Carmilla's mother and her female companion are never seen again. I assume that the mother wasn't her birth mother, but rather her vampire-mother, the one who turned her, and maybe the other woman was her vampire-grandmother then? I wasn't completely sure how this worked beyond the maiden-mother-crone imagery of the trio. It did seem obvious that the "carriage crash" setup was a con—pretend Carmilla is hurt, play on people's sympathies to get them to invite her in. The loose thread of what happened to the others also resonates with the idea that once female agency is awakened, there's no closing the book on it.
Carmilla is in the public domain, so you can read it on Project Gutenberg if you like. It's a quick read!
This vampire novella is said to have been an inspiration for Dracula (which I'll be reviewing next week) and gothic horror in general. It follows a lonely teenaged girl named Laura who lives with her widower father and their servants in a remote Austrian country house. When a passing carriage crashes near their property, they rush to help and find that the occupants are two older women and a girl Laura's age. One of the women begs them to take in her daughter Carmilla and allow her to recover from the crash, promising to return for her in a few months after she's finished her urgent but nebulous business elsewhere. This is all a bit suspicious given that Carmilla doesn't really seem injured and her mother has given strict orders that she's not allowed to reveal anything about herself or her family. But Laura is starving for the company of a girl her own age, and as for Carmilla, well... the modern reader will have already guessed that she's starving too.
I really enjoyed this. It definitely is rich with gothic atmosphere and prose that's literary but very clear. (Victorian prose can sometimes be a bit... much for me.) It is also very very very gay. It's not subtle or subtextual; Carmilla's passionate desire for Laura is overtly romantic as well as vampiric. Laura responds to this with flustered confusion, feeling both intense attraction and fear. It could be read as a cautionary tale of not inviting the scary lesbian into the house, but I found it more complex than that.
spoilery thoughts
Though written by a man, much of the narrative centers women. It does evoke the idea that women's agency is scary, but it's less in the way of men being threatened by it, and more from the perspective of a young woman who is fearful of claiming it and abandoning the safety of gendered expectations and conformity. It's a man who eventually takes over the action of identifying and destroying the vampire (though at first Carmilla physically overpowers him!) which makes sense because he doesn't see the ambiguity, he only sees the threat. The conclusion leans into the ambiguity, though, saying that Laura was never quite the same after her encounter with Carmilla, even though she survived. I think it is important that Laura's first-person narrative is framed as being told to a woman, confiding her past experiences to someone who might understand them.I thought it was interesting that Carmilla's mother and her female companion are never seen again. I assume that the mother wasn't her birth mother, but rather her vampire-mother, the one who turned her, and maybe the other woman was her vampire-grandmother then? I wasn't completely sure how this worked beyond the maiden-mother-crone imagery of the trio. It did seem obvious that the "carriage crash" setup was a con—pretend Carmilla is hurt, play on people's sympathies to get them to invite her in. The loose thread of what happened to the others also resonates with the idea that once female agency is awakened, there's no closing the book on it.
Carmilla is in the public domain, so you can read it on Project Gutenberg if you like. It's a quick read!
you ever met a talking cat befure?
1 October 2025 11:22 amsparklecat posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
addmeName:
Sparklecat, they/them
Sparklecat, they/them
Age:
bodily 23, mentally being rubberbanded back and forth through time
I mostly post about:
things that are inspiring/recovery related, things related to my studies (religion, demonolatry, sociology, folkways/folk music, appalachian history, union/labor history), fannish ramblings, any art. I feel i will probably use this as a bit of a diary, but im not sure......
My hobbies are:
(light) writing, crochet, making mix cds (like physically, which im trying to figure out how to translate into shareable art), looking at pretty pictures, about a million other things on any given day. I also make puzzles and have a website for it!
My fandoms are:
I write fanfic for Five Nights at Freddy's and Undertale/Deltarune. My main fandom is The Daycare Attendant community, a subcommunity of FNAF. we are small but mighty, lol. I have a vested interest in x readers and I enjoy self-ship. I also enjoy any form of monster/creature, not really limited to community. i guess you would call me a monsterfucker/lover/appreciator. A friend to monsters, hopefully?
I'm looking to meet people who:
ramble! share their thoughts! want to speak asynchronously! I am very new to this form of social media, being a tumblr native since 2015, and want to make friends!
My posting schedule tends to be:
hopefully multiple times a week, but i want to try to put out more "together" posts at least once. dont hold me to this however. Im hoping to use this journal as a mix between a diary, pinterest, and tumblr.
When I add people, my dealbreakers are:
No Minors, sorry! also no fascists/bigots/maga. I am against AI usage on environmental grounds.
Before adding me, you should know:
I am plural/a system and will post about that/other parts will make posts every now and again. we are interested in the experience of other systems and their concept of healthy multiplicity. Also genderfluid and aromantic(ish) and like to ramble about that too.
How brain organoids are revealing what truly makes humans unique
1 October 2025 03:00 pmnewscientist_feedMadeline Lancaster created the first brain organoids, which have revolutionised our understanding of how the brain works - but also raised ethical questions
The best new science fiction books of October 2025
1 October 2025 10:00 amnewscientist_feedScience fiction legend Ursula K. Le Guin is honoured with a new collection out this month, and sci-fi fans can also look forward to fiction from astronaut Chris Hadfield and award-winning authors Ken Liu and Mary Robinette Kowal
We now know why a belly button becomes an 'innie'
30 September 2025 09:27 pmnewscientist_feedScientists have discovered a new abdominal structure called the umbilical sheath, which anchors the remnant of the umbilical cord to deep abdominal tissues and helps determine the shape of your navel
(no subject)
30 September 2025 09:56 pmbaselineace posting in addmeName: ace (short for alex, but please just call me ace!)
Age: 48
I mostly post about: tennis, fannish rambles, book reviews, occasional football nostalgia, and random life musings
My hobbies are: reading (historical fiction, romance + the occasional sports biography), writing emotionally messy fanfic, cozy farming sims (stardew valley hours are ridiculous), traveling when i can, and yelling fondly at tennis players and footballers
My fandoms are: tennis (lifelong), historical fiction nerdery, bridgerton, and a splash of nostalgic 90s/00s pop (yes i still love take that and one direction, no regrets)
I'm looking to meet people who: are fannish, bookish, or just like chatting about their passions. bonus points if you also get tennis brainrot or historical-fiction cravings.
My posting schedule tends to be: sporadic — sometimes i post a lot, sometimes i vanish into the void with a book or a video game.
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: no bigotry, no cruelty. fannish disagreements are fine, but being mean about real people (especially athletes/actors etc.) is not my jam.
Before adding me, you should know: i ramble a lot in lowercase, i treat my journal more like a diary/archive than a performance space, and i’m always happy to chat if you are!
Age: 48
I mostly post about: tennis, fannish rambles, book reviews, occasional football nostalgia, and random life musings
My hobbies are: reading (historical fiction, romance + the occasional sports biography), writing emotionally messy fanfic, cozy farming sims (stardew valley hours are ridiculous), traveling when i can, and yelling fondly at tennis players and footballers
My fandoms are: tennis (lifelong), historical fiction nerdery, bridgerton, and a splash of nostalgic 90s/00s pop (yes i still love take that and one direction, no regrets)
I'm looking to meet people who: are fannish, bookish, or just like chatting about their passions. bonus points if you also get tennis brainrot or historical-fiction cravings.
My posting schedule tends to be: sporadic — sometimes i post a lot, sometimes i vanish into the void with a book or a video game.
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: no bigotry, no cruelty. fannish disagreements are fine, but being mean about real people (especially athletes/actors etc.) is not my jam.
Before adding me, you should know: i ramble a lot in lowercase, i treat my journal more like a diary/archive than a performance space, and i’m always happy to chat if you are!
Egg cells made with DNA from human skin fertilised in the lab
30 September 2025 06:05 pmnewscientist_feedAn innovative use of skin cells could provide a route for gay couples or women with fertility problems to have children that both partners are genetically related to
'Funny' videos of stressed and frightened pets are no laughing matter
30 September 2025 05:54 pmnewscientist_feedSocial media is awash with videos of cats and dogs getting startled or hurt for our entertainment. We should all be more alert to poor animal welfare, says Christa Lesté-Lasserre
Ancient artists created giant camel engravings in the Arabian desert
30 September 2025 05:00 pmnewscientist_feedAlmost 200 engravings created around 12,000 years ago have been discovered in Saudi Arabia, including depictions of camels etched into cliff faces over 40 metres high
The exceptionally tasty new fermented foods being cooked up in the lab
30 September 2025 05:00 pmnewscientist_feedFermented foods make up a third of what we eat and were mostly discovered by accident centuries ago. Now a fermentation revolution is promising extraordinary new flavours and novel ways to boost gut health
Astronomers captured an incredible view of M87’s black hole jet
30 September 2025 12:00 pmnewscientist_feedThe black hole at the centre of a galaxy more than 50 million light years away is spewing out a jet of extremely hot plasma – though we have studied it for a century, we are only now seeing it in great detail
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
30 September 2025 07:30 ampauraqueAfter rewatching the Original Trilogy, sdk and I allowed our enthusiasm to carry us forward into rewatching the Prequel Trilogy. That was... well, it was certainly a decision that we made.
I saw this movie in the theater and had not seen it since then. I knew it wasn't a cinematic masterpiece, but I did go in with a positive attitude hoping to enjoy some cheesy silliness and at least have fun razzing it. I'm afraid I was not able to maintain that attitude; I actually found the movie unpleasant to watch. So if you love it, maybe skip this post.
( cut for length and negativity )
In conclusion, I don't recommend this movie. I do, however, recommend this:
Embedded video: Music video for Weird Al's song "The Saga Begins", which retells the plot of the movie to the tune of "American Pie" by Don McClean.
Nonetheless we plan to persevere with Attack of the Clones, which I think I have seen part of. Maybe it will be better! Let me dream!
sdk and I allowed our enthusiasm to carry us forward into rewatching the Prequel Trilogy. That was... well, it was certainly a decision that we made.I saw this movie in the theater and had not seen it since then. I knew it wasn't a cinematic masterpiece, but I did go in with a positive attitude hoping to enjoy some cheesy silliness and at least have fun razzing it. I'm afraid I was not able to maintain that attitude; I actually found the movie unpleasant to watch. So if you love it, maybe skip this post.
( cut for length and negativity )
In conclusion, I don't recommend this movie. I do, however, recommend this:
Embedded video: Music video for Weird Al's song "The Saga Begins", which retells the plot of the movie to the tune of "American Pie" by Don McClean.
Nonetheless we plan to persevere with Attack of the Clones, which I think I have seen part of. Maybe it will be better! Let me dream!
OTW Signal, September 2025
30 September 2025 10:57 amotw_news_feedEvery month in OTW Signal, we take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including issues related to legal matters, technology, academia, fannish history and preservation issues of fandom, fan culture, and transformative works.
In the News
On September 23, SenLinYu’s Alchemised joined Rose in Chains by Julie Soto and The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley as the third “Dramione” fan fiction-inspired novel to be traditionally published in 2025. In their article “‘The Year of Dramione’: Fan fiction’s leap to bookstore shelves”, United Press International (UPI) spoke with OTW’s Rebecca Tushnet about the growing appeal of fanworks outside of fandom spaces. Many publishers are fans themselves, Tushnet noted, commenting on the—often fraught—relationship between fandom and traditional media publishing. She also highlighted the deeper, intrinsic worth of fanworks:
… the value in fan fiction writing extends well beyond the potential for publication, Tushnet said.
“To me, it’s never about making the jump to getting paid for it,” she said. “People develop all sorts of skills and passions and connections through fan fiction and I would never want to flatten that.”
UPI posited that it’s perhaps, in part, this passion at the heart of fandom that serves as a beacon for fans and publishers alike. Ali Hazelwood, whose “Reylo” fan fiction inspired her novel The Love Hypothesis, reflected on what binds her to fandom:
“… it’s also just great to feel a sense of community and to get to know people, to find someone who’s like-minded and interested in similar things. It’s very hard to make friends as an adult. And I feel like I truly found my adult friends through fanfiction and through the fandom community.”
Hazelwood’s experience embodies a core purpose of sites like the Archive of Our Own (AO3). “As long as there are humans, they will ask what happens next [beyond canon],” Tushnet said. “The fight we have is their ability to find each other.”
Rae Johnston, presenter of the Download This Show podcast, asks, “What does it take to keep a website alive when every other platform is chasing advertising dollars or subscription fees?” The podcast’s new episode, “How fanfiction took over the world (and stayed free)”, explores how AO3 has risen to the challenge. Johnston spoke with OTW Board Director Rachel Linton to learn more:
The vision was to have a space for fans, created by fans, to make sure that it was a noncommercial space and to make sure that it didn’t restrict content. And those were driven by concerns that were raised by FanLib and by Strikethrough, and trying to make sure that there was a space that people could post what they wanted to write without having that controlled by what corporations wanted to support or promote—and to keep ownership over that work.
… There was definitely a desire to have a very clear vision of why we think that [creating fanworks] is allowed and why this is legal, and as part of that, we’ve had a Legal Committee from the beginning who … exists to support AO3 and to support fans—and make sure that their work is protected and that they know what they are allowed to do and can’t be intimidated.
… On the technical side, [AO3’s] code base was created for the Archive … we own all of our own servers, which is great for having control over the work that we host and the work that we do. … we’re entirely volunteer-run, so any work that we’re doing in terms of coding or in terms of upgrades or anything like that is all done by volunteers. … All of our funding is through donations. … we are essentially completely run by fan volunteers, but also run by the money that fans donate.
An incredible testament to community, Johnston concludes that “Archive of Our Own has managed the near impossible: staying free, staying independent, and keeping the culture alive.”
OTW Tips
Looking for more OTW news coverage? Visit our Press Room! Here, you’ll find a catalogue of notable media mentions of the OTW and its projects—dating back to its founding in 2007. Browse articles, podcasts, and more to learn about how the OTW and its work and volunteers have been recognized across the media landscape.
We want your suggestions for the next OTW Signal post! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or news story you think we should know about, send us a link. We are looking for content in all languages! Submitting a link doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in an OTW post, and inclusion of a link doesn’t mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.
We may finally know what causes will-o’-the-wisps
29 September 2025 09:00 pmnewscientist_feedMysterious flashes of light seen in swamps and bogs could be caused by burning methane or other gases, ignited by sparks that fly between bubbles in water
Our brain 'swivels' to focus on sounds from different directions
29 September 2025 05:00 pmnewscientist_feedMany mammals physically pivot their ears to hone in on a particular sound, and now it seems that a similar action takes place in our brain
Do black holes exist and, if not, what have we really been looking at?
29 September 2025 05:00 pmnewscientist_feedBlack holes are so strange that physicists have long wondered if they are quite what they seem. Now we are set to find out if they are instead gravastars, fuzzballs or something else entirely
Cannabis extract found to be effective for lower back pain
29 September 2025 05:00 pmnewscientist_feedA clinical trial has found that VER-01, a drug derived from cannabis, eases chronic lower back pain without serious side effects or signs of addiction