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ANNOUNCEMENT: Call The Bluff, by O.E. Tearmann

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QSFer O.E. Tearmann has a new queer sci fi book out, book two in the Aces High, Jokers Wild Book series: Call the Bluff. It costs a lot to win. And even more to lose. Seven Corporations rule the former United States with seven codes of conduct based on their ideas of morality. Comply with the code of the Corporation that holds your Citizen Contract, or suffer the economic consequences.  Or fight back.  For sixty years the Democratic State Force has been fighting to return representative democracy to the country. Living in the no man’s lands between cities and hanging on … Read more

FOR READERS: My Fave Covers

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FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Ryane Chatman: Readers, share your favorite queer spec fic covers from the last year. Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat

Did We Just Witness the Birth of a Black Hole?

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Exploding Cow

On June 16, 2018, a stupendously bright explosion tore across the cosmos and lingered in the sky above Earth for several weeks. The mysterious blast traveled 200 million light-years from the gut of the Hercules constellation, shone with the light of nearly 100 supernovas and captured the attention of the world’s stargazers until, finally, it vanished from the sky as mysteriously at it appeared. Astronomers named it “The Cow.” From the moment of its discovery, scientists knew that The Cow (officially named AT2018cow, which is a procedurally generated name) was no typical supernova. Now, months later, a team of international … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: The Choice, by Addison Albright

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The Choice

QSFer Addison Albright has a new MM paranormal book out, sequel to “The Recruit”: The Choice. As a freshly turned vampire, Neil had frozen in panic when he’d found himself face-to-face with his ex-boyfriend, Cameron. Neil thought that misstep and its associated danger was all in the past, but Cameron’s current boyfriend, Dennis, is like a dog with a bone, and a keen imagination. When the two men’s curiosity progresses to the point the vampires consider their secrecy to be endangered, choices must be made.  Now that faction leader Albert has a blood-mate, he finds himself second-guessing his decisions. Neil would be … Read more

FOR WRITERS: Evolution in Sci Fi

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FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: We tend to think of evolution as something that happened in the past. But evolution is happening all around us, and we are accelerating it by massively changing the world. How will it play out in the next 100, 500, 5000 years? Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat

AI Can Now Read Your Mind (Sort Of)

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astronaut brains - pixabay

Neuroscientists are teaching computers to read words straight out of people’s brains. Kelly Servick, writing for Science, reported this week on three papers posted to the preprint server bioRxiv in which three different teams of researchers demonstrated that they could decode speech from recordings of neurons firing. In each study, electrodes placed directly on the brain recorded neural activity while brain-surgery patients listened to speech or read words out loud. Then, researchers tried to figure out what the patients were hearing or saying. In each case, researchers were able to convert the brain’s electrical activity into at least somewhat-intelligible sound … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT/GUEST POST/GIVEAWAY: The Man Inside Me, by Sean Kerr

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QSFer Sean Kerr has a new MM Victorian gothic romance out: The Man Inside Me. Victorian London is a difficult place to be when you are gay, as Henry and Gabriel know all too well. When they were young at Oxford University, Henry and Gabriel’s love burned hot and bright, and they thought to change the world together until a devastating tragedy ripped them apart. Now, as youth fades away, Henry can no longer stand to see his own reflection in the mirror. All he sees is a sad, tired old man whose body has betrayed him. He craves the … Read more

Cartographer Creates Beautiful Rainbow Maps of River Basins

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Rivers get the rainbow treatment in a gorgeous series of maps from a Hungarian cartographer. Available for download on Etsy, the maps are both beautiful and scientifically accurate. Their creator, Robert Szucs, has a background in geographic information systems (GIS) but was bored by standard river maps with “all the lines blue, all the same width.” “Uninspiring,” he told Live Science. “I felt I might be able to do better.” Since 2016, Szucs has been offering his maps on Etsy, where nearly 4,000 buyers seem to agree that he’s done better. Selling the maps was originally just a hobby, he … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: Dread, by Shannon West

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QSFer Shannon West has a new MM paranormal book out in her Gods of War series: Dread. Will Logan and Luke Warren are still running, with no refuge in sight. After stopping in Tennessee to meet up with teammates Ron Perry and Jake Wilson, they head for Atlanta, to rendezvous with the remaining member of their team, Todd Jackson. Kowalski told Logan he murdered Jackson, but Logan knows all too well how hard it is to kill any of them now. He’s hopeful that Jackson survived and is waiting to meet them. Once they arrive in the city, they find … Read more