Space Magic and the Runescape of the Stars

     Hey, how's everybody's week been? Mine has been pretty great, with moving back into college, getting snowed in my dorm with practically nothing to do, classes starting again with shenanigans abound. I certainly missed the friends, the laughs, and the debates. Ah, college debates. Nowhere else can you find a conversation filled with pseudo-intellectualism and ill-conceived rhetoric. I had one such debate with a friend of mine just a few days ago about the game Destiny and space magic.
      For those of you who don't know, Destiny is a MMOFPS (massively mutliplayer online first person shooter), set in the long years after the Collapse of humanity's Golden Age. This period of great advancement, peace, and exploration was brought on by a mysterious celestial object known as the Traveler. Now, the Traveler helped out humanity with all this growth and development, but it also brought behind it the Darkness, an onslaught of alien races bound and determined to destroy the Traveler and the humans in it's care. In a last ditch effort to save mankind, the Traveler used the last of its life-force, Light, to create Ghosts. These Ghosts (little NAV robot eyes) would search for the bodies of long dead warriors who could wield Light as a weapon, and revive them as Guardians.
     That's just the back story for the why everything has turned to sh-- in this world, and offers up why the player can perform cool abilities and come back to life after getting beaten, shot, stabbed, crushed, scorched, and when they accidentally fall off the map. It also allows for some melodramatic lines about pushing the Darkness back and bringing the Light to places.
    By now, you're probably thinking "that's nice and all JD, but you mentioned 'space magic' like a paragraph ago and have yet to bring it up again, you know that's what I fixated on in the title, just get to it already." Whether you thought that or not, I'm going to assume you did. The weird thing about Destiny is that it looks like science fiction game -space ships, aliens, guns, robot people, and what have you- but it's actually not. That's right, Destiny is a space fantasy. Before you start think about Legolas as an astronaut or yelling at your screen that I still haven't mention space magic though, let's get into the space magic.
     For the fighter- and rogue-style class in Destiny (Titans and Hunters, respectively), the abilities seem pretty much sci-fi. Throwing knives, grenades, dome shields, and explosions all the fit the bill of super-science stuff, and I'll concede that. That's where space magic comes into play. The third class is the Warlock, or the magic user class, and they use magic. Like, straight up magic. they fly around the battlefield, throw grenades that are essentially just fireballs or lances of energy, and channel thunderstorms or the Sun to wreak havoc and destruction on their foes. The official explanation for how they do this almost perfectly mirrors that of a Dungeons & Dragons wizard! A Warlock studies the Traveler to master its arcane energies (arcane meaning magical), and a wizard studies magical tomes for their knowledge, pulling from arcane sources to cast spells. And if you still don't believe me, then believe Bungie (the company that made the game), who said the Warlock is meant to be a "space wizard" like a Jedi or Gandalf.
     But one wizard a fantasy does not make. There are still some other things that must be proven before we can conclude whether Destiny is in fact space fantasy. Like classic fantasy enemies: orcs, pirates, necromancers, evil dark princes, cults, and things of a similar nature. These can all be found in Destiny, just with a space twist on them. The Fallen are essentially pirates, with enemies called Captains, Vandals, Sharks. The Hive fit the bill of space necromancers, with the sickening green aesthetic, Thrall, Ogres, and Wizards (never mind the fact that they try to revive the soul of their old leader). The Cabal take on the role of the Orc, an army of strong and brutish warriors that always run forward and die faster than you'd think. The Vex, while robots, do worship the Black Heart with a cult-ish fervor, and make up for their robot-ness with names like Goblins, Minotaurs, Hydras, Harpies, and Hobgoblins. As for evil dark lords, Oryx the Taken King has got all the traditional characteristics: massive fortress, bat wings and horns, a twisted looking sword, and a title like the Taken King.
     While I could go down the excessively long list of similarities between Destiny and the standard fantasy setting, that would take too long and even wouldn't read it, let alone write it, so instead I'm going to jump straight to the last point I'd like to make: the difference between science fiction and fantasy. In both genres, amazing and fantastical things happen, but what causes them is the differentiating aspect. Sci-fi uses super advanced technology (and mediocre science) to explain it's wondrous events, while fantasy throws magic at every problem like it's duct tape. So, what does Destiny do? There is never any scientific explanation for how a robot can summon a gun made from the Sun's light, or how a human can temporarily shut down gravity around themselves to float up and hurl an explosive bolt of space energy at the ground. It's just written off as the powers of Light, and given no second glance.
     In the end, this whole space fantasy isn't a new concept, and it's been done time and time again, but it's the first time in my experience that space fantasy has been the basis of a best-selling video game. Sure, Destiny has some problems like it's really repetitive and forces you to interact with other humans (even though grinding and whoring for teammates is a stock and standard of the MMO genre), but it's nice to know that space fantasies are finally getting their turn in the spotlight. Could this turn into the advent of a new age of movies, games, and books? We shall see.

Space magic.

I Don't Know About You, I Think It's 22: Real Adulthood

    Hey guys, how's it going? Everybody looking forward to the crazy snow storm? I certainly am, since I move back into college tomorrow. But that's the future; let's talk about the now. Today is my sister's birthday (yes, this is the second time a blog post has coincided with my sister's birthday), and I'd like to talk about adulthood. In the United States, you are legally considered an adult upon reaching the age of 18, but you're not really and adult at that point. You can't purchase alcohol (one of the oldest traditions mankind celebrates is inebriation), you're not really treated like an adult by society, and often 18 year-olds aren't typically given much responsibility. No, 18 is the threshold of adulthood, but more the porch steps. The real door into the responsibilities of the real world awaits at 22 years of age.
     I'm sure many of you would disagree with this, but allow me to explain my thought process. While being a grown-up is something you really have to determine for yourself, there is also a societal aspect. On (or around) the 22nd birthday, there is a drastic shift in what the world thinks and expects of you. Think about sitcoms: Friends, a popular 90s television show set in NYC beings with the average character age at 22. At this point, you're out of college or getting into serious work, your 20s have begun in full swing, and something seems to be expected of you.
     The year of partying we assume all 21 year-olds engage in has ended at 22, life becomes more serious, the friends you have presently will most likely be the friends you'll have for a many years. It's true that most people don't have their careers planned out, their romantic lives tied down, or their financial situations worked out at all, but there is some expectation that you know what you want. In many ways, this is glorifying, how we push people to strive towards success early, but it's simultaneously terrifying. The very concept of having every single aspect of your life plotted out could render even the most stalwart nerve catatonic.
     This faux checkpoint on life is just a little thing for you to think about while you're snowed in this weekend. And, while you're working on that, I'll be hard at working doing the science for next weeks post (that's right, we're doing science soon!) Any-Hootie and the Blowfish, That's all I've got to say on the matter. I'll see y'all next time.

The Biology of Brahmin and Other Two-Headed Beasts

     Recently, Bethesda Studios released the next installment of the hit Fallout series: Fallout 4. Set in the post-apocalyptic wastes of Boston and the Commonwealth, Fallout 4 showcases some (welcomed) nuclear wasteland cliches. While the radiation zombies, irradiated water, and mini nukes are all super 1950s, nothing screams Cold War craziness quite like the Brahmin, a species of two-headed cow. Now, video game logic is something we can't really argue with, because when piles of hay beat gravity and crouching fixes gunshots, the laws of science don't really apply. But what if they did? Could something like a Brahmin (or Radstag, two-headed deer) exist?
     Assuming that this distinct and radical change could actually develop on a species-wide level, could the biological mechanics work? To start, let's see if there are two-headed animals in real life. Shocking as it may be, there are. Polycephaly is the fancy words for an animal that is born with an extra head (or extra appendage), and it happens often enough in nature. Snakes, cats, cows, even people can be born with a second head, but these specimen rarely live long. The big synapse the seems to occur in these bizarre situations is a disconnect between the two brains (all of this according to Wikipedia, of course) which results in poor motor skills and general confusion, a problem noticeably absent in the behavior of brahmin.
     I think this results from a "separation of powers" physiology. We know that human motor functions are split between hemispheres, so why not between two brains? Think of using two computers for one modem. One is dedicated to CPU, and another is dedicated to RAM. The other issue would be the sheer amount of nerve tissue that would be needed to connect the two brains and the sensory nerves. The solution to this can be found in the stocky, short-neck build of Brahmin and Radstags. This dual-brain system also provides a back up brain, should the other suffer excessive damage or be killed. This supplies both a technical "yes" to two-headed functionality, and a segue into my next topic: Why would a two-headed creature evolve?
     To answer this, we turn towards Darwinism and the process of evolution. Natural selection works in a pretty simple way: the longer you live, the more babies you make; the more babies you make, the more your individual traits are spread. Typically, this process can take thousands of years to make drastic changes but there is documented evidence of new species of finches cropping up in the Galapagos Islands in the past 40 years (source). If 40 years of geological isolation can make a new breed of bird, who says 100 years of drastic environmental change and radiation exposure can't generate a two-headed cow? We know that radiation can trigger mutations (though these are often fatal or lack viability), and the catastrophic changes in predator prey relations and ecological alterations directly affect natural selection. With the bombings and subsequent nuclear winters, herd sizes would have been vastly reduced, and the introduction of new predators such as Deathclaws into the ecosystem would necessitate the introduction of a second set of ears, eyes and nostrils. Lacking the advantage of numbers in a harsh and unforgiving wasteland, the Brahmin that detect threats earlier evade death longer, and pass their traits onto new generations.
     Of course, this is all the speculations of one academic whose foray into biology is limited to personal readings and AP Bio in high school (though I performed exceptionally in that class), but still, doesn't it kinda make sense? The only reason we currently cast out the possibility of a viable polycephalic creature is because there aren't any right now, but who knows? With enough disaster, catastrophe, and radiation we might see the advent of a two-headed cow. Might not be great to look at, but the cow tongue industry would probably love it. 

Introductions

     Hello and howdy! Welcome once again to the rambling thoughts of a pseudo-intellectual with a laptop and wifi. We find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, an untold sea of possibilities that lies before us, should we elect to sail it. Gone now are the days of 2015. They have been ebbed away by the unrelenting march of time, diminishing at the passage of each second. As usual, we turn our eyes forward to the year yet to come instead of lingering on the past. That brings me to the first point of order: the gimmick. The previous two blogs I've written have both had little quirks and abnormalities, and this series is no different. This year, posts will be scheduled around the number 7. If the date is divisible by 7, something will be posted here. It's pretty simple -despite the internal struggle spawned in the titling process- and will undoubtedly lead to scheduling conflicts and late nights for me. With any hope, I'll be able to put in more effort that past attempts at blogging, though this prediction is based solely on the fact that college life has forced time management onto my shoulders.
       I'm not at college, however pedantic my vocabulary may seem, and am therefore existing in a timeless manner. I feel not the hindrance of looming deadlines or regimented wakefulness. These caveats of life have been replaced with that ever-draining sense of wastefulness, the feeling of something left undone... It will come to an end before the month does, and soon I'll be back to the fast-paced thrills and chills of undergraduate studies. When I return I will (hopefully) start along the path to a materials science & engineering major, and I can only hope new adventures await. I have been completely free-writing up to this point, mostly because I didn't have anything prepared, but alas, I must keep writing! Since I haven't posted anything since the beginning of Autumn 2015, I feel out of practice, and the well-trodden trail of blogging has seen the growth of brambles and thickets, but fret not. The more we travel down this road, the smoother it will become, and then I'll be able to write more interesting posts.
     Well, it would seem as though we have reached the end of this post. It was a strange journey, but we've come out the other side, and with a glance over our shoulders we can see that this was actually a long-winded way of saying two small words:

I'm back.