Nicky Penttila

Nicky Penttila

@nickypenttila.bsky.social

86

Posts

Writer, reader, wonderer. Loyal opposition. Author of THE LISTENERS, FRANKIE TAKES A DIVE and CARGO TROUBLE. She/her. nickypenttila.com

Posts Replies Media

"It took the song 14 minutes to travel 158 million miles to Venus, Elliott’s favorite planet." www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/a... (free link)

A Missy Elliott Song Travels to Venus at the Speed of Lightwww.nytimes.com NASA sent the song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” from a radio dish in California last week. It took 14 minutes to travel the 158 million miles.

“The fact of the matter was that he had just barely understood enough to make the concept work, but had not understood enough to be aware of its consequences.” — Enoch, in Way Station by Clifford D. Simak bookshop.org/p/books/amer... #amreading

American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1960-1966 (Loa #321): The High Crusade / Way Station / Flowers for Algernon / . . . and Call Me Conrad a book by Daniel Keyes, Roger Zelazny, Poul Anderso...bookshop.org In a deluxe collector's edition, four classic science fiction novels from the genre's most transformative decade--including the landmark Flowers for Algernon This volume, the first of a two-volume set...

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I know everyone is focused on the shiny object, and with good reason, but can we also look at this other above-the-fold item, pretty please? Thanks. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/u...

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🗃️

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The heck? Both Esquire and the NYT have put out "best books" lists, and THE FIFTH SEASON is on both! Is there a holiday coming up or something? Anyway, yay! Esquire's is SFF-specific (#4) and the NYT's is this-century specific (#44). www.esquire.com/entertainmen... www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The 75 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Timewww.esquire.com See if your favorites made our expanded list.

The Maple River in Michigan is the first in the US to be returned to a natural, free-flowing state after being dangerously clogged by human construction for decades. After 25 years of work, the river has been freed. www.upnorthlive.com/news/local/r... #goodnews

Restoration of Maple River offers hope for future conservation initiativeswww.upnorthlive.com The Maple River is the first in the United States to return to a natural, free-flowing state after being clogged by human interaction so many decades ago.

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YOU GUYS WE HAVE TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING SO THE ECHIDNAS CAN DREAM

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here’s an idea!! stop paying for something that causes discord (your choice), and toss those coins to a short fiction magazine of your choice!! here are some fundraisers going on now!!! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape... www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...

Apex Magazine 2025www.kickstarter.com A bi-monthly digital literary magazine of science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror.

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I've had a wild, weird career in a lot of ways, but getting to tell @chucktingle.bsky.social in person tonight that I'm his copy editor was a highlight for SURE.

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WTF. The electric company in Texas doesn't have a map of outages so people have been using the Whataburger App to figure out who lost power. This is like when Homer was using the Krusty Burger map when they got lost at sea.

Switched from Adobe CC to Affinity a couple months ago, no prob so far. Used Photo 2 and Designer 2 but not Publisher. No monthly fee! They’re running a try-free-for-6-months deal now. affinity.serif.com/en-us/trial/

I just backed The Lost Star Chart: A Sci-Fi Adventure Novel on @Kickstarter www.kickstarter.com/projects/arm...

The Lost Star Chart: A Sci-Fi Adventure Novelwww.kickstarter.com Join a grumpy treasure hunter on a quest for an ancient secret in this gritty, sometimes silly, stand alone space adventure novel.

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if only there was a word for "displacing" an "entire population" of people using "military ground operations"

Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population – after the Israeli military last week ordered a further 80,000 people to evacuate parts of Gaza City amid a renewed ground operation, the latest UN figures show.

Almost entire population in Gaza now displaced amid fresh Israeli offensive | CNNwww.cnn.com Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population – after the Israeli military this week ordered a further 80,000 people to evacuate parts of Gaza City amid a renewed ...

The mechanism “keeps giving us new stuff,” Dr. Freeth said. “It’s extraordinary. Year after year, we’ve found these astonishing things in it.” www.nytimes.com/2024/07/05/s... (free link)

Cosmic Research Hints at Mysterious Ancient Computer’s Purposewww.nytimes.com Scientists used techniques from the field of gravitational wave astronomy to argue that the Antikythera mechanism contained a lunar calendar.

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The Heritage Foundation “don’t make us kill you, Democrats” statement may mark one of those moments people will read about in 100 years (hopefully!) and think to themselves “why didn’t they freak out when they heard the extremists say that?” (Sadly, it’s just not how humans work most of the time)

That Heritage Foundation statement threatening a violent revolution against the left = that moment in a movie in which the forces of evil loudly announce their evil plans. except in real life, unlike in a movie, most normal people don’t even realize this has *happened* (which is our job).

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‘Chemical recycling’: 15-minute reaction turns old clothes made with mixed materials into useful molecules www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘Chemical recycling’: 15-minute reaction turns old clothes into useful moleculeswww.nature.com Fast fashion creates millions of tonnes of waste each year — could clever chemistry help to tackle the problem? Fast fashion creates millions of tonnes of waste each year — could clever chemistry help...

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The Romancing the Vote fundraising auction ends today at 8 p.m. eastern. Still plenty of time to bid! My annotated books are currently sitting at $102 and $100 each. www.32auctions.com/organization...

Romancing the Vote 2024www.32auctions.com Silent auction 'Romancing the Vote 2024' hosted online at 32auctions.

June reads. Yeah, it was a comfort-read month #amreading

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I don't know who needs this right now but arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/...

This science fiction novel is a perfect antidote to U.S. election seasonarstechnica.com Malka Older's Infomocracy is a realistic picture of a future global democracy.

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Don't talk to me or my son ever again. Photo from my collection, no further info.

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I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

companies and firms do not implement AI products to make work easier, better, or more enjoyable for the average worker but to cut labour costs and reduce staff www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

Nearly half of US firms using AI say goal is to cut staffing costswww.smh.com.au Some 45 per cent of firms surveyed said they had added technology since January 2022 to automate what had once been employees’ tasks.

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In my day job, I work on vote.gov. We’re currently working on an accessible form filler tool to help people register to vote — see it at vote.gov/national-vot... This is open for comment right now in the Federal Register. Comments of all kinds are helpful. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

NVRFvote.gov Vote.gov is a United States government website that provides trusted voting information and can help you find voter registration rules for your state.

Proud to be the 469th backer 😎 on @BackerKit Crowdfunding for Structuring Life to Support Creativity! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...

Structuring Life to Support Creativitywww.backerkit.com A resource book to help writers, artists, and other creatives make more art with less burnout.

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Beware of the book festivals! (My latest Guardian Books cartoon)

Summer home #caturday

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I've long felt that the political left needs to do better at explaining how different issues intersect. This is just next level.

The Mass Poor People’s & Low Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington, DC and to the Polls is livestreaming in English, Spanish, and ASL. www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/livestream/

Livestreamwww.poorpeoplescampaign.org Join the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival for our next livestream!

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Just FYI we’re entering a summer Covid wave right now (especially western regions in the US); you can see it in the CDC wastewater plot here (and anecdotally a bunch of my friends are suddenly testing positive). www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVI...

Wastewater COVID-19 National and Regional Trendswww.cdc.gov CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System, U.S. National trends

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A compilation of recent bookmail, including stuff by FFers @jlgeorge.bsky.social @thesuiway.bsky.social and Shih-Li Kow!