by zbicyclist

Another Vocabulary Lesson

Noosignatures were proposed to fill the gap between biosignatures (chemical signs of life) and technosignatures (detectable advanced technology like radio signals). They indicate intelligent activity that is not necessarily technological. Examples include:

  • Stone tools (e.g., Acheulean hand axes) 
  • Architecture or carvings
  • Undeciphered writing systems (e.g., Indus Valley script) 
  • Complex cultural products such as bread, used as a thought experiment for measurable complexity 

Chemical signs of possible life go back billions of years on earth. Production of radio waves, a bit over a hundred. Noosignatures on earth would go back maybe 3 million years or so. Exactly how you could detect these from earth is unclear.

by zbicyclist

Remembering Don Martin

When I saw this comic from Dan Collins, I was immediately reminded of Don Martin.

(I’ve blacked out a word in the comic, because Collins is making a political point, and we want to keep CIDU a politics-free zone.)

That’s different than Collins’ normal style, e.g.

It does provide an excuse to remember (fondly) the great Mad Magazine cartoonist Don Martin (1931-2000) whose cartoons were a regular delight in Mad from 1956 to 1988.

by zbicyclist

Velvet

Jack Applin sends this in: “In the final panel, Maria implies an incongruence between Ms. Velvet’s name and her rocking the color green. I would understand if her name were “Scarlett” or “Violet”, because those colors are not green. However, what’s the conflict between velvet and green? Is the cloth velvet associated with a particular color? Some cultural thing that I’m missing?”

And, if Ms. Velvet had a daughter born in 2010, would the daughter be Ms. Velveteen?