Friday Interesting Links

Quite a few links this week. Hope you find one or two that resonates.

Science

Plans for a permanent full-service station...in space:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327194.300-orbiting-gas-station-could-refuel-lunar-missions.html

Archeology has had some interesting breakthroughs, the first two technological and the third happenstance:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Ancient-Cities-Lost-to-the-Seas.html?c=y&page=1

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327195.900-giant-pencil-traces-archaeological-finds-fast.html

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2009-08-01-roman-city_N.htm?csp=

We've come a long way from interpretation ultrasounds..."is that a foot?"
http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn15018-pick-of-the-pictures/5

Zombie Ants?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fungus-makes-zombie-ants&sc=WR_20090804

Interesting breakdown of why whales have lungs not gills:
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/08/why-whales-dont-have-gills.html

Reading

An interesting twist on the Amazon-Orwell uproar. A case where a student lost real work (annotated notes) because of the deletion without notice.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2452087/

That cover art blowup I mentioned earlier? The effort has borne fruit:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6675065.html?nid=2788&source=title&rid=92424404

Writing

Agent Janet Reid weighs in on the issue of submission exclusives:
http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2009/08/exclusives-stink.html

Some good tips on writing strong sentences:
http://kidlit.com/2009/07/29/making-your-writing-exciting-at-the-sentence-level/

Writing your author biography:
http://www.johnsonliterary.com/blog/2009/8/4/the-author-bio.html

Nice guidelines for catching pacing issues:
http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2009/07/self-editing-one-step-at-time-how-to.html

Quick lesson on novel pitches for conferences.
http://forensicsandfaith.blogspot.com/2005/08/creating-pitch-for-your-book.html

Explanation of 10 myths about copyright (+1)
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Keeping your focus on what's important in writing:
http://www.deadlinedames.com/?p=1475

An agent's perspective on manuscripts that don't sell:
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/08/losing-faith.html

Agent Jenny Bent is doing a series on understanding publishing contracts, starting here:
http://www.genreality.net/guest-agent-jenny-bent

And another change to the publishing arena: meet deadlines or else. On the other hand, I know of at least one midlist author who got opportunities she might not have had otherwise because she had a reputation for coming in on time.
http://www.observer.com/2009/books/note-authors-make-your-deadlines

Social

Interesting experiment in kindness and the nature of it.
http://someonenicer.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/someone-nicer-in-starbucks/

There's been a time or two when I could have used one of these:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327195.700-bored-drivers-could-get-a-prod-from-their-car.html (I used to wake up on the other side of the San Mateo Bridge during my commute several times a week...not a problem except that I was the driver :P.)

This could go in a number of categories, but it's a good breakdown of the issues we have with motivation by an old college friend I just rediscovered on the web.
http://www.willpowerengine.com/?p=400

Promotion

An excellent take on author blurbs. How to approach authors so that it's a good experience for everyone.
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/08/guest-blog-week-fine-art-of-getting.html

Step-by-Step directions on creating an author podcast:
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2009/07/30/5-steps-to-make-your-own-author-podcast/