Random Quote

(Loading...)

Powered by Ink of Life

Monday, January 21, 2019

Louisiane!

21JAN2019

Short post today. First off, Happy MLK Day to everyone out there. Amazing man, changed the world. I have some favorite quotes and moments from him, here's one: 



The other item for today is the draft blurb for another story. This one will be long in writing, as it will cover many hundreds of years. Soooo, without further ado, here it is: 


Blurb for Louisiane: Tomás has a problem. Well, two problems really. A dragon who raids from the northwest and vampires in the southern swamps. His father was missing, gone on a desperate trip across the ocean to get aid for the colony. Clouds were forming to the west, a sign the storm dragon would soon be coming to hunt. What was he to do? 

Would this be the end of the colony in Louisiane?

Yep, it's about an alternate Louisiana! I'm really excited about it. Just need to keep plugging away at it. I plan on having fun with an alternate history of French Louisiane. Will the Spanish take over as they did in the real world?

Oh, and one more thing. Pixie Forest Publishing is now accepting submissions from kids (8-18) for an anthology centered around the theme of Growing Up, called Across a Decade. I'm hoping for some young people I know to send in submissions! Good luck to all!  

Here's the link: Across a Decade Anthology

Love to all. 





Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Science!

15 JAN 2019

CNN recently had a news article about Genetic Phenotyping. Now back in the day I used to teach science, so I was instantly excited about this new technology. You see I remembered that phenotype meant what was expressed by genes, meaning what the gene causes you to look like or what it ended up as in your body, influenced by the environment. So that means this phenotyping could tell what a person should look like! Wow! 

So basically this is what genetic phenotyping is: scientists can use DNA to give a guess on what the person looks like! The big thing is that DNA does not show age, so the scientists do their best with age-progression software. But they can tell the police if the suspect is male or female, what color their hair is, eyes, etc... Now the person they interviewed from the company said they do not look at medical conditions, but that is something they could find out rather easily from DNA. For example, genetic phenotyping should allow scientists to tell if someone is lactose intolerant, have sickle-cell anemia, or other genetic-based conditions. 

The company doing this technique is called Parabon. The link below is to the company's website and shows examples of predicted look based on their DNA phenotyping and the actual look of the person:  Parabon

Pretty freaky stuff! 

EDIT: Forgot to mention they can also match unknown DNA to family members who have DNA on file. So if someone in your family does an Ancestry.com kit or something similar and you commit a crime, they will be able to track you down through your relations.

Writing: No real writing updates for today. I have been writing, but all is in work. I've completed nothing recently, just editing and working on tightening up a few different stories. I did edit a short story for a friend, a good little fantasy piece. Had a nice Hunger Games feel to it. Hope she takes my edits to heart and continues on.

Picture for today: Iron Vader. The ultimate mash-up...