KSK

It's smile time! I'm just picturing the new propulsion folks looking around the lab and thinking: "Well we're gonna need about 2 metres of... oh. And a couple of...okay. And a good supply of...well alrighty then!" Likewise the aerodynamics lab was very vivid - I could smell the oil, see the single beam of sunlight pouring through the plastic window near the roof, picture kerbal sized footprints in that fan of dirt by the door where the wind has been blowing through the gap in the doorframe for who knows how long. I very much liked the technical details of the rocket fin too - nice touch!

Here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_fiber http://teachinganatomy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/WhiteMatter-Cerebrum.html https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QIZ668QEH0wC&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=association+fiber&source=bl&ots=Ee6iKXOaNR&sig=PwQXKVLiyyaKZ6C7UJyig7fzfuQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBTgKahUKEwjMztmBrMzHAhUCkw0KHfAeALs#v=onepage&q=association%20fiber&f=false Note that the fibres are bundles of axons, so I would interpret them as being bundles of very long cells rather than chains of shorter cells. Could you provide a link for this? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you but I can't think why quantum algorithms would be so particularly good for ANNs. Actually, this is one of the biggest disagreements I have with the notion of a Singularity. It's never going to depend solely on a notional machine super-intelligence - it's always going to have a human component to it. Unless we put those superintelligences in charge of the necessary machinery to actually make anything then they're not going to be able to do much. To use another T2 analogy, unless we're actually stupid enough to put an AI in charge of strategic nuclear weapons, we have no need to fear Judgment Day. It doesn't matter how many great ideas or revolutionary concepts the AI comes up with, unless it can persuade enough humans to go along with it, those ideas won't ever see the light of day. And goodness knows, humans are bad enough at listening to their own scientists - who says they're going to be any better at listening to a machine intelligence with motives and motivations that they don't (and maybe can't) understand.

Well that beats the heck out of 'Writers are a bit like broccoli - sulphurous and an acquired taste.' Interestingly, I've found that sort of works the other way around - since I've started writing, I've become more alert to writing styles in books that I'm reading. Hmmm, on the other hand, having bit characters does give a continuum between the main characters and the faceless, nameless masses. What would be your opinion on introducing a bit character but only giving him/her/it a couple of scenes and then maybe a couple of shout-outs here and there for the rest of the story, as part of fleshing out a main character? Edit. Guess I'll stop being coy here. Back in that bar scene I mentioned, I introduced the barman /bar owner as a named character. The idea was that he was a friend of the main characters who had basically let have a room for free (because Jeb and Co. couldn't afford anything more expensive than free) in exchange for a couple of favours here and there and, latterly, the customer draw of having real live kerbonauts frequenting the establishment. I don't think he ever gets another scene, although he is referred to here and there by the main characters, particularly Jeb. No guarantees but I doubt he'll be going into space any time soon either I have a couple of other characters like that, they come in, make a point, add some flavour to the story and then more or less disappear. Question to everyone - does that work? Or does it lead to a case of Kuzzter's Cats?

The visuals are good. I have to confess that military vehicles are not really my thing in KSP but I can certainly appreciate the effort that goes into making them and yours are very nice. For the writing, I think Kuzzter put it very well and I agree with his critique.

Actually, that's not quite true. Association fibres connect distant parts of the brain to one another. Genuine question - do we actually know this? I've read that there are some tasks (factoring very large numbers for example) that are only feasible on a quantum computer (in this case, using Shor's algorithm), but can we say that this will apply for all tasks? I'm wondering if quantum computers might be analogous to parallel computers here. Some computational tasks are trivially parallel and relatively easy to implement on parallel processors. Others are not and in the end the speed gains you see from the parallel processing are negated by the additional programming complexity required to run them in parallel. Hope that makes sense. That assumes that we can reduce consciousness to an algorithm. What if we can't? What if it's an emergent property of a particular system of NNs (or ANNs) and we have no way of figuring it out in advance?

Indeed. Or the original poster could have provided a link to the source article to kick off an informed debate rather than simply link to the Reddit-bait and then add his own speculation on top. Anyway, article is here. Figure 1 is probably the easiest place to start (I don't pretend to follow the maths.) Looks like a perfectly reasonable paper to me, with a couple of interesting results. Nothing physics defying in there that I can see and I have no idea where that sensationalist horse manure about explaining dark matter and violating fundamental tenets of electrodynamics came from.

I'm afraid that all I'm getting out of this is that it's a horribly written press release. It looks like they cut down whatever version they got from the researchers to make it fit some arbitrary word count but in the process, they managed to kill any sort of logical flow that the article may have had. Then again, I'm not a physicist. Presumably Cartesian multipoles and toroidal dipoles (associated with poloidal current configurations no less) might mean a bit more to them. I'd like to think the article isn't complete guff.

Yup - I find this to be invaluable. Much easier than starting a new sandbox game and hiring screen after screen of kerbonauts until I find some decent names. Although I think I'm almost at the point where I have my own mental name generator, cobbled together from the character names I've used so far.

Busted - at least as far as the air scrubbers go. Not the first little nod to the Apollo program in this story either. The rest of the flight, including the part about checking how well the lander engines could move the complete stack was lifted from Apollo 9 though. I think the main reason for trying it in real life was pretty much the reason I alluded to in the story - NASA wanted to check the descent engine for a full mission thrust pattern and the only way of doing that without sending Spider into a really high orbit, was to fire it when attached to the whole spacecraft. I'm not sure if it was also a deliberate test of the lifeboat concept but it definitely came in handy for Apollo 13.

Thanks! And yes - I can definitely see how a strong archetype is useful for comedy since they can be exaggerated or subverted as you need. Who needs Jeb when you've got Chadvey! He's a great character and I know which one I'd place a bet on in an arm-wrestling contest. Plus - what Kuzzter said about whitesuits. Oof - that's a tough one. I do have some techniques although truth be told I didn't consciously sit down and apply them to my writing, they just sort of evolved as the story went along. I'm also slightly spoiled in First Flight in that I have the length and breadth of story to work them. Making characters 'pop' in a short story - now that's a real trick. I'm guessing that one way of doing it is to put in a quick character sketch with a hook of the kind Kuzzter mentioned but without clubbing your readers over the head with a This Is The Character Sketch part. Very much looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with for this. With that said: Take your characters out of the Space Centre and see how they react and interact in a different setting. As an example, I wrote a chapter where some of the key characters (not all of them Core Four) had a meeting in a bar. It turned out to be a really useful setting because I got to: explore actual kerbal snacks and drinks, sketch out some details of kerbal buildings: add a non-space program character and at least hint at some history between him and the main characters, which in turn gave some sense of how the developing space program was seen from the outside. Have utterly non-space program characters. Explore what kerbal life is like if you're not a kerbonaut or member of the KSC staff. It's one way of getting some diversity in and I definitely agree with MinimumSky5 about the importance of diversity. Pay some attention to different roles. Sure, the kerbonauts tend to be an important focus but what about the folks in the trenches at Mission Control (if you're running with a Mission Control)? What about the engineers? The janitor? Outside of the space program there's even more scope. It's the small things. I imagine this is way more difficult in a short story setting but a longer piece gives you room to add an unexpected quirk or two to a character, or simply to put in the odd detail about their past, or what they get up to when they're not building rockets. I guess this all ties back to the ideas of character growth or seeing the same character from slightly different angles.

Good place to start! Not least because most - although certainly not all -of the KSP stories that I've really enjoyed, present Jeb as a deeper or more rounded character than the straightforward 'thrillseeker' forum meme. 'My' Jeb is a fairly mixed character. For sure he's a nerves-of-steel kerbonaut when he needs to be, but he's also a leader, a visionary and - to a lesser extent - a businessman. Underpinning that is a darker, more cynical core which he mostly keeps hidden (unless he's seriously in his cups) but does tend to emerge as a fairly hefty chip on his shoulder about certain things. Or that's how I see him anyhow. In my writing, he started as a leader and, yes, a thrillseeker: But the first sight of his homeworld from high altitude reminds him of why he's really there: Incidentally - that first line is rather clunky and an example of telling not showing. But I digress. As the space program develops I bring in more snippets showing 'Jeb the leader' and 'Jeb the businessman.' The darker aspects of his character are shown later on, usually as retrospective pieces, relayed by Jeb himself or one of his close friends.

Great idea and I totally agree with that first sentence! Quite happy for folks to pull out bits of First Flight for discussion points and examples, whether they be good examples or bad.

Woot! This is turning out to be a bumper week for KSP fanfic and I'm loving it!

Another journey begins... Next chapter is up. Through the Eyes of a Child “That's perfect thanks, Ferry. How about you, Gildas - can you see the screen all right?" Gildas blinked shyly at Jonton and nodded his head. Anlie ruffled his hair. “It's only Jonton you big silly. When was the last time you were shy with Jonton?" Since I've been spending all my time hiding in a Kerm tree, thought Jonton. He smiled at Gildas. “It's okay. Tell you what, Gildas - I think Joenie needs some help with the cushions. Would you like to go and find some for her?" Gildas looked up at his mother. “Of course you can," said Anlie. “Go on, go and play with Joenie. I'll come and get you when the spaceships are on." Gildas's eyes lit up and he scuttled out of the room. Anlie shook her head wryly. “Good thing it's not far to Barkton. I'm going to lose that one as soon as he's old enough to go kerman." “Definitely," agreed Ferry. “We'll be watching him on the television, flying real Mün rockets instead of cardboard ones." He propped himself against Jonton's trunk. “We cut a window hole in the side of a big cardboard box and drew lots of buttons and whatnot on the inside. He spends hours lying under it, flying his spaceship. Couldn't believe it when I found a sheet of newspaper draped over his little table one morning with a photograph of the Mün facing the window." Anlie smiled. “Those pictures you ordered from the KIS museum were the best birthday present you ever thought of," she said, Ferry craned his neck, looking up at Jonton. “Bought a couple of prints from the Muna 2 flight and fixed 'm back to back in a nice light frame," he explained. “One of Kerbin, the other of the Mün - figured they'd look a bit better than an old newspaper." Jonton grinned. “Here's to kerbonauts, young and old," he said. Ferry lifted his mug of prickleberry juice in reply, when there was a sudden knock at the window. Jonton looked up and saw Fredlorf grinning at him, arm in arm with Enemone and followed by two kerbals that he didn't recognise. He waved at them all and thumbed a button on his pedestal. The verandah doors rumbled open and Fredlorf stepped inside. “Afternoon, Jonton." "Afternoon, Fred. Hi Enny, hello...Alemy? Kerm, I'm sorry - I didn't recognise you there for a minute." A brief flicker of curiosity passed over Alemy's face as he looked at the face buried in the Kerm leaves. "Expect I've changed a bit in six years, Keeper," he replied, inclining his head politely. He put his arm round the quiet, dark haired kerbal beside him. "Jenrie, this is Keeper Jonton, Keeper - this is my partner, Jenrie." Jonton smiled at the simple but classically elegant silver torc around Jenrie's neck. "Welcome to the Grove," he said warmly. "If I might ask for the Kerm, what name have yourself and Alemy chosen for this visit?" Jenrie dimpled slightly as she glanced at Alemy. "Kermol, Keeper," she replied firmly. "For a little while." "Well that sounds like the perfect reason to celebrate!" called a voice from the window. "Please tell me you brought something decent to celebrate with, Fred? I've had enough prickleberry juice in the last four months to last me a lifetime." Ferry looked up. "Afternoon, Meleny," he said equably. "Bit early in the afternoon isn't it? What will our new villager be thinkin'?" Meleny grinned. "She'll be thinking it's her last chance before Alemy starts taking her down to the kerblet clearings of an evening." Alemy and Jenrie both blushed deep green. Ferry rolled his eyes. "Give the poor kerbals a day or two to find their way around first, Meleny?" he suggested. Meleny batted her hand at him, gesturing out of the window. "Just thought they'd want to take advantage of all this fine weather," she said cheerfully. She patted her stomach. “Mind you, a bit of frost in the air can work it's charms too - can't it dear?" Thombal coughed. “It seems so," he said dryly. There was a chorus of congratulations from everyone in the room. Joenie popped her head around the door inquisitively, arms full of cushions. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Meleny who hastily flung her arms out to catch the hurtling kerblet. “Careful, Joenie - careful! Mind my tummy." “Meleny's had a baby, Joenie," said Anlie, “So you can't cuddle her too hard or you'll squash...him? Her?" “Her," Meleny smiled. “Pouched her last night." Joenie stopped wriggling. “Can I see the baby?" she asked. “She's sleeping now," said Meleny gently. “She needs lots of sleep to help her grow but you can see her when she's bigger." The door creaked open and Gerselle came in carrying a large tray. She barely had time to set it down before Joenie bounded over, grabbed her hand and dragged her over to Meleny, calling out “Baby, baby, baby!" Gerselle raised her eyebrows, then hugged her friend in delight at the answering nod. “That's wonderful news!" she exclaimed. “Have you chosen a name for...?" Meleny hugged her back. “Her," she said, “Katisa Kermol." “Your mother would have been so pleased," said Gerselle softly. She smiled, “And Adbas will be so excited to have a little sister!" “Can Katisa be my sister too?" said Joenie. Gerselle opened her mouth to speak but Meleny just laughed. “Of course she can, Joenie," she said. “She'll love having a big sister to play with. Now - how about you and me go and help your mummy bring everything through from the kitchen?" ----------- Anlie wedged a cushion behind her back. “So, what is it that you do, Jenrie?" she asked, “or rather, did?" Jenrie put her mug down. “Project management for Stratus Ltd.," she said. “Helping to set up the new production facilities near Foxham. We subcontracted CMB Construction for most of the building work." She put her arm around Alemy. “Which turned out to be one of my better decisions." "Foxham's on the east coast isn't it?" asked Thombal. "Has the Humilisian conflict..." "Not us," said Jenrie. "But I have two friends working at the medical centre." She lowered her gaze. "They were on-shift when they brought the injur...injured sailors back from the islands." Ferry cleared his throat. “Stratus make parts for the space program don't they?" he said. "Pretty sure I've seen your logo on a couple of the rockets launched out of Barkton." Jenrie nodded gratefully, “High pressure tanks mainly," she said, “We started supplying them to the KIS for the Moho flights and finished a trial contract for Rockomax just before Pioneer 1." She spread her hands. “Suddenly we had to build the new factory to keep up with demand." “Stratus Ltd - putting kerbals on the Mün." said Alemy. “Tell them about Halnie's new group, Jen!" Suddenly animated, Jenrie leaned forward. “Halnie was our original business development manager for space systems," she explained. “She still runs the KIS account in fact, but she's just been made Director of our new Portable Systems Division too - and their first contract was to design and build a life support backpack for the Mün walkers!" “I would definitely keep that quiet if I were you," said Ferry, “Unless you want to be pestered with questions from a certain kerblet of ours!" “And ours," said Meleny from the door. “Is there anywhere I can put this out of reach of small fingers, Jonton?" Jonton eyed the bottle of citrus wine appreciatively. “I can look after that," he said. Water cascaded into the bowl on top of his pedestal. “Just put it in the wine cooler here. "He glanced at the wall clock. “And speaking of tiny fingers, we'd better round them up. Show's about to start." Anlie got to her feet and leaned around the door. “Gildas!" she called, “Spaceship time!" Adbas and Joenie hurtled into the room in a thunder of small feet and flung themselves at their parents. Gildas ran in after them and flopped onto his cushion, frantically shushing the other two kerblets. Ferry waited until all three were settled down and a plate of snacks put in front of each, then flicked on the television. ------------ “Hello and welcome to this very special episode of Engines and Engineers. With me in the studio today are two kerbals who need no introduction to any followers of kerballed spaceflight." “Kerke Kerman was one of the Rockomax Corporation's first test pilots and flight-qualified the R1 capsule with fellow pilot Jondon Kerman. He flew into orbit aboard the Next Step for its historical joint flight with the KIS's Eve 1 spacecraft. He's taking a break from training to be with us today - training for the command seat on Pioneer 3." “Bob Kerman is a founding member of the Kerbin Interplanetary Society and flew on the Kerbal 1 alongside Bill and Jebediah Kerman. He is the chief engineer for the KIS and Rockomax's Munar lander development program and he's been chosen as a crew member for Pioneer 7. Good kerbals, please put your hands together for Kerke and Bob Kerman!" Bob took a sip of water and smiled at the enthusiastic applause. Across the table, Kerke looked cool and relaxed despite the heat from the studio lighting. As the applause died down, he nodded minutely at Bob. “It's a pleasure to be here, Tom." “The pleasure is all ours, Bob. Now, I know there's one question on everyone's mind - how is everything up there?" “Better than we dared hope to be honest, Tom. We had a pretty ambitious set of tests scheduled for Pioneer 2 but the crew have done a fantastic job in working through them. Especially Tommal, who volunteered to sleep in the lander for the first three nights on orbit." “Testing the life support systems, Bob?" “Absolutely, Tom. We couldn't fit a full duration test into the flight plan - the lander is designed to support two kerbals for a two day stay on the Mün - but we reviewed the consumables data on day four and all the systems had worked as planned. Incidentally, to answer your question from last week's show, the lander uses the same air scrubber cartridges as the main capsule, so we we have redundant supplies in case of an emergency." “That's good to hear, Bob. So what else have you been testing?" “Just about everything we can think of, Tom and few more things after that. Kerke can take us through the details but basically we've simulated almost a full Munar landing whilst staying in Kerbin orbit. Kerke?" Kerke cleared his throat. “That's right. We had three primary objectives for Pioneer 2. Firstly, and most importantly, we wanted to practice docking the Munar lander to the CSM - that's capsule and service module. Secondly we wanted to flight test the lander as a standalone spacecraft. And finally, we've been checking that the navigation and flight control systems on either spacecraft can handle the complete stack." “So am I reading this right, Kerke - you tested the engine on the lander whilst it was docked to the rest of the ship? Why would you need to do that on a real Munar flight?" “Well, hopefully we never will, Tom. The main reason for doing it was so that we could test a complete thrust pattern for the Munar descent. If we'd tried that with the lander alone, it would have ended up in some crazy high orbit, but because the lander was pushing all the extra mass of the CSM, the orbit wasn't affected nearly as much. But we were also testing an emergency option - if something went wrong with the service module engine on a Munar flight, could we get the crew back from the Mün using the lander engine alone?" “Like a lifeboat?" “Exactly. And the answer looks to be yes - we can use the lander as a lifeboat if we had to." "Well, that sure is a relief to me, Kerke, and I'm guessing it's a relief to everyone watching." Tom looked towards the camera. "We'll be talking more about the lander engines after the break - including the all new, deep-throttled descent engine. But right now, we have some footage for you from the very first part of the flight." ------------ Jonton glanced at the three kerblets sitting on the floor. Joenie and Adbas were staring raptly at the screen and Gildas had shuffled so far forward that Jonton was surprised he could still see everything. The bottom of the picture was filled by Pioneer 2's blunt conical prow, gleaming against an azure blue sky streaked with iridescent white clouds. Dead ahead, a shining white tube hung in space, it's hollow tip pointed towards the camera and shrouded in shadow. The picture drifted this way and that, the kerbonauts making final course corrections as the two spacecraft swam ever closer together. The end of the booster stage loomed over the watching kerbals, the dark maw of the docking adapter reaching out to engulf the end of the capsule. The camera shook briefly then steadied to reveal the two vessels snugged neatly together. “...on a Munar flight, the spacecraft would now be ready for trans-Munar injection and the crew would spend the next two orbits checking over their systems and setting up for the burn. What you're about to see would normally happen after TMI, once the spacecraft was on its way to the Mün..." The tapered end of the booster split into four immense segments, each pivoting smoothly back and out, to reveal an ungainly looking heap of equipment inside. Jonton peered at the screen in confusion. “...protects the docking mechanism during TMI. You can see sections of the brace at the tips of the shroud sections. Those are hydraulically actuated - the engineers didn't want to risk explosive detachment this close to the docked capsule - each powered by two Roncott actuators driven by an open-loop hydraulic system..." Fredlorf scratched his head. “They're plannin' to land on the Mün in that? Or on that?" Gildas bounded over to the television and started prodding at the screen excitedly. “The kerbonauts sit in there, with the big engine behind them! The little engines are for steering... this is the radio. There's one of the legs! Look, look!" Fredlorf grinned at Ferry. “Glad somebody knows what its all about," he said. “Yeh could probably make one fer him out of a coupla tin cans and a cardboard box. Probably fly about as well as the real thing too." “It can't fly," said Gildas, “There's no air on the Mün so it's got rockets to land." Jonton burst out laughing. “You listen to the lad, Fred - he'll set you right." He turned his attention back to the television which was now showing a starry sky and a very much smaller spacecraft in the middle of the screen. “...jettisoned the descent stage and started a series of manoeuvres to rendezvous with the CSM." Thombal tapped his earpiece. “And we've just had confirmation from Mission Control that the lander, with kerbonauts Neling and Tommal Kerman aboard, is on final approach to the waiting CSM. He turned to the camera. “We're now going live to the Pioneer 2 .capsule and kerbonaut Calzer Kerman..." ------------ "That's one lean, mean flying machine you've got there, Pioneer." "Yep, we stripped this hot-rod all the way back to the metal. Looks like we forgot to pack a heat shield though - thanks for the ride home." "Copy that, Pioneer. Good to see you too." The view through the camera jogged sideways, tipped back and forth and then settled. Calzer tapped it, noting the blinking light on its cover. "Flight, Calzer. How does the TV look." "Squared away, Calzer. We can just about count the rivets." The lander slid closer. Originally designed as a single piece shell, the crew compartment had been through several weight-saving redesigns and now resembled a flat, circular can studded with antennas, thrusters and other equipment housings. Incongruously, an ordinary aluminium ladder - available at almost any hardware shop - stretched from just below the crew hatch to beyond the protruding ascent engine nozzle. "Flight, Pioneer. Beginning inspection manoeuvres." Calzer stared intently out of the capsule window as the lander spun slowly about its axis. Looks good so far, fingers crossed... ah... "Pioneer, Calzer. Give me a plus forty yaw please." Shadows drifted over the rear of the lander, pooling in creases and folds of crumpled metal. Calzer cursed under his breath then glanced guiltily at the communications panel. "Pioneer - give me a minus ninety yaw." Slowly the lander pirouetted around. Calzer keyed his microphone, keeping his voice carefully matter of fact. "Okay, Flight, I'm seeing some buckling on the commander-side staging mounts. The thermal shield is a little creased up but be advised that I am not, repeat not, seeing any damage to the gimbals." "Flight, Pioneer. That's consistent - we haven't noticed any off-nominal RCS response under thrust. If there is any gimbal misalignment, the flight control systems have been coping." "Copy, Pioneer. We'll review the TV footage and flight control telemetry but right now, Lander and Guidance confirm. Please proceed with docking at your convenience." ------------ A sombre Thombal turned away from the screen and towards the two kerbonauts seated opposite him. "Crumpled mounts, damage to the thermal shielding - that can't be good can it, Bob?" "Well, like Geneney said, Tom, we're going to be reviewing the TV images and telemetry downloads very carefully indeed, but right now, I don't think this is anything that should give us too much concern." Kerke nodded. "The RCS valves are quite loud from inside a spacecraft - you quickly get a good feel for how much they're working during manoeuvres. If the guidance systems were compensating for damaged engine gimbals, the crew would have definitely picked up on the altered thruster firings. Bob rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "From Calzer's report, my immediate thought is that the decoupler between the two lander stages didn't separate cleanly, transmitting an offset load to the ascent stage. If that's right - and until we've reviewed the spacecraft data it's simply too soon to say for sure - there are any number of ways we can work around that." "So you don't think this will affect the Pioneer 3 flight plan." "I hope not, Tom but it's just too soon to tell. If we need another Kerbin orbital test-flight before sending another Pioneer to the Mün - that's exactly what we'll do." ----------- Jonton smacked his lips and rolled the water around his mouth appreciatively. The pleasant smell of fresh coffee drifting in from the kitchen tickled the back of his nose but, for once, failed to elicit even a momentary twinge of regret. Oh, that's much better. Maybe a trace of root rot left if I tried hard, but I really think that's fixed it. The sleep room door swung open and a thoughtful-looking Joenie wandered in. Jonton watched her fondly as she walked up to his trunk and brushed her hand over it. Solemnly, she rubbed one of his leaves between finger and thumb, then sniffed them, nose wrinkling at the pungent cinnamon aroma. “Daddy?" “Yes, popkin?" Joenie scowled at him. “Daaaaddy! You promised you wouldn't call me that when I went to school!" Jonton kept his face straight with an effort. "I did, didn't I. Sorry pop...Joenie." Joenie glared at him for a moment before curiosity got the better of her again. “Daddy - why are you always talking to your tree?" Jonton blinked. “Whatever do you mean, Joenie?" "Alby-at-school's daddy has a tree but Alby says he doesn't talk to it all the time like you. And mummy has a tree but she doesn't talk to it very much at all. Why do you talk to your tree all the time?" Oh Kerm. “It's a bit complicated, sweetheart," Jonton said carefully, “Do you remember when the tree was sick?" Joenie nodded hesitantly. Jonton smiled at her. “And I remember that you were big and brave and told the tree to stop hurting me." He paused to gather his thoughts. “I had to talk to the tree for a long time to help it get better. And by time it was all better, I'd been talking to it for so long that I was part of the tree myself." Jonton waved at Joenie before tapping the side of his head. “I've got arms and legs and a head and eyes." He rustled the leaf cluster next to Joenie's hand. “And now I've got a trunk and branches and leaves too." Joenie leapt back from his trunk as if it were suddenly hot to the touch. “It's okay, Joenie, it's okay!" Jonton held out his hand and wiggled his fingers at his daughter. “I can wiggle my leaves just like I can wiggle my fingers. Look I can wiggle these leaves, or these ones, or these ones." Joenie watched wide-eyed as the leaves above Jonton's head slowly wafted back and forth. She pointed a trembling finger over his head. "Those ones, Daddy - wiggle those ones." Jonton craned his neck towards the ceiling. “These ones?" he asked, flexing the nearest cluster that he could see. “Not those ones - the other ones!" “These ones?" “No! The other ones. Stop teasing me, Daddy!" “I'm not teasing you, sweetheart," said Jonton, “I just can't see where you're pointing." A thought struck him. “Am I hot or cold?" “Cold!" “How about now?" Joenie giggled. “Getting warmer, Daddy," “What about...these ones?" Joenie bounced up and down, blowing on her fingers. “Hot, hot, hot!" she exclaimed. “Ah-ha," said Jonton, “You meant these ones?" Joenie nodded happily, then suddenly scrunched her face up in thought. “When I helped Mummy plant all the red flower seeds, she told me that they would grow boots to drink water with. Do you have boots, Daddy?" Jonton smiled. “Roots," he said gently, “Not boots. I do have lots of roots though - the beetles keep tickling them. "He took hold of Joenie's hand and quickly ran the fingers of his other hand up her arm. “Like this." “Tickly beetles?" Joenie giggled. Jonton nodded. “Tickly beetles. And when they tickle me I have to talk to them and tell them to stop. They don't understand Kerba though, so I have to talk to them with smells. Do you remember your birthday butterfies?" Joenie rolled her eyes. “Butterflies, Daddy. Only kerblets call them butterfies." “Butterflies," Jonton corrected himself solemnly. “I talk to them with smells too. With the right smells, I can ask them very nicely to sit on my branches and wait for you to come and say hello to them. The tree is teaching me to talk to lots of other animals too." “Do the animals talk to you?" asked Joenie. “A little bit," said Jonton. “They tell me when they're hungry or scared and sometimes they can tell me where they've come from and where they're going. The tree is teaching me how to make sure all the animals that live in the soil live in the right places to make all the plants grow properly. “Tree school!" exclaimed Joenie in delight. “I'm going to kerbal school and Daddy's going to tree school." Jonton laughed. “I suppose I am, sweetheart, " he said. “I suppose I am." “Could I go to tree school too?" Jonton's jaw dropped. “I...I don't know," he said. “Maybe - if we ask the tree nicely." Hastily he dug back through his memories. Pre-Age of Madness...group Communing...did kerblets...? Something stirred in a deep and distant corner of his mind. He prodded at it tentatively but the memories seemed curiously blurred, almost soft as they skated away from underneath him, leaving a lingering echo of happy anticipation in their wake. <small kerbals good><not Kerm><good, not danger> Dimly, he felt something tugging on his arm. “Daddy?" Jonton shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. I guess that's a yes. I'll need to be even more careful than I was with Gerselle though. “Uh - yes you can, sweetheart. I think that would make the tree very happy. I tell you what - how would you like to go to tree school right now?" Joenie's eyes lit up. “Talk to butterflies?" “Oh not yet, popk...Joenie. That's too difficult - youÃ'll need to learn lots before you can do that. And you're not the only one, he muttered silently. “Lets start with talking to me." He saw Joenie's puzzled look. “Without any words," he added. “Can you get me a big fat pillow from the bunk beds and put it on top of the pillow on Mummy's bed? Then I want you to lie on the pillows so that your head just touches those leaves." Joenie grabbed a pillow, flung it on the bed and flung herself after it. She squirmed under the leaf cluster, reaching up curiously to touch it. Jonton gathered himself. “Stop touching the leaves please, Joenie. I'm going to rest them on your head now and they might tickle a little bit." “Like the beetles, Daddy?" “That's right, sweetheart, just like the beetles. Now I want you to pretend you're watching a beetle and keep very still in case it runs away." Jonton took a deep breath and lowered his leaves around Joenie's head, gently probing for a connection. Joenie flinched as the leaf hairs brushed against her skin, then lay very still. “Good girl." Hair after hair slipped slowly into place. Jonton reached out through them, hyperalert to any response. A fleeting connection formed on the very edge of his awareness and he froze. Gently...gently. The connection wavered and then held. Faintly, Jonton sensed white light, curiosity and trust layered over fear. “It's all right, Joenie," he whispered, “it's all right..." “Daddy?" The bond intensified. Images swirled past him: a kerblet racing through a cornfield amidst shrieks of laughter; a procession of kerblets walking through a doorway, the rest of the building an indistinct blur; a bright airy room, colourful pictures on the wall, toys and books scattered over low tables; a picture book seen up close, with a voice murmuring in the background. Jonton let the images wash over him, allowing himself to sink into placid receptivity, reluctant to touch his daughter's mind any more than necessary. “Daddy??" “I'm here, Joenie. Now I want you to remember something nice and I'll see if I can guess what it is. Don't tell me about it though - just think about it." Jonton sensed a blurry image of a pile of cushions and a kerblet leaping off a bunk bed into the middle of them. The bunks rushed towards him then skittered past him before the image abruptly whirled around and he found himself staring down a vertiginous drop. A moment to catch his breath and then the world plummeted upwards exploding into a shower of cushions and muted giggles. Let it go. Let it go. “I see you... playing with Adbas." A burst of excitement and enthusiasm bubbled over the link. “Now you think of something nice, Daddy." The cushions faded away, replaced by a dark, horizontal line against a woven grey background. A tousled head peeped over the top, blinking sleepily. Two hands appeared, lifting the kerblet out of it's pouch and holding it out. “Is that Meleny's baby?" The image receded, woven background becoming an ordinary poncho wrapped around... “Mummy!" “That's right, sweetheart. That was the first time Mummy took you out of her pouch and let me hold you. Now - who do you think this is?" The image blurred briefly then snapped back into focus. A blue poncho had replaced the grey one, the outstretched arms now holding a bald and distinctly grumpy looking kerblet. Jonton sensed puzzlement washing over the link. “I don't know, Daddy." “Well, who do you know that always used to wear a blue poncho?" “Grandma?" "That's right. So if that's Grandma then..." “Daddy! Baby Daddy. Why do you look so cross, Daddy?" “I think I was probably asleep, sweetheart, and didn't like being taken out of Grandma's nice warm pouch." ------------ The house was suspiciously quiet, Gerselle thought to herself. She poked her head around the sleep room door. “Jonton - have you seen Joenie this morning?" Then she saw the small figure lying on her bed and froze. What are you doing Jonton Kermol! Just then, Joenie chuckled to herself. “Silly Daddy," she murmured, “Silly Daddy eating soil." Gerselle's eyebrows shot up. She walked over to the wall of bunks and, slipping quietly into the nearest space, lifted her head up to the waiting leaf cluster. It took longer than normal for Jonton to respond and when the white light faded, she found herself standing in front of a radiant young kerbal dressed all in green. A semicircle of beaming Witnesses stood behind her, all dressed in their best and some discreetly dabbing the corners of their eyes. Further in the background, Gerselle sensed a much larger crowd of well-wishers. She looked around but received only a vague impression of dozens of happy faces. A pair of hands reached out and placed a golden torc around the young kerbal's neck. Hesitantly, she stepped forward and the image dissolved into a blur of warm green skin, silky dark hair and rustling fabric, all overlaid with a melange of musk and flowers. A welter of emotions poured down the link: happiness, relief, joy and overwhelming love, some bright and immediate, others tinged by a subtle incomprehension. “Gerselle." “Jonton? Joenie?" “Mummy! Look at Grandma, Mummy! Daddy said I could see Grandpa too!" Jonton sensed her unease. A smooth current of reassurance rippled over her together with an image of a familiar kerblet head on a pillow, with a cluster of Kerm leaves just barely brushing against its skin. Gerselle caught the faint, pleading undercurrent. “Did he, sweetheart? Well, how about we all go and see him?" << Chapter 49: Chapter 51>>

I'm grinning like a loon right now, picturing those four pint-sized kerbonauts staring up at the VAB! And I'm liking the way there's already a bit more to Jeb's character than a crazy thrillseeker. Lovely work - looking forward to the next chapter.

Fraid I'm with Nibb31 on this one. I'm seeing a lot of hand-waving followed by more hand-waving seasoned with a dash of 'quantum' (because everything works better with quantum, amirite?) to rebut any disagreements. Less snarkily, I'm seeing a lot of interesting things that neural net architectures can do but they all seem to be single tasks, such as voice recognition, pattern matching, machine vision and the like. I'm not seeing anything that even speculatively gets us from there to a general purpose learning machine, let alone one capable of bootstrapping itself to a higher level of intelligence, thus kicking off the singularity. Edit: OK, maybe the kerbal approach of 'make it bigger' i.e. throwing more hardware at the problem, might work (heavy emphasis on the might). In which case we shouldn't need to wait for a bootstrapping AI to make itself super intelligent, since we already know that throwing more hardware at it will work just fine. Which rather defeats the notion of a singularity. I confess that I didn't watch the Watson videos - perhaps I should. On the other hand, I would surely appreciate a link or two to a simple written article rather than yet another video. Us antiquated, soon to be obsolete whether we like it or not, biological types can be funny like that sometimes.

One thing I'd very much like to see is simply a larger capsule. Some way of getting more than three kerbals at a time into space and back again that doesn't rely on either spaceplanes or crazy contraptions that may or may not survive reentry intact. We have 3.75m rocket parts, we have a 3.75m heat shield - how about a 3.75m capsule to go with them? Beyond that, I don't think there's a lot of spacecraft parts that need to be added in the absence of further game mechanics such as life support. Functionally, we're pretty much covered. However it would be nice to have more choices of habitation modules to make spacestation and base construction a bit more varied and interesting. It would also be nice to have a stock version of Infernal Robotics or similar - something that allows us to package up a relatively complicated structure into a lander, drop it on a planet and then unfold/deploy it into its final configuration.

I do find it slightly amusing that one the one hand, the OP states that: And then proceeds to make a number of predictions about the singularity and how it will work out. I'm also somewhat skeptical of the notion that we can create an AI that is capable of self-improvement to the extent required for a singularity. I can envisage a Nibb31 type future in which we've managed to make a building sized working simulation of a human brain and I can imagine that eventually we'll be able to fit that building sized computer into something the size of a human skull. What I'm much less convinced about, is whether that computer will ever be anything more than a copy of a human brain and so ever have more than human intelligence. It might be that intelligence (however we define that) does turn out to be a simple function of processing power - i.e creating a superintelligence becomes a question of simply throwing more electronic neurons at the problem. But if not, we're going to need some fairly fundamental understanding as to how the huge collection of neural circuitry in the human brain actually combines to produce a human consciousness. And that, I suspect, is going to be a lot harder than 'merely' making an electronic copy of that brain.

This. Also: We're already quite capable of doing this. Until deductions are confirmed by observation or experimentation though, they remain firmly in the realms of 'interesting hypothesis' or 'beautiful mathematics'. Having the deductions made by an AI rather than a human doesn't change that. Besides, in Huxley's words: "The greatest tragedy of science is the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by ugly facts."

Sorry to hear about the results - hope that's all sorted. I did enjoy Part 2 though! KSC - we are Go for space...

Well in that case nothing changes from the current game. You just get slightly shinier 2.5m parts.

That would be my preference. Spruce up the Rockomax parts a little and have them as an intermediate stage between the built-at-Jeb's-junkyard aesthetic of the early tech and the very sleek and shiny Kerbodyne parts. Look at the difference between the FL-T400 tank and the FL-T800 - that's the sort of progression I've got in mind. Maybe re-write the part descriptions as well for consistency - there's an odd mix of styles and humour there as well. Again start with the found-by-the-side-of-the-road meme but gradually move that along to a more professional style by the time you get to the end of the tech tree. I very much like the amateurs in a barn on a shoestring budget idea but I don't think it works for the whole tech tree.

Sorry - yeah the list is in dire need of an update but it's fallen down the priority list a bit behind real life and my own story. Once the next chapter of First Flight is out, I'll find a couple of evenings and get the list, if not completely up to date, then certainly refreshed. Edit: Refreshed as of this evening. I'm only a few pages back through the Fanworks Forum but its a start.

Without wishing to be snarky, I thought that dark matter doesn't interact electromagnetically by definition - otherwise it wouldn't be dark?

More slowly than I'd like but getting there. Next chapter is about 80% done in rough draft but will need some polishing up. Should get it out by the end of the week with luck. On a different note folks, how are the mod and stockalikes going? Hope all the PC woes are but a distant memory now.