This was one of my favorite contests we've done at io9, because I love bookstores - and the next-best thing to visiting a bookstore, for a bookstore nerd, is reading descriptions of bookstores.

I picked the winner based on how the writer, Allen_Richards, captured the way bookstores become communities. He's explored how a bookstore is about more than atmosphere and a good collection - it's also about the friends you make there, and the stories you share. (Oh, and Allen, email me with your address so we can send you the prize! My email is in the masthead.)

He writes:

The Bookery Fantasy in Fairborn, Oh, serviced both Wright State University, where I went to college, and the servicemen and women of Wright Patterson Airforce base (even going so far as to mail comics to servicemen overseas, or simply holding them on file until they returned stateside). Pretty much everything I know about fandom I learned from that place.

When I first discovered The Bookery, back in 1991, I was a freshman at WSU, 420 miles from home, and knew no one in the area. The Bookery was located in an old house and divided into distinct sections, the comicshop and the Golden Age comic shop. Had I not glanced across the parking lot while driving past and caught the "comics" sign set back from the road, I would have mistaken the place for a rundown shack. There was also a room for used books, where I picked up many old horror, sci-fi (completed my run of Robotech first editions, not that they were ever worth anything), and suspense novels. This room also shared the gaming materials, and while I don't game it allowed me to get to know the employee who was in charge of the gaming equipment, Kevin Hamilton. We bonded through a mutual love of Joe Lansdale, The X-Files, and anime. I was there practically every other day picking up Lansdale books I'd missed over the years, and this gave us the opportunity to compare notes. Kevin would always hold and suggest the latest crime comics for me. A few years later Kevin and I tried to shoot an adaptation of Lansdale's THE JOB, after Lansdale informed us somebody else had just purchased the rights and we had to abandon that dream.

Through Kevin, I got to know some of the other employees, like the manager Steve Bates. Steve was a family man who left Wright State to manage the shop. He busted my balls for years after catching me riding in a friends motorcycle sidecar, but I didn't mind as Steve let me have first crack at Fort Knox. And my "Fort Knox," I mean the storage room where they kept a recently purchased motherload of Asian cinema vhs pre-records and bootlegs. Tons of action including my first exposure to some John Woo masterpieces, like BULLET IN THE HEAD, and the memory of trying to decipher the blurry, almost non-existent Engrish subtitles brings back the headaches suffered while squinting to read them in the first place. There were others, like the sleazy sci-fi goodness of ROBOTRIX, and when I finished picking my brains off the wall behind me after having my mind so thoroughly blown, I had to invite Steve to play my Elvis-impersonating hitman on THE JOB. How could such a cool guy NOT be part of my movie???

The Bookery outgrew its shop, and eventually moved to downtown Fairborn taking up two large storefronts. The room for used books was now an entire storefront dedicated to used and rare books, and knowing my love for literature, those guys gave me first crack at some nice limited editions, always at a discount. Looking at my bookcase right now, the majority of my prized possessions came from there: Lansdale's NIGHTRUNNERS from Ziesing Press, Chizmar's COLD BLOOD, also from Ziesing, an ARC for Skipp & Spector's BOOK OF THE DEAD 2, an imported Mikimoto artbook, and a slipcased Robotech Art, among others... They also threw me lots of freebies, and from their discarded books is where my love for Nina Kiriki Hoffman stems. Some of her fantasy novels are the only books I've read that I've never wanted to end. I once shared her novel THE THREAD THAT BINDS THE BONES with a girl I was dating and she shared those exact thoughts with me when she reached the last page. I knew on the spot that I wanted to marry her.

Eventually, I became friendly with all the employees, particularly one named Sam Lee, who became like my little brother, just as I had been Kevin's. Sam taught me about anime, and I could see the annoyance in his eyes whenever I'd incorrectly pronounce ESCAFLOWNE (apparently, there's an accent on the end, which I should have known considering I'd studied Japanese). I lost touch with Same about 10 years ago, but bumped into him on my last trip to Fairborn about 5 or 6 years ago. He'd finished school and seemed so ecstatic at his life ahead. He's just gotten his own place a new job - the career he's always wanted. I recently found out that he died in his sleep a few years ago from heart failure. I don't think he'd hit 30.

Those guys also introduced me to other local folk with similar interests. Jeff Drouhard worked at Wright-Pat and possessed a love of anime second to known. Andrew Kaplan was an even bigger Lansdale fan that I was, and while he worked at another bookstore, the Borders-owned Books & Co., he made all his purchases at the Bookery.

I miss Sam and all those guys, and if I hadn't fallen in love with Lansdale's sci-fi classic THE DRIVE-IN, I wouldn't have been there so much in those early days and would have missed out on the chance to make some great friends, many of whom I haven't even mentioned. I'd heard Steve now works for Diamond comics distribution, but I can't find Kevin. His website BadAfterTaste.com closed down a few years ago, and at some point he followed me into film studies. I hope it made it somewhere in the industry. Jeff still works on base, and Andrew is head librarian at a branch in Las Vegas. Like me, they've all moved on and I wish them well. Those guys have no idea how they helped shape my geeky self. While they seriously put a hurtin' on my wallet, they helped me discover a wealth of pop-art, and I'm indebted to them all.

While I did shoot numerous projects at The Bookery, I don't have access to those photos or videos. You can find pictures on their website: www.BookeryFantasy.com I've come across other bookstores and comic shops over the years, but they all pale in comparison on every level.

I picked out a couple other notable and cool entries to share here, either because they represented what several people had said or they were just particularly rich descriptions of bookstores and their communities.

Waldenbooks bookstores have been closing all across North America over the past month, and a lot of people wrote in comments about happy memories about this store - yes, it was a chain, eventually owned by Borders, but it gave people a lot of joy. Here's a great memorial to the store, from brownjawa:

My favorite bookstore is the Waldenbooks/Borders Express that closed a couple of years ago in my hometown. As a kid, I used to save my allowance and go every week for a new Star Wars book. Back then, they were only $5 and my only hardship was finding the loose change to pay the taxes. Over an entire summer that bled into fall, I read every adult Star Wars post-ROTJ book in print until I finally caught up. The store always had the SF/F section right up front and after that, I would march right up to the bays, pluck the latest installment on the day of release and make my purchase. It was a huge store to me then, with two entrances and long aisle down the middle separating towering shelves of books. Some of the smaller aisles snaked around corners or opened into new clearings of sections I hadn't noticed before. When I got older, I was surprised when the manager actually hired me and I stayed there a few years until our store was forced to close, shortly after a remodel. Of course I was devastated—this store had been a huge part of my life for so long, it felt like I was losing a friend. I kept the SF/F section clean and organized, taking particular care with the Star Wars books until the day we had to pack everything up and move out. To this day I haven't found another store that could replace that one. Also, I never get over the weird feeling of having to buy the newest Star Wars book from another store. It will always hold a special place in my heart!

I just love this picture of a Swedish scifi store, from bonjourhappylion, who writes:

I'm studying in Stockholm right now and spent a decent amount of time trying to scope out a good bookstore, especially one that carried scifi in Swedish or English. Some googling helped me find Science Fiction Bokhandeln in Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city. Nothing is more awesome than walking down really old streets and finding a dragon attacking a spaceship. I was really amazed how huge the store was, and was able to find all the books I was looking for(although with Swedish prices, I wasn't able to buy too many). Its a must visit for Scifi or Fantasy book fans visiting Stockholm, Sweden!

Here's another picture I love, as well as a good story of a local bookstore, from Kitradu:

Gardner's on Mingo between 51st and 41st here in Tulsa has been around for years. When I was a sophomore in High School a friend of mine's mother took us there and I fell in love immediately. I picked up a book, the title of which I recognized but had never thought much of. Frank Herbert's "Dune." It was from the 70's, tattered and dingy, and I loved it. The store is still there and over the next several years I would buy more books, comic books (including the first Ultimate Spider-Man and X-Men 205), playing classic arcade games like Smash TV, and more recently finding more old Frank Herbert books and even Vincent King, featured here before (I looked thanks to io9!). It started as a used book store including comics. Today they've grown exponentially, with a wi-fi coffee bar, selling video games, DVD's and Blu-Rays, and even connecting to a little family owned Mexican resturaunt. Any time I want to look for something hard to find, I always start at Gardner's. Despite so much growth, it's interior is just rows and rows of make-shift shelves and tons of books.

Another cool local bookstore is brought to life by Jessica Lewis:

My favorite book/comic store is a tiny hole-in-the-wall in Alabama called Legion. They are in an almost-abandoned length of stores on a back road that pretty much no one knows about except for the savviest of southern nerds. They inhabit three stores - one for manga, one for comics/sci-fi, and one for rpg gamers. Even though they have three stores none of them have air conditioning, combine that with swarms of nerds and you get a ripe aroma that says "home" (or soggy burritos, whichever you prefer). Going into the comic book store you see comics, books, and collectibles piled all the way to the ceiling — They also have shelves and comic boxes filled to the brim with dorkalicious goodies. It's an adventure every time we go (which is almost every payday), and I always find something new and interesting to tickle my nerdy fancy.

The manga store is a new add-on, and one of my favorite things about Legion. They have manga that is almost impossible to find, as well as DVDs to buy or rent (most of which are insanely quirky and weird finds from Japan). I always get my monthly dose of horror manga from legion, because where else am I going to find Kazuo Umezu (the father of horror manga) comics? The people who work at Legion are all friends, and seem to enjoy the time they spend at their little comic shop, which makes for great customer service. Going to Legion is almost like going to a little nerd convention every week — it's a place where every breed of nerd/dork/geek mingle together in perfect harmony (I have yet to meet one person there who wasn't just made of awesome). From the moment you step on their unfinished, cracked concrete floors, smell the savory, un-airconditioned aroma of nerds at play, and see the multitude of random collectibles and books you know this is one special place.

Also, I just thought this was a great bookstore story about nerd subversion, from DARSFOG:

There was a little bookstore in the town where i went to college. She had a lot of books even some hard to find ones that are no longer in print. She even had DnD books, but she kept them hidden (since this was a small christian town.) She was a kind hearted lady. She help me track down the original print of the Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher.

There were a ton of testimonials about other bookstores, like Powell's in Portland, OR and 9 Lives in San Antonio TX, as well as many others, so go read them all and find out if any of them are in your town!

Back in the day, I told you about Borderlands in San Francisco, one of my favorite bookstores. Now it's your turn. Post a picture, illustration, or screenshot of your favorite store, and include a story about why it lives forever in your heart as "your" store for scifi or comics. (Yes, you may include stores that have closed.)

Thanks to a kind donation from Random House, we can send the winner a sampler of books from Del Rey/Spectra. Sorry - you have to be in North America to win, due to shipping costs. Here are the books Random House will include in the winning care package:

FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
THE CITY & THE CITY by China Miéville
THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett
ARMAGEDDON'S CHILDREN by Terry Brooks
THE DREAMING VOID by Peter F. Hamilton
HIS MAJESTY'S DRAGON by Naomi Novik
CHILD OF FIRE by Harry Connolly
GEARS OF WAR: ASPHO FIELDS by Karen Traviss
STAR WARS: LEGACY OF THE FORCE: BETRAYAL by Aaron Allston
A GAME OF THRONES by George R.R. Martin
THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch
THE DRESDEN FILES: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE by Jim Butcher, Illustrated by Ardian Syaf

Keep 'em all for yourself, or split the box up with friends! Post your entries in the comments. We'll close the contest in 48 hours, and announce a winner on Monday.

Thanks to David Moench, the nice publicist from Random House!

Each month, Zuda, the online branch of DC Comics, selects 10 eight-page comic pitches to compete. The winner, based on reader votes and ratings, receives a contract for a 52-page run on Zuda, with the possibility of renewal after that.

Unfortunately, there are a number of firm and near misses in this round. Mystery Jungle is a Lost World pastiche so straightforward it's dull, Incarna loses its narrative thread in a sea of ninja zombies, and Wheeljack Union resembles Atomic Robo without the charm. More promising is the rather twee My T-Shirt Fairy Tale, which uses the interesting concept of narrating through novelty t-shirts, but doesn't quite have the art or story to back it up, and The Symptoms, about a superpowered punk band that battles a zombie-like menace, but could use a little more attitude.

There are, however, some real standouts in the pile. One of the clear frontrunners for this month is the dreamily rendered Goldilock, a science fiction drama about the exploration of a newly discovered planet. After the people of Earth have long searched for a new home, the planet Goldilock seems perfect for human habitation, and a team has been dispatched on a two-year mission to explore the planet and determine if it holds any sentient life. Goldilock features an unusual color palette and a beautifully strange array of creatures, and manages to introduce a large cast in its eight pages without feeling overly busy.

And, on the somewhat lighter side of things is Revenge of the Homicidal Pumpkins a B movie-inspired horror comic that doesn't skimp on the blood and guts. Thirteen year-old horror movie buff Robbie Jarvis lives in a small town suddenly plagued by bizarre and gory accidents, accidents suspiciously accompanied by a trail of pumpkin seeds. The comic tempers its sinister squash with an animated look and a wicked sense of humor, ending on a wonderfully gruesome one-liner.

Voting for this month's Zuda contestants will close around noon on Wednesday, September 30.

[Zuda Competition]

There were only 999 copies of the art book made, and this is the last chance you will get from io9 to win one. In order to receive your copy, email us your name and address at cp@io9.com. Winners will be chosen at random and alerted via email. You have 24 hours to get your email in, or you'll have to wait for the next drawing.

Each book is encased in a uniquely numbered burlap bag, featuring a special forward by Ray Kurzweil, behind-the-scenes art, an extensive collection of stills from the film, commentary from director Shane Acker and producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and a DVD of the original short film by Shane Acker which inspired the full-length feature.

9 hits theaters on 9/9/09.

Bloody stuff no? Corpses, violence and confused ragdolls are a formula for greatness.

This is the second chance to win the special-edition collector's 9 movie books — only 999 were created.

Each book is encased in a uniquely numbered burlap bag, featuring a special forward by Ray Kurzweil, behind-the-scenes art, an extensive collection of stills from the film, commentary from director Shane Acker and producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and a DVD of the original short film by Shane Acker which inspired the full-length feature.

We're giving away three copies so email us your name and address at cp@io9.com. Winners will be chosen at random and alerted via email, next week. You have 24 hours to get your email in, or you'll have to wait for the next and final drawing.

And if you live in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Chicago or Denver text to win a pass (good for two) to see a preview screening of 9 on 9-8-09 at 9:09 PM.

To enter to win a pass, text keyword IO9, and your zip code, to 43549!

*Entering with 43KIX is free. Standard text message rates from your
wireless provider may apply; check your plan. One entry per cell phone
#. Contest ends 9/7/09. Late and/or duplicate entries will not be
considered. Winner will be notified by text.

9 hits theaters on 9/9/09.

Only 999 of these special-edition collector's "9" movie books were produced - so here's your chance to win one of the nine copies that Focus Features has provided to us!

Each book is encased in a uniquely numbered burlap bag, featuring a special forward by Ray Kurzweil, behind-the-scenes art, an extensive collection of stills from the film, commentary from director Shane Acker and producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and a DVD of the original short film by Shane Acker which inspired the full-length feature.

We're giving away three copies with each exclusive gallery that we're posting. So here's your first chance: email us your name and address at cp@io9.com. Winners will be chosen at random and alerted via email. You have 24 hours to get your email in, or you'll have to wait for the next drawing.

9 hits theaters on 9/9/09.

The scientist's experiment is even online and you can plunder through his things on the site with Elijah Wood.
A better look at the man in question.

This week io9 is launching "The Sims Go Scifi" contest, where you show us screengrabs from the best scifi scenarios you've created in The Sims. Our panel of distinguished judges will pick a winner, who gets a copy of The Sims 3, as well as $250 to spend at an online store of your choice so you can give your own life a makeover as well as your Sim life.

The contest deadline has been extended to Friday. Apologies if anyone had tried to write to the contest address and had problems. That email address should be working now.

Here are the rules:

1. Create a scifi scenario in The Sims 1 or 2, and take screengrabs (no more than 8) or movies (no more than 2) from it to show us your scene or story. You may use user-generated content and mods, as long as they work in the game. The idea is to create a scenario that actually works in the game, not to modify images or machinima after the fact.
2. Include a written description explaining the story and how you made it happen.
3. Submit your screengrabs and description to scifisimscontest@io9.com by midnight PST on June 9.

This week io9 is launching "The Sims Go Scifi" contest, where you show us screengrabs from the best scifi scenarios you've created in The Sims. Our panel of distinguished judges will pick a winner, who gets a copy of The Sims 3, as well as $250 to spend at an online store of your choice so you can give your own life a makeover as well as your Sim life.

Here are the rules:

1. Create a scifi scenario in The Sims, and take screengrabs (no more than 8) or movies (no more than 2) from it to show us your scene or story.
2. Include a written description explaining the story and how you made it happen.
3. Submit your screengrabs and description to scifisimscontest@io9.com by midnight PST on June 9.

We will publish the top three stories, and hand over the game and cash to our first place winner.

We've got one super special Zune to give out, lasered up with this Caprica logo (pictured) and packed with the entire fourth season of Battlestar Galactica. Says the friendly rep from Zune:

The device we have for a giveaway is the 16gb with season 4 loaded and the special backing.

There were 40 Battlestar devices made total. The devices were given to the cast of Battlestar and Caprica during PaleyFest last week, which also screened the episode of Caprica. After the screening, there was a question/answer period with the cast, which is going up on the Zune Marketplace as an exclusive this week.

Find out more about the PaleyFest Q/A by logging into the Zune Marketplace (you have to have Zune software to do it), or check out pictures of the cast at Zimbio.

Here are the contest details: Post your caption by tomorrow at 3 PM PDT. We'll decide who wins, and contact you by email sent to your commenter account. Then the nice folks at Zune will send you your awesome swag. So say we all!

ldevitt:

An Alien and a Predator are forced to live together in a small house in the suburbs. The great bathroom commercial can be a promo for the new not-buddies comedy. Predator is sick of Alien building resin hives in the living room and Alien is tired of Predator killing and taking trophies from any one alien brings home.

GuardianOfChaos:

Aliens vs Predator: Omega
A visual book with only a narrative story about a hunter's last hunt. The story would follow an aging predator on a final alien hunt on a very harsh arctic planet. The Predator is scarred and carries many battle trophies on his armor. Throughout the story we are gifted with great views of the lone predator traversing a wide empty landscape symbolizing his solitude at the end of the road. He battles scattered aliens on the way to a hive and with each fight he comes off more fatigued and injured as he struggles with combat and his age. The book culminates with his final assault on the inner sanctum's of the hive and a battle with the Queen. During the fight some younger Predator's show up and simply watch the fight playout. In this hunter society there is no honor in a death that is not in glory and of battle. We watch as the battle comes to a draw in both the Queen and the predator's deaths. The young predators bury the fallen warrior with a champions funeral pyre atop the burning remnants of the hive.

ThomasInaMarten:

A Predator returning from a hunt on a distant world is tasked with eliminating a rogue Predator that is breaking the rules of the hunt by attacking anything in its path, even if it cannot fight back. The rogue Predator, roaming around in Austin, Texas, attracts the attention of the US black ops group tasked with capturing Predators, forcing the second Predator to fight not only the rogue, but well equipped teams of commandos hell bent on capturing both Predators. After dealing with a human trap and killing the rogue Predator, the hero Predator leaves a parting gift for the commandos who tried to capture him: an EM pulse that ruins most electronic systems in the city. After dropping off the body of the rogue Predator, the hero Predator goes off on another hunt somewhere in the galaxy...

Arachnophilia:

1) ripley's dead, lets leave her alone. please, for the love of god, no more character resurrections to keep the series going. find new characters — i'd love to see sigourney stay involved, but leave the character dead.

2) the alien chasing people through dark coridors has been done to death. what made aliens a good movie is that it completely changed genre from the first movie. alien 3, while a decent film (in the director's cut version), wasn't all that exciting because it basically rehased the first movie, with the sexual innuendo replaced with religious innuendo. so if we're gonna make a good one, let's really change it up and not try to be like any other alien movie before.

so here's the premise. the film opens on earth, and it's absolutely devastated. we are approximately 30 years after the aliens first arrived, via the company's finally successful attempts to capture and research a sample. and now, every alien on earth is dead, save one. it has been a long and hard war, and one that humanity has won in a manner very similar to hg well's "war of the worlds." because the aliens pick up host DNA, each rapid and successive generation partially hybridizes more and more with the host species, before it reproduces and dies off. the alien corpses that litter the streets are pink and fleshy, with shorter heads and smaller stature than we are used to seeing. they have been defeated by genetic abnormality, and compatibility with human immunodeficiency disease: they caught something very much like aids. all is looking up for humanity, until a forgotten relic shows up just past the outter rim: a strange u-shaped spacecraft, moving very slowly and leaving a trail of ghost ships in its wake.

now the planet must turn to the remnants of the weyland-yutani bioweapons division, and one of their scientists' pet alien for salvation. the origin and function of the aliens as biological warfare and planetary colonization need to be examined in light of the reappearance of the ancient ship at the edge of the solar system — that might be coming with a much more dangerous "pure" form of alien ready to devastate earth all over again. can we turn the aliens on their creators, without again destroying the planet in the process?

Congrats, winners! All of you get a free copy of Jeff's new novel, Predator: South China Sea.

We'll leave the contest open until about noon Eastern Time on Monday, so our weekday readers can get in on the fun. To enter, just post your caption in the comments below. Make it funny, clever, or profoundly moving. Can you capture the pathos of life as giant bio-engineered space ninja? We'll announce the winners next week. Here's a look at the posters. Good luck, and keep an eye out for our in-depth review of the game next week (there will be much playtesting this week).

Gresswell lives in the UK, and writes this "humble note" about his entry:

The entry is written from the fictional perspective of those responsible for the creation of my life-form, as I felt this would be more interesting to read than a dry fact-file. However, I have taken care not to allow things to blend too far into the realm of a narrative. I hope I have been successful in this attempt.

As a prize, Gresswell will get $1000 US, and the original copy of the illustration of the Blue Forest that renowned comic book artist Kevin O'Neill drew (above). O'Neill, who illustrated Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen books, as well as Nemesis the Warlock, said the Blue Forest was "quite fun" to draw, and he seemed especially impressed with the fact that the the forest left a kind of brown sludge in the water behind it — effluvia from the forest's rampant fish-eating. O'Neill also decided to add people in hazmat suits exploring the Blue Forest.

We have been trying to get in touch with Gresswell to give him his prize, but he seems not to be answering email. Hopefully he hasn't been experimenting with nano-fed forests and been turned into tree fodder. So Elliott, if you're reading this, do get in touch.

Without further ado, here is the winning entry:

Blue Forest

The following files are taken from the remains of the United Acolyte Private Scientific Research Project, based in a secure location near Southern California. Prior to their shut down following a series of money laundering scandals, the Acolyte Project made a number of important scientific breakthroughs. The most controversial of this lies in the creation of an entirely new form of life- the semi-sapient “Blue Forests” that are now a fairly common sight off our shores.

The following are taken from the Open Diary of Doctor Elizabeth Haid, interspersed with several situation reports from the recent Forestry Group expedition to East Africa. It should be noted that this latest exploratory mission takes place some twelve years after the initial Blue Forest design team concluded their research.

Life-Form Design Program, UAP SRP [Oct 29th]:
Elizabeth Haid, Public Diary.

Bearing the limitations of this facility firmly in mind- particularly the financial ones- it would appear that attempting to create any kind of sophisticated higher level super-bio-form is an currently impossibility for us. Sorry, guys and gals. That Holy Grail’s for another day. With any luck, the L.A. branch is having more luck. Bunch of self-inflated bastards. With this in mind, I recommend sticking to the simpler levels of life; although, note to Randell’s Division, constantly sending us slightly more menacing versions of a Paramecia Amoeba does not constitute acceptable progress. We want something at least vaguely usable. Any ideas?

[Diary, Nov 3rd]
Note to Dante down at the Vegetation and Environ Section- we’re really not interested in anything that even resembles a Triffid. No, we don’t care how tasty and delicious they are when boiled. No plants that prey on humans.

[D-Nov 16th]
Pursuing the nanotech-life idea was definitely a bad idea. Lab Seven has been reduced to a Grey Goo state, totally liquefied by the technology- which, fortunately, self-destructed. Somebody get a mop and bucket down there immediately. On the plus side, the walls and doors are still intact, so at the very least we now have a large self-secure Containment Chamber. You would think we’d have installed one of those before we lost twelve technicians in a largely avoidable accident.

Data Report:
Aerial Observation Team
Blue Forest #012
Lake Victoria.
First Day of Watch.

We found one early this morning. Thank God - I can’t take many more days of fruitless searching. Even when I sleep, I can feel the helicopter blades rattling in my head- whoomph, whoomph, woomph- it’s getting unbearable. But now it’s all worth it, because we saw one.

It looks... what can I say? It looks like a cross between an island and a sponge, all covered in plants. And I suppose that’s exactly what it is. Of course, from here you can’t see that it goes all the way down to the bottom- just the ripples from the surface. It’s strange, I want to picture it with a face. I want to make the foliage form eyes and a nose. I mean, I know it’s alive. I’m used to living things having a face. The weird thing is, if I peer close enough, I can almost pretend that it does.

We’ll come back tomorrow, watch it some more. It’s not going anywhere- they don’t exactly move fast.

Strangest thing a sober person ever saw.

[D-December 3rd]
We’re actually beginning to think Randell’s ideas may have promise. His nutrient bond tethers each Amoeba together at the mitosis stage, forcing them to function as a single joined entity. Subsequent cellular splits come with similar connections- as if each single cell is tied to its sibling by a microscopic umbilical cord.

Unfortunately, the resulting life-form is usually a sort of transparent, vaguely vicious liquid that subsists entirely off of sugary water. We’re probably going to need something a little more versatile. Recommend seeding the remains of Lab Seven over to these experiments. Seems somehow appropriate.

[D-December 15th]
By exposing the bonded-cell polyform (the rather useless entity we’ve nicknamed Soup) to up to three times standard Earth gravity, we’ve encountered a number of surprising effects. Firstly, the Soup cells have become markedly denser in order to cope with their conditions, developing into a sort of Protoplasmic mush. Secondly, though the cells themselves have naturally decreased in size, they’ve made up for this by increasing their rate of reproduction. This might be something to do with the alternate food source we’ve been experimenting with. It appears that the life-form prefers something a bit meatier than a simple saline solution; we’ve been feeding it a sort of mould paste. This seems a little incestuous, since the life-form is effectively a very dense, highly organised cousin of mould. If we can continue tweaking the density like this, we might be able to successfully elevate the life-form from Soup to something more akin to Oatmeal.

Data Report:
Aerial Observation Team
Blue Forest #012
Lake Victoria.

We got hear just in time to make out the Forest, wading down the lake. It creeps me out, to see them shuffling like this... I’m reminded of all those childhood B-Movies I never finished. There’s something about that writhing surface, even if it’s really just waving in the wind for the most part. And another thing - who dialled up the luminosity on the thing? Bright blues and greens, really? It must look mighty stupid to the rest of the kingdom.

Still, I have to say, it’s exciting to observe this creature- it is just one creature, isn’t it? Yes, good. It’s like... like... well, it isn’t like anything. That’s the point. I almost wish we could land on it, have a look around.

No. No I don’t.

We were ordered to stay in the air, and that’s what we’re do. I’m glad. I don’t want to land. Not at all. No.

[D-December 20th]
No, Dante, we don’t care if you’ve removed the stingers, increased the fibre content and found a way to keep them from moving- nobody wants Triffids, Triff-oids, pseudo-Tiffida or any variation thereof. Just, stick to GM spider plants, would you?

[D-December 21st]
Increasing Lab Seven’s internal gravity by another three levels had unfortunate results. Everything dies.
Next time, I think we’ll increase the g-levels one at a time instead of three.

[D-December 23rd]
Whilst developing another crop of Soup, we’ve been modelling it on E-Coli for the purpose of convenience. It should now be much more inclined toward versatility.

[D-Jan 14th]
Success! We have Oatmeal!

[D-Jan 17th]
Dante finally has something useful to report- by splicing Corn and Spider Plant genomes, his department has created a hybrid which reproduces with all the gusto and unnerving ease of a Spider Plant whilst maintaining considerable nutritional value in its leaves. Now, if we could just get it to grow fruit... Unfortunately, the thing requires Uber-dense soil. Hmmm.

[D-Jan 22nd]
Things have progressed beyond Oatmeal; the life-form has now reached what our researchers have dubbed the ‘Steve McQueen,’ phase- that is, it has become a sort of ultra-dense self replicating gelatinous mass virtually identical to the Blob from Mr. McQueen’s B-movie classic of the same name. Except our one is blue.

[D-Jan 28th]
The McQueen Organism is growing rapidly; so much so that we’ve had to seal off the room. Good job we picked Lab Seven. It does seem to require a regular ambient food source- unlike Grey Goo, it can’t just consume everything. Also, its environment needs to be kept at a stable 2.3 gees to prevent it collapsing back into Soup form. This means we should be able to keep it contained; which is handy because in its current state, the thing is more or less indestructible by conventional means. Now, if only we had a clue what the hell to do with it.

[D-Feb 1]
Breakthrough, and it’s all thanks to Dante. Maybe we won’t fire him after all. The GM crops require an incredibly dense, fertile food source; far more so than we’ve been able to provide without the presence of an active Volcano. However, the Triffid (I’m sorry, that sounds absolutely ridiculous, can we please just use the real plants he used? I don’t care how modified their basic biology was). However, the Venus Fly Trap-based constitution of the GM crops demands that they subsist on living creatures. We think there might be an equitable solution to all our problems, but certain tests still need to be run.

[D-Feb 13th]
Turns out, we were right. The McQueen life-form [currently called Blue Goo by the staff, who don’t seem to be able to stick with a damn moniker for fifteen seconds] lives just as well under water as it does on the surface. Mostly it’s able to survive the way any water-born bacteria would, only on a much greater scale; if it develops to require additional food sources, we’re sure the ocean has plenty of plankton. And also whales. What? A biologist can dream.

[D-Feb 15th]
First steps to introduce the GM crops to the Blue Goo were only mildly successful; both organisms threatened to consume each other. More refinements needed.

[D-Feb 16th]
Success! All we really had to do was ‘plug’ the GM crops into the Blue Goo, and wait. The Goo acts as part soil, part food source, allowing the modified Spider Plants all the nutrition they need. Of course, the plants must consume the Goo, but its vast rate of growth makes this a relative non-factor. Furthermore, the plants as they are remain indigestible to the Goo. This is very exciting.

[D-March 8th]
Tests continue to go well; the plant roots easily intertwine themselves in the viscous, semi-permeable Goo, spreading through the thing like a thousand grasping claws. It appears that the Goo can probably sustain vast crops indefinitely. We’re going to stick some Water-Lilly in the gene pool with the next foliage splice, however- we want to make sure the things can survive underwater.

[D-March 12th]
Salt water’s out of the question- too many complications. It’ll have to be fresh.

Data Report:
Aerial Observation Team
Blue Forest #012
Lake Victoria.
Third Day of Watch.
Now we see. It was positioning itself near the biggest waterfall it could find, just at the base- so close that the Crop leaves must be getting damp. It sits at the bottom, as if collecting dew. No. That’s not what it’s doing. It’s collecting fish. We think it might be feeding.

[D-April 1st]
Experiments confirm- it is perfectly possible to place the Blue Goo underwater; it sinks to the bottom, where it can find a comfortable pressure, then proceeds to grow upward- toward the light. By the time it reaches the top, it appears to have adapted sufficiently to maintain its consistency within the low-pressure of the surface environment- creating a veritable column of almost luminous, sapphire sponge, only slightly thicker than the river/lake itself. From the bed to the surf.

The Crop can therefore be perched at the top of this infinitely expanding column, taking sustenance and growing out. By that point, the two should have formed an unbreakable symbiosis- removing the Crop from the Goo would be impossible. The roots go too deep. The Goo will expand, and the Crop will grow.
Obviously, they’ll have to be contained in fresh-water reservoirs. Just in case.

[D-April 3rd]
We’re going to need a name for the joint organism, obviously. Potential designations thus far mooted; Spider Goo, Plant Goo, Spider Slime, Water Babies, Water Forest, Slime Forest, Wild Goo, Gilligan’s Island (who the hell thought of that one? I’m looking at you, Syd), Omnious, Expanding Front, Mayfly Island and, of course, The Blob.

[D-April 4th]
The first specimen was released into a Lake Reserve Yesterday, finding a new home for itself in Florida- exact location classified, thank you very much. It’s reportedly doing very well; the heat agrees with the Crop, and the Goo is already spreading to fill the bay.

[D-April 8th]
Um. Those Venus Fly Trap Genes... we did make sure that it wasn’t going to start developing mouths or anything, right? Technically impossible, you say? Good, good.

[D-April 9th]
Traps. The thing is developing its own very special Venus Fly Trap Variants. Also, though most of the spider-like leaves remain just that (leaves), a few of them have reportedly begun to show signs of independent movement. That had better be some particularly weird wind-tunnel effect going on and not, for instance, tentacles. It’s bad enough that people are beginning to think the thing eats birds.

[D-April 13th]
Well, if it wasn’t already taken, I’d think Sea-Cow would qualify as a good name; the thing is, after all, one big lump of tasty and delicious. The Crop is extremely fertile- it’s also beginning to bear fruit, deep within the increasingly dense Spider Plant thickets [each individual plant is, by the way, now roughly the size of a tree]. No, don’t ask me how it managed to do that. It seems likely that various non-indigenous weeds are cross-pollinating with the Crop, which was of course always a potential factor. Whatever these alien plants once were, they’ve now been integrated into the Goo, and they’re not going anywhere.

Data Report:
Aerial Observation Team
Blue Forest #012
Lake Victoria.
Fourth Day of Watch.
The Forest has been moving, very slowly, down the river. Still, when I say slow, we can nevertheless see it- it even leaves a little phosphorous trail. Maybe the thing’s faster than we think. I mean, bacteria is pretty fast, isn’t it?

[D-April 20th]
Some of the plants have been tinged with light blue highlights, presumably because of the Goo. That’s given rise to a new name for the thing, one we all quite like. Blue Forest.

Preparations for other Forests around the world are underway. Sure, harvesters have to wear protective suits and carry machetes, and sure, there’s a certain amount of evidence of... tentacle based... activity, but the fact is that Blue Forest is one hell of a Golden Goose. With Golden Eggs, Golden Feathers and, I’m beginning to think, Golden Blood to boot.

[D-April 25th]
The Blue Forest moves. Very, very slowly - as it expands in one direction, it dies off in the other, grazing onward, ambling along a seamlessly aimless course. We think we know why. Plants grow toward the sun, obviously- well, the Crop moves to face it, too. And the Goo... it moves with the currents, presumably in aide of its own comfort. Perhaps it’s looking for simpler pressure equilibriums. Or perhaps it’s looking for others of its kind. No. That would just be weird.

The Forests also sing. The noise is probably made by sound waves oscillating through the dense jungle- wind whistling through the leaves, if you will. An odd rattling that, I’m told, is actually strangely beautiful. I find it difficult to picture. Apparently its soothing- wave after wave of fan-like rustle. Hmm. I must visit one someday. These Forests- I was joking earlier when I said they’d graze on whales, but now, I think it
might be possible. Good job they’re strictly fresh water only. These things, these weird meldings of plant and bacteria- they’re infinity self-sufficient, potentially semi-carnivorous entities of enormous size. They are the latest brand of Behemoth, wandering wherever the water is deepest, snapping up anything they gets in their way. Theoretically tameable, I suppose- we could treat them like Water Horses, use them for transport or housing. If anybody dared. If nobody minded the blue tint. I think anything living on that stuff would get it, after a while.

Message from the bosses. They want us to start work on a Forest that can survive in salt water, graze across the ocean. I’d love to tell them not to bother; nature always manages, and I have a feeling she’s working on the Forests even as we speak. The weed pollination was just as example of that- making them better, stronger, more resilient. Making them unbound, able to float wherever they want. Making them new. Nature, my Goddess. So much better than any scientist.

The Forests are alive, I know that now. A single entity, I used to think of them as two- but that’s just wrong. The Goo binds everything, makes it whole. Some days I wonder if it can think. At first I think it’s a stupid question- but then, surely anything alive can think? Anything that feeds must think of food, and anything with a sense of food must have a sense of being fed... I eat therefore I am. If you relate to the world, you must have a concept of world. If you have a concept of world, you must in turn have one of yourself as separate.

Or is that just rambling and nonsense?

Maybe that’s not how the Forests work. Maybe they’re more like trees and bushes and bugs- alive, but too different for us to fully understand. There are more of them, every day. In Lakes, reserves, fish tanks. They’re quite the vogue thing. People don’t mind about the psychedelic colours, the mouth-like traps, not even the tentacles (vines, if you want to get technical). They just want to see what all the fuss is about.
I wonder if the fuss sees them. Blue Forests. The Leviathans of Generation Next. Good job, team.

Now, let’s all look up at the sky. Surely there must be something we can do with that?

Data Report:
Aerial Observation Team
Blue Forest #012
Lake Victoria.
Sixth day of watch.
Yep. It’s definitely sitting by the edge of the lake, as close to the salt water as possible - where the currents are strongest. I don’t know why. It’s just sitting there. Maybe it likes the view.

The winners in our two categories will get either an all-expenses-paid trip to the kickass Synthetic Biology Conference in Hong Kong this October, or $1000 and a chance to have their creature drawn by a cool comic book artist. Find out more below.

There are two categories in the contest, each with their own prize. The important thing to remember is that this contest is about creating cool new lifeforms that are also, in some way, entertaining. So each entry will be judged for plausibility (i.e. whether it is scientifically justifiable), creativity, usefulness, and entertainment value.

Our esteemed judges include synthetic biologist Drew Endy (MIT), evolutionary biologist and PLoS co-founder Michael Eisen (UC Berkeley), Spore game developer Jason Shankel (EA/Maxis), and biology researcher/io9 "ask a biogeek" columnist Terry Johnson (UC Berkeley).

Category One: BioBricks Lifeform
Using the BioBricks registry of standard biological parts, propose a lifeform design that you could conceivably create in a lab. Must include a complete description of how you would make the lifeform, what it would do, and what possible hazards might be involved in creating it. You may design this creature with a team, but only one of you can claim the prize. You may enter lifeforms that you have entered in other contests, but you must state in your entry which contest(s) you've already entered. Your entry should be in the form of a short scientific paper (no more than 3000 words), with illustrations. More points given if you've actually got a working organism.
Prize: All travel and hotel expenses paid trip to the Synthetic Biology Conference in Hong Kong in October, as well as the chance to present your research there.

Category Two: General Synthetic Lifeform
This lifeform can be more creative. Propose a scientifically justifiable lifeform, which could conceivably be created using current technology. Explain how you would create it, what it would do, and hazards involved. Unlike the BioBricks lifeform, this lifeform can be more speculative. It should be science fictional, but must remain scientifically plausible. Your entry should be less than 3,000 words, please. Illustrations and diagrams are a good idea.
Prize: $1000, plus a cool comic book artist will draw your lifeform and you'll get a signed copy of the original art.

DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES IS AUGUST 25 AT MIDNIGHT PST.

General Rules

1. Send queries and completed entries to madscience@io9.com.
2. On entries, please include your full name, an email and phone number where we can reach you, plus any information about other contests you may have entered your lifeform in.
3. Winners will be announced September 8.
4. All general Gawker contest rules apply.

The winners in our two categories will get either an all-expenses-paid trip to the kickass Synthetic Biology Conference in Hong Kong this October, or $1000 and a chance to have their creature drawn by a cool comic book artist. Find out more below.

There are two categories in the contest, each with their own prize. The important thing to remember is that this contest is about creating cool new lifeforms that are also, in some way, entertaining. So each entry will be judged for plausibility (i.e. whether it is scientifically justifiable), creativity, usefulness, and entertainment value.

Our esteemed judges include synthetic biologist Drew Endy (MIT), evolutionary biologist and PLoS co-founder Michael Eisen (UC Berkeley), Spore game developer Jason Shankel (EA/Maxis), and biology researcher/io9 "ask a biogeek" columnist Terry Johnson (UC Berkeley).

Category One: BioBricks Lifeform
Using the BioBricks registry of standard biological parts, propose a lifeform design that you could conceivably create in a lab. Must include a complete description of how you would make the lifeform, what it would do, and what possible hazards might be involved in creating it. You may design this creature with a team, but only one of you can claim the prize. You may enter lifeforms that you have entered in other contests, but you must state in your entry which contest(s) you've already entered. Your entry should be in the form of a short scientific paper (no more than 3000 words), with illustrations. More points given if you've actually got a working organism.
Prize: All travel and hotel expenses paid trip to the Synthetic Biology Conference in Hong Kong in October, as well as the chance to present your research there.

Category Two: General Synthetic Lifeform
This lifeform can be more creative. Propose a scientifically justifiable lifeform, which could conceivably be created using current technology. Explain how you would create it, what it would do, and hazards involved. Unlike the BioBricks lifeform, this lifeform can be more speculative. It should be science fictional, but must remain scientifically plausible. Your entry should be less than 3,000 words, please. Illustrations and diagrams are a good idea.
Prize: $1000, plus a cool comic book artist will draw your lifeform and you'll get a signed copy of the original art.

DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES IS AUGUST 25 AT MIDNIGHT PST.

General Rules

1. Send queries and completed entries to madscience@io9.com.
2. On entries, please include your full name, an email and phone number where we can reach you, plus any information about other contests you may have entered your lifeform in.
3. Winners will be announced September 8.
4. All general Gawker contest rules apply.

There are two categories in the contest, each with their own prize. The important thing to remember is that this contest is about creating cool new lifeforms that are also, in some way, entertaining. So each entry will be judged for plausibility (i.e. whether it is scientifically justifiable), creativity, usefulness, and entertainment value.

Our esteemed judges include synthetic biologist Drew Endy (MIT), evolutionary biologist and PLoS co-founder Michael Eisen (UC Berkeley), Spore game developer Jason Shankel (EA/Maxis), and biology researcher/io9 "ask a biogeek" columnist Terry Johnson (UC Berkeley).

Category One: BioBricks Lifeform
Using the BioBricks registry of standard biological parts, propose a lifeform design that you could conceivably create in a lab. Must include a complete description of how you would make the lifeform, what it would do, and what possible hazards might be involved in creating it. You may design this creature with a team, but only one of you can claim the prize. You may enter lifeforms that you have entered in other contests, but you must state in your entry which contest(s) you've already entered. Your entry should be in the form of a short scientific paper (no more than 3000 words), with illustrations. More points given if you've actually got a working organism.
Prize: All travel and hotel expenses paid trip to the Synthetic Biology Conference in Hong Kong in October, as well as the chance to present your research there.

Category Two: General Synthetic Lifeform
This lifeform can be more creative. Propose a scientifically justifiable lifeform, which could conceivably be created using current technology. Explain how you would create it, what it would do, and hazards involved. Unlike the BioBricks lifeform, this lifeform can be more speculative. It should be science fictional, but must remain scientifically plausible. Your entry should be less than 3,000 words, please. Illustrations and diagrams are a good idea.
Prize: $1000, plus a cool comic book artist will draw your lifeform and you'll get a signed copy of the original art.

DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES IS AUGUST 25 AT MIDNIGHT PST.

General Rules

1. Send queries and completed entries to madscience@io9.com.
2. On entries, please include your full name, an email and phone number where we can reach you, plus any information about other contests you may have entered your lifeform in.
3. Winners will be announced September 8.
4. All general Gawker contest rules apply.