The Pale Beauty of a Martian Salt Mine

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:00:00 PDT

Vernor Vinge has said that he drew inspiration for the planet of the Tines from a visit to Norway, and Amy Thomson told me recently that she traveled to Mongolia to get a feel for the planet where her recently-finished novel is set. If the otherworldly photographs George Steinmetz recently took in Bolivia are any indication, this cold, arid, beautiful country could easily inspire a novel about life on a terraformed Mars. Here, in the massive salt flats of Uyuni, you can see the pale piles of mineral that miners have chipped from the ground with pickaxes. A very thin layer of water over the salt creates a reflective surface. More uncanny images below.

Here you can see cacti dotting the edges of the salt flats. If you were going to try to introduce plants to Mars gradually, a succulent like cactus would be a good bet. Of course, that assumes that you've already introduced sufficient nitrogen to the environment, or have bioengineered cacti that could thrive in the Martian atmosphere — and in temperatures much colder than anything in Bolvia.

These are the mud pots of Sol de Mañana, which release steam and sulfur as well as hot mud. The strange blue cast to the mud comes from the scalding water reflecting the sky at dawn. This might be from the surface of ultra-volcanic moon Io, rather than anywhere on Mars.

If you want to see many more of the amazing photographs Steinmetz took, check out the National Geographic gallery. Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

Bolivia's Brink and Bolivia's New Order Gallery [via National Geographic]

In Russia, the Flying Penises of Second Life Are Real

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:30:00 PDT

Kiddies, I remember the days when flying penises could only attack public figures in virtual world Second Life. Who doesn't remember the day when virtual real estate mogul Anshe Chung, the richest lady in Second Life, was attacked during a virtual press conference by giant virtual penises (left)? Clearly, Russian protesters haven't forgotten. A group of pro-government rabble-rousers sent a peniscopter (right) into the air recently during an anti-Putin speech from former chess champ and political activist Victor Kasparov.

Over at Waxy.org, Andy Baio wonders if this was a tribute to the infamous Second Life protest, or if it's just that griefers all think alike.

I prefer to think it was the visionary act of cutting-edge futurists who were inspired by the amazing example of Second Life. Just proves that the real world is being affected by all that beautiful inventiveness in the virtual world. I mean, peniscopters! It's the kind of genius that we'd never be exposed to if we couldn't let our imaginations roam free in virtual worlds. I feel more liberated already. Now if only somebody would make a swarm of these things. We could call it . . . cockswarm. Thanks, Eliot!

Kasparov Griefed by Flying Penis [via Waxy]

io9: inspirations

The Pale Beauty of a Martian Salt Mine

In Russia, the Flying Penises of Second Life Are Real