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Paolo Bacigalupi Talks About New Directions for Hard Science Fiction
GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
The Best Green Technology Is Population Control
Short Fiction About the Future of Gawker Media Gets It Right
Little, Brown Snaps Up Scifi About Peak Oil

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Cribbage Left
09/17/09

In reply to Paolo Bacigalupi Talks About New Directions for Hard Science Fiction
I have trouble reading authors' works after seeing what they look like.

That being said; What an amazing interview with one of the best writers working in any genre. Thanks io9. You just made my Wednesday

Do Ted Chiang next! Do it...*shaking fist
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Juan Ochoa
09/17/09

In reply to Paolo Bacigalupi Talks About New Directions for Hard Science Fiction
what is "respertory disease"?
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Bill-Lee
09/17/09

@Juan Ochoa: That should be "respiratory disease."
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
09/17/09

In reply to Paolo Bacigalupi Talks About New Directions for Hard Science Fiction
His stuff is all so same-same, much of a muchness to me. We get the point, man. Try writing something else.
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Klebert L. Hall
09/10/09

In reply to GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
"the book follows scientist spies hunting good genomes in a world ruined by GMO diseases."

I'm always amused at the way anti-genetic engineering types always seem to assume that the engineers won't be able to make anything that's an improvement, no matter how hard they try - yet they can somehow make ultra-dominant super-diseases and monsters completely by accident...

Sounds like the book will be worth checking out, it's just too bad that it has such a huge Man Was Not Meant To Know / Do Not Tamper With God's Handiwork slant.
-Kle.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
09/09/09

In reply to GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
Sounds like it's compiled partially from several of his short stories, which would make it uneven.
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Discodave: R.O.A.C.H. M.O.T.E.L.
09/09/09

In reply to GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
Even if I didn't like the sound of the book (which I do), that cover image would definitely make me take a second look - there's a lot of scope for more in-depth looks at the tiger economies of asia and the juxtaposition of future-tech and traditional ways of life than a brief mention of a Chinese superpower or the odd snippet of Mandarin in Firefly.
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Scimarad
09/09/09

In reply to GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
Really enjoyed 'Pump Six and Other Stories' so I'll probably get this one.
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WLDaywalker
09/09/09

@Scimarad: Sounds like you'll enjoy this then. The novel appears to be set in the same world as "The Calorie Man", "Yellow Card Man" and "The Fluted Girl", all great shorts.
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Pegritz
09/09/09

In reply to GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
I am *really* psyched to read this book. Third World nations are basically the premier civilizations' technological and ideological dumping grounds--so I find novels like McDonald's Brazyl and River of Gods to be particularly interesting because they show how people driven by simple necessity can create novel uses for even the detritus of other nations.
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jlassen
09/09/09

In reply to GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
Big Agro-business maximizes its customer base in The Windup Girl by purposefully releasing blights that destroy food crops. Only their patented GM, single generation seed crops are resistant to these blights. This practice might be... shall we say... amoral. But it IS a logical way of maximizing ones profits in a future libertarian "utopia" where there is no government restraint or regulation of these businesses.
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Annalee Newitz
09/10/09

@jlassen: I was under the impression that some of the blights had just evolved naturally as a result of monoculture factory farming.
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Boas_MC
09/10/09

@jlassen: Um, I would say that purposefully releasing blights is straight-up IMmoral.
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Annalee Newitz
09/10/09

@Boas_MC: I would go out on a limb and say that too.
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tudza
09/09/09

In reply to GMO Espionage Fuels Environmental Thriller "The Windup Girl"
I think they have it backwards, blight and crop death disasters are the *reason* for having GMO, not the cause. Why do all that hard work if the crops you have now are sufficient to feed everyone in your country?
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Annalee Newitz
09/09/09

@tudza: The implication in this novel is that rampant gene hacking has led to runaway diseases.

What I imagined was that if all crops are made by one manufacturer, they would all be vulnerable to the same diseases. So if one field gets hit, the disease spreads like wildfire and there are no survivors.
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Greasy Breakfast
09/09/09

@tudza: The problem is the patent holders of GMO crops usually pressure disadvantaged farmers into depending on their products, often encouraging monoculture farming. Depending on a single crop is a singularly bad idea. Ask the Irish.
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Annalee Newitz
09/09/09

@Greasy Breakfast: This is definitely the scenario hinted at in Windup Girl. Though there are also just crazily mutated viruses, which probably have more to do with overuse of antibiotics than GMOs. Again, this isn't really explained in the novel - it's all just background.
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Aaron Roberts
04/07/09

In reply to The Best Green Technology Is Population Control
Prevent humans from even coming into existence. When the mask slips, environmentalism's toxic fundamental anti-man premises becomes painfully apparent.
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Anekanta - killed by a cacodemon
04/07/09

@Aaron Roberts: You know, Man is no more or less important than any other living thing on this Earth. But to think that we can take the earth and do what we will with it is the height of arrogance.

It's not "anti-man" to say that maybe we should give a damn about something besides ourselves. And it's not "anti-man" to want to make sure that the human beings who inherit this Earth from us will be able to enjoy it, instead of starving and fighting because there's not enough clean air, food, water, and land to go around.
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TheFaithfulStone
04/07/09

@Anekanta: "You know, Man is no more or less important than any other living thing on this Earth."

That is total bullshit.

A "real" earth firster / population zero type would be all about accelerating our use of fossil fuels and egging on resource wars. The fact of the matter is, short of full-scale nuclear exchange nothing we do to the enviroment is going to matter in the more than very near term to anybody but us.

The whole reason you HAVE an environmental movement is to preserve the planet so it's good for PEOPLE. Any argument over environmental policy is basically - "it's in our best interest to not eat the whole cake now, so that we have some for later - because there's not anymore cake!" vs "it's in our best interest to eat the whole cake now, so that we won't be hungry later and will have the energy to bake some more cake!"

There's only one way out of ANY crisis - and that's to invent your way out of it. "Return to previous / less comfortable position" is contrary to human behavior. Either that or we all end up as subsistence farmers.
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Anekanta - killed by a cacodemon
04/06/09

In reply to The Best Green Technology Is Population Control
After reading some of these negative comments (especially the ones about human-hating tree-huggers and the "fuck you Paolo" comments) I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that an environmental catastrophe is inevitable. Paolo's message may have been dickishly worded, but he's more or less right. If we don't learn to control our numbers, nature will do it for us--harshly and indiscriminately. End of story.

There's a slim chance we can perfect space travel or some new form of agriculture before that happens, but it's fairly silly to rely on technology that really doesn't exist yet to solve all of our problems before the crisis--which is already affecting us--overtakes us. Thinking that we could solve all our problems through technology is a big part of why we're in this mess.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
04/07/09

@Anekanta: Proof that it matters how you say things.

Nobody here disagrees with him that we need to reduce the population and the use of energy, but the WAY he said it makes people disagree with him.

Especially since he's reproduced, buying useless stuff for his kid, and not living off the land in a Unabomber cabin. People don't like hypocrites.
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KosstAmojan
04/06/09

In reply to The Best Green Technology Is Population Control
cn't stnd ths nt-hmn tr hggrs. Ths slf-htng bstrds r hv ZR fth n hmnty nd r blty t vrcm bstcls…h vn dmts t syng "'m nt ntrstd" n th myrd f wys w'r tryng t bttr rslvs.

f h blvs lss ppl r th nswr, fn…ff yrslf nd sv s th trbl f hrng yr flth.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
04/07/09

@KosstAmojan: Too late, he's already bred. Apparently he wants the rest of us to control the population while his genes live on.
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Gann
04/06/09

In reply to The Best Green Technology Is Population Control
While his attack on Americans and Europeans is misguided, his premise is strong. The only way for us to live sustainably on this planet without destroying it is to learn to control our population.

Of course we will never all agree on how many people we need on this planet, and who should have the rights to childbirth.
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corpore-metal
04/07/09

@Gann: I definitely agree with you Gan. However I think Paolo is right to remind us that population control and appropriate technology is still very important to Europe, East Asia and North America. It's still our problem to, if only to be a good example for the rest of the world.
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Gann
04/07/09

@corpore-metal: We (internet users = technology users) illustrate the point rather well, actually. As heavy users of technology we of course use the most resources per capita. Population-heavy countries use less resources per capita, but they are rapidly gaining ground as they industrialize. The problem is by the time the rest of the world catches up with us we may pass a threshold (if we haven't already) where we do irreversible damage to our planet. Of course during this time, population will continue to grow, exacerbating the issue.
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Dunny0
04/06/09

In reply to The Best Green Technology Is Population Control
... wow, lot of commentators are touchy about even the thought of not being able to pop out a litter or two, or maybe considering the possibility of just buying less crap and wearing an extra layer of clothes in the winter.
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Grey_Area
04/06/09

@Dunny0: I'm guess they're going to have 3 or 4 kids RIGHT NOW in protest.
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Thorby
04/06/09

@Dunny0: I don't think anybody said that. But the guy's got a pretty arrogant tone. 'Fuck you, Paolo' is the first thing I thought. Read the whole linked article. I would point out that statistically, as the standard of living improves, the birth rate goes down, as has happened in Europe and the US in the last fifty years. It is also worth noting that he says nothing about lowering the birth rate in the third world, where it would bring the most benefits. And to go on about lowering the birth rate while having already had a child strikes me as a bit odd. He also notes that he bought an unnecessary toy for his child, so perhaps he's participating in the overconsumption he fears. I hope he doesn't lecture his child like he does us.

I could write all day, but the short version is, we started it, but if the world is going to eco-collapse it's going to happen in Asia. Perhaps he can learn Mandarin and go lecture everyone in China. Let's see how that works out.

The bitch is, I agree with much of what he's saying. But he doesn't have to be a jackass about it.
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Grey_Area
04/06/09

@Thorby: I've met Paolo and really liked the guy even though he is Very Extreme in his commitment to environmental issues.I really disagree that the focus of population control should be the developing nations. That strikes me as pretty fuzzy thinking.

Writes damn good science fiction though.
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