Xander Riley's Blog

Some inspiring articles for stories

These are a few of the articles I read on Science Daily that could be used as inspiration for stories. Since it is a Scientific website, the news they post can fit into almost any genre: Crime, Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, etc.

Maybe you created a world without electricity - their cars are powered by wind. Their buildings could be grown organically. Perhaps it is a world where Neanderthals evolved over Homo Sapiens...

Enjoy. Be inspired. Write on!

Article - Fingerprint Analysis Technique Could Be Used To Identify Bombmakers
ScienceDaily (2008-08-27) -- University of Leicester experts have held discussions with military personnel in Afghanistan following the discovery of new technology to identify fingerprints on metal.
http://ScienceDaily.com/releases/2008/08/080826080812.htm


Article - Wind-powered ’Ventomobile’ Places First in Race
ScienceDaily (2008-08-28) -- The solely wind-driven Ventomobile constructed by a team of students in aerospace engineering came in first at the Aeolus Race in the Dutch town of Den Helder last Friday. Racing the extremely stylish and lightweight three-wheeler, the vehicles of five European universities and research centres had difficulties to catch up.
http://ScienceDaily.com/releases/2008/08/080827104702.htm


Article - Arctic Ice On Verge Of Another All-time Low
ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2008) — Following last summer's record minimum ice cover in the Arctic, current observations from ESA's Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of polar sea-ice may again shrink to a level very close to that of last year.
ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from {link:ScienceDaily.com­ /releases/2008/08/080828120314.htm}


Article - New Evidence Debunks ’Stupid’ Neanderthal Myth
ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2008) — Research by UK and American scientists has struck another blow to the theory that Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) became extinct because they were less intelligent than our ancestors (Homo sapiens). The research team has shown that early stone tool technologies developed by our species, Homo sapiens, were no more efficient than those used by Neanderthals.
ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from {link:http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/08/080825203924.htm}


Eco-architecture Could Produce ’Grow Your Own’ Homes
ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2008) — A bus stop that grows its own foliage as shade? A children's playground, made entirely from trees? A shelter made from living tree roots that could provide natural protection against earthquakes in California?

"Eco-architecture" may sound like a Buck Rogers vision of an ecologically-sustainable future, but that future is now thanks to the guidance of Tel Aviv University Professors Yoav Waisel and Amram Eshel. The concept of shaping living trees into useful objects ­­­­ known as tree shaping, arborsculpture, living art or pooktre isn't new. But scientists are now ready to use this concept as the foundation of a new company that will roll out these structures worldwide.

Pilot projects now underway in the United States, Australia and Israel include park benches for hospitals, playground structures, streetlamps and gates. "The approach is a new application of the well-known botanical phenomenon of aerial root development," says Prof. Eshel. "Instead of using plant branches, this patented approach takes malleable roots and shapes them into useful objects for indoors and out."

ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from {link:http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/08/080821164300.htm}