The First Suspect

I feel like every writer knows that one person who can't understand that you won't write their ideas, you'll write yours

"Yes, that's an... interesting concept. It's not how I write, it's not the way I think. Write it yourself."

Truth

I've heard High Valyrian has no words for grandparents, is that right? And what word might exist for that role?

It sure didn't—until I created them.

There are four terms:

kekepa "father's father"

mumuña "mother's mother"

kepāzma "mother's father"

muñāzma "father's mother"

In a conlang, there are always words that aren't there because they're supposed to not be there, and words that aren't there because they haven't been created yet. That latter category is always going to be much, much larger than the former.

Traveling mushroom and his trusted cat

“The average US president has been convicted on .75 felonies” factoid isn’t true. average US president has been convicted on 0 felonies. Felonies Donld, who has been convicted on 34, is a statistical outlier adn should not have been counted

I have a Twitter account devoted to Aeniith only now! Go follow me on @Aeniith_ if you’re so inclined!

Tidbits, musings, ideas, fact, and more on worldbuilding, conlangs, etc.

Is it bad that this is how I just normally talk, even when I’m not trying to be mean

I think I might be more music/conlang focused here than twitter because I don’t have a stream of horrifying news to distract me

EVA preparations at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

That rabbit/hare post is messing me up. I’d thought they were synonyms. Their development and social behavior are all different. They can’t even interbreed. They don’t have the same number of chromosomes. Dogs, wolves, jackals, and coyotes can mate with each other and have fertile offspring but rabbits and hares cant even make infertile ones bc they just die in the womb. Wack.

Curious about how NASA will land the next mission to the Red Planet – the Perseverance Mars rover? Here’s your chance to ask our expert! 

After nearly 300 million miles, our Perseverance rover completes its journey to Mars on Feb. 18. To reach the surface of the Red Planet, it has to survive the harrowing final phase known as Entry, Descent, and Landing. Mission engineer Chloe Sackier will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Thursday, Feb. 4 from noon to 1pm ET here on our Tumblr! Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask. 

Chloe Sackier is a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. She works on the Mars 2020 Entry, Descent and Landing team, tasked with safely delivering the Perseverance rover to the surface of Mars.

Landing Perseverance on Mars – fun facts: 

The landing system on the mission includes a parachute, descent vehicle, and an approach called a “skycrane maneuver” for lowering the rover on a tether to the surface during the final seconds before landing.

Perseverance will use new technologies for landing, including Terrain-Relative Navigation. This sophisticated navigation system allows the rover to detect and avoid hazardous terrain by diverting around it during its descent through the Martian atmosphere. 

A microphone allows engineers to analyze entry, descent, and landing. It might also capture sounds of the rover at work, which would provide engineers with clues about the rover’s health and operations.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.