The Idea Mill # 17

It’s time for another Idea Mill post. My regulars know what these are, but I’ll explain a bit for new readers. I set up several push feeds to drive me news about things I’m interested in. I collect articles that kick my Muse in the pants, and share them with everyone after I have enough.

If you enjoy these, they have their own category in my sidebar. Explore to your heart’s content.

Sadly, Zite magazine is going away soon. I am forced to migrate over to Flipboard. Their interface and custom features suck compared to Zite. I have to shoehorn my wants into their categories as opposed to ones I customize. I may have to hit the App Store later today to see what else there is. I’m open to suggestions.

The first one is an archaeological dig they think might be a witch grave. This girl was malnourished, and her soft tissues were burnt away prior to her being tossed into a pit and covered up. There are any number of things that could have happened here, including a house fire. This grave was near another identical grave that was discovered earlier.

It could be that the girls were locked up and starved. Eventually they were burned at the stake and tossed away. Read about the discovery here. They are planning on DNA testing to see if the girls were related.

I don’t know that I have to speculate much here. This adds credibility to any witchcraft story. Maybe there are tidbits here to add a bit more realism.

This next one needs some time to percolate. Daydream about it and let your Muse work it over. Scientists just grew electrical wires and components inside roses. In one case they were able to use electricity to lighten or darken the leaves. This can ramp up the photosynthesis process. They also talk about using plants to one day generate power. Read all about it in this article.

I like this one on many fronts. I think it can fluff up your science fiction in many ways. There could be conflict between destroying the rainforest, and replacing it with some kind of Frankenstein plants that make electricity and oxygen. What might the downside be? Maybe it provides oxygen and light for your spaceship.

Maybe this is the first step toward a plant based takeover. It’s like a zombie apocalypse or the Terminator, but with plants.

Fantasy doesn’t get left behind either. What if some alternate race learned how to grow steel inside gigantic trees. What special qualities might the weapons made from it have? Druidic magic? Electrical powers? What?

Finally, scientists have been able to grow human vocal cord tissue in the lab. This is actually pretty cool in a real world sense. It seems the ultimate goal is restoration for those who had cancer and various injuries. They tested the material out in canine larynxes, and it appears to make human sounds when manipulated. Read it here. (Caution, you have to wait for an advertisement.)

You don’t have to limit your speculation to this particular tissue. There will be an industry growing our spare parts one day. I wrote a short story about this in my Experimental Notebook, but you can take it a lot of directions.

What if unexpected traits of the original donor come with the transplant? You could really screw up your character’s life here. What if a famous singer donated the tissue, then a recipient comes along to compete in the entertainment industry?

These last two articles really trip my trigger. I still have my bio-hacker/grinder outline, and am going to add a sticky note to it after this posts.

I always try to end these with a cheesy story idea were all three elements are incorporated. This time it isn’t as hard as the last few. Here we go.

A city crew is tearing out the landscaping to replant new electricity generating plants. They place the living power grid over the burial site of actual witches who were burned alive.

The roots reach into the graves. Strange threats and warnings start happening on electrical devices, but nobody can figure it out.

An old laboratory beagle uses his superior olfactory powers and learns the truth. When the flowers bloom, the pollen is going to deliver a curse upon the entire city. He has human vocal cords, but there is a disconnect between his canine mind and human parts. Can he deliver the news in time?

Have fun with these. Do they inspire any of you who write speculative fiction? Share your thoughts with the rest of us in the comments. Does anyone have a good replacement for Zite magazine they can suggest?

The Idea Mill #6

Regular readers know that I save cool articles and make posts about them on occasion. These articles are to get your creative juices flowing. Some of them are just cool story elements, some of them might become the basis of an entire story. Let’s jump right to it…

Once upon a time, scientists experimented with creating genetically modified humans. This actually happened, but they are few in number. This article informs us that this small handful of people are going to graduate high school soon.

These people actually have one father and two mothers. We really have no idea what this means for them, or their future offspring. Remember that modern man crossbred with Neanderthals at some time, and most of us carry small snippets of Neanderthal DNA. These people will reproduce someday, and the result could change humanity as we know it.

This could be the basis of an entire story. One of these folks would make a great main character. It could involve living with a secret, torturing herself about what her pregnancy will reveal, or even an X-Men style story.

The next one is about a smoking mountain in Alaska. They say it isn’t a volcano or fire related.

This could become a great dragon story, or maybe you’re more into Mole Men. It reminds me of the gas in Cheri Priest’s Boneshaker. I suppose it would fit in well with a shamanistic story too.

This one is a list of lost treasures. I like it because it involves Maguffin style items that aren’t all made of gold.

Maybe your plucky heroine needs to go on a treasure hunt to find a lost patent. She has a higher purpose, but is up against glory and money seekers. Can she invent the whatchamacallit that saves whatever, or will the bad guys defeat her, plunging the world into darkness?

This one is just a story element. Have any of you ever heard of cat circles?

Apparently cats are attracted to circles. They get inside them and stay inside them. This works really well for a witchcraft story, because circles are important, and cats are prevalent.

It isn’t limited to witchcraft though. I wonder if Indiana Jones could use his whip to make a circle before the temple tiger eats him?

Have fun with these. If you use any of them, stop back and tell me what you came up with. Let me know if you experiment on your cats too. I know you will.