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Yes, they can.

Plants in space!

i recommend @sueburke.bsky.social's "semiosis" saga to anyone who enjoys the children of time books. first contact with sentient plants, the struggles of communicating across species boundaries, a radically unique future society... they're fantastic.

A fantastic piece about the labor and craft of translation can be found in the first issue of Small Planet: a conversation b/w @cristinajurado.bsky.social and @sueburke.bsky.social : www.sfintranslation.com/wp-content/u...

If you're a John Scalzi fan, here's your chance to send some money to World Central Kitchen.

Not 'moist'?

If a company would just once say 'make sure not to use the app' they would have my loyalty forever. COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/app-6 PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm... STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com

Every step you take, every move you make, I'm not stalking you.

State fossils aren't going anywhere, at least.

Should we be encouraging tool use by bees? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

More than just a pie chart.

Blanc Singulier, a collection of Champagnes made from grapes grown in years with atypical weather. You can taste the impending doom.

Jackals think they're tasty.

Scientists must be stopped!

New praise for THE BOOK OF THE JAGUAR by @celldeathvic.bsky.social. Thank you @kateelliottsff.bsky.social and @sueburke.bsky.social!

Sweet potatoes on Mars would face stress, tests show, so we will have to send our most adaptable, resilient, heroic tubers. www.botany.one/sweet-potato...

I’ll be reading at the Last Fridays Poetry open mic on Friday, May 29, 8 p.m., at Esquina event space, 4602 N. Western Ave., Chicago. It’s a supportive environment, and all are welcome.

What's good for the environment is good for the tax base. Who knew?

I visited the National Chornobyl Museum many years ago. It was moving, and the museum was full of essential information and unique artifacts that cannot be replaced. The attack was deliberate.

Stay safe. Don't go west of the Mississippi River. weather.com/health/news/...

I’m interviewed about Goal-Based Sci-Fi Research by Beth Barany for her podcast. We talk about research can help generate conflict in your stories and avoid clichés. writersfunzone.com/blog/2026/05...

Not always migrating like they used to, either.

I'm happy to report that the gardeners in my neighborhood have been ignoring this rule for some time already. blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/21/g...

Golfballia ambusta, Latin for ‘burnt golf ball’ | Kew www.kew.org/read-and-wat...

In the "Blast from the Past" section of SMALL PLANET: THE SF IN TRANSLATION MAGAZINE, I'll be mining older #SFinTranslation and world sf newsletters and magazines to reveal the evolution of the Anglophone world's interest in the sff scene in other countries and other languages.

🌎 SMALL PLANET, the magazine about fiction in translation! Rachel Cordasco is the General Editor and has incredible contributors. I'm really happy to be a contributor interviewing translator @sueburke.bsky.social OUGH YEAGH! www.sfintranslation.com/wp-content/u...

A glimpse of the bleeping obvious.

“Arañas”, un cuento corto ubicado en el mundo de mi novela Semiosis, ya está disponible en castellano. microficcionesycuentos.blogspot.com/2026/05/aran...

The national debt is good for the 1%.

A bear tries to cross the road...

Five kilos of old rat poop, a scientific treasure.

I’ll be reading my translation of the short story “Francine (Draft for the September Lecture)” by Maria Antònia Martí Escayol at the Deep Dish reading on Thursday. If you can’t make it, a link to the story is in the comments.

What do you see in this picture?

#JustIn on Plantae: The Unwritten CV of a Plant Scientist. In this new piece, ASPB Plantae Fellows Anastasia Kolesnikova and Charlay Wood offer a more human picture of plant science than most people ever get to see in a plant scientist's CV. buff.ly/tOdWD3v #PlantScience

“It’s nice when Western science catches up to Indigenous science.”

Potatoes in space!

Here are cards anyone can carry in their wallet and request translation or interpretation services as required by law. Know Your Rights to Language Access - American Translators Association (ATA) www.atanet.org/client-assis...

POETRY Magazine Submission Manager - Special Issue Dedicated to Chicago

Citizen scientists! You can help with Kelp Quest (Seattle Aquarium) | Zooniverse - People-powered research www.zooniverse.org/projects/zhr...

Last Fridays Poetry open mic, Friday, April 24, 8 p.m., at Esquina, 4602 N. Western Ave., Chicago. I'll be there.

This is one case among many of ICE illegal detention. I am a member of ATA.

It's an open secret that astronauts don't always eat well. The problem hasn't been solved for long flights, like going to Mars.

Live from the Circle Garden - Chicago Botanic Garden - YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLjH...

My faith leaders weigh in.

The Protopian Prize | The Fiction Contest protopianprize.com

Medieval Solar Storm Detected Through Tree Rings and Historical Records - Medievalists.net www.medievalists.net/2026/04/medi...

Whimsy or warning? titlemedle.com/products/whi...