April 30, 2014

Scatter, Adapt, and Remember

“If you think Humans are destroying the planet in a way that’s historically unprecedented, you’re suffering from a species-level delusions of grandeur.” -Annalee Newitz, Scatter Adapt, and Remember Perhaps it’s having a 3 month old baby in the house (our second), but I’ve been thinking about the apocalypse more than normal.

By Glendon Mellow

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

"If you think Humans are destroying the planet in a way that's historically unprecedented, you're suffering from a species-level delusions of grandeur."
-Annalee Newitz, Scatter Adapt, and Remember

Perhaps it's having a 3 month old baby in the house (our second), but I've been thinking about the apocalypse more than normal. WAIT THAT CAME OUT WRONG.

Being a parent to young kids can have you start thinking about the world you've brought them into, and what you might do if it suddenly collapses. I've been watching zombie shows and movies lately (my friends will be overjoyed, since I am not typically a zombie fan). I've seen all the episodes of Jericho like it's a survival manual. So several weeks ago I decided to download Scatter, Adapt, and Remember by io9.com editor Annalee Newitz onto my iPad to glean what I could about surviving extinction and calamity.

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And now, with the launch of the book in paperback, Newitz has asked geek folk band The Doubleclicks (from Portland, natch) to make a music video. Teaming up with cartoonist and animator Leigh Lahav, the results are a subversively cute look at extinction and our sci-fi hopes for the future.

Excuse me, I have to go back to putting my kids through internet-blackout drills now.

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