New Butterflies Named After Sauron from Lord of the Rings
A new genus of butterfly has been named after Sauron, the villain of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings. An international team of scientists have identified two species in the new genus — Saurona triangula and Saurona aurigera — which are named for their distinctive markings, orange wings with eye-like spots. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien described Sauron as a disembodied, all-seeing eye “rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat’s, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.”
Zimbabwe Author Tsitsi Dangarembga Has Conviction for Protest Overturned
Zimbabwean author and activist Tsitsi Dangarembga has had her conviction for inciting violence by staging a peaceful protest overturned. Critically-acclaimed author Dangarembga was fined in September 2022 for staging a protest calling for political reform with fellow activist Julie Barnes. On Monday, the high court in Harare overturned the verdict. Dangarembga’s lawyer Chris Mhike said the court did not find evidence of any wrongdoing: “Eventually, justice prevailed in this case. It is most unfortunate that it took so long for Tsitsi and Julie to be set free. Be that as it may, this vindication from the high court is most welcome.”
Game of Thrones Spinoff Shuts Down Writers Room for Strike
The recently-announced Game of Thrones spinoff series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight has shut down its writers room due to the writers strike. Author George R.R. Martin confirmed the shutdown in a blog post on Monday, writing that “[showrunner] Ira Parker and his incredible staff of young talents are on the picket lines.” The Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon is still moving forward, as the scripts for the second season have already been written.
Why Are Algorithms Still So Bad at Recommending Books?
Machine learning and AI have grown leaps and bounds — so why are algorithmically generated book recommendations still so bad?