Those looking for a cosy ensemble art exhibition in which to find a rich diversity of art might want to hop over the the Kultivate Select Gallery, where the April exhibition has just opened.
A part of the Kultivate arts and music hub, the Select Gallery occupies a garden space within the Kultivate region, offering an outdoor exhibition space that it usually host to themed exhibitions, with each theme set by the Kultivate team. However, for April 2022, and at events and exhibitions at Kultivate ramp-up once more, it was decided to keep the April 2022 theme to a simple “Artist’s Choice”.
Kultivate Select, April 2022: Tarozaemon Rossini
Those responding to the call for artists with the exhibition comprise Duraya Resident, Hannah Starlight, Hero Blessed, Margo Hollak, Penni Noir (Penniwit Yearsley), SierraDiamond Panthar, Tarozaemon Rossini and Veruca Tammas. Between them, they offer an engaging mix of Second Life art and photography, physical world and and digital art in what is an engaging and easy-to-appreciate exhibition.
Tarozaemon Rossini is a digital artist whose work has a particular appeal for me, focused as it is on fractal pieces – an artform I’ve long appreciated in both SL and the physical world. A character as colourful as his art, Taro tends to be engaging for his enthusiasm for the genre, and his exhibits never fail to engage – and inform, as he is always careful to provide an exploratory explanation of the world of fractal formation; just check the info display within one of his two display areas.
Kultivate Select, April 2022: Duraya
Penniwit Yearsley is someone whose art I don’t believe I’ve previously encountered in SL. Here she presents images drawn from ancient Rome, celebrating goddess and emperors of the age, all cleverly rendered in a form of digital collages that gives them depth and life.
Throughout the exhibition, Veruca, Hero, Sierra and Hannah present very different but equally captivating images captured around Second Life and avatar studies, some of which have been left as photographs while others have been processed to resemble paintings and all of which demonstrate individual style and presentation.
Kultivate Select, April 2022: Margo Hollak
Duraya and and Margo meanwhile offer two very different styles that joined Taro’s work in attracting me. Duraya presents a set of seven images captured from within Second Life that in terms of subject and post-processing are simply breath-taking in their depth and beauty – each one offering a unique story. Margo’s paintings, meanwhile offer a richness of colour and depth that is as captivating, the pairing of the two as side-by-side displays making them both all the more complimentary in their individual strengths.
Eight artists and eight small displays that collectively make for an engaging exhibition.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Monday, April 25th, 19:00: When They Saw
Having graduated from the juvenile education system, Ana Mia decides to join her sister as a part of Fort Hope’s Midnight Guard. Fort Hope is a stronghold, protecting its inhabitants from Earth’s alien invaders; and the Midnight Guard forms the eyes, ears and guardians of the stronghold’s Wall.
Without the Guard and without the Wall of the stronghold, the aliens would be free to harvest humanity, using their ships and the Coyotes who form their eyes and ears in opposition to the Midnight Guard.
But now things have changed. Now Ana is something more, as she notes herself:
I never expected to be abducted. But here I am, standing onboard Their ship, facing Them down for the first time in my life, seeing the true face of the Earth’s invaders from another world.
My task is simple: to act as Earth’s emissary and negotiate peace. But it is far more complicated than it seems. I know nothing of politics, and even little of persuasion, but I have no choice. I must do this to keep my friends, and my world, safe. I cannot afford to fail humanity.
Join Gyro Muggins as he reads the second volume of Kody Boye’s When They… saga.
Shady Hollow: a village where woodland creatures all appear to live together in harmony – at least until a curmudgeonly toad turns up dead.
Vera Vixen is a fox with a nose for a good story; that’s why she’s a reporter. So when the rumours of the passing of the bad-tempered member of the bufonidae family might not actually be down to natural causes, she makes up her mind to sniff out the truth, despite being somewhat new to the village and still regarded as an outsider.
But as Vera digs into matters, the more convoluted things become. Soon it becomes clear that there is more than one mystery that needs to be solved – and more than one life is in danger. Someone within the village appears to be prepared to go to any lengths to stop secrets from being revealed, and Vera finds she’ll nee all her cunning and quickness to get to the truth – and possibly avoid becoming a victim herself!
Join Faerie Maven Pralou to discover more as she read’s the first volume in Juneau Black’s Shady Hollow series.
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week ending Sunday, April 24th, 2022
This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Release viewer version 6.5.4.570575 – formerly the Lao-Lao Maintenance RC viewer, promoted Monday, April 18 – No change.
Perpetuity, April 2022 – click any image for full size
The last time I visited Camis and Tamara Sierota’s Full region of Perpetuity, it was dressed as elven retreat caught in the snows of winter. Now, with the northern hemisphere welcoming spring, time and the region’s design have moved on, and visitors dropping in will find themselves in a summery touch of Smalltown USA.
A visit commences on the waterfront of a little harbour in the north-east of the region, a place with a couple of wooden piers, a fish market and oyster shop and places to enjoy a glass of beer or a very British custom of fish’n’chips. It’s a location that brought a smile of recognition to my face as moored at the piers lay the Shield Class 2 sailing boat by Burt Artis that helped get me started with sailing in SL and the outboard-powered Shippe and Saille Harbour Master, a dory hulled cruiser I reviewed a couple of years ago.
Perpetuity, April 2022
The harbour fronts a broad surfaced road that encompasses the setting, passing all the way around the coastline and linking the bulk of the land with a small island sitting down to the south-west. This road offers an obvious means of exploring, and those who wish can grab a bike from the rack outside the harbour master’s office and use their pedal extremities to follow it (or if preferred, pull a wearable bike from inventory and do the same).
Taking the road south offers a route past the open beach with its single pier to one side of the road, and a small industrial area with motor garage and warehousing on the other, to where a short incline runs up to the local church and school. Here the road turns to the right to cross the waters on a single-span bridge to reach the aforementioned island and the house that occupies it. However, just before the bridge there’s a junction with a second road which cuts diagonally across the land, again following the sands of a beach that faces the island across the channel.
Perpetuity, April 2022
Go north from the harbour master’s office, and the road quickly turns left to parallel the north beach westwards, passing out of the town before swinging to a more southerly route and past a farm with lands dissected by the road which cuts across the region, before reaching the second bridge crossing to the south-west island.
The farm comprises two large barns, one of which has been converted into a simple home whilst the other interestingly combines its expected role in keeping animals and farm equipment with that of a home-made bar serving pie and cider! A hitching post outside of this barn offers the means to make your way around / through the region on horseback, passing more horses penned in the corral behind the barn.
Perpetuity, April 2022
As with all of the perpetuity builds, this one is packed with a lot of detail; all of the buildings are open to the public and houses, workshops, cabins, and so on have décor and fittings that bring them to life. The school house comes complete with desks and playground, the local church has been neatly converted into a an artist’s studio, the beaches offer numerous places to sit and pass the time, and more can be found in the fields and gardens.
I admit to particularly liking Roady’s, sitting just off the road cutting through the farmlands. It’s a building by DRD I’ve frequently seen in my travels through SL, often taking the form of a generic bar (or equally as often, a record shop). Here it fulfils its stated purpose: a biker’s bar. With machines propped up on their kickstands before it, the Harley Davidson logo emblazoned on an outside wall and its run-down look, there is something oddly appealing about the bar that just further underlines the Smalltown authenticity that exists throughout the build.
Perpetuity, April 2022
There are also touches within this build that hark back to my first visit to Perpetuity in July 2021. There’s the beach pier, one of the barns and a couple of the outdoor seating spots, together with one or two of the vehicles that give a sense of connection between this iteration of the region and the July 2021 version.
As always, Perpetuity offers a lot to see and appreciate during a visit. Those wishing to use props for photography can obtain rezzing right by joining the local group; as auto-return appears to be off, do be sure to clean-up when done. Photos are welcomed in the Perpetuity Flickr group.
A study outlining priorities in US planetary science for the next decade was published by the United States National Research Council (NRC) on April 19th. Entitled Origins, Worlds, and Life: A Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032, the report is part of a 20-year history of the NRC offering periodic roadmaps for America’s space exploration strategies, during which time many of the recommendations made have gone on to shape NASA’s activities and goals.
The next decade of planetary science and astrobiology holds tremendous promise. New research will expand our understanding of our solar system’s origins, how planets form and evolve, under what conditions life can survive, and where to find potentially habitable environments in our solar system and beyond.
– from the introduction of the 2023-2032 Decadal Survey
The report – running to 522 pages – includes input from science organisations, universities and research institutions from around the world. Within it, the committee has identified twelve priority science questions that should be the focus of NASA and America’s work in space. These are divided into three categories: Origins, Worlds and Processes, and Life & Habitability, with each category including a total of 12 major areas of investigation, with the committee outlining the robotic and crewed mission proposals that NASA should consider undertaking in support of these investigations.
This report sets out an ambitious but practicable vision for advancing the frontiers of planetary science, astrobiology, and planetary defence in the next decade. This recommended portfolio of missions, high-priority research activities, and technology development will produce transformative advances in human knowledge and understanding about the origin and evolution of the solar system, and of life and the habitability of other bodies beyond Earth
– from the 2023-2032 the Decadal Survey
Highlights of the survey’s recommendations include:
Flagship Missions
Flagship missions are the “big ticket” missions for NASA. At the time of the last Decadal Survey (2011), the flagship missions were identified at the Mars 2020 mission, Europa Clipper, and the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) – the latter ultimately losing out to the other two.
This being the case, UOP has been awarded the highest priority within the 2023-32 survey. It would deliver an in-situ atmospheric probe into Uranus’ atmosphere and conduct a multi-year orbital tour to study the ice giant and its system of moons, with the objectives including the study of Uranus’ interior, atmosphere, magnetosphere, satellites, and rings.
A drawing of the proposed Uranus Orbiter and Probe.
Due to the need to utilise planetary fly-bys (gravity assists) to reach its destination, UOP would not launch until the early 2030s, when planetary alignments would facilitate the needed assists, with the primary science mission around Uranus commencing in the mid-2040s.
A second Flagship mission identified by the survey as worthy of consideration by NASA is the Enceladus Orbilander. If funded, this mission would launch in the late 2030’s sending a compact robot vehicle to orbit Saturn’s icy moon of Enceladus, passing through the plumes of water we know to be escaping the moon’s subsurface ocean as a result of gravitational interactions with Saturn. The aim of the mission is to to sample and study the plumes before making a landing on Enceladus in the early 2050s to search for biosignatures either in the surface ice.
New Frontier Missions
Regarded as “medium priority” missions, the New Frontier missions identified in the survey for further / continued development are designed to increase our understanding of the major and minor bodies in the solar system. The cost of such missions is capped at US $1.65 billion, with NASA likely to select two new missions from the crop of recommendations. They comprise:
Europa Clipper: a former Flagship mission, now downgraded to reflect its advanced status, this is due for launch in October 2024. It will arrive in orbit around Jupiter where it will fly by Europa multiple times, investigating the moon’s habitability and help identify a potential landing site for a future Europa Lander mission.
A Ceres sample / return mission to follow-up on the Dawn mission’s orbital survey of the asteroid Ceres.
A comet sample return mission.
A network of lunar landers to collect geophysical data.
A Saturn orbiter mission to follow-up on the Cassini mission.
The Oceanus Titan orbiter, proposed but not selected as a 2017 Frontiers Mission.
A Venus “in situ atmospheric” mission – possibly a vehicle to deliver a balloon that would drift through the upper reaches of Venus’ atmosphere.
A Triton (Saturn’s largest moon) orbital mission.
Mars Exploration
For the first time, a Decadal Survey identifies Mars as a dedicated target for exploration, specifically underling two missions:
The long-planned Mars Sample Return mission, which has had its share of ups and downs, and has yet to be properly settled upon by NASA.
The yet-to-be-defined Mars Life Explorer (MLE) mission designed to look specifically for signs of current microbial life on Mars and to pave the way for future human missions to Mars.
[A] sample return will provide geologic materials that are not represented among Martian meteorites and whose volatile, organic, and secondary mineral composition have not been altered by impact… In addition, sample return will allow for future analyses by instruments and techniques not yet developed. As has been the case with the Apollo samples from the Moon, future analyses are expected to yield profound results for many decades after sample return.
– from the 2023-2032 the Decadal Survey
The survey calls for cohesion between robotic and human missions is a priority for future missions to the Moon and Mars. Credit: NASEM
Lunar and Human Exploration
Unsurprisingly, the survey supports NASA’s lunar ambitions, identifying the need for robotic missions in support of a human presence on the Moon, the establishment of an “Artemis Basecamp” in the south polar region of the Moon. This also recommends much more coordination for human activities on the Moon to be linked with human missions to Mars.
Planetary Defence
A call for the development and improvement of our abilities to detect and track near-Earth Objects (NEOs) that may come to pose an impact threat for Earth, and the means to mitigate such genuine threats when identified and confirmed.
The highest priority planetary defence demonstration mission to follow DART and NEO Surveyor should be a rapid-response, flyby reconnaissance mission targeted to a challenging NEO, representative of the population of objects posing the highest probability of a destructive Earth impact (~50-to-100 m in diameter). Such a mission should assess the capabilities and limitations of flyby characterization methods to better prepare for a short-warning-time NEO threat.
– from the 2023-2032 the Decadal Survey
Which of the missions outlined by the survey are actually adopted will be down to a combination of NASA planning and congressional funding / willingness to support the goals and aspirations set out throughout the report.
Picture of the Week
Paris, April 17th 2022: the full Moon rises in line with the Arc de Triomphe and the Avenue des Champs-Elysées – a single exposure image captured by astro-photographer Thierry Legault. No compositing or other post-process used. Credit: Thierry Legault
SpaceX Starship Update
SpaceX has been moving ahead rapidly with the development of both prototypes of their Starship / Super Heavy vehicles and the facilities required to manufacture and launch them. Here’s a quick summary of key activities since my last update:
Booster 7 (sans any Raptor 2 engines) has undergone initial cryogenic and pressure testing whilst on both the orbital launch platform and the “Can Crusher”.
The test on the launch stand marked the first time any Super Heavy booster has had both tanks filled with cryogenic liquid (in this case, liquid nitrogen).
The tests on the “Can Crusher” have comprised both an ambient nitrogen pressure test of the tanks under high gaseous pressures and liquid nitrogen load tests.
The load tests have apparently included the use of the thrust rams of the “Can Crusher”, designed to simulate the pressure exerted against the rocket as a result of the thrust from its Raptor 2 motors.
Booster 7 undergoing cryogenic testing using liquid nitrogen to fill both tanks to capacity, forming frost on the outside of the stainless steel hull. Credit: NASA Spaceflight.com
At the same time as this work has been carried out, work on the next Super Heavy rocket – Booster 8 – appears to have been accelerated.
This has led to a degree of speculation that Booster 8 will actually make the first orbital launch attempt, not booster 7, which may be consigned to the role of a structural test article (much like Booster 1 and Booster 4).
The reason for this thinking is that Elon Musk has stated that with Raptor 2 production still ramping up, there will only be sufficient engines for a single booster by May, when SpaceX hope to complete the first orbital launch test. So if these engines are to be used on Booster 7, there seems little need to accelerate the assembly of Booster 8.
It also now seems likely that Starship 24 will be the vehicle to participate in the orbital launch attempt with either Booster 7 or 8. Originally, the inclusion of a payload bay door to facilitate the deployment of Starlink satellites, had been thought of as indicative that Ship 24 would be held over until SpaceX is ready to commence testing Starlink deployments with Starship.
Animated showing how the payload slot on Ship 24 and Ship 25 could release multiple Starlink satellites. Credit: OweBL
However, Ship 25 has also now been fitted with a similar mechanism, suggesting that it will be a feature of Starship vehicle during at least the next phase of development. If so, it would fit with the idea that SpaceX would like to demonstrate Starship’s ability to deliver payloads to orbit as soon as possible, even if other aspects of the system are still in development.
Nor is this the end of progress over recent weeks:
The SpaceX launch faculties at Kennedy Space Centre’s Pad 39A have seen the foundations for the new Starship / Super Heavy launch facilities start to come together.
At Roberts Road just a few kilometres away, the sections of the massive orbital launch tower are being assembled in parallel, with each section additionally being outfitted with all the required plumbing, ducting, etc., it requires.
This means that when ready, it should be possible for SpaceX to rollout, secure, stack and connect the sections into a finished tower in relatively short order compared to the construction of the tower at Boca Chica, which was erected in stages and the plumbing added after initial construction was completed.
From early April: four sections of the Starship / Super Heavy launch support tower under construction at Robert Road, Kennedy Space Centre (KSC). When complete, this section will be moved to the launch facilitates under construction within Pad 39A at KSC. Credit: Julia Bergeron / NASA Spaceflight.com
Also at Robert’s Road, work on the new fabrication and assembly facilities for Super Heavy boosters and Starship vehicles is moving forward.
All of this progress has perhaps been why SpaceX appear to have abandoned – or at least delayed – the development of a second orbital launch facility at Boca Chica (although this might also be in order to head-off any negative findings by the FAA on those plans when the latter’s environmental study and recommendation is finally published).
one of the two oil rigs SpaceX purchased for offshore launches has also completed the first stage of refurbishment – the removal of all equipment and elements not required for its use as a floating launch platform – and has been relocated in preparation for more extensive fitting-out to commence.
There is a long way to go before the Starship / Super Heavy system proves itself – from being able to launch successfully through to the routine and safe recovery of both boosters and starship vehicles to demonstrating the system is safe for human flight, let alone routinely flying with crews / passengers or being ready to meet the company’s long-term goal of reach Mars (a very different proposition to launch / landing here on Earth). However, there can be no denying the determination of SpaceX to develop, iterate and expand along their development path.
IMAGOLand Suburbs Gallery, April 2022: Arnno Planer
Arnno Planer is a self-described Second Life “snapoholic”, whose work I first encountered at the 2020 Movember art exhibition organised by JMB Balogh at the Men in Motion gallery. At the time I was struck by the natural arc and look of his avatar studies, so I was pleased to be able to see more of his work thanks to the April 19th, 2022 opening of an exhibition entitled La Ville, La Vie (The City, The Life).
Hosted by Mareea Farrasco as a part of her ever-evolving IMAGOLand cultural facilities (albeit on a separate region), the exhibition is being held with the Suburbs gallery space.
IMAGOLand Suburbs Gallery, April 2022: Arnno Planer
Be that as it may, La Ville, La Vie is located within a pair of hanger-like buildings that sit side-by-side, and presents a genuinely engaging and rich selection of both colour and monochrome male avatar studies. Some sit as what might be regarded as the more “traditional” form of avatar study, either portraiture or as a single framed story; others are more subtle in their message; several skilfully depict what might be regards (at least in places like the UK, America and Canada) “typically” French elements or touches.
Take Burning Man, LacheTon Number, Beyound and Un Seul Coq. all are beautifully composed and framed as might be found in the pages of a high fashion magazine or through a Flickr photo stream covering SL fashion, with Un Seul Coq, offering a little nod-and-wink to us on the role of the model in such photos.
IMAGOLand Suburbs Gallery, April 2022: Arnno Planer
Or take Metagorique and Degaine; two quite marvellous monochrome studies, each richly layered in potential interpretation. Taken in context of city and life, Metagorique might be seen as reminding us that not everything about city life is bustle, business, happiness and fashion; Degaine meanwhile, whilst suggesting the invincibility of youth, is captured in such a way as to evoke classic French cinematography of a bygone era.
And then there is the quite marvellous Rat Race, symbolising the whole clean / dirty nature of city life (the out-of-focus gleaming lights of soaring towers contrasting with litter and detritus of daily city life on which rats and other perceived pests survive sharply defined in the foreground), whilst also personifying the whole mad rush of modern life and consumerism: the tossed-way waste of an empty coffee cup, the bright new trainers and the manner in which one foot is raised as if to crush the rat’s head (a trick of perspective, clearly, but nevertheless a visceral portrayal of many go through life, stepping on those around them in a pointless race to the top).
IMAGOLand Suburbs Gallery, April 2022: Arnno Planer
Wherever you look within this selection of 22 pieces, you will find something that captures the eye and fires the imagination, making La Ville, La Vie an exhibition that should be seen.
Having graduated from the juvenile education system, Ana Mia decides to join her sister as a part of Fort Hope’s Midnight Guard. Fort Hope is a stronghold, protecting its inhabitants from Earth’s alien invaders; and the Midnight Guard forms the eyes, ears and guardians of the stronghold’s Wall.
Shady Hollow: a village where woodland creatures all appear to live together in harmony – at least until a curmudgeonly toad turns up dead.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 