In the autumn of 2021‚ geologists discovered an unusual row of stones‚ more than half a mile long‚ just 21 meters below the sea off the Baltic coast. The approximately 1‚500 stones are aligned so regularly that a natural origin seems unlikely. A team of researchers from different disciplines now concluded that Stone Age hunter-gatherers […] The post Geologists Found a Mega-Structure Built by Ice Age Hunters Submerged in the Baltic Sea appeared first on Good News Network.

Rereads and Rewatches Brandon Sanderson Elantris Reread: Chapter 61 Still Sanderlanchin’… By Paige Vest‚ Lyndsey Luther | Published on February 15‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Greetings‚ Cosmere Chickens‚ and welcome back to the climax of Elantris! In this week’s reread we finally reach the point where everything comes to a head‚ and it’s a glorious moment‚ to be sure. If you’ve been waiting on the edge of your seat for Raoden to find the answers he’s been seeking for the entirety of the book—well‚ this is the chapter for you. We’ll also be delving into the annotations to learn about some of the stuff that Brandon ultimately cut from the book… Won’t you join us? Spoiler warning: This week’s article contains major spoilers from Mistborn: Eras 1 and 2. The spoilers are clearly marked‚ but proceed with caution if you haven’t read the books yet! Last time on Elantris: STILL SANDERLANCHIN’… We’ve reached the point of peak dramatic tension: Raoden has succumbed to his injuries and Galladon and Karata have carried him to the Pool. They are about to toss him in when he realizes what they need to do to save the Dor—but his startled shout surprises Galladon‚ who drops Raoden into the Pool. Meanwhile‚ Dilaf teleports Hrathen and Sarene to Teod‚ where he’s prepared to assassinate Eventeo and take the country by force. The prisoners back in Arendel and Elantris are about to be put to the sword or the torch. Things look very‚ very grim… Chapter Essentials POV Character(s): Everyone! Discussion Hrathen watched the dagger begin to slice Sarene’s skin. He thought of Fjorden. He thought of the work he had done‚ the people he had saved. He thought of a young boy‚ eager to prove his faith by entering the priesthood. Unity.“No!” Spinning‚ Hrathen drove his fist into Dilaf’s face. L: FACE TURN! FACE TURN! FACE TURN! P: Woo-hoo! I loved this moment so much! Hrathen has the most progression of any of the characters in this book. It’s fitting‚ therefore‚ that he should get the best character climax. Essentially‚ Elantris–at least Hrathen’s third of it–is a redemption story. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson Back to Hrathen’s finest hour: “Launch your ships‚ Eventeo!” he yelled. “Fjorden’s armies come not to dominate‚ but to massacre. Move now if you want to save your people!” L: Gotta respect Hrathen for not only saving Sarene‚ who he’s got the hots for‚ but also the people of Teod. P: Yes. Saving Sarene was one thing‚ he didn’t have to tell Eventeo what was happening. He truly does want to preserve life. L: About time. Though Dakhor bodies were unnaturally quick‚ their minds recovered from shock no more quickly than those of ordinary men. Their surprise bought Hrathen a few vital seconds. He brought his sword up‚ shoving Sarene toward an alleyway and backing up to block the entrance. L: On the one hand‚ it’s awesome that Hrathen’s finally turned face and saved her at the eleventh hour. On the other‚ I so wish that Sarene could have saved herself and didn’t need to be turned into a damsel in distress. P: True. But really‚ she had no chance against those monks. They’re beyond brutal. And really‚ she’s been saved like a damsel in distress a couple of times in this book so far. L: Brandon does get better with his heroines as his writing career progresses (looking at you‚ Vin‚ Shallan‚ Jasnah) so we can look at this at the beginning of his “character” arc. All of us have to learn and grow as writers. Shuden burst into motion. The young baron snapped forward‚ spinning like a dancer as he brought his fist around‚ driving it into the chest of a chanting warrior monk. (…) And Shuden did it all with his eyes closed. Lukel couldn’t be certain‚ but he thought he saw something else—a slight glow following Shuden’s movements in the dawn shadows. L: Oh‚ well that’s certainly interesting! Glowing‚ you say? P: Oh‚ I like hints! The ChayShan wasn’t ever intended to be effective or successful–it’s not a Deus Ex Machina for the people trapped inside Elantris. It is a hint of things I plan to do with the future of this world. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson Back to Raoden‚ who has just burst out of the Pool‚ to everyone’s surprise: They had expected [Raoden] to dissolve—they didn’t understand that the pool couldn’t take him unless he wanted it to. P:I find this very interesting. Like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter taking your wishes into account. The pool represents giving in—though it’s giving in to peace instead of pain‚ it is still an admittance of defeat. I’ve mentioned over and over that the pain has no power against one who doesn’t give in to it. I don’t see why the peace should be any different. If you can resist one‚ then you can resist the other. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: And this becomes a theme in Brandon’s work in general—one need only look at Dalinar and Kaladin to see that. I’m honestly not sure what the pool is or how exactly it fits into the theory of this magic system. It was added as a plotting devise‚ as mentioned earlier‚ and therefore was never tied directly to the cosmology or theoretics of the world. When I do a sequel to this book‚ I think I’ll try and find a way to tie it in.—Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: Looking back on this now‚ we have to laugh‚ because this is a Perpendicularity. Brandon may not have realized what he was doing at the time‚ but he linked it into the Cosmere eventually! P: I really love this so much. “I’m going to put this random thing in my book to advance my plot but I have no idea how important it will become in my overarching universe.” Just perfect. When aid finally did come‚ it was from an odd source: the women.Several of Sarene’s fencers snatched up pieces of wood or fallen swords and fell in behind Lukel‚ thrusting with more control and ability than he could even feign to know. P: I knew this would happen! Good on Sarene and her lessons! The women attack because it fulfills the form of this novel. This is a book about people who resist despite hopelessness‚ and it is about making use of your limitations to overcome your hardships. It’s about the spirit of mankind. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: I love this so much. It’s bringing these women full circle‚ and fulfilling a promise made to the reader. Their sword lessons were Chekhov’s gun placed on the mantle for us—why show us learning to fight‚ if we weren’t ever going to see them use those skills? P:  Exactly! This is truly so satisfying to see. Their hard work during Sarene’s lessons is paying off! I wanted them to give a nod to the theme of the book while at the same time fulfilling Sarene’s ‘fencing plot’ cycle. The women did her proud–they fought back while their men waited to be slain. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson Back to Sarene and Hrathen‚ who is discarding his heavy armor: “The burden of my calling‚” Hrathen said‚ pulling off his final greave. Its bloodred paint was now scratched and dented. “A calling I no longer deserve.” L: I do love a good antihero face-turn‚ and this one absolutely qualifies. P: Or maybe it’s a calling that he no longer quite fits into. He’s grown past it. [Elantris is] the story of a man struggling to understand what faith is‚ and what that faith requires of him. In the end‚ his decision to save Sarene comes as a rejection of the sins of his past. And‚ in a slight way‚ it is a rejection of the heartless‚ logical man he assumed himself to be. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: And we see this exemplified a little later‚ in his conversation with Sarene: “Why did you do it‚ Hrathen?” she asked. “Why turn against your people?”Hrathen hesitated. Then he looked away. “Dilaf’s actions are evil.”“But your faith…”“My faith is in Jaddeth‚ a God who wants the devotion of men. A massacre does not serve Him.” P: Some of this religion’s ideas are funky but that’s a good baseline to have. He stood bare-chested‚ wearing only a pair of thin‚ knee-length trousers and a long cloth sleeve around his right arm. L: Hrathen doing his best romance-novel-cover impression here—maybe a last-ditch effort to try to seduce Sarene? All he needs is the long hair blowing in the wind. And maybe a kilt. P: Oh my‚ Lyndsey… you made me snort-laugh. L: I’ll be here all week. Tip your servers! Ahead‚ Raoden grabbed a long stick from the ground‚ then he started to run‚ dragging the length of wood behind him. Past!Brandon has some thoughts about this: Now‚ perhaps‚ you see why I was worried that I had Raoden too far up on the slope. In order for the plot to work‚ I had to get him down to the city in a hurry so that he could draw the Chasm Line. … He also runs‚ dragging the stick‚ longer than I imply. I think the pacing here is important to keep up the tension. However‚ if you draw the line‚ you’ll see that he had to cross a good distance of land while dragging his stick. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: A stick? But you could be a plot device… P: Stop! You’re killing me! L: Never. A soldier finished the swing that separated Karata’s beleaguered head from her body. P: Oh‚ nooo… I so liked her! I’m sorry for killing Karata. It felt like the right thing to do right here‚ even though my readers universally disagree with this decision. This is a very important series of events. If I didn’t have any real danger for the characters‚ then I think earlier events—where characters did die—would come across feeling more weighty. Karata and Galladon throw themselves at a troop of armed soldiers. There was no way for that to end well. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: I guess we’ll forgive you this time‚ Past!Brandon. I’d say “don’t make a habit of it‚” but‚ well. We all know how that holds up. (Mistborn spoiler:) Kelsier‚ Wayne… (End of spoiler) P: Yes‚ and more beloved than Karata. Light exploded from the ground.It burst from the dirt like a silver river‚ spraying into the air along the line Raoden had drawn. The light enveloped him—but it was more than just light. It was essential purity. Power refined. The Dor. It washed over him‚ covering him like a warm liquid.And for the first time in two months‚ the pain went away. L: Finally! P: Payoff‚ baby! It’s been such a long‚ painful wait since Raoden first started practicing the Dor! The city complex was an enormous Aon—a focus for Elantrian power. All it had needed was the Chasm line to make it begin working again. One square‚ four circles. Aon Rao. The Spirit of Elantris. L: So the shape of the city itself is the spell that makes the Dor work. Sort of like how the shape of the Shattered Plains in Words of Radiance has significance… Brandon seems like imbuing the topography or structure of his cities with magical importance. P: I loved so much that the actual city was an Aon. It was just ::chef’s kiss::. Because Elantris was an Aon‚ it stopped working just like all of the other Aons did when the Reod occurred. I’ve established several times in the book that the medium an Elantrian draws in—whether it be mud‚ the air‚ or in this case dirt—doesn’t matter. The form of the Aon is the important part. By putting a line in the proper place‚ Raoden creates a gate that allows the Dor to flow into Elantris and resume its intended purpose. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson Raoden steps out of the light‚ and… The terrified soldiers stumbled away. Several made wards against evil‚ calling upon their god.“You have one hour‚” Raoden said‚ raising a glowing finger toward the docks to the northeast. “Go.” He lets them go?! Yes‚ Raoden lets the Dakhor monks go. That’s the sort of thing that happens in this book. If you want something more gritty‚ you can read Mistborn. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: ::puts on Ninth Doctor hat::Just this once‚ Rose‚ everybody lives! P: I really need to watch Doctor Who‚ don’t I? L: I wasn’t aware that you hadn’t‚ so yes. Emphatically yes. Lukel wasn’t watching the walls. His mouth opened in amazement as he stared at the pyre of corpses—and the shadows moving within it.Slowly‚ their bodies glistening with a light both more luminous and more powerful than the flames around them‚ the Elantrians began to step from the blaze‚ unharmed by its heat. P: Ahh! I love this! Nobody is lost (except Karata‚ sad face)! I like having this scene from Lukel’s viewpoint. If nothing else were gained from his other sections‚ I think the scene of the Elantrians emerging from the flames would be enough to justify his viewpoints in these last few chapters. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: I’m with Past!Brandon on this one. That’s an awesome mental image. P: Right? Glowing bodies emerging from the pyre. Very cool! L: You know‚ Brandon may claim to not be gritty and dark‚ but then he comes out with this: Only the two demon priests seemed capable of motion. One of them screamed in denial and dashed at the emerging Elantrians‚ his sword upraised.A flash of power shot across the courtyard and struck the monk in the chest‚ immolating the creature in a puff of energy. The sword dropped to the paving stones with a clang‚ followed by a scattering of smoking bones and burnt flesh. L: Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much. That’s pretty dark. (Not that I’m complaining! That monk had it coming!) P: Oh‚ did he ever. They all did‚ really‚ for massacring the people of Kae. I’d have been like‚ “No mercy!” Raoden stopped‚ his hand poised next to the gleaming character—Aon Daa‚ the Aon for power. L: Aon alert! “Take your men to the docks‚ monk‚” Raoden said. “Board your ships and go. Anything Derethi‚ man or vessel‚ that remains in my country after the next hour’s chime will suffer the force of my rage. I dare you to leave me with a suitable target.” L: I do love that he gets to have a badass speech to go along with his “get off my lawn” proclamation. P: “Get off my lawn…” OMG‚ you’re on it today! ::laughing some more:: L: Thank you‚ thank you. I keep promising that I’ll tell you about some of the other silly character revelations I had pop up in the book. This one is particularly embarrassing. To be honest‚ I have NO idea what I was thinking. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: Oh‚ this ought to be good. We’ve got to include this. In the original draft of the book‚ Hrathen turns out to have been from Duladel the entire time. It’s revealed in this scene‚ when he and Sarene are running from the Dakhor. He was of Dula blood‚ having grown up there‚ then moved to Fjorden as a teenager. Yes‚ I know. I must have been tired when I wrote that chapter. Anyway‚ at one point it must have seemed like a good idea. It didn’t make even the first cut‚ however—my first readers rose up in open rebellion‚ and I joined them. I figure I must have decided that it was more dramatic to discover that Hrathen had betrayed his own people by destroying Duladel. Yes‚ again‚ I know. It was stupid. We writers do stupid things sometimes. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: I’m going to be honest here… I could see this working well‚ if not maybe at this place in the novel. The whole “he betrayed his own people” twist could be really cool. But at this point there would have just been too much going on. It would have been overwhelming. P: I agree with you. There’s a lot happening in this Sanderlanche and this would have been just too much for us to swallow. I didn’t even pause to think that the drama of Hrathen betraying his own people and religion in the present is far more powerful than a betrayal that happened before the book even started. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: Yeah‚ there’s that‚ I guess… but his own people in the present are dicks‚ so… P: Indeed‚ they are. Wyrn is just evil incarnate. I denied his entire character by trying to rely on some whim that seemed like a clever‚ unexpected twist. Don’t let yourselves do things like this‚ writers. Let the twists help develop the character‚ not exist simply to surprise. —Annotation‚ Brandon Sanderson L: A very fair point there. But I still think that it could have worked. P: ::takes notes:: Any advice Brandon has to offer is good advice‚ in my opinion. We’ll be leaving further speculation and discussion to you in the comments‚ and hope to join you there! Next week‚ we’ll be back with chapter 62. The post <;em>;Elantris<;/em>; Reread: Chapter 61 appeared first on Reactor.

News Doctor Who You Can Now Read a Whole Lot of Doctor Who Scripts Courtesy of the BBC Writers’ Script Library It’s a regular script treasure trove By Molly Templeton | Published on February 15‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed If you have ever wondered what an episode of Doctor Who looks like before it’s filmed—which is to say‚ on a page‚ fresh from the mind of the show’s many writers—you can now sate your curiosity many times over. BBC Writers‚ a group which describes itself as “the public face of the BBC to the UK writing community‚” has added a whole pile of Doctor Who and Doctor Who-related work to their online script library. What? It can’t be…that’s impossible! Or is it…?BBC Writers is now part of the Whoniverse‚ head over to the sparkly new Whoniverse section in our Script Library (linked below) to find over 200 scripts from across the Whoniverse! We’ll be posting more about what we’ve… pic.twitter.com/mzvK4RKX0h— BBC Writers (@bbcwritersroom) February 14‚ 2024 It’s not just recent Who; it’s also scripts from Sarah Jane Adventures‚ the short-lived spinoff Class‚ and Torchwood‚ among other tidbits and interviews. Yes‚ I did immediately go read part of the script for Torchwood: Children of Men Part 1; yes‚ this was depressing; yes‚ now I want to watch the whole thing again. So the library is clearly doing its job and then some. You can even read the audition piece Russell T Davies wrote for the Fifteenth Doctor‚ which is an intriguing inclusion that somehow manages to sum up decades of Who in just a short paragraph at the start: THE DOCTOR is with ROBIN‚ a 21 year old modern-day HUMAN. They barely know each other; they’ve just been chased‚ by monsters‚ turned round a corner‚ ran into this room‚ and whup! they were sealed in. Now they’re calming down; though the Doctor is always thinking of 500 things at once‚ mind spinning‚ ticking‚ racing. And having fun too‚ nice &; fast! This scene goes on an on with the Doctor quoting song lyrics and movie lines and in fact I would like to see Ncuti Gatwa ask‚ “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” to be honest. But like so many good Who stories‚ this one has a twist‚ and it’s kind of a gut-punch even though the piece is only eight pages long. Take your own deep dive into the Whoniverse scripts here. The post You Can Now Read a Whole Lot of <;i>;Doctor Who<;/i>; Scripts Courtesy of the BBC Writers’ Script Library appeared first on Reactor.

Column Mark as Read Coming to Terms With “Cozy” Fiction Categories and genres are weird things. Sometimes they make perfect sense; sometimes they feel like mental sandpaper. By Molly Templeton | Published on February 15‚ 2024 Photo by anotherxlife [via Unsplash] icon-comment 1 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Photo by anotherxlife [via Unsplash] If you say the word cozy to me I will‚ without any intention whatsoever‚ immediately picture the Sleepytime bear. Pajamas‚ a fireplace‚ a nice little cap—the only thing wrong with the bear is that his room is entirely too bright for a friend that‚ to all appearances‚ just wants to doze off by the fire. It’s a sweet image that I have been looking at since I was a tween. I kind of love it. And yet I have for a while now just groaned at the rise of cozy when applied to SFF. The term‚ as I understand it‚ was lifted from the world of mystery‚ where it tends to mean somewhat gentle‚ small-town investigations undertaken by people who are probably not cops. Cozy mysteries arose‚ according to Novel Investigations‚ partly in response to the more hardboiled style of seedy underworlds and terrible humans. So what happens when the world itself seems to be a seedy underworld‚ and too many terrible humans are in power? We start to want cozies—and in genres beyond mystery. We want comfort reads‚ books in which nothing bad happens‚ and competence porn.  Still‚ one person’s comfort rewatch is another person’s disliked Battlestar Galactica episode in which people punch out their feelings‚ which is to say‚ I think comfort is a trickier subject than is sometimes addressed. But cozy is more like a subgenre—a style as much as a feeling. It can be comforting‚ but isn’t necessarily synonymous with “comfort reads.” Cozy tends toward witches and innkeepers‚ ordinary folks‚ unchosen ones‚ the regular-old crews of regular-old ships. It’s found families and unexpected magical inheritances‚ and stories about just trying to find one’s place in the world (or galaxy). And it’s been bubbling up for years and years‚ well before our current pandemic-shaped landscape. So why did I bristle at the category? Why did I want to not read all the sweeter-sounding books‚ even though I went looking for exactly this kind of thing when I wrote a column‚ two years ago‚ called “What to Read When You Are Worn Out on World-Saving”? Why do I hate it when stories are called “low stakes” because they’re not about saving the world? The stakes for anyone‚ in their own life‚ are high. Can’t that reality play out in stories‚ too? Maybe “stakes” is just not a useful way to look at books. Categories and genres are weird things. Sometimes they make perfect sense; sometimes they feel like mental sandpaper. I know I’m not the only person who has heard of a new subgenre that ends in -core or -punk and cringed‚ quietly‚ on the inside. Cozy has always elicited a similar response in me. It sounded too small. But I think‚ now‚ that I was caught up in a weird kind of semantics. I think that maybe it’s about something else altogether‚ something we just don’t always want to say on account of we might sound kind of mushy and sentimental. Cozy‚ in SFF‚ just means it’s about people.  There are other awkward words for this. Human-centric‚ maybe. Things that might once‚ or by some people‚ get called “soft SF‚” in opposition to “hard SF‚” a frustrating delineation that always felt like a ranking of the sciences to me. I haven’t heard these terms much in recent years‚ and I’m not sad about it. But that doesn’t mean the kinds of stories the awkward terms were trying to describe stopped existing.  Cozy means we soft little creatures‚ the ones rattling around in tin cans in a galaxy that could kill us in minutes—we’re the point. Not the world‚ not the spaceship‚ not the neat wormholes or the super-cool magic sword or the things that need to be collected. Cozy is why I play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and never tackle the final battles‚ opting instead to run around visiting every village I can find‚ helping random people with their often very weird problems. Cozy is a whole genre of helping random people with their often very weird problems‚ you could say. There might be an epic battle against magical forces‚ but it’s over there. There are still people going about their days‚ collecting bugs‚ needing to get a rushroom fix‚ or trying to make their kid happy. Yes‚ books with big epic quests and world-saving are also about people. Books are about people‚ generally speaking. But every storyteller prioritizes: Are you saying something all-encompassing or something intimate? Do you want to look deep into the hearts of a bunch of weirdos on a spaceship or do you want to trace the rise and fall of a dynasty? Do you want to do both? Can you do both? What do you want your readers to take away from a story? What do you‚ as a reader‚ want to take from a story? Has it changed‚ at all‚ in the last five or eight years? Has it changed again in the last year? An old friend pointed out another thing about cozies‚ and about comfort‚ the other week. She said the same thing I just said: that they’re about people. But her point was that they’re also not about machines‚ or sweet new technologies‚ or finding new ways to share on social media. They’re not about robots‚ or so-called AI; they’re about the things that the techbros can’t or don’t or won’t understand‚ in their quests to optimize and minimize and turn every narrative into a quickly digestible blog post.  Cozy stories can be a kind of defiance. Their rise is a testament to what a lot of readers need—comfort‚ yes‚ but also connection‚ meaning‚ purpose‚ ritual‚ care‚ love‚ possibility. Not just the possibility of a single‚ lovely‚ charming story‚ but a reminder that it’s possible for our world to contain those things‚ again‚ in larger measure that it feels like it does right now.  This doesn’t mean there’s no struggle‚ no difficulty in the character’s lives. But it does mean recognizing that not every struggle is against a demon king with a sword. What we’re struggling with‚ down here on the ground‚ with our muddy boots and our broken hearts—those struggles are just as valid. If the world is constantly questioning your right to exist‚ to be equal‚ to be heard‚ why would you not want a story that lets you live‚ however briefly‚ in a world where none of that happens? When you turn the last page‚ all the struggles are still real‚ from book bans to bombings. Escapism isn’t a dirty word‚ and it’s not just about leaving the world behind for a little while. It’s also about coming back better able to face what’s right in front of us.[end-mark] The post Coming to Terms With “Cozy” Fiction appeared first on Reactor.

Deep Rock Galactic has a home on Xbox Series X|S‚ Xbox One‚ and Game Pass. That said‚ is Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor on Xbox? What platforms is Deep Rock Galactic Survivor available on? Currently‚ Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor isn’t available on Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One. It’s only available on PC right now. The silver lining here is that it’s in Early Access. Related: Is Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor multiplayer? Co-op‚ explained Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is only available on PC via Steam‚ but that could change in the future. Since it is in Early Access‚ anything can happen. While Ghost Ship Games is publishing‚ Funday Games‚ the developers of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor have a living roadmap with lots of fun to come. On the Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor living roadmap‚ there is no mention of Xbox or Game Pass integration. It doesn’t say anything about PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 integration‚ either. But‚ just because that isn’t list...

For years‚ scientists have been poring over old ship logs‚ scouring weather reports for clues about changes in the Earth’s climate. But there was a World War II-sized hole in their research: the hostilities disrupted commercial shipping and reduced the number of weather reports sailors were producing. Trade between the United States and Asia‚ in particular‚ ground to a halt. Of course‚ there were plenty of naval ships patrolling the Pacific from 1941-1945. And they were under orders to log their whereabouts and record the weather conditions every hour and to do so in a standardized way. However‚ the military classified this meteorological motherlode and made it off-limits to climate researchers. A breakthrough finally came in 2017 when the National Archives declassified 192‚500 pages of U.S. Navy Command files‚ mostly from the Pacific and mostly from 1941 to 1946.   Now researchers faced another hurdle. Since the records were mostly on paper‚ they needed to be scanned‚ photographed‚ and transcribed before scientists worldwide could analyze them—a labor-intensive project indeed. Fortunately‚ there already existed a group of citizen-researchers‚ working under the name Old Weather‚ who had years of experience crowdsourcing the work of transcribing old ship logs to help climate scientists. So a team led by Praveen Teleti‚ a climate modeler at Britain’s University of Reading‚ started the Old Weather-WW2 project and asked the public for help. For a year and a half‚ 4‚050 volunteers helped digitize 630‚000 records from 19 ships—three battleships‚ an aircraft carrier‚ eight destroyers‚ six cruisers‚ and a gunboat. Teleti said the project was sped along by the COVID-19 pandemic‚ which kept people at home with time on their hands.   The project doubled the number of weather observations available in some parts of the Pacific. The results were published in Geoscience Data Journal in September 2023. Now scientists can begin to use the data the citizen-researchers compiled to get a better understanding of changes in the climate. Among other things‚ they hope to learn more about a mysterious uptick in wartime sea surface temperatures—the so-called “World War II warm anomaly”—that may‚ in fact‚ have more to do with the way sailors collected the data. And they hope to expand their understanding of Typhoon Cobra‚ a cyclone that hit the U.S. Pacific Fleet in December 1944‚ sinking three destroyers and killing nearly 800 men.

Anyone who explores Civil War–era history should pay close attention to how people at the time understood and used key words. “Freedom” ranks among the most important of such words. Americans of the 21st century almost always address questions relating to freedom within a context of slavery and emancipation. This approach often yields insights regarding mid–19th century people‚ across racial lines‚ who found themselves challenged by the war’s life-changing events. Yet such assumptions about how the White population in the free states used “freedom” also can lead us astray. For a broad spectrum of the loyal citizenry of the United States‚ including almost all Democrats‚ the word could have conjured images not of ending slavery but of guaranteeing and extending their own liberty and freedom in a nation where‚ politically and economically‚ the cards were not stacked irrevocably against common people. George F. Root’s song The Battle-Cry of Freedom offers an opportunity to explore this phenomenon. Among the most popular compositions for loyal soldiers and civilians‚ its sheet music sold more than 500‚000 copies in the 19th century. Root’s lyrics not only shed light on what mattered to those who sang and listened to them‚ but they also demonstrate the importance of ascribing contemporary meanings to language deployed by the Civil War generation. “Freedom” is the key word in the song’s title. A reasonable conclusion might be that Root‚ writing in the summer of 1862‚ authored a call for White men to enlist and end the practice of human bondage by force of arms. After all‚ Congress already had outlawed slavery in the District of Columbia and the Federal territories (on April 16 and June 19‚ 1862‚ respectively)‚ and discussion of more general emancipation grew increasingly heated inside and outside Congress. However plausible‚ such an interpretation fails to account for the origins of the song and its great appeal in the United States. “I heard of President Lincoln’s second call for troops one afternoon while reclining on a lounge in my brother’s house‚” Root recalled in his memoirs. “Immediately I started a song in my mind‚” he continued‚ “words and music together: ‘Yes‚ we’ll rally round the flag‚ boys‚ we’ll rally once again‚ / Shouting the battle-cry of freedom!’” Root thought about the piece through the rest of the day and finished it the following morning. “From there the song went into the army‚” he remembered with obvious pride‚ “and the testimony in regard to its use in the camp and on the march‚ and even on the field of battle‚ from soldiers and officers‚ up to generals‚ and even to the good President himself‚ made me thankful that if I could not shoulder a musket in defense of my country I could serve her in this way.” George F. Root was especially proud that his battle song was popular with soldiers and the president‚ hoping that his lack of military service was absolved through the service of his song to the U.S. Army and the country. Emancipation almost certainly did not preoccupy Root as he composed what he termed a “rallying song.” Lincoln’s call for the governors of loyal states to supply 300‚000 3-year volunteers‚ dated July 1‚ 1862‚ and released to the press the next day‚ sought to boost volunteering across the United States. National conscription lay many months in the future‚ as did large-scale recruitment of African Americans‚ so anything that might help place more White men in uniform during the summer of 1862 would assist the Lincoln administration and the war effort. For the song’s targeted audience‚ “Union” provided the hook‚ with preservation of existing American freedom as one of the obvious benefits of vanquishing the Rebels. The chorus conveyed the principal message: “The Union forever‚ Hurrah‚ boys‚ Hurrah! / Down with the traitor‚ Up with the star; / While we rally round the flag‚ boys‚ / Rally once again‚ Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom.” Echoing Daniel Webster’s famous call for “Liberty and Union‚ now and forever‚” the chorus supported the idea of a perpetual Union so dear to Lincoln and countless others. The second verse tied prospective volunteers to White men who had enlisted earlier and suffered casualties that left military units shorthanded: “We are springing to the call / Of our brothers gone before‚ / Shouting the battle cry of Freedom; / And we’ll fill our vacant ranks / With a million free men more‚ / Shouting the battle cry of Freedom.” The third verse invited all classes of men to step forward with a promise of rights within the Union: “We will welcome to our numbers / The loyal‚ true‚ and brave‚ / Shouting the battle cry of Freedom‚ / And although he may be poor‚ / Not a man shall be a slave‚ / Shouting the battle cry of Freedom.” The last verse spoke to a national effort uniting geographical sections: “So we’re springing to the call / From the East and from the West‚ / Shouting the battle cry of Freedom‚ / And we’ll hurl the rebel crew / From the land we love the best‚ / Shouting the battle cry of freedom.” Root’s lyrics brilliantly engaged the pool of military-age White men in the loyal states—“free men” who‚ by taking up arms‚ would guarantee continued “freedom” and prevent their domination by southern slaveholders. These words appealed on the basis of a free labor vision of the American nation with a Constitution and representative form of government designed‚ as Abraham Lincoln put it‚ “to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all‚ an unfettered start‚ and a fair chance‚ in the race of life.” Many in the North believed that slaveholding oligarchs denied such a path‚ and thus real freedom‚ to non-slaveholding White people in the South‚ and that the Slave Power’s inordinate influence in the antebellum federal government had presented a continuing obstacle to greater expansion of political and economic opportunity. Root translated Webster’s soaring rhetoric into a paean to Union with an infectious melody and well-crafted lyrics that spread through army camps and patriotic gatherings on the civilian front. As the war progressed‚ emancipation joined restoring the Union as a stated national goal‚ and Black men entered the army in significant numbers. Those striking changes meant that Root’s memorable song could summon thoughts of both preserving freedom long enjoyed by White Americans and expanding freedom to millions of African Americans who had suffered under the tyranny of slavery. This article originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Civil War Times magazine.

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