April 18
An Equine of an Alternate Hue
LiveScience: Researchers detail a method called Oz (referencing the green-tinted glasses worn by the people of Emerald City in the "Wizard of Oz" books) that uses lasers to precisely deliver tiny doses of light to select cone cells in the eyes of five participants, making them the first humans to see a color beyond our normal visual range. They named it "olo" 😁, a bluish green with "unprecedented saturation". The closest thing to olo that can be displayed via normal means is the color teal represented by the hexadecimal code #00FFCC, however that doesn't come near to matching the intensity of olo. [more inside]
Panelescent Lighting
First patented by GE in 1938, I became aware of electroluminescent
lighting in the small, flat pale green night-lights plugged into various sockets around the house. It was the early 1960s, when "Panelescent" lighting could also be found in some automobile dashboards. The Apollo Command and Lunar Modules used EL display panels manufactured by Sylvania. Its most recent appearance may have been those Timex Indiglio watches from the 1990s. [more inside]
The bard of almost making it in America
If it were up to the world, perhaps that would still be his legacy: an obscure figure whose works scholars cite on rare occasions, but not someone whom readers or critics care about. Most books, as an eminent librarian once said, have rarely been read. But the pantheon of artistic greatness isn’t up to the world only. from
How Princetonians Saved The Great Gatsby [more inside]
I have no idea how these people got their sofa wedged into their corner
What's the optimum shape for the largest sofa that can fit around a corner? The surprisingly complex answer comes courtesy of a post-doc researcher in Seoul. [more inside]
news from rainy fascist terf island
On Wednesday, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the terms "man", "woman" and "sex", when used in the Equality Act 2010, refer to "biological sex". This ruling means that trans women are not legally considered women in the UK under the EA (and similarly trans men). [more inside]
April 17
A South Australian man faces life in prison for sacrilege
A South Australian man faces life in prison for sacrilege. Here's what the controversial charge means. The controversial law of sacrilege — which carries the same maximum penalty of life in jail as murder — still exists in South Australia, but some say it shouldn't.
It is really weird to be charging someone with sacrilege since Australia is mostly a quite secular society - in the 2021 Census, 38.9% of Australians said that they had no religion, and in the past ten years churches all over Australia have been sold off as housing due to low levels of church attendance.
No one in the history of the internet ever clicked on the SITEMAP!
25 years ago a plucky little Flash animation comedy appeared online for the first time. It rapidly gained a following, and its fortunes accelerated when a certain vampire-staying TV show threw them a shout-out. Well it's 2025 now, and they're still around. Not the vampire-slaying site ya goof, HOMESTAR RUNNER IS STILL AROUND, and they made a new cartoon to celebrate their twentyfifthaversary, Back To A Website (that one's Youtube), and, yes, also on their website. (And hang out on their main homepage for a few seconds for some character easter eggs!)
The Sideboard of Zefram Cochrane.
“Well, the inclusion of designer furniture on Starfleet ships and Federation planets makes sense—nice things are available to all in a post-scarcity society.” He points to French designer Pierre Paulin’s Ribbon Chair (1966), which has been featured not only in Star Trek: The Original Series but also in the sci-fi TV series Space: 1999 and the film Blade Runner: 2049. “Paulin chairs are always used to denote luxury..."
'Chairs in Space: When Design History Inspires Science Fiction"
'Chairs in Space: When Design History Inspires Science Fiction"
US Citizen held as “unauthorized alien” in Florida jail.
A 20-year-old U.S. citizen, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, is being held in Florida's Leon County Jail, charged with illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien” — despite the judge examining his U.S. birth certificate in court. [more inside]
Miles Davis' "On The Corner"
On the Corner was in part an effort by Miles Davis to reach a younger African-American audience who had largely left jazz for funk and rock music. It was one of Davis' worst-selling albums, and was scorned by jazz critics at the time of its release. Critical and popular reception has improved dramatically with the passage of time. Many outside the jazz community have since called it an innovative musical statement anticipating subsequent developments in styles including funk, jazz, post-punk, electronica, and hip hop.* [more inside]
Fully Automated Luxury Dystopia
ICERAID’s website describes it as a “GovFi” — government finance, a term coined by ICERAID founder Jason Meyers — protocol on Solana that “rewards citizens for capturing and uploading images of criminal illegal alien activity.” from This ICE-snitching app is actually promoting a meme coin [The Verge; ungated]
The unlilely friendship between Groucho Marx and... Alice Cooper
By us, for us
North of North is a reminder of the values that we Canadians want to live up to. (slTheTyee) [more inside]
5 Lego Walker robots vs 7 different obstacles
@hunterofmammoths: “The sheer amount of personality these machines have is staggering. I came in with zero expectations and 30 seconds in I was rooting for the two-legged simple walker like a parent at a kiddie soccer game. Unrivaled anthromorphism.” 5 Lego Walkers vs 7 different obstacles from the Brick Experiment (Youtube) Channel.
Music after Death
Revivification is an art installation where after his death Alvin "Lucier’s “brain matter”—hooked up to an electrode mesh connected to twenty large brass plates—to create electrical signals that triggered a mallet to strike the varying plates, creating a kind of post-mortem musical piece."
This piece was planed by Lucier before his death. [more inside]
"Interviewing is a craft one does not pick up overnight."
Writer Eric Berger, who recently scored a fantastic interview with the "stranded" astronauts from the ISS, talks about what he's learned in 25 years of interviewing people. It's in an article on Arstechnica, titled “What the hell are you doing?” How I learned to interview astronauts, scientists, and billionaires"
The future lies to the north
We are in the middle of a ‘great reshuffle’ of land. Over the past two centuries, nearly every society has reallocated land ownership and property rights. And because of the power that land confers to those who hold it, this reshuffling has set societies on distinct trajectories of development. It’s helped some countries become more egalitarian and productive, whereas for others it has embedded racial hierarchies, deep inequalities and economic stagnation. The global population bubble and climate change will amplify the reshuffling, and a picture of how that will happen is starting to emerge. from On unstable ground [Aeon; ungated]
April 16
Fairy-wren song reveals bird's personality
Adventurous or aggressive? Fairy-wren song reveals bird's personality. The complex songs of the tiny social bird could advertise whether it's a risk-taking explorer or a stay-at-home defender, and influence how it chooses a mate. (Side note: Australian wrens [Family Maluridae] are not related to European wrens [Family Troglodytidae] at all, it was just that when Europeans invaded Australia they went "this bird is small and lives in bushes/shrubs, so let's call it a wren".)
The Tissue of Dreams
"Commercial [clothing] patterns are designed to be a disposable tool of the garment creation process, which makes them difficult to preserve. [The Commercial Pattern Archive] project electronically captures and records commercial pattern data in order to preserve these scattered and vanishing records of European and American culture. The Commercial Pattern Archive is an official project of Save America's Treasures. CoPA-Online contains over 55,000 scanned images (garments & pattern schematics) from 61,000 commercially produced patterns, dating back to 1847." [more inside]
A combination of hooks and suckers that is unique
Laundry tumbling in the drum
"His victims, brave people who all chose to come forward despite knowing the cost, have received no justice but have had their motives questioned, been put through the court of public opinion, blamed for their actions. And then they became facts buried in links hidden in footnotes." [more inside]
The Colorful Cult of Le Creuset
“Like Hermès and Chanel, Le Creuset (luh cruh-SAY, according to the official video, meaning French for crucible) is a Gallic legacy brand that has flourished in the modern global marketplace by becoming collectible while also remaining functional. And collectors have turned what was once a niche brand into a near-cult, perpetually entranced by new lines, colors and shapes.”
The Muskspawn Legion
From the Wall Street Journal, we have reporting (archive) on Elon Musk's personal (as in being the genetic donor) eugenics program to create a "legion" of his own children - and the people who run the process for him. (SLWSJ) [more inside]
Jean Marsh goes upstairs
"Upstairs, Downstairs" star, Doctor Who companion, stage actor, novelist passes at 90.
Betjeman, Berlioz, Dante, Clive James and Rasputin jostle for attention
Anthony Powell took the visual arts seriously. As a draughtsman, his skills were those of an amateur, but he kept sketchbooks, he wrote knowledgeably about art and in the 1960s he embarked on what must be considered – if you ignore all the writing stuff – his magnum opus. Tiepolo decorated ceilings – both in AP’s imagination and in life. AP, by contrast, enhanced the boiler room in the basement of his house, The Chantry, in Somerset.
April 15
My Dinner With Donald
My new favorite bookstore in Chelsea, Michigan
Zoo elephants huddle to protect calves during San Diego earthquake
Zoo elephants huddle to protect calves during San Diego earthquake. Elephants at the San Diego Zoo were caught on video running over to protect their young by huddling together during a 5.2-magnitude earthquake.
This "alert circle" is a natural response to perceived threats, with elephants having the ability to feel sounds through their feet, an expert says.
The zoo confirmed the herd and crew are safe, and the elephants are back to their regular routine.
WikiAsteroids
Arcade asteroids game powered by real-time Wikipedia edits. Every Wikipedia edit produces a new asteroid. Game is by Kevin Payravi. His article describes installing the game in a Wikipedia-themed arcade cabinet, and links to other Wiki games and visualisations. Via The Signpost at the English Wikipedia.
To eat in modern America is to participate in not-knowing
As both farmers and processors—all of Bear Creek Farm’s cattle and pigs are processed, or “harvested,” at Cherry Meat Co.—the Cherry family manages the entire conception-to-carcass journey. “From birth and conception until it goes to somebody’s hands to cook,” said Bill. Within an industry often vast, cruel, and secretive, they have built the opposite: an intimate form of vertical integration, from conception to harvest, loving stewards over it all. from Know Your Burger [Oxford American]
Transgender Athletes: The Fencing Issue
On the weekend of March 29, 2025, the Cherry Blossom Regional Open Circuit, a fencing tournament that is a qualifier for the Summer Nationals, was held at the University of Maryland. This year's would be very different. In a match between a Wagner College fencer named Red Sullivan, and a Philadelphia fencer named Stephanie Turner, Turner chose to take a knee and be disqualified from the tournament, specifically because Sullivan is a transgender woman. [more inside]
More like 404chan, amirite?
4chan, the internet's most infamous forum, is down following an alleged hack : "According to screenshots shared on Imgur (NSFW warning), it appears a hacker gained shell access to 4chan's hosting server. They then went on to post images of the site's phpmyadmin page, and appear to have doxed the entire moderation team alongside many of the site's registered users. While it seems some users took steps to protect their identities, many appear to have used their primary email address to register for the forum, with .edu and even .gov addresses reportedly appearing in the list leaked emails." More coverage via TechMeme, @zappit.bsky.social bsky thread
What would Valentina say
Scientist and former NASA engineer join first all-female crew in space since 1963
(Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova flew a solo mission on the Vostok 6 and orbited Earth 48 times). [more inside]
a perfect circle with a subtle gradient and central void
Why do AI company logos look like buttholes? If you ever thought that AI company logos look like buttholes, you're not alone.
"If you can't get lost...get saved."
Meet Ron Hawkins, Toronto's most prolific prickly political rock star. Painter, activist, and of course, world class musician, Ron Hawkins has always done it his way (more or less.) [more inside]
Cyberpunk, affection, green silk, wariness, soup, danger, and escape
"She’s holding up a fabric sample, deep green embroidered with gold. I wore green at my adoption too. I’ll wear black to be abandoned." The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For is a science fiction novelette by Cameron Reed, published this month in Reactor, described as: "In a corporate-run dystopia, a trans girl plucked out of poverty to give birth to a clone meets her replacement." Interview with the author. This is Reed's first new published science fiction since the 1990s (she wrote The Fortunate Fall and "Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation").
[more inside]
The most dramatic failure is called a waterhammer
New York City’s municipal steam system is an iconic anachronism: a fascinating part of the city’s daily life and visual language, a foundational part of its history, and a system that has been exported and refined worldwide. It was an essential technology for its time as the buildings of Manhattan began to reach up and nudge the sky even higher. from Steam Networks [Works in Progress]
April 14
The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
Sudanese Paramilitaries Kill Entire Clinic Staff in Famine-Struck Camp This week marks two years since fighting erupted on April 15, 2023, between the RSF and the Sudanese military, resulting in thousands of deaths, the displacement of nearly 13 million people, and a severe hunger crisis in regions across Sudan. [more inside]
'Harvard will not accept the government's terms'
After Columbia University capitulated to Trump Administration demands, only to see $400 million in federal research grants remain suspended, the Ivy League may be finding its spine. Today, Harvard University replied (WaPo gift) to the administration's five pages of demands to cave on DEI, admissions policy and academic freedom in general -- or lose $9 billion in research money -- by saying, essentially, hell no. And other Ivies are signalling that they too will fight back. [more inside]
Australian academics refuse to attend US conferences
Australian academics refuse to attend US conferences for fear of being detained.
"When academics fear travelling or partnering with US institutions, the impacts ripple through the entire global knowledge ecosystem," one says.
The Art Of Poison-Pilling Music Files
People have been fighting back against machine learning for a while. CV Dazzle (previously) is facial-recognition camouflage. Glaze encodes visual works to prevent ML systems from mimicking them, and Nightshade actively poisons ML systems that attempt to train on images encoded by it.
Now Benn Jordan (previouslies) discusses Poisonify, software for encoding audio files to corrupt ML music generators trained on them. In his typical style, this video is long, fast-moving, and covers a lot of ground.
El peruano más universal falleció a los 89 años
Recall redux
Security and privacy advocates are girding themselves for another uphill battle against Recall, the AI tool rolling out in Windows 11 that will screenshot, index, and store everything a user does every three seconds. [more inside]
this song meant
This Song Meant A beautifully simple idea: pick a song and (anonymously) post a description of what it means to you. [more inside]
Happy Talk
The Gross National Happiness index was indeed a brainstorm from Bhutan. However, all is not rainbows and unicorns in The Land of the Thunder Dragon. The Lhotshampa people were ruthlessly cleansed from Bhutan in the 80s/90s, and Bhutan, recently ranked at 95 out of 157 countries, has slipped off the World Happiness Report due to a lack of data. It's no Shangri-La.
Genocide continues without interruption
On Passover, the IDF bombed al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, one of the last functional hospitals in Gaza, drawing widespread condemnation. It was the second time the IDF bombed the hospital. Al-Jazeera has posted a timeline of IDF attacks on hospitals over the past year and a half. A new potential ceasefire deal is on the table. Again. DropSiteNews indicates there is nothing new. Houthis strike Ben Gurion Airport, military base in Israel. Trump backs Israel pushing deeper into Gaza while also pushing for a hostage deal. Hamas slams Israel's ban on Palestinian Christians celebrating Palm Sunday in Jerusalem. [more inside]
Bob Dylan and The Band at the Isle of Wight in 1969
Once I held mountains in the palm of my hand...
August 31st, 1969 -- Bob Dylan and The Band at the Isle of Wight [more inside]
Deep sea photos reveal the otherworldly creatures of Bass Canyon
Deep sea photos reveal the otherworldly creatures of Bass Canyon. Four kilometres (2.4 miles) below the Southern Ocean surface is a strange world inhabited by even stranger creatures. In its autumn voyage, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO's) Research Vessel Investigator took a closer look.
The idea was still pissing people off decades later
What are the chances? That a lapsed luck philosopher meets an unluckiness magnet on Tinder and falls for her? That she falls for him? That she gets diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis? That they lose their accommodations over a coffee-pod dispute? It was the question Whittington the philosopher was initially pushing against. from Does Luck Exist? [Intelligencer; ungated]
April 13
Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s Free Thread
All this week is Pesach, one of the most important holidays of the year! What does this timeless narrative of striving for freedom mean to you today? Which is your favorite plague? Which of the Haggadah's four children are you? Or if you want a fight, how would you rank the songs in Prince of Egypt? Obviously "Playing With the Big Boys" is much too high. Brukhim Ha-Bo’im; it's your weekly Free Thread