November 20, 2019
Koalas and quolls and Bear—oh my!
An obsessive-compulsive dog who was abandoned as a puppy has a new mission: helping find and save koalas injured in Australia’s recent devastating bushfires. Bear, a Cattle Dog cross-breed, is trained to find both koalas and quolls, another small Australian marsupial, in the wild.
I Just Want to Ride
November 20, 2019 -- the year the future became the past
Today is the day of the events in Blade Runner, according to this Blade Runner fan site. [Scroll down] But we've lost a lot of other futures to the past, too!. ‘Blade Runner’ and 11 Other Sci-Fi Films Set in a Future That’s Already in the Past (The Wrap) has a round-up.
Houston: we have a door latch problem
Early in the shuttle days there was a huge concern about what to do if the doors did not close and latch properly at the end of the mission. The doors had to be open during most of the orbit stay time for cooling and to allow satellite deployments or other objectives. But during re-entry and the atmospheric part of the flight, the doors had to be firmly shut and latched down. If they were to spring open and rip off, the vehicle would become uncontrollable and catastrophe would ensue.
Attention Atlanta: The Fifth Democratic Debate
On November 20, starting at 9 p.m. EST, ten Democratic candidates meet in Atlanta, Georgia, for a debate hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post. The debate will be moderated by Rachel Maddow, host of "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC; Andrea Mitchell, host of "Andrea Mitchell Reports" on MSNBC and NBC News' chief foreign affairs correspondent; Kristen Welker, NBC News' White House correspondent; and Ashley Parker, a White House reporter for The Washington Post. Watch the debate online at MSNBC.com or washingtonpost.com. [more inside]
"Who couldn’t use an AA battery? You had this one in the junk drawer."
“What to do about deliberately bad gifts?” Captain Awkward tackles the subject matter of deliberate bad gift givers and how to handle them, etiquette-wise. [more inside]
The Iran Cables
In an unprecedented leak from one of the world’s most secretive regimes, an anonymous source provided 700 pages of Iranian intelligence reports to The Intercept, saying they wanted to “let the world know what Iran is doing in my country Iraq.” A detailed account of Iranian intelligence at work in Iraq, fighting ISIS, and more. [more inside]
Are birds dinosaurs?
I am a sinister surprise masquerading as an average parking lot.
Emoji Storm
New Scientist: Humans placed in suspended animation for the first time
"Doctors have placed humans in suspended animation for the first time, as part of a trial in the US that aims to make it possible to fix traumatic injuries that would otherwise cause death." [New Scientist] [more inside]
“Nice guy, good father, loving husband, something about a piano...”
Daniel Mallory Ortberg returns with this year’s instalment of his pop-gothic celeb-horror serial fic People’s Sexiest Man Alive. Emphasis on the alive. This year: underdog John Legend takes on Idris Elba. [previously, previously-er]
“We need this solidarity desperately now.”
“ The threat of antisemitism is not some abstract idea to me. It is very personal. It destroyed a large part of my family. I am not someone who spends a lot of time talking about my personal background because I believe political leaders should focus their attention on a vision and agenda for others, rather than themselves. But I also appreciate that it’s important to talk about how our backgrounds have informed our ideas, our principles, and our values.” How To Fight Antisemitism by Sen. Bernie Sanders (Jewish Currents) Responses.
Woman beefriends an wee bee
He's back, and he's Bats
Several years after their epic review of Batman: Odyssey [TVTropes] (previously on the blue), Neal Adams' utterly gonzo take on the Caped Crusader, Laura Hudson and David Wolkin are back to review/analyze/goggle at Adams' latest, Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul. [more inside]
The War Criminals I Have Known
"Trump's clemencies were not just to exonerate three trigger-pullers, but to excuse all Americans." [more inside]
That Nature yet remembers / What was so fugitive!
Relighting human captures for placement into arbitrary environments
The Relightables: Volumetric Performance Capture of Humans with Realistic Relighting + Technical Video (via) [more inside]
DO YOU STILL THINK SHE'S FAT ARTHUR
Then Annie moved in.
Artist in Residence (SL Guernica) An essay by Lawrence Levi about Annie Ross, adolescence, New York City in the late '80s, ADD, and living with a jazz legend somewhat unawares. [more inside]
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