June 12, 2019
The Crab Cycle
reply to this with the weirdest image in your phone gallery ill start (NSFW, SLTwitter) [more inside]
Two tales of surprising longevity in the animal kingdom
In mammals, there's a relatively simple relationship among metabolism, body mass, and lifespan. For the most part, as the size of the mammal goes up, its metabolism slows down and its longevity increases. But a new paper (Nature, abstract only, paywalled article) about longevity includes a remarkable statistic: "Nineteen species of mammals live longer than humans, given their body size, of which 18 are bats." Why do bats have such bizarrely long lifespans? (Ars Technica) Meanwhile, in herpetology -- rattlesnakes held in captivity live an average of 15 years. Herpetologist William Brown has spent decades studying a population of timber rattlers in upstate New York, and he's identified two snakes that may about 40 to 50 years old. The Town that Lives with Rattlesnakes (Outside Online)
Text Neck, Or, It All Started With A Goat
How modern life is transforming the human skeleton:
... our skeletons are surprisingly malleable. The pure white remains displayed in museums may seem solid and inert, but the bones beneath our flesh are very much alive ... and they’re constantly being broken down and rebuilt. So although each person’s skeleton develops according to a rough template set out in their DNA, it is then tailored to accommodate the unique stresses of their life. [more inside]
Terry Gross + Lizzo
Want to be a male ally? Clean the house.
"But a growing awareness among women hasn’t been enough to fix the problem. The thing many people don’t want to acknowledge, and the thing stopping us from making more progress toward housework equality, is the resistance of men. Men remain unwilling to do their fair share of housework and childcare: they are oblivious, willfully ignorant, or pathologically indifferent to the stress and suffering of the women around them."
The Blooming Basalt Towers of North Gorda Rift Axis
These features are part of the Gorda Ridge, a tectonic spreading center located off the border of California and Oregon. The Newly Discovered Apollo Vent Field. Via the SUBSEA (Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog) Research Program. [more inside]
“Say that again, Kashamshan? That’s adorable, man.”
For Pride month, five queer-focused fictions — by queer authors and/or about queer characters — translated from Arabic that you can read online. Authors include Muhammad Abdelnabi, Mortada Gzar, Sahar Mandour, Alexandra Chreiteh, Amahl Khouri and Raji Bathish.
Xanthippe and...Pope Sixtus?
What did (English-language) alphabet books do before we invented xylophones and X-ray machines?
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! LISTEN!!
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was an instant classic upon its release in March of 2017, propelling monster sales of itself and the Nintendo Switch console (much-needed after the disappointing performance of the WiiU and the disastrous "Year of Luigi") and gaining the most perfect reviews of any video game in history. Which is probably why the internet went a little bit wild yesterday when Nintendo finished their E3 Direct with a trailer announcing the venerated title's sequel. With only those ninety seconds to go on, speculation has been rampant, with the most compelling theory being that this will finally be the game in which Zelda is a playable character...
You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's
Where we are in 2019 - a view of the current set of spacecraft in our solar system and beyond, courtesy of The Planetary Report.
👨🏻🦇🗡️🧜🏽♂️⚡🤖
Kneel Before Zack [The Ringer] “This is the story of #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, the most bizarre sustained fan campaign in modern superhero-movie history, arbitrary and fearsomely dedicated, fascinating and bewildering, possibly hopeless and legitimately inspiring. It is led by people who wish Justice League were more than three and a half hours long, but also, in their defense, an entirely different movie. ”
you are what you eat
The Myth Of The Impartial Machine, Alice Feng and Shuyan Wu
A social experiment without consent, oversight or regulation
"Its a good day for a choke hold"
A review of the Facebook accounts of thousands of police officers across the US found one in five current officers made public posts or comments that were racist, or endorsed violence against black people, Muslims, women, and criminal defendants.
Among retired officers, the figure was two in five. The database is the largest of its kind. (Buzzfeed News) (CW hate speech)
Your timeline may vary, of course.
"Friends and heartthrobs of the past, future, and present: where I am now, the temperature has begun its slow climb, and summer is preparing its eviction notice for all the gentle breezes and drives with windows down and the incessant joyful choir of birds. We will soon have to settle for less pleasing aesthetics of romance. Sweat becomes romantic because it will happen whether or not I want it to, and I’ve got to make the best of it." Hanif Abdurraqib's Notes on Pop in The Paris Review: On Whitney Houston, On Summer Crushing
"Food is pipping hot."
Dancing Bacons is a youtuber actively documenting the street foods of Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. One of their obsessions is the world of vending machines. So enjoy their footage of a
salmon vending machine, cotton candy vending machine, Probably World 1st Ice Cream Fun-Vending Machine, pizza, cake, popiah, coconut, hot cheese snacks, water, gelato, and magic Coke vending machines. [more inside]
There Are Layers Here
Watching the End of the World
The Doomsday Clock is set to two minutes to midnight—the same position it held in 1953, when the United States and USSR detonated their first hydrogen bombs. So why don't we make movies about nuclear war anymore?
a credit card per week
People worldwide could be ingesting five grammes of microscopic plastic particles every week. Coming mostly from tap and especially bottled water, nearly invisible bits of polymer were also found in shellfish, beer and salt. "If we don't want it in our bodies, we need to stop the millions of tons of plastic that continue leaking into Nature every year." [more inside]
The vernacular architecture of Africa
The vernacular architecture of Africa (architecture built out of local materials and using traditional construction techniques) is very diverse. People build with what materials are locally available, and this varies due to what area of Africa it is. Click on a country icon to view the diversity and beauty of African vernacular architecture.
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