Is it still too hot where you are? It's still too hot where I am
Happy invoicing!
- Why Revolutionaries Love Spicy Food - ”’The food of the true revolutionary is the red pepper,’ declared Mao. ‘And he who cannot endure red peppers is also unable to fight.’" How the spread of chilis around the world seems to have inspired revolutionary cultures.
- How Noisy Males Control the Gnu’s Cycle - "New research shows that ovulation in Serengeti wildebeests is accelerated and synchronized by the yammering of eager males.” Also, best headline pun of the year
- Severed Heads During the French Revolution - "Severed heads were often a common image associated with the French Revolution. Why were they so prevalent and how prevalent were they?"
- Armadillo Online! - Now this is what the Internet is for: ”This website is entirely devoted to the armadillo. This website includes biological information on all twenty recognized species of armadillo — the most complete collection of factual armadillo information on the internet. There are pictures for many species, and a small number of video clips. You will also find articles diagramming the natural history of the armadillo, descriptions of the scientific and medical research uses of the armadillo, and some (hopefully) helpful suggestions about caring for sick or injured armadillos.”
- LLNL releases newly declassified test videos - "Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) released 62 newly declassified videos today of atmospheric nuclear tests films that have never before been seen by the public." HT to DaveB for this lot, which add to the collection that appeared here last March.
- Even great ideas can fail at first. Just look at the zipper. - "The zipper doesn’t tend to call much attention to itself, but it can be found stitched into our jeans, jackets, pillow covers, handbags, luggage, and countless other items… The technology itself was far from an instant hit. For one thing, other methods for closing things—such as buttons, hooks-and-eyes, and laces—had been around a long time and worked just fine, even if they could be slow and laborious.” How the zip gradually took over after a long process of refinement.
- The US Postal Service Must Pay an Artist $3.5 Million After Accidentally Printing His Version of the Statue of Liberty on Billions of Stamps - ”A judge ordered the US Postal Service to pay sculptor Robert Davidson $3.5 million in compensation after the government agency accidentally printed an image of his rendition of the Statue of Liberty—which stands outside a New York-themed hotel in Las Vegas—on more than three billion stamps since 2010.”
- To Volcanoes (at Gmail), with Love - "What a strange place the internet is, where we can reach a stranger by the slip of a key—or get their mail." Jane C. Hu on the odd miscommunications and connections that can arise between people with similar email addresses.
- Parting Shot - Angela Chen on the cultural differences reflected in the West’s notion of “famous last words” and the Asian tradition of death poems: ”In their eagerness to catch [Anglican divine William Marsh’s] last testament his family installed his eldest daughter in the sick room, unseen by him, to record his conversation, whereupon he recovered and the entire process had to be repeated over a year later.”
- Underwater Photographer of the Year: 2018 winning images - Some great stuff here. This is “Love Birds” by Grant Thomas, the winner of British Underwater Photographer of the Year.
Happy invoicing!
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