Activity from brundlefly
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Roofman
‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
I wonder if it has a goatee.
The invisible substance called dark matter remains one of the biggest mysteries in cosmology. Perhaps, a new study suggests, this strange substance arises from a 'dark mirror universe' that's been linked to ours since the dawn of time.
I Found David Lynch’s Lost Dune II Script
"David Lynch’s 1984 sci-fi epic Dune is—in many ways—a misbegotten botch job. Still, as with more than a few ineffectively ambitious films before it, the artistic flourishes Lynch grafted onto Frank Herbert’s sprawling Machiavellian narrative of warring space dynasties have earned it true cult classic status. Today, fans of the film, which earned a paltry $30 million at the box office and truly bruising reviews upon its release, still wonder what Lynch would have done if given the opportunity to adapt the next two novels in Herbert’s cycle: Dune Messiah and Children of Dune."
The Puritanical Eye
What Bit the Ancient Egyptians?
"How much can the written records of ancient civilisations tell us about the animals they lived alongside? Our latest research, based on the venomous snakes described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, suggests more than you might think. A much more diverse range of snakes than we’d imagined lived in the land of the pharaohs – which also explains why these Egyptian authors were so preoccupied with treating snakebites!"
The Corpse Can’t Play
"a scorpion disappeared, reappeared in the sky and fell on my head"
Scholastic's "bigot button"
'[T]his year, facing pressure from right-wing ideologues, Scholastic is facilitating the exclusion of books that feature people of color and/or LGBTQ characters. Scholastic has grouped many of these titles in a collection called "Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice." School officials are then given the option to exclude the entire set of books from the book fair. Scholastic has, in the words of one librarian, given schools a "bigot button" to exclude these books and mollify intolerant pressure groups.'
Top science journal faced attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group
"One of the world’s most prestigious general science journals, Nature, was the target of a two-year-long sustained and virulent secret attack by a conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists with high-level political, commercial and intelligence connections, according to documents and correspondence examined by Computer Weekly and Byline Times."
It turns out we've been suffering from stand-up comedy for centuries.
Stone-age Hominids Invented Lincoln Logs
She likes to have her belly rubbed. Figs are one of her favorite treats.
San Francisco has the world’s oldest aquarium fish. Now we know her age.
Web Developer
Judge rules in favor of Montana youths in landmark climate decision
‘This is a monumental decision,’ said a lawyer for the young plaintiffs, and could influence how judges handle similar cases in other states [previously]
Marvel VFX Workers Vote to Unionize with IATSE
A "supermajority" of Marvel's 50-plus visual effects crew signed authorization cards with the union.
Candy Williams and Jackie Ferris, v. John M. Lester, Jr. et al.
Dear Counsel: Scientists have found that the octopus is bizarrely adept at navigating mazes. [PDF]
Zenith’s original ‘clicker’ remote were a mechanical marvel
The Zenith Space Command, one of the first wireless television remotes ever to exist, is a monument to a time before we took the remote for granted. It also just so happened to contain one of the most influential and intriguing buttons in history.
Dinosaur vs. Mammal: Dawn of Justice
Anger in Japan as report reveals children were forcibly sterilised
Daniel Ellsberg, April 7, 1931 – June 16, 2023
DOOM maps to SVG to laser cutter
Irritator challengeri fossils may have been illegally removed
A large predatory dinosaur related to Spinosaurus may have scooped up prey "like a pelican" by extending its lower jaw, European researchers propose in a new study. But the findings have upset some paleontologists who contest that the fossils were illegally taken from Brazil and should be returned to their country of origin.
With friends like these, who needs anenomes?
"Do pink fairy armadillos exist?"
beef beef beef
"one time in college a professor spent 90 minutes talking about an example scenario that involved beef and i thought nothing of it until several weeks later when i found out that my classmate had made a minute long compilation of all 125 times he said "beef" in one lecture"
Vote for the Crook. It’s Important.
Edwin Edwards, the charismatic, famously corrupt four-term governor of Louisiana -- the man who soundly defeated David Duke, Grand Wizard of the KKK* -- has passed away at the age of 93.
Fansubbing BookStory
Il Maestro
Federico Fellini and the lost magic of cinema, by Martin Scorsese
The Journalist and the Pharma Bro
Common Descent
Common Descent, an utterly charming and fascinating podcast hosted by paleontologists David Moscato and Will Harris, recently posted their 100th episode. The topic? The origin of life on Earth.
Is a YT series that starts "non-fictional" but becomes NOT old hat?
I have a concept for a YouTube series that would begin with an ostensibly non-fictional premise that over a series of episodes moves into something entirely fictional. Has this been done (too much) before?
Alternative Timeline Dinosaurs
Alternative Timeline Dinosaurs, the View From 2019: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3: The Dinosauroid and its Chums
The Anthropocene Is a Joke
"The idea of the Anthropocene inflates our own importance by promising eternal geological life to our creations. It is of a thread with our species’ peculiar, self-styled exceptionalism—from the animal kingdom, from nature, from the systems that govern it, and from time itself. This illusion may, in the long run, get us all killed."
Lewton Bus, the little film criticism site that...
Lewton Bus' Western Month Lewton Bus, the little film criticism site that could, just devoted the month of August to the Western.
Once and future cats
Sabercats were magnificent, powerful predators – what does their extinction tell us about the future of life on Earth?
Shark Mystery
Where Have South Africa’s Great Whites Gone? "The world’s most famous sharks are the great whites off Cape Town, featured in the popular “Air Jaws” series. But now these sharks have mostly gone missing, and some experts blame a fishery for depleting the smaller sharks that the great whites feed on."
Inside ‘Roe v. Wade’
Number Three Will Surprise You!
Pity the musk ox.
How Vladimir Lenin Became a Mushroom
How Vladimir Lenin Became a Mushroom: The fake news that took the former Soviet Union by storm.
Decades of Sexual Harassment Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein
"An investigation by The New York Times [has] found previously undisclosed allegations against Mr. Weinstein stretching over nearly three decades, documented through interviews with current and former employees and film industry workers, as well as legal records, emails and internal documents from the businesses he has run, Miramax and the Weinstein Company."
NOPE NOPE NOPE
CURVE: Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a girl tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.
The Story Behind MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA's Troubled Five-Year Development
"Almost immediately, fans asked how this happened. Why was Andromeda so much worse than its predecessors? How could the revered RPG studio release such an underwhelming game? And, even if the problems were a little exaggerated by the internet’s strange passion for hating BioWare, how could Andromeda ship with so many animation issues? I’ve spent the past three months investigating the answers to those questions."
1001 Rogues
1001 Rogues: a browser-playable roguelike with a new story every day. There is also a twitter account to keep you updated on today's story. [via]
The biggest shakeup for dinosaurs since that big space rock.
A film criticism and review site I recently...
Lewton Bus A film criticism and review site I recently launched with a number of my film nerd buddies.
Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016)
Long in the Tooth
"She was born during the reign of James I, was a youngster when René Descartes set out his rules of thought and the great fire of London raged, saw out her adolescent years as George II ascended the throne, reached adulthood around the time that the American revolution kicked off, and lived through two world wars. Living to an estimated age of nearly 400 years, a female Greenland shark has set a new record for longevity, scientists have revealed."