Favorites from doctornemo
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“assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (bees)”
The Bees of Wrath
by James D. Walsh is the story of Rorie Woods, who released a hive of bees onto sheriff’s deputies who had arrived to evict a 79-year-old friend of hers. When informed that several deputies might be allergic, she allegedly replied: “Oh you’re allergic, good”.
Making sense of climate denial tactics
Fake experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry picking, and Conspiracy theories
(FLICC) and a Denial101 video trilogy (Part 1, 2, 3). From climate science communication researcher John Cook of Skeptical Science (with old school website layout!). See also the Cranky Uncle game based on the theory of inoculation: There may be no way to cure existing zombies, but we can reduce the number of people who are infectable by zombies.
Like "The Net", But For Real
A high ranking Iowa hospital systems administrator has plead guilty to identity theft after stealing his former coworker's identity - for thirty years. (SLArs Technica)
The End of the Road: John Barth dies at 93
John Barth, author of books like Sot-Weed Factor, Lost in the Funhouse, Letters and Tidewater Tales, has died in a Florida hospice facility. He was 93.
Titan’s Massive Dunes May Be a Comet and Moon Graveyard
Titan’s Massive Dunes May Be a Comet and Moon Graveyard From the Early Solar System.
A new modeling study suggests the dark dunes on Saturn’s largest moon are made of tiny particles created by crashing comets and moonlets billions of years ago.
Why You Don't Let Rocket Scientists Get Bored
Rocketdyne is notable among the space exploration set for developing a number of NASA's workhorse chemical rocket engines, such as the main thrusters of the Shuttle. But during the Space Race, they created a monster of such an engine, built around a tripropellant mix of molten lithium, liquid hydrogen, and liquid fluorine - an engine where the safest component was the asbestos cladding. (SLYT)
Tomorrow's World
From the BBC Archives: Schoolchildren in 1966 Predict Life in the Year 2000 [6:17]
"If something's gone wrong with their nuclear bombs, I may be sort of coming back from hunting in a cave." "I don't like the idea of sort of getting up and finding you've got a cabbage pill to eat for breakfast or something." "Computers are taking over now, computers and automation. And in the year 2000, there just won't be enough jobs to go around, and the only jobs there will be will be for people with high IQ who can work computers and such things, and other people are just not going to have jobs." "I don't think I'll still be on Earth. I think I'll be under the sea."[transcript, via Tildes]
Please give full names before using acronyms
Whether it's the name of a person, a drug or medical treatment, a non-governmental organization (NGO), a less-common internet term, or something specific to your field of interest, please spell it out and only then use the acronym.
Momentum is growing for guaranteed income
A legislator in Illinois, USA, has proposed giving certain categories of people $1,000 monthly on a continuing basis.
That is the boldest plan for guaranteed income in the U.S. since 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s idea to give everyone $1K each month.
The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled
Based on the 1972 BBC series and comprised of 7 essays, 3 of which are entirely pictoral, Ways of Seeing by John Berger is a seminal work which examines how we view art.
I am a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces.
Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer-prize winning debut novel The Sympathizer
is now an HBO Max mini-series helmed by legendary director Park Chan Wook and executive-produced by Robert Downey, Jr., which will premiere April 14.
Hugo Award Finalists Announced
Announcement video: ”Hello, my name is Nicholas Whyte and I have a baller accent.” (video with transcript).
Text announcement on the Glasgow 2024 Worldcon Bluesky account. Full list of finalists with details about nominating numbers and disqualified or self-withdrawn items is online at File 770.Previously, censorship report- Previously, scandal erupts - Previously, 2023 boycotts - Previously, full tag list.
The epic, which has all of life and then some, is strewn with lists
We all make lists, if only to buy bread and milk. But we tend to forget how mythic and subversive, joyful and maddening, enchanting and sobering, and utterly chilling lists can be—and what they can do. To love a list is to partake in letter and word, form and change. To make lists is to join a long line of list makers, to indulge in a timeless art, to break down the artificial wall that separates thinking and doing, thinkers and doers. from One Thing After Another: A Reading List for Lovers & Makers of Lists by Kanya Kanchana [Longreads]
Joementum Comes To A Halt
Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman has died at 82 from complications from a fall.
The Matrix Has You
In the film, one of the representatives of the AI, the villainous Agent Smith, played by Hugo Weaving, tells Morpheus that the false reality of the Matrix is set in 1999 because that year was “the peak of your civilization. I say your civilization, because as soon as we started thinking for you it really became our civilization.” Indeed, not long after “The Matrix” premiered, humanity hooked itself up to a matrix of its own. There is no denying that our lives have become better in many ways thanks to the internet and smartphones. But the epidemic of loneliness and depression that has swept society reveals that many of us are now walled off from one another in vats of our own making.25 Years Later, We’re All Trapped in ‘The Matrix’
une famille centrale sur laquelle agissent au moins deux familles
"You will probably never read all twenty of Les Rougon-Macquart. I know that. You know that. Let us accept this truth between us. If I had to send you on your way with some minimally sufficient quantity of Zola, let me propose the following, which to me are the greatest examples of Zola’s art..." Brandon Taylor in the LRB, on his two-year project of reviewing Zola's cycle of novels: Is It Even Good?
The first time they made a Fantastic Four movie....
I'll just put this here. Maybe people will enjoy it. Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four (Full Movie) 2015 [1h24m]
Mapo Tofu Recipe: The Real Deal
I was parked in my parents’ bedroom, flipping through the channels of countless historical dramas (you can literally go through ten straight channels, and each time the screen changes, you’ll see actresses in traditional dress, fighting back tears in disturbingly clear HD), Chinese nature documentaries (run little deer, ruuuun!), and mindless extended infomercials for the best Chinese dried dates you’ll ever taste, or your money back guaranteed (…or not). Anyways, I was knocked out of my stupor when my limited Chinese vocabulary was able to detect that the latest cooking program I had settled on was featuring a professional chef explaining how to make Mapo Tofu the right way.
To the Moon (eventually) but with great food!
Victor Glover will be the first African-American to eat maple cream cookies and smoked salmon while traveling to and from the Moon on the Artemis II mission
Oh, huh, I guess I do post a lot about that
I was meandering among the tags on one of my past front page posts, and noticed that "inspirational" said:
Users that often use this tag: brainwaneOther MeFites who make front page posts: are you ever surprised to notice a theme emerging among your posts? Like, "Oh, huh, I guess I do post a lot about that"? I'm curious!
It's spaceships all the way down
Need some mesmerization in your life? Gaze deep into Life Universe, a zoomable, infinitely-recursive Game of Life simulator [technical explanation]. Inspired by the classic video Life In Life and the OTCA Metapixel (previously). From shr, the developer behind Bubbles (previously), Blob (previously), and a wide variety of other fascinating and fun physics web toys.
The scenes he paints are ghostly and dream-like
Ukrainian painter Vachagan Narazyan is an inspiration to many, including artist Vanessa Lemen, who has written about him a couple times. He's shown at various galleries, including just pre-pandemic at James Yarosh. He came of age as a painter as a Soviet nonconformist artist. His work has been described as "symbolic visions of a deeply personal nature." If video is more your thing, check out this video that James Yarosh shared on YouTube that evokes the feel of Narazyan's work.
An Anarchist’s Guide To Dune
A long time ago in a place called Olympia, Washington… The Transmetropolitan Review places Frank Herbert’s Dune within the anarchist history of the Pacific Northwest.
AI futures, meet Net Zero futures
The IPCC, the world authority on climate science, advises we need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by 2030, and get emissions down to net zero by 2050, if we want a chance of limiting average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Actually, we've already crossed that threshhold, kind of.
Information Technology itself may contribute as much as 5% to global greenhouse gas emissions. Internationally recognised methods and standards for assessing the environmental impacts of AI don't yet exist, although they will.
Are AI revolution futures compatible with net zero futures? Are science and technology still on the same team?
The Rise of Wishful Verbiage
What we’re witnessing is the rise of Wishful Verbiage, a use of language which is replacing the old-fashioned lie.
A lie was something someone said which they knew wasn’t true. Wishful Verbiage is something someone says because it sounds better than what’s true, even if it’s the opposite of the truth, and that’s OK because it conveys aspirations that are more valid than accuracy.
Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet
“At a 2.3% [economic] growth rate, [earth's surface] would reach boiling temperature in about 400 years. And this statement is independent of technology. Even if we don’t have a name for the energy source yet, as long as it obeys thermodynamics, we cook ourselves with perpetual energy increase.”
— Tom Murphy (Do The Math), “Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist” / “Limits to economic growth” [PDF]
Significantly, they have the same dust jacket art
"The book club edition. You probably remember your first encounter with this indecent denizen of the book world. It wasn't pleasant, was it? Learning that your priceless first edition─the one you had considered selling so you could buy that NHL skybox─was...what? Worthless? Really? Why, you wondered, is this sneaky breed of book imposter allowed to trick and taunt the hapless collector? Why are book club editions even a thing?"
Voyager 1 sends readable message to Earth
After 4 nail-biting months of gibberish, Voyager 1 is making sense again.
Since November 2023, the almost-50-year-old spacecraft has been experiencing trouble with its onboard computers. Although Voyager 1, one of NASA's longest-lived space missions, has been sending a steady radio signal to Earth, it hasn't contained any usable data. Now, there may be hope for recovery.
"A strange Thing written upon a Glass Window in Queen Elizabeth's Time"
Madeleine Pelling (The Telegraph, 3/17/2024), "Seriously scandalous and surprisingly sexy: how the Georgians redefined graffiti" -- archived: "In October 1731, ... 'Hurlothrumbo' set out into the freezing streets of London. Armed only with a pencil and paper, he was on a most peculiar hunt. His quarry? The graffiti that lined the city's many surfaces, left behind by its inhabitants." The Merry-Thought: or the Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany, part 1 and 2, 3, & 4. The play Hurlothrumbo. Pelling on women archaeologists in the 1780s via the Open Digital Seminar in Eighteenth-Century Studies. Pelling's Writing on the Wall, reviewed (archived) and at Goodreads / StoryGraph. Pelling's podcast, most recently discussing St Patrick.
Baleen whale fossil dated to 19 million years
Whale fossil in river sheds light on how pre-historic beasts morphed into today's giants of the sea.
A fossil from the distant past is rewriting the narrative of how, when, and where baleen whales — such as the blue whale — became some of the largest animals to have ever lived on the planet.
Live Long And Syndicate
Rare Footage Of Leonard Nimoy Hosting 1975 Special Presentation Of Star Trek’s “The Menagerie”
In 1975, Paramount produced a special movie presentation for syndication of the two-part Star Trek episode “The Menagerie,” hosted by TOS star Leonard Nimoy. The original Spock recorded introductions for each part of the episode as well as closing remarks for the special presentation. In the special, Nimoy explains how “The Menagerie” uses footage from the original Star Trek pilot “The Cage” and more. Originally recorded February 6, 1983 from KAUT in Oklahoma City.
Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association has announced the finalists for the Nebula Awards.
A Native Solution To Vancouver's Housing Woes
Vancouver, BC has been dealing with a major housing crunch for years due to a number of factors. But the Squamish First Nation has an answer - Sen̓áḵw, a major urban mixed use development on Squamish land in the Vancouver metro area - which means that it can be developed bigger and denser than Vancouver regulations would allow...and without NIMBY interference. (SLMacLean's)
The Three-Body Problem: Chinese Version
This is for discussion of the Chinese adaptation of Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem (FanFare Books discussion here). It is available on Tencent/WeTV, Tencent's YouTube channel, and Viki, under the title Three-Body. Trailer. MyDramaList. A nanomaterials expert sees a mysterious countdown superimposed in his field of vision and finds himself under military investigation. To unravel the mystery, he enters the VR game "Three-Body" developed by a secret organization ETO and discovers the truth behind the deaths of dozens of scientists and a tragedy from the days of the Cultural Revolution.
Voter Fraud Disproven. Again.
Ken Block, a data expert hired by the Trump campaign in 2020, writes that he shot down false claim after false claim in an election that was not stolen.
Block's account, “Disproven,” will be released Tuesday, and Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (recipient, along with his family, of death threats in the months following the election) provided the foreword.
Degrowth vs Classical Socialism: The Irreparable Rift
You'll remember eco-communist philosopher Kohei Saito from our previous discussion of his surprising bestseller on the connection between Marx and the environment. But...was there a connection, or was Saito seeing an eco-Marx who never existed? More to the point, must we give up All The Things under communism? Matt Huber and Leigh Phillips offer a resounding 'no,' in their Jacobin review of Saito's newly-translated book: "Kohei Saito’s 'Start From Scratch' Degrowth Communism."
Battle Scenes Depicted in Moving Pictures Before C.G.I.
"When one shuts out the fact that the British infantry are mainly decked out in nylon tunics, and that some of the then historical detail regarding the battle has since been proven incorrect, nevertheless the action scenes, directed by Douglas Hickox, are remarkable in showing panoramic views of the battlefield ... In fact, no more than about 4,000 extras were used, but each part of the attack jig-saws very well together in showing the immediacy of each moment as it could well have been for those involved at the time."
Porn can speak to desires that are not spoken to elsewhere
Who knows where we get our desires from? That’s a question feminists were asking back in the 1960s. And also: Would it be possible to exorcise patriarchal or heteronormative desires from a feminist sexuality? There are quite considerable debates right now about whether we can identify healthy or authentically feminist sexual desires, because how do we know which ones are created by the patriarchy? A young woman’s interest in romantic heroes, for example, could be entirely dependent on a patriarchal fantasy. But how do you get rid of that particular fantasy? I don’t think it’s possible. from Is This Desire?, an interview with Clarissa Smith [CW: talking about porn]
Serena is an amazing, one-of-a-kind cat!
My Cat Shoots Rubber Bands From Her Paws [6m16s] My black cat Serena has not only learned how to shoot rubber bands, she has mastered the art. I feel like a circus hawker, but YOU WON'T SEE THIS ANYWHERE ELSE BUT HERE! ... Serena is a 4 year old Domestic Short Hair. She has no top incisors, so her tongue sticks out ALL THE TIME!!!! 😺
A New Beginning for Clive Barker
"Abarat IV and V are amongst the books at my feet. So is the Third and final book of The Art and the sequel to The Thief of Always. There are also return visits to characters and mythologies you may have thought I would never return to. I hope I am still able to surprise you in the decades ahead." Legendary horror author Clive Barker announces plans to end convention appearances, having decided it is time for him to direct his focus fully back to writing.
What exactly is a 🚫 called?
Circles and Slashes.
We see these everywhere. Where did they come from? And what do you call it? Designed by committee. Really unpopular in North America, until a movie legitimized it with an incorrectly drawn example. It’s everywhere telling us what not to do.
The Fundie Baby Voice
"As soon as Senator Katie Britt started speaking,
I knew exactly who she is. She is so many of the pastor's wives and Sunday School teachers I knew growing up in an Evangelical church. Be sweet. Obey."
The Getty Makes 88,000 Art Images Free to Use However You Like
The Getty museum has released a huge trove of images under a CC0 license (essentially waiving copyright). Images can be downloaded in high resolution.
The best Othello app I've found.
There are thirty Reversi (also known by the trademark name Othello) board game apps in the Google Play store. This is the best one and you can play it here in your browser. No ads, no trackers, no in-app purchases. It's a web app (the mobile app just opens the website.) A simple user interface with a minimalist approach to configurations. Completely free and open source. Written in Rust and TypeScript by Nate Stringham. Othello is a simple game but widely explored in computer science.