abandoned places

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 24-30, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s Thursday, and you know what that means. Tomorrow is Friday! Prepare yourself for the weekend by getting your mental corn popping.

Dalton Walker reports how the “parade across America” has an Indigenous touch. Indian Country Today

Mali Obomsawin: this land is whose land? Indian country and the shortcomings of settler protest. Smithsonian Folklife

Mildred Europa Taylor wants you to meet the eight-year-old neuroscientist who teaches online from a lab in her bedroom. Face2Face Africa

Russell Contreras: Biden picks up his pen to change the tone on racial equity. His first set of executive orders puts a “down payment” on the promise of racial justice in America. Axios

John Haltiwanger notes that Biden administration speeding up process to put Harriet Tubman on $20 bill. Business Insider

Maudlyne Ihejirika announces that the Emmett Till childhood home is now an official city landmark. Chicago Sun Times

Stephen Humphries reveals the new museum celebrating African American music from Ella to Beyoncé. Christian Science Monitor

Amir Vera and Raja Razek: two Kenosha police officers, on administrative leave since the Jacob Blake shooting, are back on duty. No justice. CNN

Doha Madani reports that the Black woman whose children were handcuffed and held at gunpoint by police sues Aurora, Colorado. NBC News

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demands US military sexual assault reports. The Guardian

Lauren Frayer: protesting farmers flood India’s capital, storm historic fort. NPR

The pandemic that lasted 15 million years [Say what, now?] | PBS Eons

L.D. Burnett posits that there is no such thing as cancel culture. Only culture, shapeshifter that it is. Arc Digital

Kim Fahner responds to Bell’s let’s talk day: of whales, icebergs, and mental health … The Republic of Poetry

Sara Jaffe: notes on queer conception and the redefinition of family. JSTOR Daily

Dr. Becky shares the new evidence against dark matter.

Robert Z. Pearlman shares that Axiom Space names the first private crew to visit the ISS. Scientific American

Earth has a second magnetic field. SciShow

Fiona Harvey: global ice loss accelerated at record rate. The Guardian

These pools support half the people on Earth. Veritasium

Cal Flyn reports that as birth rates decline, animals prowl out abandoned “ghost villages.” The Observer

Nina Munteanu: when nature destroys … and creates.  

Thank you for spending some time with me. I hope you took away something to inspire your next creative project.

This weekend, I should be posing my January 2021 next chapter update.

Until then, be well and stay safe, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, June 2-8, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

A fairly substantial batch of thoughty links to get your mental corn popping this week.

The BBC shares the latest in the Sudan crisis: the African Union suspends Sudan’s membership.

Richard Nieva reports that YouTube will ban supremacist and hoax videos in tougher hate speech policy. CNet

Denise Brodey: how one billion disabled people hit the business radar. Forbes

Liza Gross wonders, can efforts to bottle MDMA’s magic transform psychiatry? The Verge

Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall say that work-life balance is a myth. Here’s what they recommend instead. Time

Knvul Sheikh: creative types reserve a special corner of the brain for dreaming big. Scientific American

Matt Reynolds: the natural genius of ants is helping us build better algorithms. Wired

Verge Science tries to decipher ratspeak with DeepSqueak.

Robert Macfarlane takes us into the invisible city beneath Paris. The New Yorker

Franchesca Street takes us on a tour of abandoned sacred places around the world. CNN

The BBC reports on the long-lost Lewis Chessman found in Edinburgh family’s drawer.

Mara Johnson-Groh looks at how art advances astronomy. UnDark

SciShow Space news introduces us to the forbidden planet and new ways to produce oxygen in space.

Andrew Zaleski: urban forests are dying, but Baltimore shows us how to bring them back. Popular Science

Emma Stevens sings “Blackbird” in Mi’kmaq (yes, even Sir Paul himself made a thing about this performance).

Thanks for stopping by and, until next tipsday, be well, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 24-Mar 2, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping with some thoughty Thursday links 🙂

Mary McNamara shares the amazing Emma Thompson’s letter to Skydance regarding the reasons she chose to leave Luck. #metoo LA Times

Jonathan Watts says that concrete is the most destructive material on Earth. The Guardian

David Dobbs: climate change has entered its blood sucking phase. The Atlantic

Ed Yong reports on the troubling discovery made in the deepest ocean trenches. The Atlantic

SciShow Space considers what life might be like on a tidally locked planet.

 

SciShow Psych looks at depression and anxiety and what psychologists and neuroscientists have discovered about them.

 

And they science the shit out of inspiration 🙂

 

Thu-Huong Ha shows us how Bolivia’s most Instagrammable houses showcase indigenous peoples’ reclaimed power. Quartz

Messy Nessy opens their cabinet of Chic curiosities to tour Bernie Madoff’s underwater ballroom. This was featured in Roz Morris’s novel, Lifeform Three. If you like abandoned places or cool architecture, this will be your thing 🙂

Lily Strelich tries to solve an artful mystery: why are Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings breaking out in pimples? The Smithsonian Magazine

And that was your thoughty for the week.

Until next time, be well, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories.

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 29-May 5, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s Friday Eve and time to get your mental corn popping!

Isabel Bueno explains why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. National Geographic

Madison Dapcevich reports on Sweden’s electric road that charges the cars that travel on it. IFLS

The Washington Post profiles the electronics-recycling innovator who’s going to prison for trying to extend computers’ lives.

Jonathan O’Callaghan reports on the discovery of a hidden galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. IFLS

Alfredo Carpineti: Hawking’s final theory about the universe has been published. IFLS

Matt Blitz takes us inside the epic search for extra terrestrial life. Popular Mechanics

This 50-km trail takes you through some of Ontario’s creepiest ghost towns. Narcity

Does your dog love you? Spoiler: turns out the jury’s still out on that one. SciShow Psych

 

Experts beg gardeners to check for hummingbird nests before they prune. Apost

Rosie McCall introduces you to the Superb Bird of Paradise, whose feathers are so black, they absorb 99.95% of light. IFLS

Florence + the Machine – Hunger

 

I hope you found something to inspire this Thoughty Thursday.

Be well until next Tipsday!

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Oct 9-15, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Time to get your thoughty on!

This is the only post I’m sharing on the Trump thing from last week: every woman in America knows Donald Trump and Billy Bush. Erin Gloria Ryan for The Daily Beast. Seriously, after hearing him say that rapacious shit—I have no words.

Michelle Obama had plenty, however. I’ll let her speak for the outrage we should all be feeling right now:

 

John Ralston Saul on the CBC’s Unreserved: indigenous peoples don’t need your sympathy. They need you to take action.

And though he’s dying of brain cancer, this man is acting: watch Gord Downie’s Secret Path on CBC, October 23, 2016. It should be streamed on their web site, too, in case you’re not in Canada.

Colin Schultz remembers the day Canada burned the White House. The Smithsonian Magazine

The Roma in Peterborough. John Tyler Lyon for Canada’s History.

Medievalists.net lists ten great Anglo-Saxon girls’ names.

Marianne Ailes shares new Charlemagne research for the Medievlists.net.

This is what 18th century Paris sounded like. Erin Blakemore for The Smithsonian Magazine.

Lindsay Baker looks at the 20’s, the era that changed the way we dress. BBC

Meet the woman correspondent who scooped the world. Dominique Rowe for Time.

You know how much I love abandoned places and urban exploring. Sarah Laskow of Atlas Obscura takes us on a tour of the New York public library’s last, secret apartments.

Is there a limit to how long humans can live? Richard Faragher for Quartz.

Omid Safi states that being busy is a disease. On Being

Annette Heist looks at living with anosmia. NPR

Rose Eveleth reports that people put too much emphasis on Myers-Briggs Type Inventory results. The Smithsonian Magazine

Conversations with dolphins. CBC‘s The Nature of Things.

MIT creates a world of eternal May to help save bees. Mark Wilson for Fast Company.

The colonization of Mars could put astronauts at risk of chronic dementia. Victoria Woollaston for Wired.

Neil de Grasse Tyson and Bryan Cox debate the physics of lightsabers on StarTalk. National Geographic Channel

The good people of Minute Physics explain time’s arrow. Phil Plait for Slate.

Will you become a citizen of Asgardia, the first nation state in space? Nicola Davis for The Guardian.

And if you want to find out more, here’s the Asgardia web site.

Marcel Schwantes lists twenty ways to reduce your stress. Inc.

Grace Eire offers twelve signs that you may be an old soul. Little Things

Take a first listen to Tanya Tagaq’s Retribution, courtesy of Katie Presley of NPR.

And that’s how we pop your mental corn 🙂

See you Saturday for more WorldCon reportage.

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 24-30, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Light-headed? Yeah, I think so. Oh! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Your thoughty funny for the week:

First, Newsner reports that farts can prevent cancer. Then, IFLS reports that theory stinks.

NASA’s ‘impossible EM drive works: German researcher confirms it can take us to the moon in four hours. Physics-Astronomy.

Then a friend shared this MIT Technology Review article: the curious link between the fly-by anomaly and the ‘impossible’ EM drive thruster.

If Saturn was this close on May 1st, we’d all be dead. Phil Plait for Slate.

Lucy Orr reviews the evolution of AI in popular culture. The Register.

How the “Moth Radio Hour” helped scientists map out meaning in the brain. Amina Khan for The LA Times.

The secret language of narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths: how abusers manipulate and traumatize their victims. The Minds Journal.

The Awesome Daily has collected these pictures of the 40 most breathtaking abandoned places in the world.

Cosmopolitan lists 22 of the most beautiful places in the world.

Dala sings Red is the Rose.

 

Priming the pump, popping the mental corn, call it what you will, I hope it happened.

Now . . . go write!

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 17-23, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Lots of videos for your edutainment this week 🙂

Science confirms: men are terrified of smart women. I was sceptical. Not all men are like Phil, or most of the men I know, I guess. The Mind Journal.

Speaking of smart women . . . Melissa McCarthy can’t get respect. The Vulture.

Lolly Daskal shares seven rituals successful people use to de-stress and stay productive. Inc.

Jordan Gray asks four honest-as-fuck questions that we can use to chart our courses to bliss.

Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it the right way. Quartz.

Tor Constantino helps us switch from pursuing happiness to being happy with these five tips. Entrepreneur.

James Webb writes about existential depression in gifted children. Creatives of any age tend to succumb to this. The Unbounded Spirit.

Time captures the aftermath of the recent Japan earthquakes.

Tesla unveils a new battery that can power your home off the grid. Eat Tomorrow.

NASA saw something come out of a black hole for the first time. Blastr.

On SciShow: Restless leg syndrome. It’s a thing. I have it when I get anaemic.

 

It’s okay to be smart looks at how slime molds are redefining our idea of intelligence.

 

ASAP Thought wonders, what makes tattoos permanent?

 

And . . . should you swear more often?

 

Ask a Mortician delves into a bog body murder mystery.

 

Patrick Lynch supplies proof that the Pythagorean Theorem predated Pythagoras. Phys.org

The White Wolf Pack shares some amazing photos of the Sami, Finland’s indigenous people.

If you like abandoned places as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to check out Iris van Wolferen’s site.

Dangerous Minds presents Herbert Baglione’s eerie shadow paintings in an abandoned psychiatric hospital.

Ten really weird crow facts. Aves Noir.

Beethoven’s 5th in the style of Chopin by Syd R. Duke.

 

Les frissons musicale! The Amalgamation Choir.

 

And, on that note (pun intended) I’m out of here until next Tipsday!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, March 6-12, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

A few videos, some abandoned (and recovered) places, a bit of science, and some feels. Enjoy!

Susan Engel believes that joy is a subject schools lack. The Atlantic.

Reshma Saujani’s TED talk: Teach girls bravery, not perfection.

Caitlin Moran lists 12 things about being a woman that women won’t tell you. Esquire. Funny and true 🙂

Justin Trudeau: Gender equality is an opportunity, not a threat. The Globe and Mail.

Finland’s parliament: pioneer of gender equality. This is Finland.

Converted church—including graveyard—for sale as family home. Would you? If I had the money, I certainly would!

This 300 year old house has been completely renovated. Bright Side.

The Daily Mail shares these amazing pictures of a secret underground WWI hospital.

Francine Christophe: Human.

 

Scientists studying the DNA of ancient Europeans find evidence of a major population upheaval at the end of the last Ice Age. Doug Bolton for The Independent.

Another fast radio burst update from Phil Plait. Slate.

How do we know global warming is real? Phil Plait recommends a Tamino blog post that does a really good job answering that question. Slate.

Solar energy product rolls out like a carpet. Inhabitat.

To get you in the mood for St. Patrick’s Day, here’s part one of the National Film Board’s The Fairy Faith. Bailey Cotton.

 

For the feels. Eric and Peety, a mutual rescue story.

 

See you on Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 7-13, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

It’s been a bit of a disturbing week, but there’s always hope for the future.

Last week marked the trial of Jian Gomeshi. Here are a few posts and articles that discuss the issues at the heart of the frenzy.

The judge will render sentence March 25, 2016.

Related and equally terrible: Zoë Quinn explains why she just dropped the harassment charges against the man who started GamerGate.

A neuroscience researcher shares four rituals that will make you happier. The Business Insider.

Canadian artist, Calvin Nicholls, creates beautiful sculptures from paper. The Bright Side.

Argentinean and Brazilian doctors investigate mosquito insecticide as a possible cause of micorcephaly. The Ecologist. Just to keep things balanced, a scientist friend provided me with a link to the original New England Journal of Medicine article on the Zika virus’s association with microcephaly.

Julia Roberts is Mother Nature.

 

Michael Shermer, founder of Skeptic Magazine, states improving animal rights improves the quality of human life. Big Think.

Phil Plait says that a small asteroid will definitely miss Earth on March 5th. Slate.

Uluru, as seen from space. Phil Plait for Slate.

Here’s the big astronomy news of the week: The laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO) sees gravitational waves for the first time ever as two black holes eat each other. Slate.

Big in a different way: Researchers have discovered a 300 mile wide crater under the Antarctic ice which could date back as far as the Permian-Triassic Extinction. Ohio State University Research News.

Priceless art discovered in a Paris apartment, abandoned since 1939. Faith Tap.

How two sisters and one murder inspired 500 songs. Atlas Obscura.

Lots of thought-worthy material here. I hope you find some inspiration for your creative endeavours.

See you Saturday for more CanCon 2015 reportage.

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 31-Feb 6, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

I’ve been sick. Maybe that’s why I’m a little light-headed this week 😛

February 1 was St. Brigid’s Day, or, for the other pagans, Imbolc. Irish Central.

This is a great article on the Granny Women of Appalachia. Hub Pages.

I didn’t share the news last week, but Canada has school shootings, too. Wab Kinew writes about using our grief for good, after LaLoche. The Globe and Mail.

Celebrating 100 years of enfranchised women in Canada. The Toronto Star.

Brian Hiatt reviews David Bowie’s final years. The Rolling Stone.

Photographer Donal Maloney shares his photo essay of Ireland’s abandoned psychiatric hospitals. Irish Central.

BuzzFeed wonders what it would look like if male scientists were written about like female scientists.

I had no idea this was even a thing. Why the outcry (yes, outcry) about Susan Sarandon’s breasts is bullshit. Harriet Hall for Stylist.

Lady Gaga’s new release: Till it happens to you.

 

A BBC film crew captures deadly ‘brinicle’ in action.

This is cool. Bailey Henderson sculpts sea creatures from medieval maps. Hi-Fructose.

Live by these four rules if you want to be happier. Rachael Yahne for The Huffington Post.

Steven Page’s Surprise, surprise.

See you Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday