beavers

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, June 26-July 2, 2022

/ Melanie Marttila

I’m hoping the early days of summer have been kind to you. Now refresh your brain and get that mental corn popping 🙂

Ashawnta Jackson: race, rock, and breaking barriers. JSTOR Daily

Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland (of the Pantsuit Politics Podcast) declare that even though Roe is gone. We have to keep fighting. Marie Claire

Roe vs. Wade: law professors break down what happened. The Problem with Jon Stewart

Andréa Becker: as anti-abortion laws pop up across the US, Mexican activists are helping Americans access free abortions. Insider

What does Dirty Dancing have to do with abortion? (A lot, it turns out.) PBS Origins

Yuliya Talmazan, Phil McCausland, and Artem Grudinin report that Russian missile strike hits shopping mall with more than 1,000 people inside, Ukraine says. NBC News

Ukraine secures release of 144 soldiers in biggest prisoner swap of war. Reuters

Amanda Macias: NATO reaches a deal with Turkey to admit Sweden and Finland, secretary-general says. CNBC

Guy Kawasaki interviews Margaret O’Mara about what we can learn from history. The Remarkable People Podcast

Sabrina read 700 years of history to fix her glasses. Answer in Progress

Allie Volpe says emotional exhaustion is real, but your friendships don’t need to suffer. Vox

Clark Quinn: LXD by design. Learnlets

Heidi Ulrichsen: Sudbury arts community gathers for frank talk on STC-YES Theatre merger. Sudbury.com

Related: Mia Jensen reports that theatre board faces criticism over merger. The Sudbury Star

Diana stays overnight in the most remote camp in the world. Physics Girl

Jacqueline Kilikita: here’s the problem with “reef safe” sunscreen. Refinery 29

Annie Proulx thinks swamps can protect us from climate change, if only we let them. The New Yorker

Kieran Mulvaney explains what a carbon footprint is, and how you can measure yours. National Geographic

George Monbiot says there’s a simple way to unite everyone behind climate justice—and it’s within our power. The Guardian

True facts—the beaver. Ze Frank

An eagle snatched a baby hawk … and ended up adopting it. CBC’s “As it happens”

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you found something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, 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, April 25-May 1, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Let’s get your mental corn popping, shall we?

Alanna Durkin Richer and Lindsay Whitehurst: 1 verdict, and then 6 police killings across America in 24 hours. Associated Press

Ibram X. Kendi: compliance will not save me. The Atlantic

Judas and the Black Messiah, Explained – Self-Preservation Won’t Save You. The Take

Chi Luu: how being polite with the police can backfire. JSTOR Daily

Mimi Fox Melton and Karla Monterosso: if you want a truly equitable workplace, get over your fear of conflict. Fast Company

Michael Luo relates the forgotten history of the purging of Chinese from America. The New Yorker

Ryan Lenora Brown: Séverine Autesserre has seen peacekeeping fail. Here’s her advice on getting it right. Christian Science Monitor

I Kissed a Girl: the messy legacy of a queerbait hit. Melina Pendulum

Matthew Wills: eighteenth-century spies in the European silk industry. JSTOR Daily

Rachael Stephen shares some tools for soothing and survival.

Oliver Burkeman explores the idea of the clockwork universe: is free will an illusion? The Guardian

Gordon Johnston highlights the pink supermoon April 26 and celestial events over the next month. NASA Solar System Exploration

April’s “pink” supermoon around the world—in pictures. The Guardian

Calla Cofield: astronomers release new all-sky map of the Milky Way. NASA

Nina Munteanu wants you to watch Borealis.

Kate Kellaway interviews tree whisperer, Suzanne Simard: “They get along, they listen—they’re attuned.” The Guardian

Guy Kawasaki has a conversation about conservation with Dr. Jane Goodall. Remarkable People Podcast

Sophia Quaglia reports that scientists find a way to remove polluting micro-plastics with bacteria. The Guardian

Royce Kurmelov explains how solar power continues to shock the world. The Guardian

Communication while dreaming. SciShow Psych

Tessa Vikander: beavers chew through a 4.5-inch-thick tube, disrupting power to 900 BC customers. CTV

Thank you for taking the time to visit, and I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, 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, Aug 2-8, 2020

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s that time of week, again. It’s time to get your mental corn popping.

Charmaine A. Nelson says, the Canadian narrative about slavery is wrong. The Walrus

Aleem Maqbool looks at the British role in America’s tainted past. BBC

Candine Marie Benbow explains how to support your strong friend and yourself. Dispelling the myth of the strong Black woman. Medium

Jonathan Bundy: as companies try to address racism, a generic response is no longer enough. Fast Company

Stu Mills reports on statistician Ryan Imgrund’s concerns about the return to school plan. CBC

Wise words from Kim Fahner: why a safe return to school in Ontario should be the priority. The Republic of Poetry

Aitor Hernández-Morales, Kalina Oroschakoff and Jacopo Barigazzi predict the death of the city (thanks to telework). Politico

Emily Zarka looks at the history of the siren. Monstrum | PBS Storied

Ethan Hawke: give yourself permission to be creative. TED2020

Matthew M.F. Miller says that stargazing is a magical way to escape. Shondaland

Charlie Wood reports on a breakthrough some scientists thought would never come. The Atlantic

The launch of Perseverance to Mars. Veritasium

Marina Koren: thanks for flying SpaceX. The Atlantic

Alana Everson: Vale helping butterflies with milkweed and monarchs project. CTV

Point Defiance Zoo shares some baby beaver cuteness.

Eric Niiler explains how the anglerfish deleted its own immune system to fuse with its mate. Wired

Faysal Itani reports on Lebanon’s mushroom cloud of incompetence. The New York Times

The hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 75th anniversary of the bombings. BBC

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you found something to inspire your next creative project.

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

ThoughtyThursday2019

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

/ Melanie Marttila

Canadian Olympic news:

I’ve shared articles to Facebook that later turned out to be erroneous. I’ve curated some of them here with their debunking articles appended. As a public service, I’m sharing the Snopes’ guide to fake news sites and hoax purveyors. You’re welcome.

80,000 Hours explores the qualities that make a job a fulfilling career. High income isn’t the main consideration. Follow the links at the bottom of each part through to part six and map out your career path (aimed at 20-somethings, but everyone can assess, or reassess, their careers using their quizzes and tools).

Sudbury writer Laura Stradiotto shares a personal story that every woman needs to read: I was happily married with kids and I made the decision to have an abortion. Chatelaine

Eckhart Tolle: You’re not your Facebook ego.

 

Allie Brosch’s Hyperbole and a Half is amazeballs awesomesauce. Read about her adventures in depression. It doesn’t end on a happy note, but there’s more to read on her site, and in her book. For my money, there’s no one who describes what it’s like to have depression better.

Anna Lovind muses on what we are called to do when our hearts are breaking. She also writes about how people use the excuse of not having enough time to skimp on self care: that’s the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard.

Kimmy Dee reports on five scientific reasons our idea of happiness is wrong for Cracked.

Brother Devid Steindle-Rast recommends five small gestures of gratitude that counteract violence. Uplift

Jennifer Wolkin shares more about the brain-gut connection. Mindful

Last week, I shared an article about how scientists have discovered a new kind of light. This week, it’s a new kind of fire that may be useful in cleaning up oil spills. Andrew Liszewski for Gizmodo.

A new trans-Neptunian object (TNO) is making the solar system look a whole lot weirder. Shannon Hall for New Scientist.

Kivi Park will become Sudbury’s largest outdoor recreation space. South Side Story

Archived photos of Sudbury will change the way people see our city. Up Here

And here’s the mural Ella and Pitr were commissioned to create for the Up Here festival. CBC

In honour of International Left-Hand Day, BrainPickings reviews David Wolman’s book A Left-Hand Turn Around the World.

The theory of how North America was populated is wrong. Emily Chung for the CBC.

Paulette Steeves, an Indigenous anthropologist, is challenging the origin story of First Nations peoples. Denise Ryan, The Vancouver Sun.

Alan Yuhas reports on a recently uncovered Mayan tomb that sheds light on the “Snake Dynasty.” The Guardian

John Vidal examines how millions of trees brought a broken landscape back to life. The Guardian

Okay, tourists. Stop stacking rocks at Hanakapiai beach. It’s not pono (right). Christine Hitt, Hawai’i Magazine

Maddie Stone reports on the Greenland shark, which may hold the cure to aging. Gizmodo

The White Wolf Pack reports on a couple of heroic beavers from Ogden, Utah, who stopped a fuel spill with their dam, but had to be taken to a wildlife rescue for rehabilitation as a result.

A cockatoo freaks out a bunch of cats by meowing at them. Daily Kaos

That should get your mental corn a-poppin’.

With any luck, I’ve tracked Mary Robinette Kowal down and delivered the decoded phrase 🙂 So looking forward to meeting her (among others) at WorldCon.

See you on the other side (that’s the 27th)!

Thoughty Thursday