climate change

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 5-11, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Here is your video-free thoughty Thursday. It’s time to get your mental corn popping!

Mike Crawley reports on more Ford cuts: Ontario Telemedicine Network lays off 44 staff. CBC

Some good news: Parliament passes Charlie Angus’ motion to establish a national suicide prevention action plan. Kate Rutherford for the CBC.

Ben Lindburg interviews David Deutsch and Scott Aaronson about the plausibility of the time travel in Avengers: Endgame. The Ringer

Roy Scranton shares how lessons from a genocide can prepare humanity for the climate apocalypse. MIT Technology Review

Scott Rosenburg explains what Apple, Facebook, and Google really mean when they talk about “privacy.” Axios

Jared Lindzon reveals that 75% of staff at this successful IT company are on the autism spectrum. Fast Company

Emily Esfahani Smith: these deaf entrepreneurs are launching a tiny home retreat and they hope their hearing visitors leave enlightened. The Washington Post

Audubon’s Bird Note invites you to fall in love with the crow’s mating coos.

I hope you found something to spark your next creative project.

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

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Mar 31-Apr 6, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Chad Frischmann profiles the young minds solving climate change. BBC

Camille Bromley wonders, could a woman walk around the world today? National Geographic

Kara Wada covers the miserable history of seasonal allergies, from ancient China and Greece, to today. Quartzy

Shayla Love investigates the power of the nocebo effect. Vice

Sarah Barnes shares the work of Kate Allen, an artist with anxiety who illustrates lessons on mental health. My Modern Met

Kati Morton begins a new series on burnout with part 1: the history.

 

Adam Rasmi: new research suggests you should do anything but sit. Quartz

SciShow Space explains why our solar system is weird.

 

Ryan Bradley: the exploding bolts that get us into space. Popular Science

The Dodo presents the tiniest, fuzziest little horse.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope some of these ideas are pop-corning around in your head, making creative connections and inspiring your creative work.

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

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Mar 10-16, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping!

Jessica Conditt: Good Omens and the art of avoiding Armageddon. Engadget

ASAP Science exposes the biggest lie about climate change.

 

Michaeleen Doucleff reveals how Inuit parents teach kids to control their anger. NPR

Dr. Brian Goldman interviews Alan Alda about teaching doctors empathy on CBC’s “White Coat, Black Art.”

SciShow Space looks at three solar systems astronomers can’t quite figure out.

 

Noor Al-Samarrai: a medical manual linking medieval Ireland to the Islamic world has been found. Atlas Obscura

Philippe Bohstrom reports that the beads found in 3,400-year-old Danish graves were made by King Tut’s glassmaker. Haaretz

Use your head … and your butt … like Nancy, the bolas spider. Ze Frank

 

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

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Mar 3-9, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping!

Maya Wei-Haas says, if you’re tired of Daylight Savings Time, check out these places that are trying to end it. National Geographic

Chris Baraniuk: the new weapon in the fight against crime. BBC

AC Shilton lists nine ways to stop using so much single-use plastic. Outside Online

Laura Staugaitis shows us an art installation in the Hebrides that demonstrates the impact of climate change. This is Colossal

Scott Wilson wonders, could the massive aquifer under the Mojave Desert help solve California’s water problem? The Washington Post

Caren Chesler writes about the technological vision quest. It’s not all about a cure (though at least one man is waiting for just that). It’s more about giving those with limited to no vision technological aids so that they can more easily navigate the world on their terms. Popular Mechanics

Michael Greshko examines how we make, remember, and forget memories. National Geographic

Deborah MacKenzie: we may finally know what causes Alzheimer’s—and how to stop it. New Scientist

Apoorva Mandavilli reports on the second patient cured of H.I.V. and why this is a milestone in the global AIDS epidemic. The New York Times

Gianluca Mezzofiore: two astronauts will perform the first all-female spacewalk in history. CNN

SciShow Space news edumacates us about Mars’ ancient underground lakes and SpaceX’s successful Demo 1 mission.

 

Physics Girl explains Stephen Hawking’s final theory about black holes. It involves soft hair.

 

Deborah Netburn digs into an archaeological find: more than 140 children may have had their hearts torn out in ancient Peru. L.A. Times

Louise Pryke introduces us to Enheduanna, princess, priestess, and the worlds first author. The Conversation

Open Culture shares the news: The Book of Kells has now been digitized.

PBS Eons looks at the islands of huge hamsters and giant owls.

 

Bored Panda shares the photographs of Lisa, AKA ostdrossel, who set cameras in front of her birdfeeders. They’re amazing and hilarious.

Linda Lombardi wonders, do anxious owners make for anxious dogs? National Geographic

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found something to fuel your creative efforts.

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

thoughtythursday2016

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, Feb 17-23, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Thoughty Thursday’s here with a mixed bag of edutainment to get your mental corn popping!

Jamie Shreeve: if life exists beyond Earth, how do we find it? National Geographic

SciShow reveals what scientists have discovered to date about Stonehenge—and how much more remains to be learned.

 

Sharanya Deepak investigates how climate change has put Kashmir’s saffron under threat. Eater

David Roberts looks at the California coalition tackling one of the hardest, unsexist aspects of climate policy. Vox

Messy Nessy Chic profiles the real ice queens: women who conquered the cold wearing corsets.

SciShow Psych looks at the enneagram personality types and the science (or lack thereof) that supports them.

 

Ross Andersen reveals how scientists are totally reconsidering animal cognition. The Atlantic

Last weekend, I shared a picture of two pileated woodpeckers dancing around a tree trunk on social media. This is what they were up to 😉

 

Sarah Zhang figures out why we think cats are psychopaths. It’s just “resting cat face.” The Atlantic

True facts about the lemur. Ze Frank. Man, I’ve missed these!

 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found something inspiring in thoughty Thursday.

This weekend, I’ll be posting my monthly next chapter update.

Until then, be well, my friends.

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 27-Feb 2, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Time to tickle those neurons and get your mental corn popping!

Ashley Whillans looks at what time poverty is doing to us: time for happiness. The Harvard Business Review

Amanda Kooser reveals how NASA watches the wild polar vortex from space. Cnet

SciShow Space explains how the collision that created the moon could have provided Earth with the elements of life and how stellar occultation can help us figure out how the collisions that originally formed the planets of our solar system happened. Whew!

 

Loren Grush says, better interior design might keep astronauts healthier and happier in deep space. The Verge

Will Meyer: the weather and the wall. Climate change and the border wall are more connected than you might think. Longreads

Emma Taggart shares the colourful chart that traces the evolution of the English alphabet from Egyptian hieroglyphics. My Modern Met

Katarzyna Szymielewicz says, your digital identity has three layers, and you can only control one of them. Quartz

Ryan Gabrielson: the FBI says its photo analysis is scientific evidence, but scientists disagree. ProPublica

Thanks for stopping by for a little inspiration.

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

thoughtythursday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 20-26, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

And here we go with another week of informal writerly learnings!

Janice Hardy offers this Sunday writing tip: make sure your chapter endings hook your reader. Later in the week, Becca Puglisi explains how to use vocal cues to show hidden emotion. Then, Janice returns with three mistakes to avoid when creating stakes in your story. Fiction University

Leigh Medeiros considers writing and time management: a dispatch from the kitchen sink. Writer Unboxed

Sonja Yoerg praises one of our tools of the trade: whiteboard wonders. Writer Unboxed

Heather Webb shares some truths about the publishing industry you can only learn in the trenches. Writer Unboxed

Keith Cronin: my ongoing feud with Billy Joel. A bit click-bait-y, there. This is really about how to write good dialogue. Writer Unboxed

K.M. Weiland explains how to create your perfect writing process. Helping Writers Become Authors

Angela Ackerman stops by Jane Friedman’s blog. The inner struggle: how to show a character’s repressed emotions.

Anne Pisacano interviews Lori Henriksen on how she uses the tarot in her creative process. Writers in the Storm

Tamar Sloan stops by Writers Helping Writers to explain the key components of a compelling character according to psychology.

Jami Gold wants to help you find your story’s essence.

Mira Singer: making sympathetic antagonists and why Thanos wasn’t one. Then, Oren Ashkenazi covers six more common storytelling problems in new manuscripts. Mythcreants

Andrea J. Johnson shows you the five steps to creating characters of colour. DIY MFA

Why Science Fiction Authors Need to be Writing About Climate Change Right Now. Charlie Jane Anders for Tor.com

And that was tipsday for this week. Come back on Thursday for a little bit of thoughty.

Until then, be well, my friends, and keep writing!

tipsday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Oct 14-20, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

As we head into the home stretch for the weekend, take some time to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Gloria Galloway reports on the vast region of the Northwest Territories declared an Indigenous protected area. The Globe and Mail

Andi Murphy explains how the Navajo nation is reclaiming its native food culture. Eater

Ephrat Livni: there’s a problem at the heart of #metoo—here’s how we solve it. Quartz

David Freeman: an Antarctic ice shelf is singing, and it sounds like an eerie sci-fi soundtrack. NBC News

Andrew Freedman says, scientists still have hope that climate change can be mitigated. Click through to the UN report if you want to have nightmares, but really, it’s a call to arms. We can still take action to prevent the absolute worst from happening. Axios

SciShow Space reveals how space exploration could be done efficiently through the interplanetary superhighway.

 

Leslie Gonzales shares some lesser-known facts about the Vikings. History 101

Saga Vanacek pulled a 1,500-year-old sword from a lake. The Guardian

Bernhard Warner warns (ha!) of the dangers of building a better bee—frankenbee! The Guardian

The Pet Collective shares some trampoline fun!

 

Bubble time with raccoons. Viral Hog

 

And … that was thoughty Thursday for another week.

Until next Tipsday, 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 16-22, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

I hope something in this grab bag gets your mental corn popping! On with the thoughty!

Heather MacDougall explores the pagan roots of Easter. The Guardian

Zdravko Cvijetic lists thirteen things you need to give up if you want to be successful. Medium

George Monbiot: neolibralism encourages loneliness and that’s wrenching society apart. [Mel’s note: this introvert says being alone is not necessarily lonely. Keep the distinction in mind as you read.] The Guardian

For balance: Michael Harris promotes the benefits of solitude. The Walrus

Alice Klein reports that creative people see and process the world differently. New Scientist

Tracy Moore says, we have to talk about women who regret having children. Jezebel

Kat Chow: the “model minority” myth is again used to drive a wedge between Asians and blacks. NPR

Itai Palti thinks that the next industrial revolution will be driven by human creativity, not machines. We can always hope. Quartz

D.T. Max reviews how humans have shaped our evolution. National Geographic

Why are you so tired? ASAP Science

 

Following up on last week’s postmodernist post, have a look at an animated introduction to Roland Barthes’ Mythologies. Learn how to deconstruct popular culture. Open Culture

Carol Off interviews biologist David George Haskell about the songs of the trees. CBC

April 22 was Earth Day, so here are some topical posts:

See you on the weekend. Be well until then.

thoughtythursday2016