covid-19

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Dec 26, 2021-Jan 1, 2022

/ Melanie Marttila

We’re a bit short on the thoughty this week. What there is, is interesting, though. Get your mental corn popping. At least a little.

Maryn McKenna: covid will become endemic. The world must decide what that means. Wired

Nishita Jha: welcome to the jungle. On the Smithsonian’s #metoo moment. Buzzfeed

The real reason we’re all so busy (and what to do about it). Dorie Clark | TEDxBoston

The European Space Agency is opening a 50-year-old Christmas present from the moon. Phys.org

Louise Lerner: to find the very highest energy ghost particles in the universe, a new detector will soar over Antarctica. SciTech Daily

The most anticipated space missions of 2022. SciShow Space

Ayesha Rascoe: it’s not science fiction. Scientists have really made robots that reproduce. NPR

Becky Ferreira reports that cavers reach the bottom of an ancient “well of hell” for the first time. Vice

Andrew Curry reveals the immense mystery older than Stonehenge. BBC

Thanks for stopping by. 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: Popping your mental corn, Dec 19-25, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s New Year’s Eve eve! Get your mental corn popping for the last time in 2021.

Joshua Adams: Martin Luther King Jr. did not dream about banning critical race theory. Color Lines

Alexander Quon: Ottawa announces $700K in funding to support Cowessess First Nation’s efforts at former residential school site. CBC

Aliyah Chavez: solstice is a time to reflect and replenish. While solstice was last Tuesday, I think the whole holiday season shares this theme. Indian Country Today

Britt Julious wonders, who are Christmas movies for? On diversity and gender equity in romantic holiday movies. Harper’s Bazaar

Do CIS boys just wanna have fun, too? Gender policing. Khadija Mbowe

Kim Fahner shares her experience with breakthrough covid on Morning North. And here’s the print version. She’s not brave and strong because she shared her story. She shared her story because she’s brave and strong. CBC

Monica Kidd reveals that the fear of losing freedom common thread behind vaccine hesitancy, according to cross-cultural survey. Healthy Debate

Krissy Holmes and Ramraajh Sharvendiran cover barriers to physician recruitment and employment in Newfoundland. CBC

Why do we dream? It’s okay to be smart

Guy Kawasaki interviews Catherine Price: author, speaker, and creator. The Remarkable People podcast

Christin Bohnke: the disappearance of Japan’s third gender. JSTOR Daily

Diana talks to Katie Mack about our expanding universe. Physics Girl

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the James Webb Space Telescope. Star Talk

Watch the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (Christmas Day!). NASA Space Flight

Thanks for visiting. I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

I should be posting my December update and 2021 year in review post on the weekend.

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

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Dec 5-11, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Now this is more like it! Get your mental corn popping in time for the weekend!

Elsa Keslassy announces that Josephine Baker becomes the first Black woman to enter France’s pantheon. Variety

Becky Sullivan: trial begins for ex-officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright. NPR

Khadija Mbowe explains youth liberation and why Gen Z will save us.

Ashley Belanger: the financial abuse shown in Netflix’s Maid is a growing problem offscreen. Teen Vogue

Reina Sultan reveals what it’s like when a climate disaster permanently alters your life. Vice

Rachel Aiello reports that conversion therapy will be illegal in Canada. CTV News

Jason Warick: residential school timelines, unmarked graves, part of new web resource for survivors. CBC

Shanti Escalante-de Mattei reports that the Nez Perce tribe paid $600,000 for their own artifacts. Now, they’ve been repaid. Art News

Lisa Respers France: Rebel Wilson got “pushback” from her team over weight loss. And do click through on that related Pop Life vid. CNN

Kim Fahner documents her experience with a breakthrough case: a covid diary. So, so important. You can still get covid, even if you’re double-vaccinated. The vaccine simply gives you a better chance of not going to the hospital or dying of the virus. Getting covid can still change your world, though. Please get vaccinated, get your booster when you can, and make sure your eligible children get vaccinated. More important than ever as cases rise again. The Republic of Poetry

Jacqueline Rose reveals how the pandemic has changed our psychic landscape: life after death. The Guardian

Collin Binkley and Hannah Fingerhut: poll reveals pandemic hit Gen-Z hardest. Associated Press

Anna Bruk assures you that other people don’t think you’re a mess. Scientific American

Jue Liang: Buddhist nuns and women scholars are gaining new leadership roles in a tradition that began with the ordination of Buddha’s foster mother. The Conversation

Erik White reports that the Ontario legislature to vote on issuing warrant for Laurentian University documents. CBC

Christopher Plain: DARPA-funded researchers accidentally create the world’s first warp bubble. Engage 🙂 The Debrief

NASA announces 2021 class of astronaut candidates.

Elizabeth Howell reports that NASA celebrates the life and career of Star Trek star, Nichelle Nichols. Space.com

Cody Delistraty: what if we’ve been misunderstanding monsters? JSTOR Daily

Thanks for stopping by. 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: Popping your mental corn, Oct 24-30, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

And … this will be the last thought Thursday until December 9th! Get your mental corn popping 🙂

The media and the missing; ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome’ explained | Khadija Mbowe

Tanya Talaga reveals that Canada has not truly released all residential school records. The Globe and Mail

Martha Troian: a Cree family’s canoe is returned, after sitting in a University of Saskatchewan storage room for years. Maclean’s

Haley Ott reports that UK women are being drugged by needles in nightclubs. It’s the evolution of the roofie, folks. CBS News

Mari Yamaguchi: Japan’s Princess Mako relinquishes royal status to marry commoner. Associated Press

Public Health Sudbury and District issues covid-19 order as region becomes a hot spot. And we were doing so well … CBC

Sarah Larson reveals Brené Brown’s empire of emotion. The New Yorker

Dopamine isn’t just a happy chemical. SciShow Psych

William Deresiewicz: human history gets a rewrite. The Atlantic

GM to install 4,000 electric car charging stations across Canada. CBC

Ben Turner: scientists capture images of bizarre “electron ice” for the first time. Space.com

Tariq Malik reports that the Sun fires off major solar flare from Earth-facing sunspot. Space.com

An alternative to dark matter? SciShow Space

Jackie Wattles reveals that the alarm that went off on SpaceX’s all-tourist spaceflight was … the toilet. Toilet humour in SPACE #FTW! CNN

Olivia Box explains why the belowground ecosystem matters. JSTOR Daily

Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree, heads up The Mother Tree Project.

Kelli Bender reports on very good doggo Bear, who saved koalas during the Australian wildfires, and was honoured with an award. People

Mary Jo DiLonardo announces that dozens of bison released on Sioux tribal lands in South Dakota. Treehugger

Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris and Tah-Mahs Ellie Kinley: one stolen whale, the web of life, and our collective healing. Grist

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

I’ll pop in on the weekend for my first mini-update.

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

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Oct 3-9, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

The weekend is in sight! It’s time to pull your head out of work and get your mental corn popping 🙂

Kimberly Brown Pellum reveals how Maryrose Reeves Allen taught Black women’s self-care during Jim Crow. JSTOR Daily

Renée Lilley reports that residential school day scholars may be able to start claims process in December. Students who went home at night suffered the same abuses but weren’t included in the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. CBC

Literacy program launched for Indigenous elders, residential school, and day school survivors. CBC

Amar Chebib (film) and Dan Greene (text) present the story of how Cree skateboarding legend Joe Buffalo grapples with the trauma of Canada’s residential schools. The New Yorker

University of Sudbury transfers online Indigenous studies courses to Kenjgewin Teg. CBC

Joe can’t believe he’s making another Covid video. It’s okay to be smart

Lizzy Davies reports that the WHO endorses use of first malaria vaccine in Africa. The Guardian

True facts: the mosquito. Ze Frank

Key findings from the Pandora Papers. The Washington Post

Our first glimpse of the dark side of the moon. SciShow Space

Stuart Campbell, Elizabeth Healey, Yaroslav Kuzmin, and Michael D. Glascock reflect on John Dee’s obsidian mirror: the mirror, the magus, and more. Yes. An actual scholarly paper 🙂 Cambridge University Press

Guy Kawasaki interviews Olympia Yarger: entrepreneur and maggot evangelist. The Remarkable People podcast

Olivia Box: what does a tree see? On the importance of “witness” trees. JSTOR Daily

Robby Berman says, crows are self-aware, just like us. Big Think

Thank you for taking the time to visit, 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: Popping your mental corn, Sept 12-18, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome to fall! It’s thoughty Thursday, your opportunity to get your mental corn popping in time for the weekend!

Jelani Cobb: the man behind critical race theory. The New Yorker

Matt Lavietes reports that the Department of Justice limits use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants. Axios

Patty Nieberg: police in Elijah McClain’s hometown racially biased, officials say. Associated Press

Alysia Harris: “We have to evaluate the motives of health care institutions.” Scalawag

Curtis Bunn: digital records from 19th century give Black families a glimpse of their ancestry. NBC News

Ashawnta Jackson explains how Eyes on the Prize, one of the most influential historical documentaries of all time, almost didn’t get made. JSTOR Daily

Sagamok Anishnawbek, Mississauga, and Serpent River First Nations to host ceremony before searching residential school site. CBC

Kelly Hayes reports that Line 3 resisters light the way in a battle for life on Earth. TruthOut

Lindsey Bark reports that Lawrence Panther teaches first Cherokee language class at University of Arkansas. Cherokee Phoenix

Leila Fadel: for many American Muslims, the legacy of 9/11 is the fight for civil rights. NPR

1,000 Dreams shares the stories of refugees. Compelling.

Livia Gershon: evading abortion bans with mutual aid. JSTOR Daily

Brian Naylor: Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, and Maggie Nichols blast the FBI’s mishandling of their allegations about Larry Nassar. NPR

Joe Friessen and Molly Hayes: Western University reels as student dies from assault; social media sparks investigation into sexual violence. The Globe and Mail

Avis Favaro, Elizabeth St. Philip, and Alexandra Mae Jones take us inside an Ontario ICU where all the covid-19 patients are largely young, and all unvaccinated. CTV News

Guy Kawasaki interviews Juliet Funt (daughter of Alan, of Candid Camera fame) about how you can really be productive at work (spoiler: it’s not do more with less). The Remarkable People Podcast

The entire SpaceX Inspiration4 launch. The exciting part is in the last 30 minutes or so, but if you have the time, the commentary throughout is fascinating. NASA Spaceflight

Frank Jacobs: did dark magic conjure up the British Empire? Big Think

Alice Albina reviews history from Boudicca to modern Britain: the dream of island utopias ruled by women. The Guardian

Olivia Box explains how wind energy could affect marine ecosystems. JSTOR Daily

Jessica Steward shares Albert Dros’ enchanting photos of Madeira’s ancient Fanal Forest filled with 500-year-old trees. My Modern Met

The mystery of Earth’s disappearing giants. In our nature | It’s okay to be smart

Thank you for visiting, 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: Popping your mental corn, Aug 29-Sept 4, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome to thoughty Thursday, your chance to get your mental corn popping in time for the weekend!

Eric Levenson and Stella Chan report that grand jury indicts police officers and paramedics in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. CNN

Mohammed Elnaiem: what is critical race theory? JSTOR Daily

Khadija Mbowe: who benefits from all this outrage and division?

Hannah Kost: pipe ceremony held at Calgary City Hall to start planning a permanent residential school memorial. CBC

Adam Edelman reports that the Supreme Court declines to block Texas’ restrictive abortion law, dealing a blow to Roe vs. Wade. NBC News

Karen Gallardo: on the front lines, this is what the seven stages of severe covid-19 look like. Los Angeles Times

Denis Constantineau: Laurentian has lost trust of Francophone community. The Sudbury Star

Joe Hernandez provides the latest updates on Ida, the hurricane thrashing the Gulf Coast. NPR

How mirrors could solve our energy problem. Physics Girl

Paola Rosa-Aquino: floating wind turbines could open up vast ocean tracts for renewable power. The Guardian

Christine Rankin: two Canadians win gold and break records at the Paralympic games. CBC

Extreme senses. In our nature | It’s okay to be smart

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you took away something to inspire or inform 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, May 16-22, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Happy Friday eve! Get your mental corn popping in anticipation of a lovely weekend!

Laurel Wamsley: prosecutor says deputies were justified in their fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. NPR

The University of Washington reveals that almost all kinds of air pollution affect people of color hardest. Futurity

Khari Johnson: Black and queer AI groups say they’ll spurn Google funding. Wired

Fedora Abu introduces us to Britain’s first Black aristocrats. BBC

Kim Tran shows you the Asian American activism you won’t see on Instagram. Refinery 29

Geeta Pandey reports that India’s holiest river Ganges is swollen with covid victims. BBC

You can’t prove everything is true. Veritasium

Yuliya Talmazan reveals that BBC’s Martin Bashir used “deceitful” methods to secure Princess Diana interview. NBC

The neuroscience of tongue-twisters. SciShow Psych

Randy Pascal: Alex Baumann adds voice to Laurentian pool discussion. The Sudbury Star

Kayla Barron joins NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission to space station. NASA

What the crater from the extinction of the dinosaurs taught us about Mars. SciShow Space

Sierra Garcia wonders what green hydrogen will mean for international relations. JSTOR Daily

Patrick Barkham introduces us to the farmers putting trees back into UK fields. The Guardian

Related: Olivia Box also touts silvopasture, or, why are there cows in the woods? JSTOR Daily

Karen Zamora explains how a fungus is making cicadas sex-crazy (side-effect, dismemberment). NPR

Richard Luscombe says that sharks use Earth’s magnetic field as guidance system. The Guardian

Thank you for taking the time to visit, 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, May 2-8, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Let’s get your mental corn popping people!

Becky Sullivan: family and civil rights leaders mourn Andrew Brown Jr. at funeral. NPR

Emily Shapiro and Marlene Lenthang: Atlanta officer fired after fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks has been reinstated. CBS News

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor considers the emerging movement for police and prison abolition. The New Yorker

Mohammed Elnaiem: the “deviant” African genders that colonialism condemned. JSTOR Daily

Paulina Cachero and Olivia B. Waxman compile 11 moments from Asian American history you should know. Time

Lam Thuy Vo: when their community suffered, these Asian Americans stepped up (where the government didn’t). Documented

Krystal Vasquez says, a disability shouldn’t be a death sentence during a natural disaster. Environmental Health News

Dhruv Khullar takes us inside India’s covid-19 surge. The New Yorker

Erica X Eisen reveals Georgian Britain’s anti-vaxxer movement: “The mark of the beast.” The Public Domain Review

Richard A Friedman says, you might be depressed now, but don’t underestimate your resilience. The New York Times

Why the Millennial vs. GenZ war needs to end. The Take

Kim Fahner: Laurentian is in pieces—those pieces need to be put back together with care. Sudbury.com

More Ingenuity. This time with sound! NASA JPL

Morgan McFall-Johnsen reports that SpaceX has safely landed four astronauts in the ocean for NASA, completing the US’s longest human spaceflight. Insider

Taylor Lorenz: what is cheugy? You’ll know it when you see it. The New York Times

Dorothy Woodend: “Mother Trees” are real. They model sharing and generosity. The Tyee

Why are we warm blooded? It’s okay to be smart

GDT nature photographer of the year 2021. The Guardian

Thanks for visiting. 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 18-24, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time, once again, to get your mental corn popping.

Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Justice served. CBC

Vanessa Romo: Ma’Khia Bryant shot by Columbus police. NPR

Aymann Ismail says, there’s a reason this keeps happening in Minnesota. Slate

Frederick Joseph: the fact that the officer who shot Daunte Wright is a white woman matters. White supremacy isn’t just about white men. Cosmopolitan

Mitch Dudek: Adam Toledo remembered as a kid with a big imagination and an affinity for shows about zombies. Chicago Sun Times

Madeline Holcombe and Dakin Andone: the US has reported at least 50 mass shootings since Atlanta. CNN

Robert P Baird examines the invention of whiteness: the long history of a dangerous idea. The Guardian

Lauren Frayer relates how India went from a ray of hope to a world record for the most covid cases in a single day. NPR

Gina Kolato explains how Kati Kariko helped shield the world from coronavirus. The New York Times

David Treuer says, return national parks to the tribes. The Atlantic

How ocean currents work (and how we’re breaking them). It’s okay to be smart

Emma Newburger: here’s what countries pledged at Biden’s global climate summit. NBC

Molly Taft presents the history of Earth Day, from radical roots to elementary school classrooms. Teen Vogue

$20 million in NOSM money in jeopardy because of Laurentian insolvency, med school dean says. CBC

Angela Gemmill reports that the Laurentian University financial crisis is not typical of other northeastern Ontario post-secondary institutions. CBC

Ingenuity takes flight! NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

And then, the Perseverance rover extracts first oxygen from Mars. NASA

Nadia Drake: SpaceX launch kicks off regular commercial flights into orbit. National Geographic

New warp drive possibilities. PBS Space Time

Nikk Ogasa reports that nuclear fallout is showing up in honey decades after bomb tests. Poor bees! Science

Marie M. Daly, the unsung hero behind the building blocks of DNA. SciShow

Kara McKenna: how Canada is trying to protect its last three spotted owls. The Guardian

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you took away something to inspire your next creative project.

This weekend, I hope to post my monthly next chapter update.

Until then, be well and stay safe!