CRISPR

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, May 22-28, 2022

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome June, the unofficial beginning of summer (the solstice is only three weeks away …)! Celebrate by getting you mental corn popping 🙂

Brett Samuels reports that Biden to sign policing order on second anniversary of George Floyd’s death. The Hill

Anthony Conwright explains the trouble with white fragility discourse. African American Policy Forum

Seth Freed Wessler reports that Erin Edwards warned that a new grain elevator would disrupt sacred Black history. Her employer deleted her findings. ProPublica

Barbara Ransby: Black feminism insists that we not take the attack on “Roe” as an isolated issue. Truthout

Acacia Coronado and Jim Vertuno: gunman kills 19 children, 2 teachers in Texas school rampage. Associated Press

Luis Noe-Bustamante, Neil G. Ruiz, Mark Hugo Lopez, and Khadijah Edwards: about a third of Asian Americans have changed their daily routines over concerns about threats and attacks. Pew Research

John Sudworth reveals the faces from China’s Uygher detention camps. BBC

Chris Brown reports that somehow, cherished Blackfoot items ended up in Devon, England. Now, they’re heading home. CBC

Laverne Cox honoured as first transgender Barbie. BBC

Rob Picheta and Hafsa Khalil report that we’re finally learning more about long covid. CNN

Brigid Schulte says it’s not your job to fix your work stress. Slate

Clark Quinn recommends the late adopter strategy. Learnlets

Guy Kawasaki interviews Zoe Chance: writer, teacher, researcher and climate philanthropist. The Remarkable People Podcast

Ali Sundermier announces that superconducting x-ray laser reaches operating temperature colder than outer space. Phys.org

A simple but compelling question: where does the candle wax go? SciShow

Linda Geddes: scientists create tomatoes genetically edited to bolster vitamin D levels. The Guardian

Helena Horton reports that an ancient forest found at bottom of huge sinkhole in China. The Guardian

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

I should be posting my next chapter update this weekend.

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, Oct 6-12, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

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

Brené Brown is doubling down on love. A guiding light, this woman.

Shannon Odell looks at your brain on music. Inverse

Sara Barnes shares gravity-defying photos of determined dogs catching Frisbees in mid-air. My Modern Met

Maria Goodavage reports on the tech helping dogs learn to “talk” with humans. Wired

Researchers reveal that losing a dog can be as hard as losing any human loved one. Power of Positivity

Nathaniel Dove: bee populations recovering due to regenerative farming. Global News

Rebecca Seales researches tebori: the eye-watering art that thousands cross the world for. BBC

Lindsay J. Smith: envisioning and designing the floating future. UnDark

Ed Finn: algorithms are redrawing the space for cultural imagination. MIT Press Reader

Rob Stein shares how CRISPR therapy may help treat sickle cell disease. NPR

SciShow Space news reports on how the black hole at the centre of our galaxy “woke up” about 3.5 million years ago and the latest evidence from Cassini about the possibility of life on Enceladus.

Emily Chung announces that Saturn has just beat Jupiter for the title of “moon king” with 20 new moons confirmed. CBC

Thank you for visiting. I hope you found something to fuel your ongoing creative efforts 🙂

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

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, June 16-22, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Here we are with some inspirational, research-y goodness to get your mental corn popping!

Lindsay Holiday reviews the lives and reigns of the gay kings and queen of England.

Anna Silman: every girl I knew was on it. Why some women are questioning hormonal birth control. I stopped birth control in my mid twenties because it was messing with my mental health. My spouse could see it clearly. The few times I’ve had to use it since, usually for some form of menstrual intervention, I’ve turned into a basket case. So support women listening to their own bodies and minds. The Cut

Olga Khazan explores a breakthrough in the mystery of why women get so many autoimmune diseases. The point was made by a commenter, however, that many of these autoimmune diseases develop before puberty. Can they explain that? The Atlantic

Anna Bianca Roach: her death made headlines. We should learn from her life, instead. The Washington Post

Karen Russell writes a letter of recommendation about superstitions. The New York Times Magazine

Open Culture reveals that Leonardo da Vinci’s huge notebook collections, the Forster Codex, are now digitized in high resolution so you can explore them online.

Ryan F. Mandelbaum reports on a Norwegian town that wants to abolish time. Gizmodo

Meilan Solly reports that a perfectly preserved, 32,000-year-old wolf head was found in Siberian permafrost, and what wildlife biologists are learning from it. The Smithsonian Magazine

Nathan Rott: going “zero carbon” is all the rage but will it stop climate change? NPR

Michael Greshko wonders, what is the summer solstice? National Geographic

Maria Popova reveals the mesmerizing microscopy of trees—they look like lovely crochet patterns! BrainPickings

Chris R. Morgan says, the best streaming service is the National Film Board of Canada 🙂 The Outline

SciShow looks at the origin of butts 🙂

Kaitlyn Schwalje reports that we finally have the answer to how many squirrels there are in NYC’s Central Park. But who was asking the question? National Geographic

Joe paints butterfly wings with CRISPR. It’s okay to be smart

And that was thoughty Thursday.

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, Dec 2-15, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

Last week, I had two skimpy links to offer. As I said, my brain refused to brain in the week following NaNoWriMo. This week, the neurons mustered, and so I have a reasonable selection of stuff to pop your mental corn 🙂

The Guardian editorial staff shares its view on editing human DNA: a bad idea, and badly executed.

This “city” for people with dementia is the future of memory care. Katherine Schwab for Fast Company.

More neuroscience with Shannon Odell. Your brain on hangovers. Inverse

 

David Paul Kirkpatrick is breathing in the light. An instruction in the “Golden Flower” meditation. Better Humans/Medium

Matt Novak: how did Mary Queen of Scots send her secret messages? Paleofuture

Lizzie Philip takes a close-up look at the most influential medical book of the 16th century. Atlas Obscura

Robert Iriondo: differences between AI and machine learning and why it matters. Data Driven Investor

Brandon Specktor reports that Earth’s mysterious “deep biosphere” harbours millions of undiscovered species. NBC

Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its baby powder. Lisa Girion for Reuters.

Christine Ro: the psychology behind stalking. Vice

And on that disturbing note, that was thoughty Thursday.

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, Aug 5-11, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping, that is, to present you with some interesting stuff in the hope that the resulting creative connections will lead to your next awesome project! Yup, that’s what thoughty Thursday’s all about.

Patricia Grisafi writes about the terrible “what if”: how OCD makes every day a matter of life and death. The Guardian

Brenda Knowles wonders if solitary activities are only half-fixes for anxiety and depression. Space2Live

Your brain on caffeine with Shannon Odell. Inverse

 

Tom Wipple: how to edit a human. On unlocking the human genome, ethics, and CRISPR. 1843

Jason Pontin discusses the genetics (and ethics) of making humans fit for Mars. Wired

Disney princesses look more like children as the years pass. It’s not accidental. It’s all about neoteny. It’s Okay to be Smart

 

And, for your amusement: Ze Frank’s true facts about the dung beetle.

 

Be well until next tipsday!

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, June 4-10, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

And here’s how we get your mental corn popping 🙂

John Campo thinks it’s time to recognize mental health as essential as physical health. Stat

Emily Esfahani Smith: science says lasting relationships come down to kindness and generosity. The Atlantic

Janice Johnson reports on the assault victim who was jailed and had to wear shackles to testify. CBC

Scott Gilmore shows us the Canada most people don’t see. Maclean’s

Rise of the machines: who is “the internet of things” good for? Adam Greenfield for The Guardian.

Phil Plait: Einstein was right (again!). Astronomers watch as a star’s gravity bends light from another star. Blastr

It’s okay to be smart looks at the implications of CRISPR:

 

Ian Sample: the oldest homo sapiens bones ever found shake the foundations of the human story. The Guardian

Kelly Richman-Abdou looks at the ancient techniques and evolution of traditional Japanese tattoos. My Modern Met

Because this addresses Guardians of the Galaxy, volume 2, I’d normally put it in Tipsday … BUT because science is way too geeky for that!

 

I hope you have a few tasty ideas to take to the page.

Be well until the weekend! *waves*

thoughtythursday2016