Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Feb 26-March 4, 2023

March 9, 2023March 6, 2023 / Melanie Marttila

Daylight saving begins this weekend. Get your mental corn popping before the time change.

Early life stress can disrupt maturation of brain’s reward circuits, promoting disorders. UC Irvine

Intense aurora borealis lights up northern skies. Sudbury.com

New discovery sheds light on very early supermassive black holes. Royal Astronomical Society

Aidan Lewis: scientists reveal hidden corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza. Reuters

Steel was already being used in Europe 2,900 years ago, according to study. Phys.org

The science of iridescence. Be Smart

Jorge Dubcovsky: scientists unlock the key to drought-resistant wheat plants with longer roots. College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences | UC Davis

How smart are crows, actually? SciShow

Lauren Kaljur wonders, are herring making a comeback in BC? The Walrus

True facts: mussels that catch fish. Ze Frank

Thank you for spending some time with me, and I hope you found something to inspire a future creative project.

Until my next chapter weekly update, 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

October 14, 2021October 10, 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: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 10-16, 2020

May 21, 2020May 17, 2020 / Melanie Marttila

Here we are on Friday eve. You’ve almost made it through the week!

It’s time to reward yourself and get your mental corn popping.

Ashlyn Davis: this year’s Cannes and Sundance film festivals will stream online for free. Here’s how you can watch them. Secret LA

Jessica Tomberlin wonders, what is chronobiology? JSTOR Daily

Rachel Hahn wants you to meet Moms 4 Housing. Vogue

Andy Greenburg introduces you to Marcus Hutchins, the hacker who saved the internet. Wired

Dr. Emily Zarka looks into the urban legend of the slender man, a monster created on the internet. Monstrum

Katherine J. Wu explains how old math reveals new secrets about the monkeyflower. National Geographic

Over 500 beautiful manuscripts from the Islamic world now digitized and free for download. Open Culture

SciShow Space looks at how the alignments of the planets affect Earth.

L’Oreal Thompson Payton expounds on the art of saying “no.” Shondaland

Allison Miller: Joan of Arc, for fascists and feminists. JSTOR Daily

Sharon Blackie: the ancient practice of marrying the land. UpLift

29 things only people who collect pebbles will understand. And click through to hear the essay: cornerstones. BBC Radio 3

Lauren L. Hill reveals the founding mothers of professional surfing. gestalten

Maria Popova shares stunning 19th-century illustrations from the world’s first encyclopedia of the Great Barrier Reef. Brain Pickings

SciShow introduces us to the jellybot.

Ben Taub goes thirty-six thousand feet under the sea. The explorers who set one of the last meaningful records on earth. The New Yorker

Molly Glick: the Great Lakes are higher than they’ve ever been, and we’re not sure what will happen next. Popular Science

True facts about the batfish. Ze Frank

Morgan Olsen shares the Shedd Aquarium’s birthday party for Yaku, their oldest sea otter, replete with seafood cake. Otterly adorable! Time Out

If you’ve been seeing crows everywhere, this is what it means. The Minds Journal

Sara Barnes introduces us to the closest living relative to the dodo, the Nicobar pigeon. Beautiful! My Modern Met

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

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

ThoughtyThursday2019

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

May 16, 2019May 12, 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, May 6-12, 2018

May 17, 2018May 13, 2018 / Melanie Marttila

A few links to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Brian Resnick: Stephen Hawking’s final paper makes a hopeful case for the limits of existence. Vox

A super-massive black hole is hurtling toward Earth, but don’t worry, it’ll take about four billion years to get here. Sci-Tech Universe

Wil Wheaton shares his keynote speech for the NAMI Ohio’s statewide conference, Fulfilling the Promise: I live with chronic depression and I’m not ashamed.

SciShow: the strange (but true) history of hysteria.

Inverse: your brain on sugar with Shannon Odell.

Inverse: your brain on music with Shannon Odell.

Alfredo Carpineti: fasting for just one day can regenerate your stem cells. I wonder if the stomach flu counts? IFLS

Maggie posts about the history of our most common vegetables. The Plant Guide

Rosie McCall reports on a crow that steals a credit card, attempts to use it to buy a train ticket, and, after it fails, returns the card to its owner. Corvids rock my world. IFLS

I hope you found something in the mix to inspire.

Be well until next Tipsday!

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Nov 29-Dec 5, 2015

December 10, 2015December 11, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

What you should do in an active shooter situation. I can’t believe we need posts like this, but an ex-pat friend confesses she’s already had active shooter drills at her workplace. The Art of Manliness.

Will Canada be able to resolve the problems of its First Nations as quickly as it’s providing homes for Syrian refugees? It’s a valid question. The Globe and Mail.

Not everything happens for a reason. Bright Side.

The Unbound Spirit offers thirteen things you need to remember if you love a person who suffers from anxiety.

The decline of play can result in the increase in children’s mental disorders. Psychology Today.

This special agent crow proves he’s more than a bird brain. Daily Megabyte.

Brainpickings shares The Silent Friends, a lovely short film about our abiding bond with trees.

Canadian home care is suffering, but what about its patients? The Globe and Mail.

Lovely photograph of a lazy fox. Joop Snijder.

The Budweiser 2015 Superbowl ad, lost dog. The feels.