immunity

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Oct 16-22, 2022

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to bid farewell to October. Merry Samhain, to those who observe, and happy hallowe’en to everyone else 🙂

It’s time to get your mental corn popping!

Matthew Wills considers the reverse freedom rides in light of recent incidents of forced migration. JSTOR Daily

Guy Kawasaki interviews Dolly Chugh about how to drive social change. The Remarkable People Podcast

Putin tightens grip on Ukraine and Russia with martial law. Associated Press

Quiet quitting is the future of work culture. The Take

Eliza Strickland: with this bionic nose, covid survivors could smell the roses again. IEEE Spectrum

Fergus Walsh reports that BioNTech is using covid vaccine technology to crack cancer. BBC

Michelle Donovan explains how the Black Death shaped the evolution of immunity genes, setting the course for how we respond to disease today. Brighter World | McMaster University

Wyn Reynolds: DNA gives colloidal crystals shape-shifting and memory. Northwestern University

Sheon Han explains how to prove you know a secret without giving it away. The zero-knowledge proof. It’s a computer science thing. Quanta

NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation. NASA

Jennifer Ouellette says, “It’s the BOAT”: astronomers observe brightest of all time gamma-ray burst. Ars Technica

Elizabeth Howell: entire known universe recreated in Minecraft by an 18-year-old. Watch the video. Both insane and awesome. Space.com

Jo Marchant reveals that first known map of night sky found hidden in medieval manuscript. Nature

A resource you can lose yourself in: old maps online.

Getting into the spirit of the season, Nathan Strauss suggests 16 spooky places to visit. National Geographic

Alex Lawson wonders, is the great hydrogen gamble: hot air, or the net-zero holy grail? The Guardian

James Ashworth reports that Siberian remains could represent the first known neanderthal community. Natural History Museum

Drs. Georg Hochberg and Tobias Erb (et al.) go back to the future of photosynthesis. Max Planck Gesellschaft

Scientists peel back banana DNA to reveal mystery ancestors. Phys.org

Tim Vernimmen reports that the world’s biggest marine reserve seems to be doing its job. National Geographic

Thanks for stopping by. 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, July 19-25, 2020

/ Melanie Marttila

And here we are, at the end of July. You’ve survived another month of #pandemiclife. I hope you’ve found some way to come to terms with our ever-evolving new normal.

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

Robert Evans: what you need to know about the Battle of Portland. Bellingcat

Uncomfortable conversations with a Black man. White parents raising Black and bi-racial kids. Just do yourself a favour: watch all six episodes and then subscribe. Emmanuel Acho

Channon Hodge and Tawanda Scott Sambou: these Black female soldiers brought order to chaos and struck a blow against inequality. CNN

Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to Rep Ted Yoho (in defense of women, everywhere). Systemic misogyny enables systemic racism.

Kaleigh Rogers explains how to make indoor air safer. FiveThirtyEight

A Dublin doctor effectively (and simply) debunks the idea that a face mask (or several) lowers oxygen levels or negatively affects the ability to breathe. Eyewitness News

Zoria Gorvett: the people with hidden immunity to covid-19. BBC

Maggie Koerth says, every decision is a risk and every risk is a decision. FiveThirtyEight

Carly Silver: before vaccines, variolation was seriously trendy. It’s okay. I had to look it up, too 😉 JSTOR Daily

Eugene S. Robinson wonders, what do killer robots dream of? Ozy

Mars in 4K. Elder Fox Documentaries

Sean Fleming: this is now the world’s greatest threat—and it’s not coronavirus. The World Economic Forum

Matt Simon considers the terrible consequences of Australia’s uber-bushfires. Wired

Christina Larson reveals that the mating call of the Ecuadorian hummingbird is ultrasonic. AP News

Andy Boyce and Andrew Dreelin: ecologists dig prairie dogs, and why you should, too. The Smithsonian Magazine

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

This weekend, I’ll be tackling my next chapter update for July. I may not get it out on time, though, because I have an exam due on Sunday (more on that in the update).

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

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