Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Aug 7-13, 2022

Happy Friday eve! Thoughty Thursday’s here to get your mental corn popping in time for the weekend.

Rich McKay reports that two of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers get life sentences and the third 35 years. Reuters

Michael Goldberg and Allen G. Breed reveal that Grand Jury declines to indict woman in Emmet Till killing. Associated Press

Lauren Michele Jackson: Josephine Baker was the star France wanted—and the spy it needed. The New Yorker

Pavel Polityuk: Ukraine accuses Russia of using nuclear plant for deadly rocket attack. Reuters

Ista Bhattacharya considers Kolcata and Partition: between remembering and forgetting. JSTOR Daily

Rosa Saba says it’s “paycheque to paycheque.” Inflation is hitting low-income Canadians hard—and its effects are likely to be long-lasting. The Toronto Star

Christopher Zara: MRI brain scans are finally revealing why some people are left-handed. Fast Company

Kaitlyn McInnis explains why the design thinking process is so important. Fast Company

Raven Ishak says crying at work is only stigmatized because offices cater to the male experience. Well + Good

Things we’ve learned working from home. The Verge

Pema Bakshi writes in defense of quiet quitting. Refinery 29

Are we turning away from sex-positive feminism? Khadija Mbowe | You Can Always Change Your Mind

Ione Gamble says being “woman’d” is becoming a depressing inevitability for us all. Refinery 29

Mark Sullivan and Alex Pasternack: small nuclear reactors finally get the nod from regulators, but they still have a lot to prove. Fast Company

Tesla discloses lobbying effort to set up factory in Canada. Reuters

Jason Bittel and Martin Gregus want you to behold the bears of summer … snoozing in flower beds. 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, Aug 7-13, 2016

Canadian Olympic news:

I’ve shared articles to Facebook that later turned out to be erroneous. I’ve curated some of them here with their debunking articles appended. As a public service, I’m sharing the Snopes’ guide to fake news sites and hoax purveyors. You’re welcome.

80,000 Hours explores the qualities that make a job a fulfilling career. High income isn’t the main consideration. Follow the links at the bottom of each part through to part six and map out your career path (aimed at 20-somethings, but everyone can assess, or reassess, their careers using their quizzes and tools).

Sudbury writer Laura Stradiotto shares a personal story that every woman needs to read: I was happily married with kids and I made the decision to have an abortion. Chatelaine

Eckhart Tolle: You’re not your Facebook ego.

 

Allie Brosch’s Hyperbole and a Half is amazeballs awesomesauce. Read about her adventures in depression. It doesn’t end on a happy note, but there’s more to read on her site, and in her book. For my money, there’s no one who describes what it’s like to have depression better.

Anna Lovind muses on what we are called to do when our hearts are breaking. She also writes about how people use the excuse of not having enough time to skimp on self care: that’s the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard.

Kimmy Dee reports on five scientific reasons our idea of happiness is wrong for Cracked.

Brother Devid Steindle-Rast recommends five small gestures of gratitude that counteract violence. Uplift

Jennifer Wolkin shares more about the brain-gut connection. Mindful

Last week, I shared an article about how scientists have discovered a new kind of light. This week, it’s a new kind of fire that may be useful in cleaning up oil spills. Andrew Liszewski for Gizmodo.

A new trans-Neptunian object (TNO) is making the solar system look a whole lot weirder. Shannon Hall for New Scientist.

Kivi Park will become Sudbury’s largest outdoor recreation space. South Side Story

Archived photos of Sudbury will change the way people see our city. Up Here

And here’s the mural Ella and Pitr were commissioned to create for the Up Here festival. CBC

In honour of International Left-Hand Day, BrainPickings reviews David Wolman’s book A Left-Hand Turn Around the World.

The theory of how North America was populated is wrong. Emily Chung for the CBC.

Paulette Steeves, an Indigenous anthropologist, is challenging the origin story of First Nations peoples. Denise Ryan, The Vancouver Sun.

Alan Yuhas reports on a recently uncovered Mayan tomb that sheds light on the “Snake Dynasty.” The Guardian

John Vidal examines how millions of trees brought a broken landscape back to life. The Guardian

Okay, tourists. Stop stacking rocks at Hanakapiai beach. It’s not pono (right). Christine Hitt, Hawai’i Magazine

Maddie Stone reports on the Greenland shark, which may hold the cure to aging. Gizmodo

The White Wolf Pack reports on a couple of heroic beavers from Ogden, Utah, who stopped a fuel spill with their dam, but had to be taken to a wildlife rescue for rehabilitation as a result.

A cockatoo freaks out a bunch of cats by meowing at them. Daily Kaos

That should get your mental corn a-poppin’.

With any luck, I’ve tracked Mary Robinette Kowal down and delivered the decoded phrase 🙂 So looking forward to meeting her (among others) at WorldCon.

See you on the other side (that’s the 27th)!

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 26-May 2, 2015

Finally! Pakistan jails 10 of Malala Yousafzai’s attackers. BBC News.

Jon Krakauer: If you’re not a feminist, then you’re a problem. Penguin Random House’s Medium.

Teachers in the secondary school board are striking right now. Here’s a couple of posts that deal with the issues they’d like to see addressed.

11 ways Finland’s education system shows us that less is more. Filling my Map.

Schools should teach kids to think, not memorize. The documentary Most Likely to Succeed. Gotta watch this. The Huffington Post.

Ok. So, Sudbury was nominated the happiest city in Canada. Here’s 17 things you should know about us 😉 Buzzfeed. (Yes, we made Buzzfeed!)

Studies link social anxiety to empathic ability, high IQ, and sentinel intelligence. Spirit Science and Metaphysics.

The secret weapon that prevents anxiety and depression? It’s not what you think. The Creativity Post.
“When we attempt to divorce ourselves from pain, we end up feeling nothing pleasurable or meaningful at all. When we better understand, tolerate, and harness distressing thoughts and feelings, and become aware of the situations when they are helpful, we become empowered. We gain vitality. We become whole.”

Depression can alter your DNA (!) IFLS.

Veritasium: just knowing about learned helplessness can help you free yourself from its clutches. (Plus a bonus Sudbury tie-in with a mention of the Neutrino Observatory 🙂 )

LifeHack lists 20 signs that you’re succeeding, even if you don’t feel like you are.

Scientists turn pancreatic cancer cells into normal cells. Now . . . how close are they to releasing this treatment? IFLS.

Why are some people left-handed? (I like to say that we’re the only people in our right minds – LOL). IFLS.

Audi makes diesel fuel from water and carbon dioxide. IFLS.

i09 presents seven lesser-known but fascinating Victorian inventors.

A man knocked down a wall in his basement and discovered a hidden underground city. SlipTalk.

Here are the winners of the 2014 Smithsonian photography contest. Amazing and beautiful photos. The Atlantic.

And that’s your thoughty for the week.

Be well.

Thoughty Thursday