SciShow Psych

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 1-7, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila / Leave a comment

It’s the first post-NaNo thoughty Thursday and the videos have taken over! Time to get your mental corn popping, people 🙂

Annalee Newitz explores the possible future of public spaces on the internet: nothing lasts forever—not even on the internet. The New York Times

Dr. Becky covers the history of how we discovered what the speed of light was.

Quantum physics simplified. Arvin Ash

Michael Greshko lists the top 20 scientific discoveries of the 2010s. National Geographic

Insulin should be cheap. Here’s why it’s not. Verge Science

SciShow Psych delved into Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.

Global News’ full coverage of the 30th anniversary commemorative ceremony at École Polytecnique.

Christian Yates explains why your dog may be older than you think. Quartz

Nick Dunlop shares the spectacle of the starling and falcon dance. Murmurations aren’t just mesmerizing, they’re defensive strategies, too!

Pets talk about the holidays. Ze Frank

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

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, Sept 8-14, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

And now … it’s time to get your mental corn popping.

Erika W. Smith reveals the spiritual reason Friday the thirteenth is considered unlucky. Refinery29

Cassie Shortsleeves explains why being near water really does make us happier. Conde Nast Traveler Magazine

Rod McCullom reveals how bullying may shape adolescent brains. UnDark

SciShow Psych looks at the varieties of bipolar disorder.

Sophia Chen: Sean Carroll thinks we all exist on multiple worlds. Nabbed his book, Something Deeply Hidden, on the strength of this article. A little mind-blowing 🙂 Wired

Gabriel Popkin explores soil’s microbial market and the ruthless side of forests. Ties the “wood wide web” to the Gaia hypothesis—awesome stuff. Quanta Magazine

David Gelles: Jane Goodall keeps going, with a lot of hope (and a bit of whiskey). The New York Times

Physics girl looks at the surprising ways Mars is hostile to life.

Dr. Becky answers the question, if the universe is expanding, why do galaxies collide?

Andrew Lasane introduces us to the “Universe of Words” installation by Emmanuelle Moureaux. This is Colossal

Jessica Stewart shares 15 powerful finalists for the 2019 wildlife photograph of the year contest. Warning: though compelling, several of these photos are uncomfortable, if not outright disturbing. My Modern Met

Thanks for visiting. I hope you found something to inspire your current or next creative project.

Until next tipsday, be will, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories.

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Aug 18-24, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping!

Eleanor Cummins: how humans have created color for thousands of years. Popular Science

How nature works as seen in stunning psychedelic illustrations of scientific processes and phenomena in a 19th century French physics textbook. BrainPickings

More researchy goodness. The Ritman Library is making its Hermetic collection available online.

Satellite data reveals a record number of fires in the Brazilian rainforest. BBC

Mary Anne Potts explains what it’s like to swim through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. National Geographic

On a local level, the CBC reports on the Sudbury Conservation Authority’s puzzled reaction to direction and further cuts to funding.

SciShow Psych spelunks the uncanny valley.

David Armstrong shares neurologist Laura Boyle’s struggle back to health: in men, it’s Parkinson’s, but in women, it’s hysteria. ProPublica

SciShow Space news: new hypotheses about Jupiter’s core and estimates of the numbers of Earth-like planets.

More SciShow Space. This time, they’re breaking down the process that could make Mars settlement possible.

Simon Cooper, Charles Kemp, Daniel R. Little, and Duane W. Hamacher discuss: why do different cultures see such similar meanings in the constellations? The Conversation

SciShow wonders why there aren’t cancer-sniffing dogs in service.

I hope you found something to inspire or support your current creative project.

See you on the weekend for my next chapter update.

Until then, be well 🙂

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, July 28-Aug 3, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

And now, it’s time to get your mental corn popping.

‘They have become the new religion’: Esther Perel says we expect too much from relationships. “Out in the open” with Piya Chattopadhyay on CBC.

Why the trend of surveilling strangers online proves we are horrible. This ties in to the post I shared by Kim Fahner last week and why we should resist objectifying others for our amusement or sense of superiority. “Spark” with Nora Young on CBC.

Allie Volpe explains why kids invent imaginary friends. Guess us writers just never grew up 😉 The Atlantic

SciShow Psych looks at the differences between men and women who are diagnosed with ADHD.

Ethan Siegal: today is not 24 hours long. Forbes

Dr. Becky observes the cartwheel galaxy. Space is weird

The BBC reports on the discovery of a clay tablet on which the oldest extract of Homer’s Odyssey has been found. Struggled for a while over whether to post this in Tipsday or here on Thoughty Thursday, but the latter won out, because archeology.

Chris Dawson: North Bay unrolls its first accessible beach mat. The Northern Life

Jeffery DelViscio explains how a bionic hand helps amputees “feel” again. Scientific American

Martin Giles wonders, is AI the next big climate change threat? We have no idea. MIT Technology Review

Massive ice melt caused by heatwave over Greenland. CBC

Kent German explores the relationship between redwoods, birds, and microphones in the quest to save an endangered species. CNET

SciShow makes a dog Q&A compilation 🙂

Because tardigrades! Chubby, misunderstood, and not immortal. Journey into the microcosmos

Thanks for visiting and I hope you found some inspirational fuel for your next (or current) creative project.

Until 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, July 21-27, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Since I’m a learning mutt, the stuff that interests me runs the gamut. I hope something here pops you mental corn. They did mine 🙂

This week, a couple of disturbing images were shared online about vulnerable populations in downtown Sudbury. I will not share them. My brave and thoughtful friend, Kim Fahner, was moved to post about it: a reflection on despair, mental health, and being mindful of one another when it’s not always popular to do so. Choose compassion people. There but for the grace of God go I. The Republic of Poetry

A group of young people on Manitoulin Island spent the last month crafting a birch bark canoe like their Anishnaabe ancestors. CBC’s “Up North” with Waubgeshig Rice.

Marina Koren tells the story of JoAnn Morgan, the Apollo engineer who almost want allowed in the control room. The Atlantic

It’s okay to be smart tries to figure out why we haven’t found evidence of other technological civilizations in the galaxy yet.

Physics Girl follows up with how we’re looking for life within our solar system.

Marjan Yazdi invites us to learn about the ancient art of henna-making in modern-day Iran. Ozy

Bob Holmes reveals how archaeologists study the common peoples of the past. Knowledgeable

SciShow Psych looks at the sunk cost fallacy.

Neville Ellis considers hope and mourning in the Anthropocene: understanding ecological grief. The Conversation

It’s okay to be smart considers the wood wide web.

Thank you for stopping by. This weekend, I’ll be composing my next chapter update for July. You’re welcome back if you want to find out what I’ve been up to.

Until then, be well!

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, June 30-July 6, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Sabrina Imbler covers the forgotten trans history of the wild west for Atlas Obscura.

Nicole Cliffe interviews Alanis Morissette on being pregnant at 45, childbirth, post-partum depression, and #metoo. You might be surprised, but I like Alanis Morissette. I’ve been a fan since she was on “You can’t do that on television.” I’ve only really liked her music since Jagged Little Pill, but, ya know, I was never into the pop princesses. And Alanis wasn’t either. She didn’t want to follow that path. I’m glad she didn’t. Self

SciShow Psych explores whether you can learn emotional intelligence.

Kris Newby recounts one family’s journey to a diagnosis of Lyme disease. It felt like the flu. It took ten doctors, a year, and $60,000 to find out the truth. Vox

It’s okay to be smart looks at what it takes to create a world-sized telescope to see a black hole.

This is just something cool: ceramic skulls for your fire pit or fireplace. Can You Actually

Michael Greshko reports that these capuchin monkeys are 3,000 years into their own “stone age.” National Geographic

The White Wolf Pack shares a sweet video of raven courtship. Have I ever told you that corvids rock my world?

Haley Weiss: dogs’ eyes have changed since humans befriended them. It might be argued that dogs domesticated us 😉 The Atlantic

Thanks for stopping by.

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, June 23-29, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Happy Independence Day to my friends south of the border! Take some time to feed your brain and get your mental corn popping!

IndependenceDay

Robin Hammond presents Stonewall at 50: stories of resistance and resilience. National Geographic

Mia Jensen interviews Cathy Mulroy about her career as a woman miner and her upcoming memoir. The Sudbury Star

Ahem. Yeah, I shared one of the cited articles (the BBC one) a couple of weeks ago. Here is the awesome debunking of that study on how technology influences the human skeleton and all the reportage it received. I am duly reminded that correlation is not causation. Thank you, SciShow. Seriously.

Simon Makin: better memory through electrical brain ripples. Scientific American

SciShow Psych discovers that alcohol may enhance your creativity in some respects, but not others.

Joyce Cohen: for those with hearing impairments, restaurant noise isn’t just an irritation. It’s discrimination. The Washington Post

Brene Brown talks to Oprah Winfrey about the six types of people who don’t deserve to hold space for you.

Jill Paider lists 20 sublime retreats you need to visit for creative inspiration. Dwell

Bryan Bender: a new moon race is on. Is China already ahead? Politico

SciShow answers the question, what makes soft things soft?

Dr. Suzanne Hoffmann and Professor Manfred Gahr have discovered that the brains of birds synchronize when they sing together. How did the do it? With transmitters weighing 1 gram that recorded the brain waves of the birds. Max Planck Gesellschaft

Katarzyna Nowak reveals the daunting task of wildlife crimefighters in the Alaska-Yukon wilderness. National Geographic

John Nova Lomax reports on the flight of the Texas fireflies. Texas Monthly

And that was thoughty Thursday.

This weekend, I’ll be assembling my next chapter update for June 2019. Until then, be well!

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 26-June 1, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Here’s a solid mix of video and articles to get your mental corn popping.

Ben Lindbergh celebrates UC Berkeley’s SETI@home’s 20th anniversary. The Ringer

Greg Nichols reports on technology in development: a robotic trauma centre in a backpack could be MASH for millennials. ZDNet

Arriana Mcylmore: these black women gamers teamed up to take on the worst online trolls. Fast Company

Kati Morton has a chat about what bothers her about self-care.

ASAP Science talks about sleep hygiene and shares a technique that may help you fall asleep in two minutes (!)

Jenna Birch explains what leads you to burnout—and how to recover from it—according to your Myers-Briggs type. Well and Good

SciShow Psych delves into what the statistics are really saying about teens and screen time.

SciShow news looks at how an AI was trained to predict the effects of non-coding DNA and how these effects could be linked to autism spectrum disorder.

The Walrus dedicates an issue to death. It’s amazing. So much good here. Really. You’ll want to read it all.

Nick Summers: science has brought back the scent of a long-dead flower, sort of. Engadget

Tom Allan looks at the wildlife haven Chernobyl became after people left. The Guardian

Tim MacWelch lists 11 gross animals you can eat in a survival situation. Includes cooking recommendations, too … Popular Science

Ian Sample says that exploding stars could have been the reason we started walking on two legs. The Guardian

David Grimm shares the research of Maren Huck, who clipped cameras to the collars of 16 cats and let them do their thing. Science

This made me laugh. So. Hard. Dogs trying to catch treats, mid-air. The Awesome Daily

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found something to take away with you 🙂

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, Apr 28-May 4, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

It is once more time to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Kaitlin Sullivan reports that neuroscientists have just brought pig brain cells back to life and how that changes our view of death. Popular Science

Karen Weintraub explains how scientists take a step toward decoding speech from the brain. Scientific American

SciShow Psych: can you become a morning person?

 

Jayshree Pandya wonders, are machines conscious? Forbes

Elizabeth Flock announces that the flip phone is back. Have people had enough of constant connection? PBS

Hannah Gadsby’s TED Talk: three ideas. Three contradictions. Or not.

SciShow Space News tackles the question of how fast the universe is expanding.

 

Liz Langley explains how bioluminescence works in nature. National Geographic

Catherine Zuckerman invites us to see the worlds oldest trees by starlight. National Geographic

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you found some inspiration in these links.

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

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Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Apr 21-27, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Here are some media links that I hope will get your mental corn popping.

Our provincial government is cutting everything. Nurses, arts funding, education, they even cancelled OHIP coverage for out of Canada health issues (not that we had extensive coverage, but we had some) … here are just three of the distressing articles that have come out in the past week:

Those of you who don’t live in Ontario, let alone Canada, may wonder why you should care. It’s just one more conservative government making the average citizen’s life worse in the name of fiscal responsibility (read catering to big business). See any familiar themes?

The World Wildlife Fund assesses Canada’s protected habitats and finds them wanting. What we could be doing better to protect endangered habitat and species and prevent climate change at the same time.

In the good news column: Autumn Peltier named chief water commissioner by Anishnabek Nation. CBC

SciShow Space looks at how life might evolve without liquid water

 

David Robson: the dreams you can’t remember may never have occurred. The Atlantic

Emily Dreyfuss: you’re not getting enough sleep, and it’s killing you. Wired

Simon Makin explains how ketamine changes a depressed person’s brain. Scientific American

SciShow Psych: depression isn’t just a chemical imbalance

 

And that was your thoughty Thursday for the week.

This weekend, I’ll be posting my next chapter update for April. I’ve had to admit defeat and reorganize my plans for the year. Come on by and see what’s been going on in this writer’s life.

Until then, be well!

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