SETI

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Jan 29-Feb 4, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

How’s your week going? Ready to get your mental corn popping in time for the weekend? Let’s go!

Scott Neuman shares three things to know about Black History Month. NPR

What is Juneteenth and why is it important? Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio. TED-Ed

Joanna Lonsdale and Jane Downs reveal the lost history of Tynemouth’s Holocaust safe home for girls. BBC

This injectable biomaterial heals tissues from the inside out. UC San Diego

Jadine Ngan explains why we made fewer memories during the pandemic. The Walrus

Fred Lewsey reports that tuning into brainwaves speeds learning in adults. University of Cambridge

Katina Bajaj says that our brains aren’t meant to work at optimal efficiency. Here’s how to offload your thoughts. Fast Company

Julia Métraux: how did Amy Robsart die? Fertile ground for an Elizabethan mystery 😉 JSTOR Daily

Emily Zarevich introduces us to Elizabeth Siddall, the real life “Ophelia.” JSTOR Daily

Jane Draycott introduces us to the other Cleopatra. Aeon

Alexandra Witze wonders, will an artificial intelligence discover alien life? SETI utilizes AI. The picture of ET is a little condescending and, as my spouse reminds me, what everyone’s calling AI is actually an expert system. Nature

Joey Roulette explains what to expect during the green comet’s encounter with Earth. Reuters

Will Dunham: astronomers document a not-so-super supernova in the Milky Way. Reuters

Becky Ferreira reports that archaeologists discover 1.2-million-year-old workshop in mind blowing find. Motherboard | Vice

Oliver Milman reports that US renewable energy farms outstrip 99% of coal plants economically. The Guardian

True facts: the smartest slime. Ze Frank

UK to restore swathes of wildlife habitat and provide a home for hedgehogs. Reuters

Charlotte Hilton Anderson list 28 ways your pet says, “I love you.” Reader’s Digest

Do all animals play? Be Smart

Thank you for visiting. I hope you took away 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: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 20-26, 2020

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s New Year’s Eve, the last thought Thursday, and the last curation of the year! This is your last opportunity to get your mental corn popping for 2020.

Chloe Alexander: body cam footage shows officer Jose Santos shooting Joshua Feast. It’s graphic. It’s distressing. This young man did not have to die. KENS5 News

Gregory S. Schneider reports that statue of General Robert E. Lee is removed from US Capitol. The Washington Post

Emmanuel Acho – How to have uncomfortable conversations with your loved ones.

Phoebie Shamiso Chigonde profiles nuclear scientist Senamile Masango. The Weight She Carries

15-year-old Jessica Hyatt, a Black woman chess champion, wins $40k scholarship. Season two of The Queen’s Gambit, anyone? Black News

Elly Belle: how white people can hold each other accountable to stop institutional racism. From last year, but we can’t lose sight of our responsibilities. Teen Vogue

Ryan Patrick Jones: Health Canada approves Moderna covid-19 vaccine. Between Pfizer and Moderna, we should have 1.2 million vaccinations available by Jan 31st. Good news for long-term-care homes, Indigenous populations in remote areas, and the rest of our valiant health care and other front-line workers! CBC 

Jamie Carter explains why 2020’s longest night of the year is special. Forbes

Mistletoe shouldn’t exist. SciShow

Danielle Prohom Olson considers the spirit of winter solstice: doe, a deer, a female deer. Gather Victoria

Dennis Zotigh shares Indigenous winter solstice traditions: a season of storytelling and ceremony. The Smithsonian Magazine

Ask an Elder: winter solstice in the Cree tradition. CBC

Piqsiq melds Inuit throat singing with classic Christmas tunes. CBC

Piqsiq – Coventry Carol

Researchers create entangled photons 100 times more efficiently than previously possible. The goal is to see quantum laptops in the backpack of every child. We’ll see. Phys.org

Chelsea Gohd reports that, following Arecibo’s collapse, China is opening the world’s largest radio telescope to international scientists. Space

Jonathan O’Callaghan and Lee Billings: alien hunters discover mysterious signal from Proxima Centauri. Scientific American

How Joan Feynman demystified auroras. SciShow Space

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts and earthquake rattles area. CBS News

Barnaby de Hoedt: hemp batteries are better than lithium and graphene. UK Cannabis Social Clubs

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

This weekend, I’ll be assembling my December next chapter update and year-end round up.

Until then, be well and stay safe, and have a happy New Year!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Sept 23-29, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome to thoughty Thursday where the goal is to get your mental corn popping!

That Phoenix debacle that keeps popping up from time to time in my social media feeds or these curations? Yeah, that one. Here’s a video that may help explain things:

 

Sarah DiGiulio explains why your weird dreams actually make a lot of sense (according to neuroscience and psychology). NBC News

Megan Feldman Bettencourt: how forgiveness has been weaponized against women. In other words, to truly forgive someone, they have to be held accountable. Harper’s Bazaar

Linda Rodriguez McRobbie reports on the dead beneath London’s streets. Smithsonian Magazine

SciShow introduces us to the incredible biodiversity of Lake Baikal—plus, extremophiles!

 

Matt Reynolds examines the almighty tussle over whether we should talk to aliens or not. SETI, METI, and the arguments for and against. Wired

Stephanie Pappas: humans contribute to the Earth’s wobble. Scientific American

SciShow Space looks at the Dark Matter vs. MOND debate.

 

Eric Mack: NASA turns 60 and it’s reinventing itself for the SpaceX era. Cnet

Adrien Mauduit shares his time-lapse video of the skies over Tenerife:

 

Florence + the Machine cover Tori Amos’s “Cornflake Girl.”

 

Beck: Colours

 

I hope you found something interesting in this edutainment mix.

This weekend, I’ll be posting my next chapter update for September.

Until then, be well, my writerly friends 🙂

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 29-May 5, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s Friday Eve and time to get your mental corn popping!

Isabel Bueno explains why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. National Geographic

Madison Dapcevich reports on Sweden’s electric road that charges the cars that travel on it. IFLS

The Washington Post profiles the electronics-recycling innovator who’s going to prison for trying to extend computers’ lives.

Jonathan O’Callaghan reports on the discovery of a hidden galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. IFLS

Alfredo Carpineti: Hawking’s final theory about the universe has been published. IFLS

Matt Blitz takes us inside the epic search for extra terrestrial life. Popular Mechanics

This 50-km trail takes you through some of Ontario’s creepiest ghost towns. Narcity

Does your dog love you? Spoiler: turns out the jury’s still out on that one. SciShow Psych

 

Experts beg gardeners to check for hummingbird nests before they prune. Apost

Rosie McCall introduces you to the Superb Bird of Paradise, whose feathers are so black, they absorb 99.95% of light. IFLS

Florence + the Machine – Hunger

 

I hope you found something to inspire this Thoughty Thursday.

Be well until next Tipsday!

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Aug 28-Sept 3, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

It’s time, once again, to pop that mental corn!

Kristi Coulter gave up drinking and realized why so many women use alcohol as a crutch. Quartz

She doesn’t owe you shit. James Fell’s Body for wife blog.

Jim C. Hines: what is this “rape culture” we keep hearing about?

Chuck Wendig posts a public service announcement: dear men, it’s time we had a conversation. Terribleminds

Cree Summer talks about diversity in animation and the myth of the carefree black girl. Tahirah Hairston for Fusion.

Marie Solis introduces us to Moya Bailey, the woman who coined the term, “misogynoir.” Mic

Laura McKeon examines the Matilda Effect: the disappearing act. Hazlitt

Siobhan Fenton reports that even though period pain has been proven as bad as a heart attack, doctors continue to ignore it. The Independent

Marianne Moen of The Dangerous Women Project features women of the Viking age, then and now.

The safest possible route.* Anna Lovind on Annapurna Living.

Maria Lally introduces us to hygge, the Danish secret to happiness.* The Telegraph

How to be perfectly unhappy.* One of the many reasons I love The Oatmeal.

Deshun Wang – Be the fiercest.*

 

The Assembly of First Nations urges Canada to invest in safe drinking water. Michelle Zilio and Matthew McClearn for The Globe and Mail.

Doris Jean Lamar is the last living person who is fluent in the Wichita language.

John Horgan on the secret life of terrorists. Nova’s secret lives of scientists and engineers.

 

Amy Schlinger shares six health benefits of walking 1,000 more steps a day. Rodale’s Organic Life

Fiona Macrae reports on a revolutionary new drug that promises to prevent Alzheimer’s disease from developing. The Daily Mail

SETI is investigating a signal from deep space. Will it prove to originate from an extraterrestrial civilization?  Robin Seemangal for The Observer.

Jolene Creighton explains what the Kardashev Scale is and what it might mean for the future of the human race. Futurism

How do dogs “see” with their noses – Alexandra Horowitz. Ted.ed

 

What happens when otters see a butterfly – kawaii!

 

Nothing but thieves – Graveyard whistling.

 

*posts that comforted me this past week.

And that’s a wrap, people.

See you Saturday with the last of my CWS 2016 sessions, Grants for writers with Jack Illingworth of the Ontario Arts Council. It’s kind of timely. Deadlines are coming up.

Thoughty Thursday