Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, March 26-April 1, 2023

It is time, once again, to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Annie Hylton: where the children are buried. The Walrus

Michele Cyca wonders why more people are claiming Indigenous ancestry. The Walrus

Kai Chenk Thom says that kids deserve a new gender paradigm. The Walrus

Nathaniel Wade and Marilyn Cornish explain how to forgive yourself. Psyche Guides

Heidi Ledford: “astonishing” molecular syringe ferries proteins into human cells. This could improve drug delivery systems. Nature

Chris Vallance says AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million jobs. Not a new story. We’ve been hearing similar messages one way or the other since the industrial revolution. Sometimes it’s as bad as predicted, and sometimes it’s not. We have to wait and see. BBC

Guy Kawasaki interviews Wanda Harding about her journey from stars to students. The Remarkable People Podcast

Genelle Weule: Change’e-5 samples reveal water on Moon stored in glass beads. ABC

Daniel Lawler reports that a large asteroid to zoom between Earth and Moon. Phys.org

Alexandra Witze: JWST gets best view yet of planet in hotly pursued star system. Nature

The obscure history of Japanese sea lords. PBS Origins

Amy McCaig reports that ancient DNA reveals entwined African and Asian ancestry along the Swahili coast. Rice University

Human cells help researchers understand squid camouflage. American Chemical Society

Why does every animal look like this? Be Smart

Robotic system offers hidden window into collective bee behaviour. École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Thank you for stopping by, and 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, Oct 25-31, 2020

This is your last opportunity to get your mental corn popping until December. Enjoy!

Paulina Jayne Isaac explains where Amy Coney Barrett stands on upcoming important SCOTUS topics. Important for understanding how her influence will affect various marginalized and racialized people. Bustle

Breonna Taylor grand jurors say that Louisville police actions before her death were negligent and criminal. Apparently neither murder nor manslaughter were even on the table. NBC News

Tim Elfrink: Texas cop who killed Jonathan Price, a Black “pillar of the community” charged with murder. The Washington Post

John Philip Santos reveals the secret history of the Texas Rangers. Mass murder of Indigenous and Mexican peoples and bounty hunting escaped slaves were part of their assigned duties. Texas Monthly

Josh Wood introduces us to the US police department that hired social workers. The Guardian


Arne Delfs and Raymond Colitt: Merkel imposes toughest German restrictions since the lockdown. Bloomberg

Sophie Lewis reports that even Vladimir Putin is instituting a national mask mandate. CBS News

Rebecca Sohn reports that covid-19 patients are developing “brain fog,” but what does that mean? Mashable

Lina Zeldovich: what bats can teach us about coronavirus immunity. JSTOR Daily


Just because Halloween was last week doesn’t mean you have to stop with the spooky!

Jill Beatty considers Vardø’s witch trials: the evil north. An oldie-but-goodie? The Norwegian American

Tai Gooden reveals the history (both pure and evil) of the Ouija board. Also, check out the linked video on the Fox sisters. Nerdist

The editors at JSTOR Daily curate a list of Halloween-related articles. Perfect for this time of year!

Henri, le chat noir. L’haunting

Here are some spooky musical suggestions from the New York Public Library.

Emily Zarka presents modern zombies, a rebirth. Monstrum | PBS Storied

The Bakemono Zukishi “Monster” scrolls (18th – 19th centuries). Let these weirdos inspire your own twisted creations. The Public Domain Review

SciShow considers what Earth’s next supercontinent might look like.

NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) finds water on the moon.

SciShow Space news also features the lunar water discovery.

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

I will not be abandoning you entirely in November. I’ll have weekly updates on the progress of my NaNo project.

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