Antarctic blood falls
I write about blood a lot. Sorry. But there’s a waterfall in Antarctica that is the colour of blood. And it has some interesting implications for astrobiology and extinction event survival.
Month: June 2019
Ghost capital
The capital city of Montserrat, a British territory in the Caribbean, has exactly zero occupants. The city of Plymouth has been deserted since 1997.
Peruvian octaves
The Peruvian singer Yma Sumac had a vocal range of four or five octaves – far beyond most singers, and one of the widest ranges on record.
Judas goat
Sheep are followers. But what if they were following… a traitor?
Dictator numerology money
General Ne Win, the dictatorial leader of Burma, was a fan of numerology. This meant that he had a penchant for creating new currency in interesting denominations – and making the old banknotes worthless.
Mystery volcano
In late 1808, a colossal volcanic eruption disrupted weather around the world. It was one of the three biggest eruptions of the 19th century – but we don’t know where it happened.
Pizza Island
Some of the most inspired cartoonists of the 21st century all started off in a single studio space in Brooklyn: Pizza Island.
Impossible colours
Through some tricks of the human eye, we can see colours outside of the normal visual range: Stygian, self-luminous, and hyperbolic colours, and perhaps even combinations like redgreen. These are the impossible colours.
Ounce of feathers, ounce of gold
What weighs more, an ounce of feathers or an ounce of gold? Haha, trick question. It’s the ounce of gold.
One hundred
It’s my 100th post! Read on for a grab-bag of 100-related topics, including the death of the last apostle, the 100th asteroid, 100-handed gods, and the Germanic “long” hundred.
Micromorts and microlives
How do you effectively communicate risk when something is risky over the medium or long term? Measure the risk in micromorts (the one-in-a-million chance of dying) and microlives (half an hour of extra life).
Granny vs. Nixon
June Foray was the voice of Granny (the owner of Tweety Bird) in the Looney Tunes cartoons, Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Magica De Spell in Duck Tales. And she was also on Richard Nixon’s Enemies List.
Clown college
Tuition was free but entry was difficult. Buster Keaton and Bugs Bunny were on the curriculum. You graduated with a wig, giant shoes, and full makeup. Welcome to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College.
Peninsula no more
Qatar has been engaged in a diplomatic crisis with its neighbours since 2017. Amid the escalating tensions, Saudi Arabia has proposed a canal stretching all the way along the border with Qatar – turning the peninsula into an island.
The Generalist Academy 