Sunday 28 December 2014

Trivia (should have been 28 September)

Teamwork: 1939
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Teamwork: 1939
April 7, 1939
“Twins become mothers together for second time in less than two years. Accustomed to doing practically the same things all their lives, these Washington twins, now mothers, have apparently decided that having their children together would certainly be in order. The mothers, Mrs. Eileen Moon, left, and Mrs. Kathleen Robie, last week gave birth to daughters to set a new record at Columbia Maternity Hospital. Mrs. Moon’s youngster, whom she named Carol, was born on March 29, while Mrs. Robie’s new daughter Nancy Lee first saw the light of day on April 1. This same thing happened in July 1937 when Mrs. Robie gave birth to a girl and a few hours later Mrs. Moon’s baby, a boy, arrived.”
Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative
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The road to hell is mapped with good intentions
vbia OUP blog by Kathryn Gin Lum
Antebellum Americans were enamoured of maps. In addition to mapping the United States’ land hunger, they also plotted weather patterns, epidemics, the spread of slavery, and events from the nation’s past.
And the afterlife.
Imaginative maps to heaven and hell form a peculiar subset of antebellum cartography, as Americans surveyed not only the things they could see but also the things unseen. Inspired by the biblical injunction to “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction… and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 KJV), the maps provided striking graphics connecting beliefs and behaviour in this life to the next.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Shakespeare's genius is nonsense
Shakespeare and the brain. Wordplay, poetics, figurative language: the Bard can teach cognitive scientists about meaning and the mind… more

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Eric Standley's incredible laser cut paper sculptures
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Eric Standley, the artist known for his insanely intricate laser-cut paper sculptures, explains his breathtaking work.
Continue reading and see the incredible video of this work

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Your Brain on Coffee
via How-To Geek by AsapSCIENCE on You Tube
Most of us can appreciate a good cup of coffee and the glorious caffeine it contains, but how exactly does coffee affect our bodies and brains? Learn more about this wondrous drink and how it interacts with our bodies in today’s awesome video from YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE!



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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Myth of childhood innocence
Childhood innocence: Its uses are economic as well as emotional. Consider the appeal of Shirley Temple… more

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Octopus Cares For Her Eggs For 53 Months, Then Dies
Ed Yong in Not Exactly Rocket Science (via 3 Quarks Daily)
In April of 2007, Bruce Robison sent a submersible into a huge underwater canyon in California’s Monterey Bay. At the canyon’s base, 1400 metres below the surface, he spotted a lone female octopus—Graneledone boreopacifica—crawling towards a rocky slope.
The team sent the sub to the same site 38 days later and found the same female, easily recognisable through her distinctive scars. She had crawled up the slope itself and was guarding a group of 160 small, milky teardrops cemented to the rock. They were eggs.
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Scientists Search For Answers Inside Mysterious Siberian Crater
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Siberia_view
A massive and mysterious crater was recently discovered in a remote part of the Yamal Peninsula in Northwest Siberia. According to The Siberian Times, the first round of scientists to explore the 70-meter-deep hole have returned from their expedition without a precise explanation for how it came to be, simply saying that its formation was a natural phenomenon.
Continue reading

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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
How stoical was Seneca?
Stoic, earthquake expert, humorist, dramatist: Was Seneca knowledgeable about death? Or a complete novice on the topic?… more
I found this essay fascinating.

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Bold, Abstract Celebrity Portraits That Pop
via Flavorwire by Alison Nastasi

Alessandro Pautasso’s colourful, confetti-like portraits of movie and music icons are explosive. The bold, geometric designs are a way for the artist to “revive the colours of the past” and reinterpret the iconic faces in powerful, new ways. Pautasso’s psychedelic palette suits the moodiness and personality of each celebrity, and the vivid patterns don’t obscure the soulfulness or expressive qualities each star exudes.
See the rest of the images
James Dean still makes my knees go weak!

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