The northern ~half of Japan is part of the North American tectonic plate. Via Shawn Willsey.
Slugs and snails are slow because their food isn’t moving, and they’ve evolved effective defenses against predation. I don’t want to imagine a world where they are moving fast.
Week 2
Began on
.
Desalination is economically viable because of solar photo voltaic derived electricity can be very very cheap. I remember reading something a year or two ago that made a similar claim. This suggests some follow up questions for me.
This one is a two-fer. The names for groups of birds (or other animals) is actually called a “company term”, and the origin for many of them, in English, is one of the first books printed in English. Via The Marginalian.
Week 5
Began on
.
Death Valley is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, and nearly as large as Puerto Rico. Not only that, but a lot (I mean a lot!) of surrounding land is also open access: map.
You now have the option to get a tri-focal replacement lens for your cataracts surgery. Via my friend Ben. It is considered a cosmetic upgrade by insurers.
The greenhouse effect was identified and caclulated closer to the start of the industrial revolution (in 1776) than today. Via XKCD.
More cursed knowledge: IE (if you are old enough, you know) was first released closer to the Apollo 11 moon landing than today. Via Kottke. Is this some sort of sign??