Twenty fresh facts in here.
And remember the chitons!
Week 10
Began on
.
Half of the residents of Mumbai (called Mumbaikers, which I also learned), live in slums.
Lightning kills or injures over a quarter of a million people each year globally. Via Damn Interesting.
The Great Pyramids were all commissioned by one family over a ~100 year period. Via the Fall of Ancient Civilizations podcast episode that I mentioned last month because I hadn’t finished it.
Week 11
Began on
. Was working on a few projects, so here are a couple of throwbacks.
Standard (winter or “natural” time) is the scientist preferred option (also) if we ever settle on a year round time, because it better aligns our clocks to sunlight throughout the year. Via Damn Interesting.
Chitons have eyes all over their shells, via Damn Interesting. I vaguely recall learning this sometime ago, but not being super clear on what a chiton is, so I mostly forgot it. But. But there is a bonus fact here (well, it’s actually the point of the article): chitons evolved eyes on four different evolutionary occassions (so just a bit less than crab body type), and they have two types of eyes. I mean two solutions to the vision problem were evolved, and they don’t both appear on the same species of chiton. … After reviewing the wikipedia article, I’m not entirely convinced that I’ll not forget they exist again, but I’ll try: they’re weird af and kind of a flexible and mobile clam or mussel, so a snail with a flexible shell (but they’re really their own thing).
Claim: Larry Page intended Google to be a money machine to fund AGI development. I don’t know if this is true or just some random thought he voiced. I have lots of those, some may become true in 30 years. It doesn’t mean it’s precience. Via Hacker News Comment.
Ötzi had 61 tattoos, which is a lot more than I expected. It’s another one of those things that I vaguely remember knowing that he had tattoos. This means we’ve been tattooing for at least 5000 years. Via Damn Interesting.
Clouds disappear during an total solar eclipse, and that is wild. It’s only over land, and for certian kinds of clouds. But if the sun disappearing wasn’t a big enough deal, then even the clouds getting in on the act somehow makes it an even bigger deal to me. And probably ancient us too.
Week 13
Began on
.
GPS tracker darts are now legitimately a thing. Via Damn Interesting.