justing.net

New to me Facts and Ideas in April 2024

By Justin G. on 24MAY06MON

If I had to say a theme here, it would be some combination of health, history, and space.

Began on 24APR01MON .

The magnet field lines in these galactic black hole images are beautiful! Via and hosted by Kottke.
The human body has 30 trillion cells, because a friend said a number and I had to check.
The US has tried not changing time before, and it wasn’t fun. Probably because the picked the more unnatural time. Via Astral Codex X.
There are only 80,000 Giant Redwood trees in California. Is this right? Via Slime Mold Time Mold.

Began on 24APR08MON .

Blaze Star may burst to brightness in the next 5 months, in T Coronae Borealis. Via Damn Interesting.
There is a oral spray vaccine for UTIs and it is preventative for up to 9 years. Via News Minimalist
Cavities are contagious. I definitely didn’t know this. Via Damn Interesting.
There are 5 new National Monuments in the US. Indirectly via WTFJHT
More frescoes in Pompeii (alt, alt’, discussion, more). Via Damn Interesting, MeFi, Ancient Pages, History Blog.
Next generation Solar Sail is ready for launch.

Began on 24APR15MON .

Lottery ticket sales are super messed up: the poorest spend almost 5% of their income on them! Via Zvi Mowshowitz
McDonald’s is brining some freaky future to the Netherlands. Via Damn Interesting.
Email forwarding is going away?.
Homicides are down this year, but some cities have more and some have less. Via Kottke.
Halifax has the cutest ferries
A cave in Saudi Arabia was used (on and off?) by humans for 7000 years. Imagine it; I suggest that you cannot. It would be just a place that had always been used if you thought about it at all. Via Damn Interesting.

Began on 24APR22MON .

NASA reports that it has restored communication with Voyager 1. It’s a story I followed for the last couple of months and I’m happy to hear that we got it working again. Both via DamnInteresting.
More Herculuneum document decipherment, this time it reveals more precise details of Plato’s burial. See also Vesuvius Prize which is different.
The world of chip flavors is waay larger than I thought, not having thought about it very much before. Via Robb Knight’s Links feed

Began on 24APR29MON .

Maybe Augustus’s house in Vesuvius has been discovered? Via DamnInteresting.
Atomic nucleus excited by laser, and preprint verification by an independent team. Via Damn Interesting, and Hacker News.
Very cool video of building seismic isolators in action on X/Twitter¹, sorry. Via Oakland Geology Blog.
The US DEA may soon reclassify marijuana from schedule 1 to 3. Via Hacker News.
The largest bacterium is about 1 cm across and was discovered in 2022. Via Experimental History.
100 new near Earth asteroids discovered. Via NewsMinimalist.

Tags: fascinating-facts.

Back references: none.