The Daily Rumpus
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From Stephen Elliott
New technological advances have allowed researchers into an ancient world of secret texts that once seemed nearly impossible to decode.
Noah Shachtman’s article in Wired, titled “They Cracked This 250-Year-Old Code, and Found a Secret Society Inside,” explores how new computer generated algorithms are opening doors into secret societies.
...moreAt Wired, Shoshana Berger profiles designer, programmer, and Rumpus contributor Russell Quinn, whose new project, The Silent History, will begin its serial publication soon.
The e-book is divided into six parts, each part then divided into smaller, ten to fifteen minute “episodes”, which will be delivered wirelessly to the readers device every weekday for a month.
...moreWired wrote about Letters for Kids, our newly-launched subscription service akin to Letters in the Mail — but for youngsters. We agree wholeheartedly with Wired’s endorsement:
“If your child has bookish tendencies, or if you’d like to encourage the development of such tendencies, this is worth a look.”
Thanks, Wired, we love you back!
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If you listened to Radiolab or read the New Yorker in the last three years, you’ve probably encountered the science journalist Jonah Lehrer.
“While Rembrandt was an astonishingly talented artist, our response to his art is conditioned by all sorts of variables that have nothing to do with oil paint. Many of these variables are capable of distorting our perceptions, so that we imagine differences that don’t actually exist; the verdict of art history warps what we see.”
Jonah Lehrer explores how the brain perceives art.
...moreWired interviews Guillermo del Toro, whose co-authored vampire book trilogy concluded with last month’s publication of Night Eternal. Del Toro discusses science and religion; vampire myths and folklore; and his current projects, one of which is a video game.
“I feel like science and religion are like a Möbius strip.
...moreWired’s got an article on technologically-informed education—Khan Academy, an educational website in which, “Students, or anyone interested enough to surf by, can watch some 2,400 videos in which the site’s founder, Salman Khan, chattily discusses principles of math, science, and economics.”
This website ostensibly aids in solving the “middle of the class teaching,” that neglects the specific needs of students.
...moreActually, there’s a lot more to this interview with Alan Moore than just his view on superheroes–it’s largely about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1969, which should be released next month–but I really enjoyed this bit on the problem with today’s superheroes.
...more“It could happen again…”
There is some evidence that the onset of the end-Triassic mass extinction—which occurred 200 million years ago and wiped out at least half of all living species—may have been much more sudden that previously believed. And the culprit?
...moreWired has 5 reasons why E-books cannot replace print.
Besides the tech-related qualms (like books being divided by app, not allowing readers to see all their books in one place), problems like “an unfinished e-book isn’t a constant reminder to finish reading it,” make the list.
...moreAfter just five hundred years of movable type and the Enlightenment it begat, we are blinded by how brief our dwelling in the kingdom of print turned out to be.
...moreWhen Martin Heidegger wrote his gargantuan Magnus opus, Being and Time, he posited that it was Angst, the fundamental human condition, that brought us into the most authentic relationship with our selves and our surroundings.
Angst, for Heidegger, is caused by coming face-to-face with the inevitability of our own death and is life in the state of agitation, unease—it’s the condition in which we realize just how strange the world is.
...moreIt’s just a coincidence that I’ll be teaching the Wendell Berry poem “Enriching the Earth” tomorrow, a poem which ends with the lines “And so what was heaviest / and most mute is at last raised up into song,” but I couldn’t help but think of Berry’s sentiment about the body being of use after death when I read this story from Autopia about cadaver testing in the auto industry.
...moreFred Vogelstein, writing for the Wired blog Epicenter, looks at Facebook’s history on privacy, and points out that we shouldn’t really be shocked at what Mark Zuckerberg is doing.
“Indeed, Zuckerberg’s challenges to conventional thinking about online privacy have become so predictable, it’s starting to resemble Moore’s Law.
...moreBirds are already starting to turn up covered in oil. National Geographic has some early photos.
In what will come as a surprise to almost no one, it’s being reported that BP had almost no plan in place to respond to a major spill.
...moreThe surface of Mars had liquid water recently. Two things. 1. I’m not talking about the latest Doctor Who special which hasn’t aired in the US yet so why would I know anything at all about it? 2. Recently has a very special meaning when used in science reporting.
...moreHappy 40th birthday to the internet. Just don’t go buying a Harley to prove you’re still vibrant.
In what may be the most counter-intuitive finding in recent years, the internet might actually make people smarter, which frightens the hell out of me, considering what you can find online.
...moreLots of fascinating science news this week. Here we go.
The IgNobel Prizes were given out last night, and the honored research included a bra that doubles as a gas mask, diamonds made from tequila, and the discovery that an empty beer bottle can cause more damage as a weapon than a full one.
...moreCan a dead fish perceive humans and tell their emotional states? No, but the reason for the story is an interesting one.
This is the world’s most awesome science fair project. I especially like the inclusion of the Confederate Battle Flag in the lower right corner.
...moreWe begin with death today, specifically the smell of it. Apparently, insects all emit the same blend of fatty acids when they die, and that smell sends them scurrying.
High cholesterol may reduce sexual arousal in women.
Geckos can self-amputate their tails, which is a neat trick, but apparently the tails can twitch and flip for up to half an hour after amputation, serving as a distraction to predators.
...moreBrendan Ross is insane, or at least, I’m betting he will be at the end of this month. He had a month or so to kill, so he got Wired to buy him a JetBlue unlimited travel pass, and has submitted to the following challenge: live for a month either in the air or in an airport.
...moreIt’s time to release my inner geek. Okay, not so inner.
Behold the cannibal galaxy! Triangulum, your day is coming!
The nonprofit Solar CITIES is installing solar power systems in the poorest parts of Cairo.
Global warming science is complex, and deniers are either co-opted by a dirty energy lobby or just stupid, and this news is going to make refuting them a little tougher.
...moreI’m starting this Science Saturday in the world of alcoholic consumption, which is a world very dear to me. I am joyful in every study that suggests moderate drinking is good for you, though I weep a bit inside when I read what they consider moderate.
...moreEarlier this year, a couple of archaeologists pulled a barrel of butter out of a peat bog in Ireland, about 25 miles west of Dublin. It wasn’t the first time this has happened–in fact, it’s not even unusual anymore–but it happens infrequently enough that when it does occur, there’s an air of the “wow, that’s weird” about it.
...moreIn the months I’ve been the Saturday editor, I’ve noticed that a large number of my links and other posts come from science and technology sources: popular magazines, not hardcore stuff. But I rarely have much more to add to these pieces than “ooh, that’s cool” or “look at this picture.” So I’ve decided to start a Science Saturday linkfest, and it should be a recurring event.
...moreJust in time for your next dinner party: mermaids are considered halal. In case you were wondering.
Here’s a really cool museum idea: 80 years of patent models.
The Wall Street Journal reminds us why R. L. Burnside matters.
...moreOne of the highlights of my time living in San Francisco was the 9 months I worked part time at Anchor Brewing. I learned more about beer in those nine months than in all the time previous and since, and was fascinated by the story of their Sumerian beer project, an attempt in 1988 to recreate man’s first professionally brewed beer based on a recipe found on some tablets from Mesopotamia in something called “Hymn to Ninkasi.” It was a one time brew, and some of the brewers and other long-timers talked about the experience as an interesting experience, but said that the beer wasn’t anything outstanding.
...moreRoad-trippers everywhere rejoice–Garardine Botte may have just made it possible for you to drive anywhere without stopping to pee, because that’s how you’ll fuel your car.
Here’s the science end of it. The downside of using hydrogen fuel cells is that it takes more energy to extract the hydrogen from water than you get out of it as a fuel.
...moreYesterday, we blogged a story about a porn app in the Apple iTunes Store, and noted that it was a pretty crappy app. Well, it’s not even an app anymore. Apple yanked it, claiming that “the developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content.” But whether or not the early adopters will get a refund isn’t the real issue.
...moreIf you really, really need something from a person, ask in the right ear. Especially if you’re in a club in Italy and need a cigarette.
Speaking of cigarettes, D. J. Stout has some marketing ideas that will fulfill the new regulations just signed into law.
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