7x7 (10. 877)

stand and deliver: the internecine factions of the US Democratic Party and the legacy of political triangulation  

divide-and-conquer: Hollywood studios plan to drag out the Writers’ Strike until they’re destitute ground into submission—via Kottke 

rho ophiuchi: for its first year of observations, the JWST team releases an incredible image of the nearest stellar nursery—check out the comments section for an explanation about the telescope’s signature diffraction spikes  

ma’am, this is a wendy’s: chatbots—rather than outsourcing to call-centres—being trialled in fast food drive-thrus and are skilled in the upsell  

xai: Elon Musk launches artificial intelligence platform with aims to understand the true nature of the Universe 

pay-for-play: Albrecht Dürer inserted himself at the centre of a commissioned altarpiece in a dispute over his fee—via Damn Interesting  

by the dawn’s early light: plans to build a billion dollar, half-a-kilometre high flagpole in Western Maine—where the Sun’s first light hits the country—has its detractors

jupiter xv (10. 866)

Imaged for the first time on this day in 1979 by the Voyager 2 probe, the smallest inner moon of Jupiter responsible for maintaining the integrity of its rings, composed primarily scientists believe of ejecta from meteorite impacts on the satellite, Adrastea was the first object discovered by a spacecraft rather than observations from a terrestrial telescope. In response to this discovery, researchers reviewed footage from months earlier taken by companion probe Voyager I and found two additional moons, Thebe and Metis. The object, which little is known about other than its lumpy shape and small size (around fourteen meters in circumference), is named, like others in this planetary constellation, after Zeus’ mythological foster family, charged with protecting him from Cronus, after a Cretan nymph of Mount Ida whose name means ‘inevitable fate’ later identified with the epithet Nemesis.

😎 (10. 865)

Owing to the population distribution of the Earth (fewer people live at the North Pole so after the June solstice once the Sun has slipped a bit further south toward the more populous equator), the different definitions of sunrise, sunset and twilight—civilian, nautical and astronomical and the underestimated size (half the globe) of the Pacific Ocean, on 8 July annually about ninety-nine percent of the people of Earth will be under the sun, experiencing daylight after a fashion at the same time. Despite the two hemisphere and the progression of the seasons, during the northern summer, this sunny side phenomenon can occur for a couple of minutes each day from mid-May through mid-July—charted out after some fact-checking on what seemed like an outrageous but somewhat true internet claim, and while it might be a bit more intriguing to have found it a singular instance on the calendar when only one percent of the world’s population was (temporary—Oceana and Baja California still get their daylight hours, just after the rest of the world’s dusk and dawn), it’s even more remarkable that it happens over a span of sixty days.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: the Roswell Incident (1947), more on the Trolley Problem plus the animations of Sam Lyon

two years ago: your daily demon: Ipos, a hierarchy of merfolk, uncombable hair syndrome, top-selling albums (1958) plus the death of Percy Bysshe Shelley (1822)

three years ago: St Kilian and companions, more adventures in Moselle wine country plus the fortifications of the upper Moselle valley

five years ago: a treasury of southwest Native American folktales, the colossal art of Thrashbird plus the street photography collection of Barry L Gfeller

six years ago: a trove of historical data uncovered in teletext pages, the Hamburg G20 plus taking action against contrived obsolescence

8x8 (10. 849)

♄: JWST captures outstanding images of the ringed planet, completing a family portrait of the gas giants  

dining al fresco: excavations in Pompeii uncover a a still life featuring a proto-pizza—see also  

ɚ: rare phonemes and how to pronounce them  

gas, food, lodging: one hundred twenty pump filling station, the world’s largest, opens in Tennessee as a tourist attraction—via Marginal Revolution 

ripples in a pond: astrophysicists detect new class of gravitational waves rolling through the Cosmos

abacusynth: a unique electronic musical instrument from Elias Jarzobek 

liquid television: MTV’s first animated series, Stevie and Zoya—see previously  

euclid and roman: a joint NASA, ESA mission to survey the skies for signs of dark matter and dark energy

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit

two years ago: your daily demon: Morax, the influence of 70s Japanese soft rock on Nintendo music, mid-point of the year, Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car, a trip to Oberwaldbehrungen plus the punishments of Pompeii

three years ago: assorted links to revisit, Airplane (1980) plus the Civil Rights Act (1964)

four years ago: disruptive cake icing to evade IP infringement plus the time that Pepsi (sort of) had the second largest naval fleet in the world

five years ago: holidaying on Lake Garda

six years ago: playable Wikipedia,  a preview of the G20 in Hamburg plus words only said once

8x8 (10. 825)

the restaurant of mistaken orders: a pop-up establishment in Japan serves a lesson in compassion along with its dishes  

specimens of fancy turning: these late nineteenth century lathe patterns look like spirographs 

dwarf fortress: an interview with the author of 50 Years of Text Games—see previously 

mercurial: more on the found and lost planet Vulcan  

monk parakeets: over a decade living in Wiesbaden, these invasive birds went from rare, doubtful sightings to absolute flocks  

area sacra: assassination site of Caesar and since taken over by semi-feral cats opening to the public 

ñ: the origins of the letter with a diacritical tilde  

evergreen appeal: once considered dire sustenance only, pine-based cuisine in Nordic countries is becoming fine-dining

8x8 (10. 799)

within the wok’s embrace, the dance begins, as secrets blend with savoury sins: Scott D Seligman asked ChatGPT for a pad thai recipe in the style of Emily Dickinson and got an epic 

dockhands: the latest line from Faith O’Hare is inspired by the workwear of the shipyards of the Cylde

hongmeng project: China’s space agency is placing a ring of telescopes in orbit around the Moon to explore the cosmic Dark Age just after the Big Bang  

take care now: inclusive Pride post by Cracker Barrel provokes conservative fury over the loss of this family-friendly bastion—see previously 

reference material: Ars Technica contributor Benj Edwards purchased a copy of the only encyclopaedia still in print  

supergranulation: Parker probe exploring the Sun offers science clues on the origin of solar wind 

blitz kids: a celebration of the fashion of Gary Kemp and Spandau Ballet—previously here and here

 expandart: B3ta community teaching AI how to think beyond the frame—see previously—via Waxy

path of totality (10. 774)

Hailed by Isaac Asimov and others as the singular advent of science though some doubts persist to the accuracy of the claims of having forecasted the event in advance and what method was used, the 585 BC solar eclipse over Anatolia predicted by Thales of Miletus (the first philosopher to have broke with the tradition of mythology as a explanation for the state of the Cosmos, used deductive reasoning, proposed navigating by the stars and credited with the maxim “Know Thyself” as well as being a shrewd entrepreneur, having bought up all the olive presses in his archontes ahead of what was a very good harvest) that occurred on this day is a cardinal date used for triangulating other historical events, and, if true, is the earliest instance known of such an advanced vaticination. The announced event happened during a skirmish in the protracted war between the Medes and the Lydians, under the leadership of Cyaxares and Alyattes respectively, at Halys—the river bordering the two kingdoms, with the belligerents taking it as an omen to call a truce, though Miletus had no dog in this fight. Though astronomical knowledge at this point in history was not sufficiently advanced to know that the shadow of the Moon caused eclipses (not an avowed flat-earther, he provisionally believed that the continents floated on an infinite ocean under the dome of the firmament until a better idea came along)—that would come a century later—it is speculated that Miletus had noticed patterns in the periodicity, known to the Babylonians and programmed into the Antikythera Mechanism.

8x8 (10. 766)

to scale: time: a model in the Mojave Desert that makes commensurate the span of a human life and the age of the Universe—see previously  

montreal protocol: humanity’s affirming effort to plug a hole in the ozone layer—previously—was an inadvertent salvation that is still paying off—see previously  

qartcode: generate custom scannable re-directs with the little pixelated image of ones choice—via Pasa Bon!  

talking steel guitar: the musical stylings of Pete Drake and his innovative talk box—see previously  

fourteenth amendment: US President Joe Biden’s options to stop the standoff over the debt ceiling  

i’m fantastic, made of plastic: the trailer to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie  

flow-chart: your guide for turning on the air-conditioning in New England—works a lot of places—see also  

time out of mind: a 1979 BBC documentary series on science fiction featuring interviews with iconic authors

mustafar (10. 756)

Discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) orbiting a red dwarf with the same stellar designation in the southern hemisphere constellation Crater (from the Greek for mixing vessel or a type of cup used to water down wine), the middle world LP 791-18 δ, the Earth-sized planet ninety light years away albeit covered with volcanos and seismic activity and despite hostile appearance may be ideal for hosting biological life as we understand it. Tidally-locked with one side always facing its sun and the other hemisphere veiled in darkness, the extreme conditions could theoretically prove idea for the formation of an atmosphere conducive to the development of life.

ascraeus chasmata (10. 740)

Although less well known than Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the Solar System (at least by some measures), there are other enormous shield formations on the Red Planet, including the 18 kilometre high Ascraeus Mons—named in 1973 for the rustic birthplace of Greek poet Hesiod, which has yielded recently some rather amazing imagery of its terrain to Mars Express of “sinuous rilles,” features thought to be collapsed lava tubes. Not only towering by terrestrial standards, the gently sloping flanks cover a huge area, a footprint roughly the size of Romania or the state of Arizona. More from Universe Today at the link above.

but that that learn these letters fair, shall have a coach to take the air (10. 715)

Written by Irene Zacks and illustrated by Peter P Plasencia (previously and with another mission out of this world), we thought that this 1964 “Space Alphabet” was pretty keen and inspiring although we wonder why the authors went a bit dark with “M is for the Moon—a dead, dead world” and took exception with “U”—our United States as seen from outer space—instead of going for something existential like Universe. This abecedarium otherwise still holds up.  What topics would you include on your adventure?

gin and juice (10. 691)

Last week after the culmination of more than a decade’s development and waiting for the right launch window to achieve the needed gravitational sling-shots to bring the space probe to its destination amongst the orbital pathways of Jupiter’s icy moons, the JUICE mission (see previously here and here) off from French Guiana in search of signs of life. The European Space Agency is celebrating its achievement and start of the exploration with a collection of mocktails inspired by the astro-geological discoveries that the mission might uncover. We especially liked the pictured agency faavourite and some rather beautifully composed concoctions inspired by Ganymede and Callisto—all the recipes (which could be modified to taste) can be found here plus more at the links above.

wilson! (10. 689)

Carrying around this steadfast hitchhiker for the past odd four hundred sols—some three-quarters of a Martian year—and over a distance of ten kilometres the rim of ones of its wheels, the rover’s monitoring team has reported that Perseverance (previously) has lost his companion, affectionately followed by the engineers as its Pet Rock, noticing its absence overnight, finally dislodged.

a rapid unscheduled disassembly (10. 686)

After action reports reveal that the cause of the explosion of the uncrewed test flight from an aerodrome in Texas, Star base on the Gulf of México, of the SpaceX Super Heavy reusable booster rocket was the triggering of a safety mechanism that caused the launch to abort. What was scheduled to be a sub-orbital trial on 4/20 (get it?) was one of the preliminary blast-offs of the largest and most powerful rocket made, surpassing in size and thrust both those designed for the first and return voyages to the Moon, Saturn and Artemis, that its makers believe will one day enable a journey to Mars and back.  The original flight-plan was for the rocket to fly over Florida and make a hard splashdown in the Pacific Ocean just off of the Hawaiian archepalgo, nearly circumnavigating the globe.

elevator operator (10. 685)

In the latest from Neal Agarwal, we are taken on quite a captivating journey from the Earth’s surface through the layers of the atmosphere up to the edge of space on a guided lift that features limits and milestones at all altitudes, like this previous tour at all depths.  Congratulations, you are 1% to the Moon.  Scroll up and see what you learn.

❤️♣️ (10. 675)

We are appreciative to the reintroduction to the portfolio of Swiss graphic designer and illustrator Erik Nitsche courtesy of No Brash Festivity through this deck of playing cards commissioned by General Dynamics (see previously). 

These space cards from 1964 tell the long history of humanity’s progress in freeing themselves of the bounds of gravity—with the iconography of the suit of hearts representing the human aspect, clubs the sciences, spades technical applications (I especially like this sequence from bows and arrows to rockets and satellites) and diamonds modern elements of aerospace exploration. More at the links above. 

 

9x9 (10. 667)

pass****123: a visualisation of pilfered passwords aggregated from various leaks and breaches

event horizon: a streak of young stars may be the wake of a supermassive black hole ejected from its host galaxy  

pop: speeding locomotives in an animated short by Yoji Kuri—see previously  

you sank my battleship: leaked NATO plans for bolstering Ukraine’s military were first circulating on a Minecraft gaming forum—more here  

what, me worry: a celebration of the long life and career of cartoonist Al Jaffee 

bierpulver: the Neuzeller Klosterbräu, known for other innovative libations, introduces a dehydrated beer that one needs only add water to   

example handshake: a look at the squelch of the dial-up modem  

trapezoidal flux deviation: an alternative proposal for the non-existence of exoplanets—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

a generator and a discriminator: AI can crack most users’ passwords in under two minutes—via Dam Interresting’s Curated Links

7x7 (10. 617)

aquifer: new research suggests that rocky exoplanets may have ways to sequester and protect their water until their host stars stabilise 

blogoversary: a very happy twenty-fifth to Kottke—home of fine hypertext products 

icc: the Hague issues an arrest warrant for Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and accomplice over child trafficking, forced adoptions from Ukraine to occupied territories  

hee-haw: an appreciation of donkeys—by any name—see previously  

the jabalaires: the gospel group active from the 1930s to the 1950s that helped inform the development of rap music  

👏: a selection of funny posts from Super Punch  

hot neptune: astronomers watch as an exoplanet has its atmosphere and ocean stripped away

rot54 (10. 572)

Radio Free Europe reports on the efforts of Arevik Sargyan trying to salvage and resurrect an impressive scientific legacy started by her uncle by restoring the research hub constructed on the slopes of Armenia’s highest massif, Mount Aragats as part of the campus of the Orgov Radio-Optical Telescope. Built in the decade from 1975 to 1985, it halted operation for a period in 1990 and mothballed in 2012, though its status as a registered monument has afforded the site some protection, the facilities are falling into neglect, but this latest campaign to preserve and restart the project conceived by astronomer and engineer Paris Herouni (Պարիս Հերունի) championed by his niece is gaining traction.

8x8 (10. 566)

scoby: manufacturing electronics out of a kombucha culture  

ngc 1433: more incredible infrared imaging of neighbouring galaxies from JWST  

meanwhile back at the manse: documenting changing American architectural aesthetics in Barbie’s Dream Home  

recalculating: Karen Jacobsen—the original GPS voice multi-modal: code-switching in texting in Hong Kong  

kbbl: music streaming service is offering AI hosts with generative chatter—via Super Punch  

55 cancri 𝛿: a collection of the most bizarre exoplanets discovered so far  

fomes formentarius: introducing the fungus that has the potential to replace plastics