Via the New Shelton wet/dry, we are directed to this scrolly-telling essay (in the style of the artists from the sadly former Nib, from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (previously) blog entitled “Mars Attacks” about how Elon Musk’s and his colonial aspirations for the Red Planet, as a part of a general aversion towards rules, could transform into a flagrant violation of the Outer Space Treaty, which far from a relic of the Cold War has served to preserve humankind here on Earth by preventing weaponisation of the higher ground and includes liability rules for damage caused by spacecraft, the safe return of fallen astronauts, an international rocket registry and the prohibition of projecting national sovereignty or claiming domain. Surely it is the intent of Muskovite Martians to proclaim their independence from terrestrial entanglements, however that first Virginia Dare might be reliant on Earth-based resources and wealth, and even if the flag nation does nothing to stop this assertion, other signatories will, launching a new geopolitical conflict over extraterrestrial claims.
Thursday, 3 April 2025
eighty-nine seconds til midnight (12. 361)
Wednesday, 14 August 2024
a sunken dream (11. 763)
Poring through volumes of data taken over the course of four years when the Insight Lander touched down on the surface of the arid Red Planet back in 2018 shows on further analysis of the seismic survey that there are reservoirs of liquid water deep within the rocky outer crust of Mars. Studying the little quakes measured by the probe reveals the signature of significant pockets as it passes through various strata. Whilst there is ice at the poles and evidence of vapour in the thin atmosphere, none in liquid form had heretofore been detected outside of Earth, which too has vast subterranean aquifers. Buried some ten kilometres deep, researchers can extrapolate from Insight’s readings, which were limited to the depths directly beneath it, that there is potential enough water to form a surface ocean extending almost a kilometre down. This discovery also may hint at possible life on Mars subsurface.
synchronoptica
one year ago: La Linea (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: a chapel of the Seven Sleepers, Male Fantasies plus never-before-seen photographs of David Bowie
ten years ago: Marie Curie goes to war
eleven years ago: insightful maps plus the etymology of drug names
twelve years ago: a look back at Peenemรผnde plus a lily in a glass
Friday, 15 December 2023
radio silence (11. 189)
Weird Universe points us to an event that took place in mid-August 1924 in the US that reminds us this other potential coordinated effort to make astronomical observations more successful and reminds how from the earliest days of the communication medium, forerunners like Guglielmo Marconi, Lord Kelvin and Nikola Tesla believed that radio transmissions could be exchanged with extraterrestrial civilisations, the existence of intelligent life on Mars being widely accepted. With the Red Planet approaching its closest point to the Earth for nearly eight decades, scientists at the Naval Observatory used a blimp to lift a “radio-camera” to an altitude of three kilometres and arranging with broadcasters along the eastern seaboard to observe an hourly five-minutes’ cessation of transmissions in order to eliminate interference from terrestrial sources and increase the chance of intercepting a message from Martians. Military cryptologists were on stand-by to decipher any alien signals.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit plus Last Christmas
two years ago: Gingerbread Dreamhouses, artist Brad Holland plus more links to enjoy
three years ago: more links worth the revisit, Esperanto Day plus Trivial Pursuit
four years ago: more links, the Nobel banquet plus Lisztomania (1975)
five years ago: even more links, the mythos of Zermatism, Wort des Jahres plus early Home Office
Saturday, 18 November 2023
terraforming (11. 125)
Via Good Internet, we learn that AI-powered robot chemist, analysing Martian meteorites as a proxy for available materials in-situ (see previously) the Red Planet, has devised an efficient method for splitting the abundant reserves of water ice into its components—hydrogen and oxygen not only for air for potential human explorers to breathe but also for fuel—by trialing millions of molecular compounds (metallic ores bonded with those component elements are normally inert) apparently readily present in the Martian terrain to find the best catalyst to set off the reaction with the least need for extra energy to trigger the reaction and least effort of extraction. Though accomplished without human-intervention—drawing on the sum of human learning—the proposal would still need to be vetted by scientists for unintended consequences or biases for Earth gravity and weather. If proven safe and effective, maybe as an encore, the robot chemist could come up with the best way to capture and store carbon back home.
synchronoptica
one year ago: The Mouse and his Child (1977), the first book printed in English (1477) plus assorted links to revisit
two years ago: bias in photo developing, the consecration of Old and New St Peter’s plus not all symbols are universal
three years ago: your daily demon: Haagenti, more medieval remixes, a Star Trek TOS fashion show plus the origin of the asterisk
four years ago: the Triadic Ballet reprised, Super Robot manga, separating texting from emails plus the Rabbrexit tapestry
five years ago: exterior walls of Japan plus a 1950s scrapbook of Moscow
Thursday, 13 July 2023
ask sherloc (10. 878)
Whilst not definitive proof of past life in the form of preserved or residual biological matter, exploring the Martian Jezero crater the Perseverance rover has detected organic molecules, gaining insights about the Red Planet’s carbon cycles and the potential to host life as we know it—utilising its deep ultraviolet laser instrumentation with the title acronym for Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals. The non-uniformity of these deposits—which will be sampled and hopefully returned to Earth for further study in 2030, suggests that different catalysts were in action to synthesise or metabolise these chemicals over time, preserving them under distinct conditions, possibly consistent with biological processes. Learn more at the links above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: a Brian Adams power ballad (1991) plus a summer research project on artificial intelligence from 1956
two years ago: your daily demon: Aim, plus more adventures in Sweden as we drive to the Glass Realm
three years ago: assorted links to revisit plus a review of audio recording and playback formats
four years ago: remixed Gregorian chants, assorted links worth revisiting, Manhattanhenge plus artist Judith Jans Leyster
five years ago: White House recording device revealed (1973), Karlheinz Stockhausen’s musical zodiac, Trump Baby, the book cover art of Manuja Waldia plus reimagined propaganda for the current state of civil discourse
Sunday, 14 May 2023
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.
Friday, 21 April 2023
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.
Thursday, 20 April 2023
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 Mรฉxico, 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.
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
7x7 (10. 512)
nothing, forever: an endless AI generated episode of Seinfeld, livestreamed—via Waxy
construction spree: an annual survey of China’s Ugliest Buildings
fictive flyover: still photographs of the Red Planet captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter transformed into a stunning video
word of the day: eleemosynary—that which is supported by charity—and gives us the derived term alms
he gets us: the billion dollar rebranding of Jesus—mostly financed through dark money, via Super Punch
35f no pmh, p/w cp: OpenAI gives a correct diagnosis but can’t show its work, fabricating a fake citation for its conclusion—via the new shelton wet/dry
yeldard: a forgotten British television oddity rediscovered in Paul Bradley
Saturday, 14 January 2023
8x8 (10. 466)
mouldiness manifesto: a celebration of the architecture of Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser—see previously here and here
olympus mons: detailed maps of Martian terrain from the United States Geological Survey
cobra mist: a tour of the deserted Orford Ness, the UK’s Area 51

yurt of invincibility: Kazakh community in Ukraine provides warm-banks, accommodations for those without power
welcome to garbage town: or how three decades of social media urged us to stop talking and start buying things
portland district: the US Army Corps has a collection of monumental felines with their engineering projects—for those not yet with their 2023 calendars—see previously
triple aught foundation: revisiting Michael Heizer’s City in the Nevada desert—via Things Magazine
Saturday, 31 December 2022
colour-by-number (10. 426)
Among the first detailed satellite views of an extraterrestrial planet came in the form of telemetric data from the Mariner IV probe as it passed over the surface of Mars, but absent a technique to quickly encode and render that information as a picture—for a public eager to confirm or be disabused of the prospect of Little Green Men—mission engineers plotted the imaging data on a grid and buying a set of pastels from a nearby arts and crafts shop (told that their desired shaded chalk was for hardware stores), in preternaturally accurate tones of sienna, umber and buff, and filled in the landscape nearly instantaneously from the point of view of the awaiting, at-home audience—something we take for granted today. More to see from Kottke at the link above.
Thursday, 13 October 2022
8x8 (10. 220)
punto di ebollizione: pasta maker introduces ‘passive cooker’ meters

a shropshire lass: four decades of mushrooming in England and Wales
friluftsliv: the term for the Danish tradition of unwinding in the wilds popularised by playwright Henrik Ibsen
perfect for roquefort cheese: all about blue cheeses—see also
yes sirah: origins and production of wine grape varietals around the globe—via tmn
wormsign: building a functional Fremen thumper
hasta la pasta: the Italian influence in Argentinian cuisine
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
8x8 (10. 174)
on pointe: an Australian ballet company recites an alphabet of foot poses
detour: experts urge adding a Venus-flyby to first crewed mission to Mars

puffling: with blรกsa Icelanders help to reset sea bird chicks internal compass
bisexual lighting: the story of a strange picture and other Wikipedia articles in need of an illustration—via Super Punch
only you could be so bold: whilst Putin invades Ukraine, a studio in Kyiv is creating the voice of Darth Vader
asteroid! coming in from the void: ripped from the headlines
tiptoe: performer dazzles with their bottle-walking routine
Saturday, 17 September 2022
7x7 (10. 141)
jezero: Perseverance explores a Martian crater
lingthusiasm: an interview with xkcd author Randall Munroe on hypothetical questions about language and orthography—via Language Log
achievement unlocked: a radical redesign for Girl Scout badges—see also

emoticons: more on the IPA, EPA (English Phonotypic Alphabet), Issac Pitman and other champions of spelling reform from Shady Characters
jazz and cats: the life and surrealistic art of Gertrude Abercrombie
earth below us: outstanding images from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Contest
Tuesday, 13 September 2022
8x8 (10. 131)
le milieu du monde: influential Swiss director Alain Tanner has passed away at 92
zodiaco: we liked these astrological sign matchboxes from Josรฉ Marรญa Cruz Novillo—see previously

landscape, portrait: a relatable, cautionary comic from xkcd
punching down: US Republican governors ask Joe Biden to be less generous with his student debt forgiveness plan
moxie: Perseverance’s experimental oxygen generation—via Super Punch
trap set: chimpanzees in Uganda demonstrate their signature drum-beats, can communicate across great distances
maรฎtre ร penser: French New Wave film pioneer Jean-Luc Godard has exited the scene, aged 91
Tuesday, 30 August 2022
7x7 (10. 098)
nerva i: scrapped space programme with nuclear rockets aimed at a crewed Mars mission
der anschlag: Anglophone retitling of foreign films—see previously

superposition: a handwashing guide posted in a physics laboratory lavatory–see previously
extended orthography: facilitating digital communication in First Nations’ syllabics—see also
yฤntรกi delenda est: more Chinglish roundups
artemis i: the inaugural mission to return the Moon—previously
Thursday, 2 June 2022
capricorn one
The 1978 conspiracy thriller by Peter Hyams starring Karen Black, Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Sam Waterston, OJ Simpson, Hal Holbrook and Telly Savalas, considered the most successful independent production of that year, premiered in cinemas on this day and tells the story of an aborted crewed mission to Mars whose members are kidnapped from the launchpad—the life-support systems deemed unfit for purpose—and transported to a film studio, under duress with their families under threat—to complete their journey of exploration in front of the cameras. Fearing another blow to public interest and confidence in the space programme and attendant loss of billions in contracts, NASA administrators force the astronauts to act out their Martian adventure. Unfortunately this plot strengthened and perpetuated the theory that the Moon landing was faked and directed by Stanley Kubrick with The Shining being a veiled confession for his involvement in the deception.
Friday, 29 April 2022
otherworldly
Perfectly embodying the above phrase, the Martian helicopter Ingenuity on a recent survey flight found and documented the wreckage of the landing gear, parachute and buffering shell of the rover Perseverance. Click to enlarge plus more at the link above. The photographs and telemetry will inform future missions on how to best protect payloads and optimise equipment.
Saturday, 23 April 2022
8x8
song birds: a printed circuit bluejay and other avian friends
industrials: a leitmotif of edifying vocabulary—see previously—from Futility Closet
occultation: Perseverance rover captures Mars’ lumpy moon Phobos partially eclipsing the Sun
infinite tapestry: a generated side-scrolling landscape—via Web Curios
days of rage: a gallery of activism posters curated by the USC Library system—see previously—via ibฤซdem
art bits: an archives of HyperCard stacks (see also)—via Waxy
ghost in the shell: skeletons in video games
cheeps and peeps: the rich, melodic syntax of birdsong
Wednesday, 29 December 2021
mmxxi
As this calendar draws to a close and we look forward to 2022, we again take time to reflect on a selection of some of the things and events that took place in 2021. Thanks as always for visiting. We’ve made it through another wild year together and we’ll see this next one through together as well.
january: In the US state of Georgia’s run-off election, Democrat candidates prevail and thus switch the Senate’s controlling majority. The joint session of Congress to certify the votes of the Electoral College in favour of the Biden-Harris ticket is interrupted by a violent insurrection on the Capitol incited by Donald
february: A military uprising in Myanmar wrests power from the government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Actor Hal Holbrook (*1925) and veteran become fund-raiser who raised millions for the National Health
march: Oprah Winfrey interviews the estranged, self-exiled Sussexes about Meghan Markle’s treatment
april: Prince Phillip passes away, aged 99. As tensions escalate between Russia and NATO with a troop
build-up along the border with Ukraine, US President Joe Biden proposes to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to normalise relations and restore diplomatic ties. The police officer who murdered George Floyd is found guilty on all charges. Walter Mondale (*1928), former vice president under Jimmy Carter, and presidential candidate with running-mate Geraldine Ferraro passed away, aged ninety-three. Astronaut Michael Collins (*1930) who orbited the Moon while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored the lunar surface passed away, aged ninety.june: G7 leaders meet in Cornwall, in person. A coalition government in Israel unseats Netanyahu after a
dozen years as prime minister. The US government establishes Juneteenth as a new federal holiday though new laws to disenfranchise Black voters continues apace in many Republican controlled polities. The space station Tiangong receives its first crew. Software and computer security pioneer John McAfee (*1945) found dead in a Spanish jail cell awaiting extradition to the US over charges of tax evasion. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, was disbarred for peddling the lie that that the election was stolen from his former client. The US government issues a declassified report to congress regarding unidentified aerial phenomenon. A twelve storey condominium complex near Miami, Florida collapses with dozens injured and unaccounted for.july: Outrage as more mass-graves of indigenous pupils found at historic Canadian residential schools. Hundreds perish from record heatwaves and wildfires along the Pacific coast of North America. Angela Merkel makes her last official visit to the United Kingdom, addressing the Houses of Parliament, the last
foreign leader to do so since Bill Clinton in 1997. Richard Donner (*1930), film director behind The Goonies, Superman and the Lethal Weapon franchise passed away. England plans to fully reopen with no COVID-19 restrictions late in the month despite a resurgence in cases and the rapidly spreading Delta variant. Jovenel Moรฏse, the Haitian president, was assassinated. Continual and torrential rains exacerbated by the climate emergency caused severe flooding in western Germany and the Henan region in China. The Special Committee on the January 6september: The legislature of the state of Texas passes a tranche of new laws curtailing voting access, restricting teaching of America’s racist past and present, mandating the national anthem at sporting events, permitting universal carry laws for firearms and doing away with licensure or training requirements and
essentially banning abortion by placing a bounty on abettors and deputising neighbours to litigate the ban against neighbours. New Wave actor Jean-Paul Belmondo (*1933), whose roles defined the genre and called the French counterpart of Marlon Brando, James Dean and Humphrey Bogart, passed away. El Salvador becomes first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” singer Marรญa Mendiola (*1952) of Baccara passed away in Madrid. An effort to recall and replace Democrat governor of California fails and Gavin Newsome retains his place, though the balloting and counter-campaigns cost taxpayers of the state in excess of a quarter of a billion dollars. The first commercial, all-amateur space tourism mission safely splashes down after three days in orbit. Entrepreneur, inventor and computing pioneer behind the ZX Spectrum, Clive Sinclair passed away, aged 81 (*1940). Justin Trudeau’s party retains power following national elections. After three years under house arrest in Canada and fighting extradition to America on charges of espionage and circumventing sanctions against Iran, business executive Meng Wangzhou, daughter of the head of Chinese communications giant Huawei, is released.october: US president Biden’s agenda is derailed, diminished by moderate voices in his party. A vaccine for malaria is trialled in Africa. Amid a growing corruption scandal, Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz
tenders his resignation, though choosing to remain leader of his political party and will retain his seat in parliament. William Shatner, aged ninety, as a space tourist becomes the oldest human to enter the Earth’s orbit. Attending an open-advice surgery for his constituents from Leigh-on-Sea, long-time MP David Amess was murdered by an attacker with a knife. Former US Joint-Chief-of-Staff and Secretary of State, Colin Powell (*1937) dies from complications arising from COVID-19. President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, under pressure from elements of his own party, is rather austerely pared back, dropping proposed benefits like universal college tuition and paid family-leave. Garbage social media network rebrands its parent company as Meta as it prepares to build and embrace its concept of the metaverse. A military coup in Somali plunges the country into chaos with no signs of peaceful resolution.november: A powerful storm-flood in western Canada cuts off Vancouver from the rest of British Columbia. Weaponised refugees massed at the EU frontier by a provoking Belarus at enormous personal
cost are slowly being repatriated to the lands they fled. After exonerated in a gross miscarriage of justice, Republicans acclaim a teenage, white supremacist murderer as their new hero. Award winning Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim passes away, aged ninety-one in the same week as Schoolhouse Rock! lyricist Dave Frishberg (*1933). The COVID-19 Omicron-variant, first detected in South Africa, is causing major concerns as convention cases rage resurgent in Europe, poised to be more widespread and deadly than the same time a year ago. Inflation and supply-chain issues threaten global economic recovery. On the anniversary of its independence from the UK in 1966, Barbados becomes the world's newest republic, with Sandra Mason as the island’s president.december: Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows releases Power Point slide-deck that outlined options for Trump to hold on to the presidency in the chaos of the 6. January insurrection to the commission investigating the attempted coup. Monkees singer Mike Nesmith (*1942) passes away. An unseasonal tornado rips through western Kentucky, leaving over a hundred dead. Gothic novelist Anne Rice (*1941 as Howard Allen Francis O’Brien) passed away. Tensions continue to mount at the Russo-Ukraine border with Russia putting forward a litany of demands for NATO to avoid invasion. Journalist and author Joan Didion (*1934) passed away due to complications from Parkinson’s
disease. Borders close and travel-restrictions re-imposed over truly exponential spread of the the Omicron variant; preliminary findings suggest although less lethal, hospitals and other essential services could be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and vulnerable populations still need protection. Archbishop Desmond Tutu (*1931), anti-apartheid hero and moral-centre, passes away aged ninety. Sadly veteran blogger Jonco, behind Bits & Pieces, passed away quite suddenly, leaving the blogosverse a dimmer place. On the last day of the year and just weeks short of planned celebrations for her one-hundredth birthday, beloved talent and treasure with a career spanning over eight decades, Betty White (*1922) passed away.