horse feathers

Palæontologists in Myanmar (Burma) have recently discovered the first definitive evidence of dinosaur plumage in the segment of a downy tail preserved in ancient amber.
The juvenile coelurosaur (meaning “hollow-tailed” lizard funnily) that the hundred-million-year old length of tail belonged to is in the same family as Tyrannosaurus rex, another member of late-stage dinosauria when birds were already becoming prevalent, and researchers now realise that many preserved specimens of dinosaur feathers have been discovered previously but without this contextual finding, there was little in the way of hard evidence and one had to rely on extrapolation and artists’ conceptions. Perhaps the image that we hold in our minds’ eye of dinosaurs has not been wholly updated yet but it’s still a difficult revelation to reconcile.  Our feathered friends that are still with us of course are dinosaurs and the analogies are not quite the same but what if we only knew tadpoles and frogs, or caterpillars and butterflies, from fossil evidence?  Would we have ever concluded that they were one and the same creature?  

cadenas d’amour

Parisian authorities at the bidding of a local preservation group are making the sixty five tonnes of love-locks removed from various bridges throughout the city available to members of the public who would like to own a piece (or a whole lot of pieces) of modern architectural history. Twenty tonnes alone were salvaged from the scenic Pont de l’Archevêché. Proceeds will go to support those who help refugee families integrate and settle and despite the heart-ache that might have come about in knowing that symbolic bond was broken, it is a fitting end to a testament to love that wasn’t permitted to weather the ages. Perhaps other similarly besotted spots might follow suit.

agent immobilier

Property scout nonpareil Messy Nessy Chic adds another jewel to her portfolio with the Art Nouveau palace, the Château d’Aubiry in the county of Roussillon near Perpignan—already on the market for some time but currying more exposure and interest hopefully after appearing on Le Bon Coin, a sort of French Craigslist.
Built for an heir to a cigarette paper producer, Pierre Bardou-Job (yes, that Job), the lavish structure was completed in 1904, with a private cinema, themed bedrooms and photography studio and a greenhouse designed by Gustave Eifel and was even the set of the 1960 controversial cult film L’eau à la bouche. Even though the price has come down considerably after previous transactions fell through, it’s still a little steep for H and I, but I’ve always dreamed of being able to devote the time and energy to reviving a neglected, unloved historic home and could imagine keeping a little museum and café for the visiting public. There are quite a few castles around here, and it’s always advisable to keep out an aspiring eye open.

wallflower

The particular recipe (flour, water, salt, mineral oil and boric acid) and consistency for Play-Doh was developed originally in the 1930s as a cleaning compound for wallpaper brought to the market by a Cincinnati soap manufacturer to dab up the soot from coal heating.
It wasn’t until the modelling “clay” had become nearly obsolete in its first role that it was suggested in 1954 (by an individual who never received any credit or compensation) that it might make a fun toy. Relatedly, bubble wrap (a generic trademark, proprietary eponym from the Sealed Air Corporation) was invented three years later not as a packaging material but first as a new sort of mod wallpaper before a brief redesign as insulation for greenhouses. Apparently, future generations of the cushioning film will not reward the senses with a satisfying pop—which might have made sense when it was a wall decorating but now feels as if consumers are being cheated out of something.

venturebeat

My podcast daily digest is becoming a bit overwhelming and back episodes are stacking up, even though I usually leave it playing pretty much non-stop. One more exquisitely engrossing series from National Public Radio that I’m making time for lately, however, is called “How I Built This” hosted by Guy Roz of the TED Radio Hour, which profiles entrepreneurs, influencers and so-called disrupters of industry and their products.
These biographies have all been pretty interesting and really striking insofar as they hinge at one point or throughout on the chance and the unlikely break—and there’s really something in being able to recognise it when the opportunities do come. I episode that seemed particularly resonate and positive was on the media property VICE that began when the Fates consigned a recovering addict named Suroosh Alvi with no journalistic experience to run an underground zine in Montréal. The multi-billion dollar publishing empire grew out a weekly cobbled together by Alvi and contacts he’d met on the way to breaking his destructive habits called the Montréal Voice got its first big moment of exposure when Alvi claimed facetiously that their paper had to drop the “o” from its name due to a dispute with the Village Voice—which was totally fabricated. Without venturing into the realm of fake news, perhaps I should plead that PfRC is being taken to court by Tom Servo for infringement of intellectual property. Explore more stories behind the founders of today’s biggest start-ups and up-starts at the link up top.