système international d’unités

Since its inception, the metric or the SI system of weights and measures has striven to be universal for all people at all times, regardless of whether le Grand K (plus its archival cousins stored for reference around the world) was ever so slowly disintegrating.
Or whether interplanetary tradespeople were trying to reckon a payload whose gravity was a constantly changing factor, so having finally achieved shifting the definition away from some physical artefact and anchoring the weight to a natural constant is a big accomplishment.  Officially pegging the kilogram to the Planck constant—which also has redefined the meter—allows any sufficiently competent laboratory to derive the value uniformly and independently without the intervention of a governing body and occurs from today on, World Metrology Day, held on the anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention of 1875, an international treaty with the aim of standardising measurements of length and distance.

vie et habitat des animaux fantastique

Via the always amazing Maps Mania, we are directed towards an incredible interactive version of Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin “Carte Genlle. de la France Septle. Contenant la Descouverte du Pays des Illinois” (1675) mapping an expedition two years earlier down the Mississippi River geographically as well as noting the mostly real though sometimes purely fantastical beasts and at other times challenged for the right habit in a comprehensive chart and travelogue for the governor of New France.
Be sure to check out the source link up top for more original and  historical maps in the same vein and other more contemporary examples of limning in terra nullius and terra incognito as points unknown with comparable esoteric warnings (hic sunt dracones and other related cautionary signs).

known colloquially as moss piglets

Via the Art of Darkness’ Shadow Manor blog, we’re introduced to a stress-relief ball in the form of a macroscopic version of a tardigrade (previously). Having survived the previous five mass-extinction events, able to withstand extreme temperatures and the vacuum of space, this little water bear—even just watching the video of it being squished and regain its shape is relaxing on its own—can surely handle your day-to-day stressors and would be glad to help alleviate them.

ad mensam

Schloß Hollenegg (DE) outside of Graz (the summer residence of the House of Liechtenstein) is no stranger to hosting unique exhibitions and the latest installation by curator Alice Stori Liechtenstein is no exception—with twenty-one site specific pieces throughout the castle’s sculleries and dining hall that explore table manners and dining etiquette as a social wedge that goes beyond the act of nourishment to afford all the chance to gather together and a place at the table (the Latin title). Much more to explore and chew over with Dezeen at the link above.

bolstering bridges

The twenty-six hundred residents of Giethoorn are seeing their relationship with the tens of thousands of tourists descending on the “Dutch Venice” (previously) every year growing a bit strained—appreciating the revenue the visitors bring but not necessarily the added traffic to this car-free town that is only navigable by foot and boat. Minor though frequent collisions with the residents’ private bridges that span the canals and connect the islands are sustaining enough damage that passage along these waterways criss-crossed by some forty-five of the traditional bridges is needing to be restricted so repairs can proceed and make conditions safer for villagers and punters alike.