See how thunderstorms create ghostly UV sparks on the tips of trees Thunderstorms can generate weak electrical discharges on the plants underneath, but until now, they had never been observed in nature

Thunderstorms can generate weak electrical discharges on the plants underneath, but until now, they had never been observed in nature

I am ABSOLUTELY reading this as HARD PROOF that Romans farmed ichthyosaurs.

It is fact now. Sorry.

No, you're the one sobbing over a mortgage commercial.

Close-up of the decorative detail of a Red-Figure kalpis, showing a dapper wee owl staring out at the viewer with wide eyes.

As it's #SuperbOwlSunday - let's enjoy this lovely Red-Figure Kalpis, attributed to the 'Group of the Floral Nolans' at Athens, ca. 480-470 BC.

Truly, a Superb Owl. 😉

Image: J. Paul Getty Collection (86. AE.229). Link - getty.edu/art/collecti...

i’m creating a new conspiracy theory that the reason that there’s so much film discourse with people not understanding what they watch is because there’s two versions of every film and they show different theaters a different version at random

A small vessel shaped like a hedgehog, with textured ridges on its body resembling quills. The object has earthy tones of green, brown, and beige, and features a flat, circular spout on top. It is displayed on a reflective surface in a museum setting

A charming #Greek terracotta aryballos in the shape of a hedgehog 🦔.
The vessel was used to hold oil. Dating 6th century BC.

On display at Antikensammlung München.

I'm going to have nightmares about that.

Rough vibes on this website today, likely because people feel Hopeless and Helpless Because Can't Stop It and No One Who Is Supposed To Is Trying To So Now We're Fighting Each Other™. I recommend activities such as book, or potentially instrument if you like instrument, or even do talk on phone.

This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)

I'm a fraudulent medium!

This is Charles Clyde Ebbets, the photographer who took the iconic “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” picture. Look at this fearless, dapper fuck wearing spats, suspenders, and a tie 850 feet above the ground. Absolute legend.

My photo shows a small brown figurine of a mouse sitting on its haunches, on top of a smooth rectangular base. Cast from bronze, the mouse leans slightly forward. Between its front paws is a piece of bread which it is lifting up to its long pointed snout as if nibbling at the food.

Roman bronze figurine of a little mouse nibbling on bread!

Squeak squeak! 🐭❤️

Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart 📷 by me

#Archaeology

Two scenes by Richard Scarry to
gladden the hearts of all introverts 🙂

I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.

the big hay goat from sweden or something looking very unburned and majestic with text from the old "you wouldn't download a car" but it reads "you wouldn't burn a goat"

it's advent you know what that means

Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.

Calvin Duncan wins Orleans clerk of court race - Verite News New Orleans Duncan, a political newcomer and former prisoner, defeated incumbent Darren Lombard by a wide margin in Saturday's runoff.

a big runoff last night, in New Orleans:

Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.

So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.

Apropos of nothing in particular: SHOES

Per the FEMA training I took 30 years ago, the one thing that best ensures your survival in a disaster is whether you made it out of the building with shoes on.

Everything else can just be scrap-wraps, but shoes are high-tech. Put them on first, then run.

White Afrikaners looking at Trump and saying “don’t associate us with this racist!”

That’s quite a legacy.

ADHD increases dementia risk, but the available epidemiological data suggests that stimulant medications may normalize risk. Totally fascinating

Thanks @hologramvin.bsky.social for this post! I did not know this so I hunted down the original paper:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Fine, I'll read the thread....

This is a real thing that a judge had to say to the Chief of US Customs and Border Protection.

an adorable baby bison with long legs, a chonky body and no neck

you have been visited by Baby Bison and will now enjoy 48 hours of elevated serotonin

Comic. Two-column table. Column A lists planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Column B has checkmark boxes for whether the planets have rings: the outer planets’ boxes are checked, and Earth has a red check. [Earth with a ring with an array pf points around it. An arrow labeled “Geostationary Satellite Bel”t points to the ring.] [caption] Astronomy fact: A century ago, Earth didn’t have rings, but we have one now! It’s where all the satellite dishes are pointed.

Planetary Rings

xkcd.com/3156/

And give it to the next person?

Bob Ross paintings to be auctioned to support public TV stations after federal funding cuts All profits will help public TV stations with licensing fees for popular programs that include "The Best of Joy of Painting" and "America's Test Kitchen."

Thirty paintings created by the bushy-haired, soft-spoken Bob Ross will soon be up for auction to defray the costs of programming for small and rural public television stations suffering under cuts in federal funding. https://to.pbs.org/4nEQMrw

Video: a Japanese scientist was attacked by flies while giving the acceptance speech for his Ig Nobel Prize-winning research paper that proved painting Zebra-like stripes on cows led to a decrease in biting fly attacks.