"Stand near an elephant herd, and you may feel a strange vibration in your chest. That’s not your heart beating in terror because you’re, well, standing next to an elephant herd. Or at least that’s not all it is. It’s also a sign that the elephants are talking to one another. Elephants are famous for their trumpeting, of course, but they also produce rumbles pitched so low that humans can’t hear them, only feel them as a sort of physical buzzing. Exactly how elephants do this has been a mystery — and while solving that mystery is not of first-order importance in understanding and preserving this largest of land animals, it would add new insight into how a whole range of species vocalize."
Today I learned the #Japanese equivalent of the #English phrase 'Food Porn' is '飯テロ' or 'Meshi Tero', where the 'tero' part is a borrow word for 'terrorism'.
The literal translation is 'Food Terrorism'. Consider that in relation to the Japanese penchant for filling their #SocialMedia streams with pictures of every single thing they eat.
#TIL that the American Enterprise Institute has built what looks to be a useful dashboard based on data aggregated by @planet4589 and @celestrak to visualize lots of information about trends in #space launches, #satellites and #SpaceDebris.
The New River is the second oldest river on the planet. I’ve only recently come to understand the real significance of the Appalachians. I was born and raised in and around these mountains, and they were always just — you know — mountains.
They reach back something like 350 million years. Predating dinosaurs? Really?
#TIL that @JasonPunyon curated and compiled a whopping archive of answers from #StackOverflow and assorted #StackExchange Q&A sites in a minimal sqlite format, where they can be downloaded and analyzed offline:
Amazing effort and great idea. Reminded me of the archives that #Kiwix kept of it (alongside Wikipedia and similar projects), but more streamlined and cross-platform. Nice.
Today I learned that my MacBook was loud and burning hot not because it's old and I keep dropping it off the sofa, but because of the felt my cats installed on the fan!
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano était un esclave affranchi d’origine ghanéenne, figure de la lutte abolitionniste.
Son ouvrage "Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery" (1787) ferait de lui le premier auteur anti-esclavagiste noir.
Conférence de Jennifer Pitts, Collège de France, 14 mai 2024 :
"Les Lumières et l’esclavage : Cugoano, Condorcet et les débats sur l’abolition à la veille de la Révolution"
#TIL that there are declared and undeclared spies, and apparently only spying while undeclared is frowned upon. I wonder, if it is enough to formally register for the role, or the spy has to show their spying licence when asked by authorities? Maybe suitable, distinctive spy-uniforms would simplify their hard and unrewarding job.
♲ mastodon.social/
Eine wohl sehr beliebte Fahrradklau-Masche: Fahrradbügel ansägen, möglichst unauffällig kaschieren und dann einfach „abernten“. Fällt kaum auf, vor allem wenn die Ständer sowieso beklebt sind oder man es eilig hat. Mir ausnahmsweise mal nicht selbst passiert – hat aber ein Polizist auf Fahrradjagd erzählt, jetzt auch mal in live gesehen. Da wundern auch die neulich vielen Metallspäne vor der Haustür nicht. #TIL#Fahrrad#Fahrradklau
Not only is it well structured, it also has support from more experienced djangonauts. Sadly, it has concluded for this year. If you're interested in #python and want to develop experience contributing to #OpenSource , then you may want to mark your calendar for next year.
The sun (and with that the earth) has only done about 20~30 laps around the galactic center, humans are not even close to a single lap. We'll likely will never complete one either... (takes 230 million years)
There are stars moving at the speed of about half the speed of light... (J0927 & J0927)