Happy Leap Day!

Mutts

 

»Behind the scenes« by Anatol Knotek

Visual- Poetry

 

Happy Birthday!

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Leap years and why we need them

It's a leap year which means there's an extra day in the calendar - 29 February 2020.
 But why do we need it? The answer is a little more complicated than you may think.

 

Inspirational Quotes by Powerful Women in History

Enjoy 50 inspiring quotes from powerful women throughout history to get you motivated.

Powerful Nominees of the 2020 World Press Photo Awards

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Evelyn Dragan

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Underwater photographer of the year 2020

 Photograph by Greg Lecoeur/Underwater photographer of the year 2020 

All the winning images, all the backstories and all the judges’ comments can be found in the The Underwater Photographer of the Year Yearbook.

 

How Storms on the Sun Interfere With Whale Migration

Solar storms, also called geomagnetic storms, happen when the sun lets loose a burst of intense radiation and charged particles. These events manipulate the Earth's magnetosphere, which usually deflects most of what the sun emits. Intense storms can even mess with Earth's magnetic field, causing disruptions to radio communications and GPS satellites. Likewise, animals—like songbirds, sea turtles and spiny lobsters—that rely on the magnetic field to navigate is affected by these solar tantrums.
 Gray whales migrate mostly by sight, but some scientists suspect they could also navigate by magnetism—though evidence to support this theory is inconclusive, reports Douglas Main for National Geographic.
 In a study published this week in the journal Current Biology, researchers may have found a link between gray whale strandings and solar storms, which may warrant further investigation into gray whales’ abilities to sense Earth’s magnetic field.
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Incredible Image of Mars Peeking Out From Behind the Moon

Andrew McCarthy’s incredible photograph shows Mars appearing just after being covered by the Moon.

 

Trump Plans to Destroy Coronavirus with an Incredibly Mean Tweet.

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was planning to destroy the coronavirus by sending an “incredibly mean tweet” in its direction.
 Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said that he was already in the process of crafting insults about the virus that would obliterate it once and for all. In a preview of the mean tweet he is devising, Trump said, “The thing about the virus is it’s incredibly small. It’s smaller than Mike Bloomberg. Once I point that out, the coronavirus won’t know what hit it.” He added that he was also in the process of coming up with an insulting nickname for the virus. “It’s going to be something about how small it is,” Trump said. “Something like Lil’ Micro Mini Virus. I’m still working on it, but it’s going to be so mean. You won’t believe how mean it’s going to be.”
 Trump was dismissive of the scientists who have raised dire concerns about the virus in recent days. “These so-called experts are the same people who said I needed sunglasses to stare at the eclipse,” he said.
 The Borowitz Report

 

“The Birds and the Wolf" by Albano Afonso

A bronze piece by Brazilian artist Albano Afonso uses multiple sets of dangling hands that mimic shadow puppetry.
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"The Daydreamer" by Nicolaes Maes (1650-60)

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“Doppelgänger” by Dario Maglionico

The term “doppelgänger” translates to “double-goer” — one example being a time-traveller who goes back in time to encounter a younger version of themselves.
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Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber

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Zulf creates dramatic art using charcoal and pastel.

London-based artist Zulf creates dramatic portraits of women half-hidden in the shadows.
These realistic drawings are made on black paper using a combination of pastel and charcoal.
Instead of drafting the model’s entire face on the page, Zulf invents a light source in the composition and draws only the illuminated parts of the person’s face, hair, and body.
Not only is this minimalist approach to portrait drawing immediately eye-catching, but it also demonstrates his masterful knowledge of light and shadow.
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Connect the Dots

Created by the animation studio Zumbakamera, Dots & Lines is made of up two books by the same name—Dots features animations, while Lines unveils optical illusions—that utilize the technique of the classic game to create six different sequences that span the entirety of the book, depending on thumb placement. Flipping the book and positioning a thumb at the top, middle, or bottom of the books’ edges determines which animation the viewers see.
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Lazareti qarantine in Dubrovnik - the first qarantine in Europe

In 1377, Dubrovnik issued a decree according anyone who lived abroad to spend 40 days at one of the nearby islands before entering the city. It was the first such decision in the world and is now considered the quarantine was originally a Dubrovnik invention.
Only if it is proven that a person is healthy would they be released in to the city. Conditions on these islands, where these people lived without a roof over their heads, were almost as devastating as the disease itself and so the authorities decided to build wooden houses on Dance beach as well as a church with a cemetery. The area where the infected lived was surrounded by a high wall so they could not escape. Gravediggers who took care of the burial of the sick had probably the hardest job in the history of the Republic. Not only were they exposed daily to infectious diseases but they had to be very careful that they didn't accidentally drop a piece of cloth or something similar from the hearse and were not allowed among healthy people. Two undertakers Mihoč Markovic and Živan Navel were punished for walking among the healthy population. They were hanged at a place still called the Vjesalima (gallows), where today there is a car park above Dance.
 Eventually, the space at Dance beacme too small so in 1627 it was decided to build a new quarantine – Lazareti, at the east entrance to the city. Here, bothe people and good would stay before being allowed to enter the city. Just how much they were afraid of an epidemic is best illustrated by the fact that during an epidemic of disease, the leaders of the city fled to Zaton, leaving ten nobles to manage Dubrovnik. Nine of them died and the only person who actually managed the city during the plague was 83 year-old Marin Restić.
 It is interesting that the people of Dubrovnik at the time thought that the plague could be treated with vinegar and sour milk. They beleived that sour milk eased pain and that pathogens cannot survive in vinegar. Overall, Dubrovnik was ravaged by more than 50 epidemics that killed over a 100,000 people. If not for the Lazareti, the figure would surely be considerably worse.
 via Dubrovnik Digest 

Coronavirus in Croatia Confirmed, Patient in Isolation in Zagreb

The individual in question is a younger man who is currently staying at the Infectious Diseases Clinic in Zagreb, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic confirmed.
 He said that the young man is in good shape. ''We have our first patient in whom coronavirus is confirmed. He is a younger man, he has a milder form of the illness. He is in isolatation and his condition is good. He's located at the Fran Mihaljevic Hospital for Infectious Disease in Zagreb,'' Plenkovic stated.
 "We got the results today at 11:30 for a Croatian citizen who was staying in Milan between February the 19th and the 21st," Health Minister Beros said.
 He added that he would now focus on the contacts the individual in question had.

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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public

Take care of your health and protect others by doing the following.