Wednesday, May 31, 2023
How the U.S. Almost Became a Nation of Hippo Ranchers
The only one way to solve both problems at once, argued Louisiana Representative Robert F. Broussard, was to embrace hippopotamus ranching. On March 24, 1910, Broussard stood before the House Committee on Agriculture to lay out the details of his “American Hippo Bill”.
He believed importing the hungry herbivores from Africa would rid Louisiana and Florida of the hyacinths smothering their waterways. When the animals were good and fat, farmers could take their inventory to slaughter, revitalizing America’s low-cost meat supply.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
When Squirrels Attack
Not this squirrel. Photo: Rosario Duva
On Monday morning, thousands of residents of the Silicon Valley city of Santa Clara were left without electricity. It seems squirrels were the culprit for the power outage.
Can humans ever understand how animals think?
Photograph: Régis Duvignau/Reuters
Humanity has traditionally justified its supremacy over all other animals – the fact that we breed them and keep them in cages, rather than vice versa – by our intellectual superiority.
Yet at a time when humanity’s self-image is largely shaped by fears of environmental devastation and nuclear war, combined with memories of historical atrocity, it is no longer so easy to say, with Hamlet, that man is “the paragon of animals” – the ideal that other creatures would imitate, if only they could. Nature may be “red in tooth and claw”, but creatures whose weapons are teeth and claws can only kill each other one at a time. Only humans commit atrocities such as war, genocide and slavery – and what allows us to conceive and carry out such crimes is the very power of reason that we boast about.
In his 2022 book If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal, Justin Gregg, a specialist in dolphin communication, takes this mistrust of human reason to an extreme. The book’s title encapsulates Gregg’s argument: if Friedrich Nietzsche had been born a narwhal instead of a German philosopher, he would have been much better off, and given his intellectual influence on fascism, so would the world. By extension, the same is true of our whole species. “The planet does not love us as much as we love our intellect,” Gregg writes. “We have generated more death and destruction for life on this planet than any other animal, past and present. Our many intellectual accomplishments are currently on track to produce our own extinction.” If human minds are incapable of solving the problems they create, then perhaps our salvation lies in encountering very different types of minds.
Monday, May 29, 2023
Why we sometimes feel invisible others
As Luke Robertson slogged further into his solo South Pole trek, he had more episodes of "felt presence".
Ben Alderson-Day, an associate professor of psychology at Durham University in the UK, is the author of a new book called Presence: The Strange Science and True Stories of the Unseen Other.
He has found that these experiences are not limited to people in extreme situations. You may well have had the sense yourself at some point that someone is right there in the room with you, even though you can't see them. It's not uncommon after a bereavement or in people who have psychosis.
As many as a quarter of those with Parkinson's report experiencing it. It can also happen when you're on the cusp of waking or falling asleep.
For some the experience can occur as part of sleep paralysis, where you wake up, but can't move.
People can have the strong sense that someone is in the room with them, or even sitting on their chest, pinning them down. Alderson-Day has found that half the time these experiences involving sleep paralysis involve a very frightening presence.
A felt presence feels as though it's there with you in your personal space. It's hard to pin down exactly what a felt presence consists of. It's not experienced via the five physical senses of touch, sight, hearing, smell or taste, so it's not an hallucination. Objectively, in reality, there is nothing there at all. Yet they're not quite delusions either, which involve thoughts. Nor is it the same as imagining someone is there.
People sometimes talk of something as nebulous as "a thickness in the air". It's almost like a sixth sense, which feels very real at the time. As Alderson-Day puts it: "It's too empty to be a hallucination, but too tangible to be a delusion."
In his search for explanations, Alderson-Day turns to a combination of the physical and the psychological. With mountaineers and explorers, a lack of oxygen to the brain may play a part, something which is also known to induce hallucinations.
But there's also the survival aspect. Is the mind somehow conjuring up a presence that helps us through?
12-year-old boy graduates college with 5 degrees
Hung has been awarded five associate of arts degrees in the areas of history; social sciences; social behavior and self-development; arts and human expression; and science and mathematics.
The precocious scholar, who first enrolled via the school's special-admit program at the age of 9, surpassed the previous record held by 13-year-old Jack Rico.
Homeschooled by his mother, Song Choi, who recognized his early intellectual curiosity, Hung started his college career with a single class and gradually added more. Describing him as inquisitive, diligent, and self-disciplined, Choi noted her son's drive for knowledge surpassed what traditional public schools could offer. Faculty, such as Biology Professor Kenneth Collins, initially expressed concern about Hung's ability to relate to his older peers, but found their fears were "unfounded." Hung's next ambition?
Acquiring a pilot's license at 16 and, one day, going to Mars.
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Coral Guards, Jason deCaires Taylor
A new cast of hybrid characters continues Jason deCaires Taylor’s effort to revitalize the Great Barrier Reef. Recently installed off the coast of Townsville, Australia, as part of the Museum of Underwater Art, Ocean Sentinels is comprised of eight figurative sculptures that meld the textures of marine life with the likeness of influential conservationists.
Inside the world's longest-running mermaid gathering
Part cosplay, part athletic endeavor, the hobby ranges from casual dress up to certified divers who strap on “monofins” and swim together in a pool or the open ocean.
Stars could be invisible within 20 years
In 2016, astronomers reported that the Milky Way was no longer visible to a third of humanity and light pollution has worsened considerably since then. At its current rate most of the major constellations will be indecipherable in 20 years, it is estimated.
Friday, May 26, 2023
Have you ever heard of the Cheerios Effect?
Check out the new Lego Pac-Man arcade set
Neuralink approved for in-human study
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-implant company, said on Thursday it had received a green light from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to kickstart its first in-human clinical study, a critical milestone after earlier struggles to gain approval.
Musk has predicted on at least four occasions since 2019 that his medical device company would begin human trials for a brain implant to treat severe conditions such as paralysis and blindness.
Yet the company, founded in 2016, only sought FDA approval in early 2022 – and the agency rejected the application, seven current and former employees told Reuters in March.
The FDA had pointed out several concerns to Neuralink that needed to be addressed before sanctioning human trials, according to the employees.
Major issues involved the lithium battery of the device, the possibility of the implant’s wires migrating within the brain and the challenge of safely extracting the device without damaging brain tissue.
Thursday’s FDA approval comes as US lawmakers are urging regulators to investigate whether the make-up of a panel overseeing animal testing at Neuralink contributed to botched and rushed experiments.
Neuralink has already been the subject of federal investigations.
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Boris Bućan has died aged 77.
Boris Bućan, one of Croatia's greatest 20th century artists, best known for his 70s-80s billboard posters for the Croatian National Theater, has died aged 77. His most iconic work, held by MoMA, is the poster for a 1982 production of Stravinsky's Firebird (Petrushka). 🕯️ pic.twitter.com/ZrcTLGr7oh
— Roko Rumora (@rumorahasit) May 25, 2023
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