Larry’s Pretty Good Journal

Tonight, in this time zone of the northern hemisphere, is Year’s Long Night. A column candle has been secured, and we’ll be gathering evergreens to decorate it this afternoon, before lighting it shortly before sundown. Leaving it to burn all night might be a challenge, given the kitten, but we’ll try to lure the sun back towards us. The consequences if it doesn’t return, well, don’t bear thinking about.

A safe and happy solstice to all!

---L.

Subject quote from (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Blue Öyster Cult.

A few random but most excellent links:

Billions of miles away at the edge of the Solar System, Voyager 1 has gone mad and has begun to die. (via)

The Godzilla Meditation Series, lightly animated stills from kaiju movies with ambient music to smash Tokyo chill to. I prefer my chill background more on the lofi hiphop side a la Krill Wave Radio or LoFi Girl, but this does just fine. I mean, dude, kaiju chillin’. (via)

The delightful Sympawnies of Noam Oxman, including this Purrlude in G (Tiger), Cello Purrlude in C, and Sympawny no.4 (Chubby Cat). (via)

---L.

Subject quote from If—, Rudyard Kipling.

Sometimes there’s slantwise links between my links, and sometimes they’re just random:

Homeric limericks by Emily Wilson, translator of the Odyssey. (via)

There was a young man called Telemachus
who was bullied and in a dilemma ’cause
he missed his lost dad
and his mom made him mad
and he almost got killed by Eurymachus.

The Size of Space. (via)

Superhero whose secret identity is just staggeringly obvious, and everybody “knows”, but in spite of countless people’s best efforts, nobody can actually prove it. (via)

---L.

Subject quote from The Three Ships, C. Fox Smith.

New largest black hole ever observed 40 BILLION times more massive than the Sun. (via)

Randall Munroe on how to mail a package from the ISS. (via)

These Nigerian Teens Are Making Sci-Fi Shorts with Slick Visual Effects. The future is here, baby.

---L.

Subject quote from Defying Gravity, Wicked.

The Europa flyover constructed from on Galileo imagery. (via)

Several ways to get the seeds out of a pomegranate.

Cookie Monster did an AMA. You get one guess what his favorite song is. (via)

---L.

Subject quote from @MarsRovers.

Science, science, engineering:

This Elephant-Sized Relative of Mammals Lived Alongside the Dinosaurs. “This” being a Triassic-era dicynodont, a type of therapsid that were the dominant terrestrial herbivores through the early and middle Triassic, until changing climates (per Wikipedia: a more arid world) allowed saurians to take over. (via)

Simulations of all 10 (!!) black hole mergers observed by LIGO through their gravitational waves. (via)

Despite the title, “Get with the Times: You’re Driving All Wrong” is actually only talking about how you hold the steering wheel. (via)

---L.

Subject quote from Jet Pack, Jill Sobule.

There's some cool things out there:

Winners of the 2018 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Contest. You can click to embiggen. (via)

The reasons we haven't directly detected dark matter yet, including an excellent summary of how we know it exists. (via)

Oldest known intact shipwreck found in the Black Sea. (via)

---L.

Subject quote from Passing Afternoon, Iron & Wine.

She blinded me with science! links:

Researchers have demonstrated that it's possible to break a dry spaghetti into only two pieces. Spoiler: twist while bending. I love that these guys built on Ig Nobel Prize winning research.

Imaging Titan's surface features in infrared.

Explaining “Dark Matter Candidates”.

---L.

Subject quote from .

Large links about life at large:

Astronomers looking for Kuiper Belt Objects have announced the discovery of 12 more moons of Jupiter, bringing the total known to 79. (via)

Yet another study shows that open office plans decrease both face-to-face communication and productivity. (via)

Advice from a former CIA analyst on how to process current modern life.

---L.

Subject quote from Sanctuary as a Quaker Testimony, Jim Corbett.

A few cool things for a Friday:

NASA's next Mars rover will have a helicopter drone. To explore the other side of the hill. Not to play with. We don't send drones to another planet just to play with them. They have to at least LOOK like they're doing something useful. And then you can play with them. (via)

A compilation of lies mothers have told their children as reported by the readers of Atlas Obscura. (via)

The wonderful world of Renaissance pictoral marquetry, including a detour into spalting.

---L.

Subject quote from Joy to the World, Three Dog Night.