“Looking back, what I had actually done is uncover evidence of the video’s
supposed legacy, rather than evidence of the inciting incident. I assumed that
because multiple people independently told me the same thing, that thing was
true.”
posted 10/25/2022 8:00pm ∞
“The spiders searched the part of the web where the cricket had been—the sheet
or the lines—which indicated a memory of prey location. And when Sergi stole
prey from the gumfooted lines, the spiders made more searches for prey that was
especially large relative to themselves.”
posted 11/27/2022 8:00pm ∞
“But the syphilis story stuck. Even as newspapers trumpeted particulars of
Graham’s passing (and there were many), her cause of death, like so many details
about women in her line of work, never seemed to be worth investigating.”
Hanna Brooks Olsen ,
Lou Graham, Seattle’s Misunderstood Madam
(Seattle Met August 9, 2022 )
posted 10/21/2022 8:00pm ∞
“The original silphion was said to have appeared suddenly, after a great
downpour. Miski observed that, when rains came to Cappadocia in April, Ferula
drudeana would spring from the ground, growing up to six feet in just over a
month.”
Taras Grescoe, Alice Zoo, and Nirupa Rao ,
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago — or was it?
(National Geographic September 23, 2022 )
posted 10/19/2022 8:00pm ∞
“But individuals also have real agency, and our actions determine the actual
consequences of these Great Forces as they reshape our world. We have to
understand both, and study both, and act on the world now remembering that both
are real.”
posted 10/17/2022 8:00pm ∞