BobDevney

@JonChevreau@mstdn.ca @Nonilex@masto.ai Aw, that's a really terrible feeling. So sorry. But certainly sounds like you have been the good friend that a good boy deserves.

@raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie @mrundkvist@archaeo.social Genetics show a surge c. 3,000 BCE of Yamnaya & other Western Steppe Herders (WSH) into much of Europe, displacing (raping? slaughtering? outcompeting?) original inhabitants. (And spreading WSH's Proto-Indo-European language.) "The expansion of WSHs resulted in the virtual disappearance of the Y-DNA of Early European Farmers (EEFs) from the European gene pool, significantly altering the cultural and genetic landscape of Europe." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Steppe_Herders #History

Frolicking through the Best Novella Hugo nominees—in Olivia Waite's "Murder by Memory," I find this: "Of course every human body was a horrifying collection of juices and tissues, acids and effluvia poured into a bag with a bunch of long rocks, a shambling accident of biology that made its own mysterious and often frustrating decisions without reference to the mind. They were disgusting miracles, every one.” Wow. Bravura writing… & bravura thinking. #ScFi #Books #Writing #Biology #HugoAwards

@wackJackle@norden.social Ada Palmer is a national treasure! A terrific Renaissance historian at UChicago. But also an exciting, erudite (and fun!) guest at science fiction/fantasy/horror conventions for years. (She wrote the mind-bending Terra Ignota series.) At one con she handed a small incunabulum around the room for everyone to (carefully) hold in our hands, while she spoke brilliantly about the early history of printing, as in this video. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Palmer #History #Printing #ScienceFiction

@infobeautiful@vis.social Fascinating, thanks! Here's obligatory link to great bit from TV's "The West Wing." Where cartographers compare Mercator versus Peters projections for stunned C.J. and Josh. The head map guy is played with perfect drollery by the invaluable John Billingsley (Star Trek: Enterprise; The Man from Earth, etc.). Cartographer: "Nothing's where you think it is." C.J: "Where is it?" Cartographer: "I'm glad you asked…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Xyz9MgDWA #Maps #TV #Imperialism #Cartography

@mia@ScottEdelman Hahaha! Great share! Though as an especial fan of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, I note that many of the authors so commemorated have committed SF/F/ H. But in those genres, the list may not go far enough. After all, Orson Scott Cart, Isaac Asimove, Scoot Edelman, Lois McCaster Bujold, Chad Trolliver, Elizabeth Handcart, and J. K. Rolling were RIGHT THERE ... #Librarians #Writers #Humor #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #Horror

@mttaggart@infosec.exchange@bmacDonald94@hostux.social This may be the best short overview of what's wrong with — let's call it "Web 3.arrgghh" — that I have ever read. https://taggart-tech.com/interfaces/

@funambolo@mastodon.world @stephanieburgis@wandering.shop Love the Finnish lesson! In English, formation-swimming groups of other aquatic animals may also be termed "shoals." Shrimp yes, but also sardines, anchovies, mackerel, squid, jellyfish, and of course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ov81aogaxg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUXGGAkhldQ #Language #Music #Fish