10 non-work-related items that I found fun or interesting

Going, Going, And Gone?: No, The Oxford Comma Is Safe … For Now
from NPR via Library Link of the Day
Read all of Linda Holmes's article

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
For Tolstoy, love is a great existential drama. To be mean and generous, depraved and decent, loving and murderous, not by turns but all at once – that is the true burden of our existence...more

World’s oldest protractor? via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
This object was found more than a century ago in an Egyptian tomb belonging to an ancient architect who lived around 1400 BCE. In the Turin museum where it's displayed, the artifact is identified as a decorative case for a balancing scale. However, physicist Amelia Sparavigna thinks it may be the oldest surviving protractor. From New Scientist

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
“Never again” has never been more than an empty promise, and there's no reason to believe it will ever be otherwise. So suppose genocide isn't preventable. Then what?...more

The Largest Ocean in the Universe via Big Think by Daniel Honan
What’s the Big Idea? The word “ocean” doesn’t quite do it justice. Two teams of astronomers have discovered an enormous reservoir of water in space that contains 140 trillion times the amount of water in all the Earth’s oceans combined. This reservoir is inside a quasar over 12 billion light years ... Read More

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The Greatest Generation lived through the Depression. Then came the Boomers, obsessed with themselves. But what about those born in between, during the war?...more
According to this report in The Chronicle of Higher Education we are “the peculioar generation”. I always knew there was something odd about me but peculiar? No thank you.

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Aging and innovation. We spend billions to live longer, yet give little thought to how to live longer, better. Here comes the silver tsunami...more
MIT has invented a suit which allows young people to imitate and appreciate the physical capabilities of older people. Incredible!

5 places in your home that are breeding superbugs
via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker
Your daily dose of paranoia: Mara Grunbaum on the 5 places in your home that are breeding superbugs
There's some serious besorgniserregend going on in this article. You'll walk away feeling both educated and with an intense need to wash your hands.

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Benjamin Franklin thought it an abominable practice, our incessant verbing of nouns. But we can’t help ourselves: Texting, friending, parenting, bookmarking...more

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Population density of Mumbai slums: one million people per square mile. What can slum and squatter life tell us about the future of the planet?...more

---