Trivia (should have been 4 October)

Liz: 1956
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave

1956
“Actress Elizabeth Taylor”
Photo by Robert Vose for the Look magazine assignment The Elizabeth Taylor Story: A Woman at Last
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The History of Boolean
This Simple Math Concept Went Nowhere For A Century And Then — BOOM — Computers

George Boole 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864
“And,” “Or,” “Not”
Boolean algebra is the combination of logic and algebra, initially developed by George Boole, for whom the subject is named, in the 1840s and ’50s, and later refined by other logicians through the rest of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

The self is moral
Are we ourselves, or are we our souls? From Locke onward, philosophers have debated whether memory or morality shapes our identities… more

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The Milky Way above, and the bioluminescent Atlantic ocean below
via Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

A stunning photograph by photographer Fefo Bouvier: Noctiluca bioluminescence in the Atlantic Ocean at Barra de Valizas, Uruguay. Above, the Milky Way, seen in a gloriously dark sky free of man-made light.
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A tool to fix one of the most dangerous moments in surgery
a TED talk via 3 Quarks Daily


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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

William McPherson has a Pulitzer Prize and no money. He isn't wretched-of-the-earth poor, but he’s poor. Here’s how he reached that status… more

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The limits of animal life on Tatooine
via Boing Boing
Maggie Koerth-Baker on why the megafauna of George Lucas’ parched desert world makes no sense. It’s not the dry heat that’s the problem; it’s the food supply.

Read this fascinating article here

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How Death Valley's ‘sailing stones’ move on their own
Becky Crew in Science Alert (via 3 Quarks Daily)
Located above the northwestern side of Death Valley in Eastern California’s Mojave Desert, an exceptionally flat dried lake called Racetrack Playa contains a peculiar phenomenon. Dozens of large stone stabs made of dolomite and syenite – often weighing as much as 318 kilograms – move across the cracked mud, leaving a series of smooth trails behind them.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

Freedom from food
What would you do with an extra 90 minutes each day? Read? Write? Sleep? Watch TV? All you have to do is stop spending time on food… more

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The History of the Barometer and How it Works
via How-To Geek
The barometer may seem like a simple instrument, but it is very useful for helping us predict changes in the weather, especially when it comes to severe storms. What is the story behind the invention of this awesome weather forecasting tool and how does it actually work?