via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
March 1943
“Walter V. Dew, rear brakeman, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe between Chicago and Chillicothe, Illinois, watching the train from the cupola”
Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information
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An Animated Look At How A Speaker Makes Sound
via MakeUseOf by Dave Le Clair
We use speakers all of the time. In fact, I’d guess that the device on which you are reading this article has a speaker on it somewhere.
Do you know how a speaker works? I’ll admit, I had no idea before I found this awesome animated infographic. Sure, I knew that there was a cone and a bunch of other components that allows them to push the sound towards my ears, but other than that, it was complicated nonsense. Now, I understand, and if you read through this beautiful animated infographic, you will too!
Continue reading and you will understand.
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via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Novel as Protestant art
The history of literature is not tidy, and the path of the modern novel is particularly long and improbable. Can its origins be traced to Protestantism?… more
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Two Bibles on View in NYC Showcase the Art and Violence of Medieval Books
via Hyperallergic (sensitive to art and its discontents) by Allison Meier
“Saul defeats the Ammonites, is crowned by Samuel, and peace offerings are made,”
Crusader Bible (13th century) (courtesy the Morgan Library & Museum)
Two incredible examples of medieval book art are on rare view in New York: the Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting the hefty Winchester Bible, and the Morgan Library and Museum is celebrating the Crusader Bible and its vivid battle scenes.
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Why Humans Drink Alcohol: It’s Evolution, Plus Bad Fruit
via 3 Quarks Daily from NBC News
Human ancestors may have begun evolving the knack for consuming alcohol about 10 million years ago, long before modern humans began brewing booze, researchers say. The ability to break down alcohol probably helped human ancestors make the most out of rotting, fermented fruit that fell onto the forest floor, the researchers said. Therefore, knowing when this ability developed could help researchers figure out when these human ancestors began moving to life on the ground, as opposed to mostly in trees.
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via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Music to shoot you by
What is the preferred musical accompaniment to virtual killing? Beethoven, of course. Ted Gioia on the rise of “first-person-shooter Romanticism”… more
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Group belief
via OUP Blog by Jennifer Lackey
Groups are often said to believe things. For instance, we talk about PETA believing that factory farms should be abolished, the Catholic Church believing that the Pope is infallible, and the U.S. government believing that people have the right to free speech. But how can we make sense of a group believing something.
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A simple trick to improve your memory
via 3 Quarks Daily by Tom Stafford in BBC
Oops, image won't copy!
If I asked you to sit down and remember a list of phone numbers or a series of facts, how would you go about it? There’s a fair chance that you’d be doing it wrong. One of the interesting things about the mind is that even though we all have one, we don't have perfect insight into how to get the best from it. This is in part because of flaws in our ability to think about our own thinking, which is called metacognition.
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via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Who was Bruno Pontecorvo?
The physicist Bruno Pontecorvo was repeatedly accused of spying. But was the real problem our idea of secrecy?… more
This is one of the stories that captured my imagination, I spent far too long reading the review and may even need to buy/borrow from the library the actual book.
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Half-million year old decorative etching on clamshell made by a Homo erectus
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder
New Scientist reports on the discovery of the oldest know work of art: a pattern of lines scratched on a freshwater clamshell 300,000 years before humans evolved.
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