an article by Al James (Queen Mary University of London) published in Gender, Work & Organization Volume 21 Issue 3 (May 2014)
Abstract
The everyday challenges faced by workers ‘struggling to juggle’ competing commitments of paid work, home and family remain stubbornly persistent and highly gendered. Reinforcing these problems, many employers regard work-life balance (WLB) provision as too costly.
In response, this paper explores the learning and innovation advantages that can result from WLB provision in knowledge-intensive firms, as part of a WLB ‘mutual gains’ research agenda. These synergies are explored through a case study of IT workers and firms in two high-tech regional economies – Dublin, Ireland and Cambridge, UK – prior to (2006–8) and subsequent to (2010) the economic downturn.
The results suggest that by making available the kinds of WLB arrangements identified by workers as offering meaningful reductions in gendered work–life conflicts, employers can also enhance the learning and innovation processes within and between firms, which are widely recognized as fundamental for firms' long-term sustainable competitive advantage.
Friday, 2 January 2015
Employment, late-life work, retirement, and well-being in Europe and the United States
an article by Milena Nikolova and Carol Graham (The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC and University of Maryland) published in IZA Journal of European Labor Studies Volume 3, Number 5 (2014)
Abstract
Flexible work arrangements and retirement options provide one solution for the challenges of unemployment and underemployment, aging populations, and unsustainable public pension systems in welfare states around the world.
We examine the relationships between well-being and job satisfaction on the one hand and employment status and retirement, on the other, using Gallup World Poll data for several European countries and the United States.
We find that voluntary part-time workers are happier, experience less stress and anger, and have higher job satisfaction than other employees. Using statistical matching, we show that late-life workers under voluntary part-time or full-time arrangements have higher well-being than retirees.
There is no well-being premium for involuntary late-life work and self-employment compared to retirement, however. Our findings inform ongoing debates about the optimal retirement age and the fiscal burdens of public pension systems.
JEL codes: J14; J21; J26; J28; I31; Z18
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.izajoels.com/content/3/1/5
Abstract
Flexible work arrangements and retirement options provide one solution for the challenges of unemployment and underemployment, aging populations, and unsustainable public pension systems in welfare states around the world.
We examine the relationships between well-being and job satisfaction on the one hand and employment status and retirement, on the other, using Gallup World Poll data for several European countries and the United States.
We find that voluntary part-time workers are happier, experience less stress and anger, and have higher job satisfaction than other employees. Using statistical matching, we show that late-life workers under voluntary part-time or full-time arrangements have higher well-being than retirees.
There is no well-being premium for involuntary late-life work and self-employment compared to retirement, however. Our findings inform ongoing debates about the optimal retirement age and the fiscal burdens of public pension systems.
JEL codes: J14; J21; J26; J28; I31; Z18
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.izajoels.com/content/3/1/5
Thursday, 1 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 12 October)
Lafayette Lamb: 1898
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
1898. Winona, Minnesota
“Bridges over the Mississippi. Sternwheeler Lafayette Lamb”
8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company
View original post
==========================================
25 Collectable Classic Car Books
via abebooks.co.uk by Beth Carswell
Few subjects garner more passionate aficionados than classic cars. Both book collectors and automotive enthusiasts recognise the cultural and historical significance of vintage maintenance manuals, promotional pamphlets, serious analyses of the automotive industry in its infancy, and riveting biographies of early race car drivers and the cars they drove.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Philip Larkin enjoyed washing dishes and doing laundry. How to reconcile that Larkin with his interest in naughty schoolgirls, obscene letters, trysts?… more
==========================================
Whale vaginas are amazing
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Mammal penises, including those of cetaceans, are pretty easy to find, while vaginas are more difficult to examine; historically, accounts of animal reproduction have emphasised the features of penises and theories of sperm competition, but a burgeoning scientific emphasis on whale vaginas is revealing structures and strategies that are amazing and wonderful.
Continue reading
==========================================
Is Mindfulness Dangerous?
via Big Think by Derek Beres
In his 1961 book, Psychotherapy East & West, the philosopher Alan Watts wrote,
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
No language instinct
How humanity learned to speak. A language organ? No. A language instinct? No. Our need to cooperate was what paved the way… more
==========================================
Life-sized nude sculpture made from typewriter parts
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Go to Boing Boing for further information
==========================================
Imagination Is The Doorway To Mental Breakthroughs
via Big Think by Derek Beres
Most of us recognise soma as the ‘ideal pleasure drug’ in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
History of drunkenness
Alcohol, death, and the devil. In the 17th century, booze was rumored to turn men into swine, to expose their bodies to Satan’s touch… more
==========================================
Video: Charles Schulz draws Charlie Brown
"We all need reassurance that some people really do like us." (via Devour)
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
1898. Winona, Minnesota
“Bridges over the Mississippi. Sternwheeler Lafayette Lamb”
8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company
View original post
==========================================
25 Collectable Classic Car Books
via abebooks.co.uk by Beth Carswell
Few subjects garner more passionate aficionados than classic cars. Both book collectors and automotive enthusiasts recognise the cultural and historical significance of vintage maintenance manuals, promotional pamphlets, serious analyses of the automotive industry in its infancy, and riveting biographies of early race car drivers and the cars they drove.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
==========================================
Whale vaginas are amazing
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Mammal penises, including those of cetaceans, are pretty easy to find, while vaginas are more difficult to examine; historically, accounts of animal reproduction have emphasised the features of penises and theories of sperm competition, but a burgeoning scientific emphasis on whale vaginas is revealing structures and strategies that are amazing and wonderful.
Continue reading
==========================================
Is Mindfulness Dangerous?
via Big Think by Derek Beres
In his 1961 book, Psychotherapy East & West, the philosopher Alan Watts wrote,
If there is to be a battle, there must be a field of battle; when the contestants really notice this they will have a war dance instead of a war.Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
How humanity learned to speak. A language organ? No. A language instinct? No. Our need to cooperate was what paved the way… more
==========================================
Life-sized nude sculpture made from typewriter parts
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Go to Boing Boing for further information
==========================================
Imagination Is The Doorway To Mental Breakthroughs
via Big Think by Derek Beres
Most of us recognise soma as the ‘ideal pleasure drug’ in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Alcohol, death, and the devil. In the 17th century, booze was rumored to turn men into swine, to expose their bodies to Satan’s touch… more
==========================================
Video: Charles Schulz draws Charlie Brown
"We all need reassurance that some people really do like us." (via Devour)
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Trivia (should have been 11 October)
Salty Alice: 1909
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
March 1909. Hartford, Conn.
“Newsgirls waiting for papers. Largest girl, Alice Goldman, has been selling for 4 years. Newsdealer says she uses viler language than the newsboys do. Bessie Goldman and Bessie Brownstein are 9 years old and have been selling about one year. All sell until 7 or 7:30 p.m.” Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine for the National Child Labor Committee
View original post
==========================================
Great mistakes in English medieval architecture
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
The great cathedrals and palaces of medieval England were designed by people who made it up as they went along, and often discovered midway through a multigenerational project that they’d run out of space for an arch, or designed a building that couldn’t hold up its own ceiling.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
History of fairy tale
It’s said that fairy tales at are the roots of fiction. Probably so. But scholars can’t even agree on what constitutes a fairy tale… more
==========================================
Marijuana-Smoking Couples Are More Peaceful Toward Each Other
via Big Think by Orion Jones
After following 634 couples over nine years, researchers at the University of Buffalo found that partners who smoked marijuana together were consistently less violent toward each other. In fact, husbands and wives who smoked together had the lowest rate of intimate partner violence.
Continue reading
==========================================
The cave monasteries of India
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
“As startling as Petra,” writes William Dalrymple, “but completely overlooked by tourists.” [Financial Times]
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
History of Rock ’n’ Roll
How does aesthetics affect history? In spurts that look forward, as well as backward. Take rock ‘n’ roll…more
==========================================
Words That People Get Mixed Up
via Killer Web Directory
Here I have a useful infographic from the UK transcription website called Fingertips Typing Services all about words that people commonly get mixed up. Learn about the difference between affect and effect, your and you're and plenty more.
Continue reading
==========================================
50 Years of Visionary Sci-Fi Computer Interfaces
via Stephen’s Lighthouse by Stephen Abram
You just have to look at this at full size
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Tolstoy's false disciple
How did Leo Tolstoy, a writer of such psychological sophistication, succumb to the charms of a third-rate con man like Vladimir Chertkov?… more
==========================================
3,000 Year-Old "Street Art": The Petroglyphs of Gobustan, Azerbaijan
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
This photo was snapped by Walter Callens at Gobustan (sometimes written as "Quobustan") in Azerbaijan.
His description:
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
March 1909. Hartford, Conn.
“Newsgirls waiting for papers. Largest girl, Alice Goldman, has been selling for 4 years. Newsdealer says she uses viler language than the newsboys do. Bessie Goldman and Bessie Brownstein are 9 years old and have been selling about one year. All sell until 7 or 7:30 p.m.” Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine for the National Child Labor Committee
View original post
==========================================
Great mistakes in English medieval architecture
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
The great cathedrals and palaces of medieval England were designed by people who made it up as they went along, and often discovered midway through a multigenerational project that they’d run out of space for an arch, or designed a building that couldn’t hold up its own ceiling.
Continue reading
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
It’s said that fairy tales at are the roots of fiction. Probably so. But scholars can’t even agree on what constitutes a fairy tale… more
==========================================
Marijuana-Smoking Couples Are More Peaceful Toward Each Other
via Big Think by Orion Jones
After following 634 couples over nine years, researchers at the University of Buffalo found that partners who smoked marijuana together were consistently less violent toward each other. In fact, husbands and wives who smoked together had the lowest rate of intimate partner violence.
Continue reading
==========================================
The cave monasteries of India
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
“As startling as Petra,” writes William Dalrymple, “but completely overlooked by tourists.” [Financial Times]
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
How does aesthetics affect history? In spurts that look forward, as well as backward. Take rock ‘n’ roll…more
==========================================
Words That People Get Mixed Up
via Killer Web Directory
Here I have a useful infographic from the UK transcription website called Fingertips Typing Services all about words that people commonly get mixed up. Learn about the difference between affect and effect, your and you're and plenty more.
Continue reading
==========================================
50 Years of Visionary Sci-Fi Computer Interfaces
via Stephen’s Lighthouse by Stephen Abram
You just have to look at this at full size
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
How did Leo Tolstoy, a writer of such psychological sophistication, succumb to the charms of a third-rate con man like Vladimir Chertkov?… more
==========================================
3,000 Year-Old "Street Art": The Petroglyphs of Gobustan, Azerbaijan
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
This photo was snapped by Walter Callens at Gobustan (sometimes written as "Quobustan") in Azerbaijan.
His description:
Settled since the 8th millennium BC, the area contains thousands of rock engravings spread over 100 square km depicting hunting scenes, people, ships, constellations, animals, etc. Qobustan's consecration in the world stage arrived in 2007, when UNESCO included the 'Qobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape' in the World Heritage list.Continue reading
The oldest petroglyphs date from the 12th century BC. Later, the European invaders also left their marks: inscriptions left by Alexander the Great's cohorts in the 4th century BC and 2,000-year-old graffiti written by Trajan's Roman legionnaires!
Trivia (should have been 9 May)
The East India Company: The original corporate raiders
via 3 Quarks Daily: William Dalrymple in The Guardian
One of the very first Indian words to enter the English language was the Hindustani slang for plunder: “loot”. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this word was rarely heard outside the plains of north India until the late 18th century, when it suddenly became a common term across Britain. To understand how and why it took root and flourished in so distant a landscape, one need only visit Powis Castle.
Continue reading
==========================================
An eco-system inside your home
via BBC by LJ Rich
Imagine having a garden and self-contained eco-system inside your home with fish making fertiliser for the plants and the plants filtering the water clean for the fish. The system will help you grow fresh healthy food and even improve your air quality.
Continue reading and watch video
==========================================
Piero di Cosimo: Renaissance “Madman” for the Modern Age
via Big Think by Bob Duggan
Half a millennium later, you would think the Italian Renaissance could hold no more secrets from us, no “codes” to decipher. And, yet, secrets hiding in plain sight continue to startle modern audiences with the depth and breadth of that amazing era. One of the well-kept secrets, at least until now, was the work of Piero di Cosimo, subject of his first major retrospective, Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Called “a madman” for his personal and artistic quirks by Renaissance chronicler Giorgio Vasari, Piero’s ability to paint in multiple genres all with a dizzying amount of detail may have seemed madness to contemporaries, but appeals to modern audiences conditioned for such visual assaults. There may have been a method to Piero di Cosimo’s madness after all.
Continue reading
==========================================
A festival of colorful emotions
via OUP Blog by Kiyokazu Okita
It is as if a massive color palette fell on earth from the hand of the Almighty. The whole atmosphere is painted with bright colors – red, pink, yellow, blue, green, and purple. Young and old, men and women – all are soaked in colored water, running around, laughing loudly, shouting, and throwing mud on each other. It is a war where a water gun is your weapon, colored water is your bullet, and colored powder is your smoke screen. If you are a foreigner, locals tell you not to go out on this day. If you are unable to control your curiosity, they will have no mercy on you.
Continue reading
==========================================
50 Great Genre-Bending Books Everyone Should Read
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
Sometimes, it seems as though the arguments about genre – be it poetry vs. fiction, fiction vs. nonfiction, literary fiction vs. SF vs. fantasy vs. mystery vs. vs. vs. – will never end. So why not just take yourself off the board entirely? After all, marketing professionals aside, does anyone really care what genre they’re reading if the book is good? After the jump, 50 genre-bending novels guaranteed to enthrall you, whether you’re a literary fiction snob or a die-hard fantasy nerd.
Enjoy without judgements!
It seems that I have a lot of reading to do! Although some of these have been recommended to me by my daughter and/or granddaughter I have actually read not a single one.
==========================================
Beautiful photo of impact basin on Mercury
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder
NASA' Astronomy Picture of the Day is of the Caloris basin on Mercury.
Continue reading
==========================================
Ten fun facts about the Irish Fiddle
via OUP Blog by Miki Onwudinjo
Even though the harp is Ireland’s national symbol, the fiddle is the most commonly played instrument in traditional Irish music. Its ornamental melodies are more relaxed than the classical violin and improvisation is encouraged. The fiddle has survived generational changes from its start as a low-class instrument popular among the poor. Now, the Irish fiddle is playing an instrumental role in preserving traditional Irish music and culture.
Continue reading
==========================================
Behemoth: 1943
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
January 1943
“Freight operations on the Chicago & North Western between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The crew, with exception of the fireman, chat while waiting for orders to pull out.”
Photo by Jack Delano
View original post
==========================================
30 3D Pavement Drawings To Blow Your Mind
via Lifehack by Amy Johnson
Julian Beever is a talented artist who has mastered the art of creating unbelievably life-like optical illusions in the street. A master of perspective and creativity, Julian creates unique art using a technique called anamorphosis.
The art is drawn from a certain perspective, so you can see the picture perfectly from one angle. And when standing in the right place, these mind-blowing pavement drawings leap off the street, looking so life like it’s hard to believe they’re just drawings.
Continue reading/viewing
==========================================
10 fun facts about the harp
via OUP Blog by Miki Onwudinjo
The Harp is a string instrument of very ancient lineage that is synonymous with classical music and cupid’s lyre. Over the years, the harp has morphed from its primitive hunting bow shape to its modern day use in corporate branding. Across the globe, each culture has its own variation of this whimsical soft-sounding instrument.
Check out these ten fun facts about the harp.
via 3 Quarks Daily: William Dalrymple in The Guardian
One of the very first Indian words to enter the English language was the Hindustani slang for plunder: “loot”. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this word was rarely heard outside the plains of north India until the late 18th century, when it suddenly became a common term across Britain. To understand how and why it took root and flourished in so distant a landscape, one need only visit Powis Castle.
Continue reading
==========================================
An eco-system inside your home
via BBC by LJ Rich
Imagine having a garden and self-contained eco-system inside your home with fish making fertiliser for the plants and the plants filtering the water clean for the fish. The system will help you grow fresh healthy food and even improve your air quality.
Continue reading and watch video
==========================================
Piero di Cosimo: Renaissance “Madman” for the Modern Age
via Big Think by Bob Duggan
Half a millennium later, you would think the Italian Renaissance could hold no more secrets from us, no “codes” to decipher. And, yet, secrets hiding in plain sight continue to startle modern audiences with the depth and breadth of that amazing era. One of the well-kept secrets, at least until now, was the work of Piero di Cosimo, subject of his first major retrospective, Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Called “a madman” for his personal and artistic quirks by Renaissance chronicler Giorgio Vasari, Piero’s ability to paint in multiple genres all with a dizzying amount of detail may have seemed madness to contemporaries, but appeals to modern audiences conditioned for such visual assaults. There may have been a method to Piero di Cosimo’s madness after all.
Continue reading
==========================================
A festival of colorful emotions
via OUP Blog by Kiyokazu Okita
It is as if a massive color palette fell on earth from the hand of the Almighty. The whole atmosphere is painted with bright colors – red, pink, yellow, blue, green, and purple. Young and old, men and women – all are soaked in colored water, running around, laughing loudly, shouting, and throwing mud on each other. It is a war where a water gun is your weapon, colored water is your bullet, and colored powder is your smoke screen. If you are a foreigner, locals tell you not to go out on this day. If you are unable to control your curiosity, they will have no mercy on you.
Continue reading
==========================================
50 Great Genre-Bending Books Everyone Should Read
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
Sometimes, it seems as though the arguments about genre – be it poetry vs. fiction, fiction vs. nonfiction, literary fiction vs. SF vs. fantasy vs. mystery vs. vs. vs. – will never end. So why not just take yourself off the board entirely? After all, marketing professionals aside, does anyone really care what genre they’re reading if the book is good? After the jump, 50 genre-bending novels guaranteed to enthrall you, whether you’re a literary fiction snob or a die-hard fantasy nerd.
Enjoy without judgements!
It seems that I have a lot of reading to do! Although some of these have been recommended to me by my daughter and/or granddaughter I have actually read not a single one.
==========================================
Beautiful photo of impact basin on Mercury
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder
NASA' Astronomy Picture of the Day is of the Caloris basin on Mercury.
Continue reading
==========================================
Ten fun facts about the Irish Fiddle
via OUP Blog by Miki Onwudinjo
Even though the harp is Ireland’s national symbol, the fiddle is the most commonly played instrument in traditional Irish music. Its ornamental melodies are more relaxed than the classical violin and improvisation is encouraged. The fiddle has survived generational changes from its start as a low-class instrument popular among the poor. Now, the Irish fiddle is playing an instrumental role in preserving traditional Irish music and culture.
Continue reading
==========================================
Behemoth: 1943
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
January 1943
“Freight operations on the Chicago & North Western between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The crew, with exception of the fireman, chat while waiting for orders to pull out.”
Photo by Jack Delano
View original post
==========================================
30 3D Pavement Drawings To Blow Your Mind
via Lifehack by Amy Johnson
Julian Beever is a talented artist who has mastered the art of creating unbelievably life-like optical illusions in the street. A master of perspective and creativity, Julian creates unique art using a technique called anamorphosis.
The art is drawn from a certain perspective, so you can see the picture perfectly from one angle. And when standing in the right place, these mind-blowing pavement drawings leap off the street, looking so life like it’s hard to believe they’re just drawings.
Continue reading/viewing
==========================================
10 fun facts about the harp
via OUP Blog by Miki Onwudinjo
The Harp is a string instrument of very ancient lineage that is synonymous with classical music and cupid’s lyre. Over the years, the harp has morphed from its primitive hunting bow shape to its modern day use in corporate branding. Across the globe, each culture has its own variation of this whimsical soft-sounding instrument.
Check out these ten fun facts about the harp.
Women’s magazines in the Nordic style: Politics, politicians and the welfare state
an article by Laura Saarenmaa and Iiris Ruoho (University of Tampere, Finland) published in European Journal of Communication Volume 29 Number 3 (June 2014)
Abstract
The article explores the engagement of women’s magazines with the political public sphere in Finland.
The material for the study consists of the political content of three long-lived (1968–2008) women’s magazines that are still in existence. Women’s magazines in Finland have supported the rise of women in power from the 1960s onwards. Consequently, women’s magazines are being utilized in political performance in ways that should be put under critical scrutiny rather than bypassed as mere political advertising.
Theoretically, the article draws on the debates around the personalization of politics and the emergence of celebrity politics. Furthermore, in studying these women’s magazines, the article highlights the particularity of the Nordic context.
Abstract
The article explores the engagement of women’s magazines with the political public sphere in Finland.
The material for the study consists of the political content of three long-lived (1968–2008) women’s magazines that are still in existence. Women’s magazines in Finland have supported the rise of women in power from the 1960s onwards. Consequently, women’s magazines are being utilized in political performance in ways that should be put under critical scrutiny rather than bypassed as mere political advertising.
Theoretically, the article draws on the debates around the personalization of politics and the emergence of celebrity politics. Furthermore, in studying these women’s magazines, the article highlights the particularity of the Nordic context.
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
Trivia (should have been 5 October)
Pampa Depot: 1943
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
March 1943
“Pampa, Texas. Going through a town on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe”
Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information
View original post
==========================================
Ancient monuments then and now
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Above are before and after images of Chichen Itza's El Castillo step-pyramid in the Yucatán that the Daily Grail's Greg Taylor shared in a brief post about “How Far Should We Go in ‘Restoring’ Ancient Monuments?.”
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Secret life of passwords
Our passwords, ourselves. More than an annoyance, they are suffused with pathos, mischief, sometimes even poetry. They are totems of our inner lives… more
==========================================
Parasites Practicing Mind Control
New York Times via 3 Quarks Daily
A microscopic cyst in the brain of a mouse containing thousands of Toxoplasma gondii parasites. New research has found that the parasite is able to exert a form of mind control by turning its host’s genes on and off. Jitender P. Dubey/U.S.D.A.
An unassuming single-celled organism called Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most successful parasites on Earth, infecting an estimated 11 percent of Americans and perhaps half of all people worldwide. It’s just as prevalent in many other species of mammals and birds. In a recent study in Ohio, scientists found the parasite in three-quarters of the white-tailed deer they studied.
Continue reading
==========================================
Pinpointing the Ponderosa
via Big Think by Frank Jacobs
This is probably the most recognisable map of the latter part of the 20th century. It’s certainly the only one guaranteed to provoke outbursts of humming in viewers of a certain age. But where is the Ponderosa exactly?
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The history of trolls
Magnificently grotesque, vicious, or perhaps comic, the troll is a resilient character. Why we need trolls…more
==========================================
Vinyl record recycled into lamp
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Sandman “up cycled” a vinyl record and camera tripod into a neat studio lamp! (via Laughing Squid)
==========================================
The Islamic State is destroying the greatest melting pot in history
Tom Holland in The Spectator via 3 Quarks Daily From the dawn of civilisation, the Fertile Crescent has been a cradle to strange and fascinating sects. Not any more
As the fighters of the Islamic State drive from village to captured village in their looted humvees, they criss-cross what in ancient times was a veritable womb of gods. For millennia, the Fertile Crescent teemed with a bewildering variety of cults and religions. Back in the 3rd Christian century, a philosopher by the name of Bardaisan was so overwhelmed by the sheer array of beliefs to be found in Mesopotamia that he invoked it to disprove the doctrines of astrology. ‘It is not the stars that make people behave the way do but rather the diversity of their customs.’
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Inimitable Clive James
The Clive James voice: intensely serious yet self-mocking, grave but never solemn, highbrow but never snobby. And always gorgeously inventive… more
==========================================
How sandstone arches form
via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker
It’s not caused by erosion. Instead, the rock, itself, forms the arch and the erosion just washes away everything else around it.
Continue reading
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
March 1943
“Pampa, Texas. Going through a town on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe”
Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information
View original post
==========================================
Ancient monuments then and now
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Above are before and after images of Chichen Itza's El Castillo step-pyramid in the Yucatán that the Daily Grail's Greg Taylor shared in a brief post about “How Far Should We Go in ‘Restoring’ Ancient Monuments?.”
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Our passwords, ourselves. More than an annoyance, they are suffused with pathos, mischief, sometimes even poetry. They are totems of our inner lives… more
==========================================
Parasites Practicing Mind Control
New York Times via 3 Quarks Daily
A microscopic cyst in the brain of a mouse containing thousands of Toxoplasma gondii parasites. New research has found that the parasite is able to exert a form of mind control by turning its host’s genes on and off. Jitender P. Dubey/U.S.D.A.
An unassuming single-celled organism called Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most successful parasites on Earth, infecting an estimated 11 percent of Americans and perhaps half of all people worldwide. It’s just as prevalent in many other species of mammals and birds. In a recent study in Ohio, scientists found the parasite in three-quarters of the white-tailed deer they studied.
Continue reading
==========================================
Pinpointing the Ponderosa
via Big Think by Frank Jacobs
This is probably the most recognisable map of the latter part of the 20th century. It’s certainly the only one guaranteed to provoke outbursts of humming in viewers of a certain age. But where is the Ponderosa exactly?
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Magnificently grotesque, vicious, or perhaps comic, the troll is a resilient character. Why we need trolls…more
==========================================
Vinyl record recycled into lamp
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Sandman “up cycled” a vinyl record and camera tripod into a neat studio lamp! (via Laughing Squid)
==========================================
The Islamic State is destroying the greatest melting pot in history
Tom Holland in The Spectator via 3 Quarks Daily From the dawn of civilisation, the Fertile Crescent has been a cradle to strange and fascinating sects. Not any more
As the fighters of the Islamic State drive from village to captured village in their looted humvees, they criss-cross what in ancient times was a veritable womb of gods. For millennia, the Fertile Crescent teemed with a bewildering variety of cults and religions. Back in the 3rd Christian century, a philosopher by the name of Bardaisan was so overwhelmed by the sheer array of beliefs to be found in Mesopotamia that he invoked it to disprove the doctrines of astrology. ‘It is not the stars that make people behave the way do but rather the diversity of their customs.’
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The Clive James voice: intensely serious yet self-mocking, grave but never solemn, highbrow but never snobby. And always gorgeously inventive… more
==========================================
How sandstone arches form
via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker
It’s not caused by erosion. Instead, the rock, itself, forms the arch and the erosion just washes away everything else around it.
Continue reading
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
