(via She Who Seeks)
Thursday, April 02, 2026
Geckos, Masters of Physics
Geckos decided they were going to be different from all other lizards by developing specialized features that gave them a leg up in the survival business. These include eyes that can see in low light, hydrophobic skin, and detachable tails, not to mention feet that have velcro on the ends.
Most of those powers required some explanation of physics, which geckos have mastered. It's no wonder they are often studied by scientists. These studies include putting geckos in a wind tunnel, which may seem cruel, but it's also quite funny, and the geckos didn't seem to come out any worse for wear. Ze Frank gives geckos his usual "educational with some snarky giggles" treatment in this video in his True Facts series.
Birthright Citizenship: What's the Worst That Could Happen?
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Just after he was inaugurated in 2025, Donald Trump issued an executive order that denied citizenship to persons born from a mother who was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Since these two documents are in opposition, it went to the courts, and is now in front of the Supreme Court.
Trump issued the order to make it easier to deport people, but the implications go much further. If a birth certificate doesn't guarantee citizenship, what does? This opens up an avenue for questioning the rights of anyone you want. Imagine someone made Trump mad (as often happens). An investigation can be opened on their right to live in the US.
Are you an American citizen? Yes, I was born here.
But were both your parents American citizens. Yes, they were born here, too.
But were they born to American citizens? Yes, my grandparents were all born here.
How about your great-grandparents? They immigrated from Europe and became American citizens.
They legally became American citizens? Prove it.
Anyone who immigrated to the US before 1906 may have a hard time proving it, especially if their citizenship was derived by relation to a head of household. And citizenship documents were rarely archived for posterity anyway. The 14th Amendment is there for a reason. If it is not upheld, we could theoretically turn half our citizens into stateless people. Only immigrants who were naturalized or those who had ancestors with acceptable documentation (and possibly Native Americans) would have the right to vote.
Cerberus
(via Everlasting Blort)A kinder and gentler avatar of Cerberus.
— JohnC (@ironist-jc.bsky.social) March 17, 2026 at 7:49 PM
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Wednesday, April 01, 2026
15 Songs and Their Mistakes
When you're recording a song, you might get a take that sounds wonderful but contains a silly mistake. But the music is otherwise better than anything you've done so far, so why not just leave it in? Especially when it sounds like you can get away with it. It's happened more often than you realize. (via Neatorama)
The Language of Time
Time is often thought of as the fourth dimension. Once an object has length, width, and depth, it also exists over time. We talk about time, well, all the time, but since we operate in the here and now, we often use three-dimensional language. If you speak English, you probably know that the future is ahead and the past is behind us. Timelines go from the past on the left to the present (and sometimes the future) on the right. Whether the future is looking up or looking down has nothing to do with when or how fast it comes.
But that isn't always the case. If your first language is something besides English, you may think of the flow of time differently, and use different words for its direction. Since time is the fourth dimension, it honestly has no direction at all. Yet we adapt language to communicate the concept anyway. There's no "right" way to do this, outside of being aware of the time orientation of the person you're talking to. Dr. Erica Brozovsky explains how some other cultures talk about the flow of time.
Office Prank
In case you can't think of anything new for April Fool's Day. Click the image to bring up the full size version.
Why Can't We Eat Silica Gel?
Most of us are aware, by adulthood, that silica gel is used as a desiccant, or a substance to keep the area around it dry. That's why you see them packed in with all kinds of new purchases, like shoes, pills, snack foods, and electronics. You don't want your stuff arriving moldy or rusted after it's been in a warehouse for a while. These little packets of silica gel beads always say "DO NOT EAT" as if they are poison.
But what is silica gel, anyway? You may be surprised to learn that it has properties that make it useful in other applications besides absorbing humidity. A miracle material, indeed. And what's worst that could happen if someone did eat it? After all, the warning looks a bit like a challenge to people who don't like to be ordered around.
Miss Cellania's Links
McTuscan Heaven. Kate Wagner is back with a house that makes no sense at McMansion Hell.
My Undiagnosed Chronic Illness Taught Me to Love Sci-Fi. The genre taps into our culture’s deepest anxieties about the trustworthiness of women. (via Metafilter)
A List of Chain Restaurants Whose Names Contain Unusual Structures. Ranked by the order of which you'd want to be in one. (via kottke)
When Josephine Baker returned to America to appear in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936, she ended up swearing off the States forever. (via Messy Nessy Chic)
The King and I Spotlights an English Governess Who Modernized Siamese Society. The Real Anna Leonowens Exaggerated Her Influence and Lied About Her Origins.
How bread was invented. It's made with puns!
These Never-Before-Seen Photos Show Astronaut Neil Armstrong Relaxed and Smiling After He Almost Died in the Gemini 8 Emergency. (via Damn Interesting)
The history of school bus safety. The article says it's about the three black stripes on the side, but it contains much more than that. (via Metafilter)
Always Be'sing and Do'sing
Strong Bad answers his email for April Fool's Day in the latest episode of Homestar Runner. "You say that like it clarified anything." The flash version is here, if you prefer that, although I have no idea why you would. (via Metafilter)
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
The Earliest-Born Person Ever Captured on Film
Pope Leo XIII is believed to have been the earliest-born person recorded in a motion picture. This footage was taken in 1896 by W. K. Dickson. He was also the first pope whose voice was recorded. Pope Leo was born in 1810, and lived to 1903. He was the fourth longest-serving pope, and the oldest for which we have reliable records.
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