10 Brilliant Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories That You Probably Haven’t Read Yet
▻http://io9.com/10-brilliant-science-fiction-and-fantasy-stories-that-y-1746752901
Nigerian author Wole Talabi has posted his list of the 10 best African science fiction and fantasy stories of 2015. They include Afro-cyberpunk, a reimagined fairy tale, magical realism, and far-future SF. Definitely worth checking out! [via Metafilter and BoingBoing] Read more...
Explore The World’s Most Detailed Map Of The Seafloor, Released Today
▻http://io9.com/explore-the-worlds-most-detailed-map-of-the-seafloor-r-1642315933
Researchers today published the most detailed map of the ocean floor ever produced. Data collected by satellites and remote sensing instruments were used to created a model at least twice as accurate as previous maps, revealing thousands of previously uncharted seafloor features in the process. And best of all, you can explore the maps for yourself!
Above: A marine gravity map of the North Atlantic Ocean Red dots show locations of earthquakes with magnitude > 5.5 and they highlight the present-day location of the seafloor spreading ridges and transform faults. This gravity information shows the details of the plate tectonic history of the rifting of these continents including the subtle signatures of fracture zones that are currently buried by sediment. | Image & Caption Credit: David Sandwell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Much of what we know about the ocean floor’s topology we know from data collected by multibeam sonar systems. It is estimated that these sonar systems – which have to be lugged back and forth across the ocean’s surface by ships in order to acquire soundings of the seafloor deep beneath them – have left a staggering 90% of the deep-sea bottom uncharted.
Why Are You Still Washing Your Clothes In Warm Water?
▻http://io9.com/why-are-you-still-washing-your-clothes-in-warm-water-1706931003
(Permalink)
The greatest mystery of the Inca Empire was its strange economy
▻http://io9.com/5872764/the-greatest-mystery-of-the-inca-empire-was-its-strange-economy
So how do you become a continent-dominating empire without cash? In the case of the Incas, it’s likely that the technologies that granted them agricultural surplus (extra food and textile materials) helped them with their expansive empire-building. Food was their coin; pure labor structured their economy.
Some have argued that the #Inca Empire was the ideal socialist state, while others have called it an authoritarian monarchy. In truth, the Inca probably created an empire like many others. Its leaders were distracted by civil war and internecine squabbles among the nobility. And its slaves and laborers built the dramatic works dreamed up by pre-Columbian civil engineers. What’s remarkable is that evidence suggests those slaves and laborers were probably well fed. Perhaps more remarkable, in this era where markets are associated with civilization, is the idea that an empire could achieve so much without ever spending a dime.
#politique #économie #civilisation via @shaber33
"You’ve probably heard that English is being ruined — by the Internet, by texting, by Americans, by young people who have no respect for proper grammar. But it turns out that people have always worried over English, and over the centuries, have accused all sorts of things of “ruining” the language."
▻http://io9.com/10-things-people-once-complained-would-ruin-the-english-1684240298
“Our First Glimpse Of Chester Zoo’s New Baby Black Rhino!”
▻http://io9.com/our-first-glimpse-of-chester-zoos-new-baby-black-rhino-1683525419
Understand how your map tells a story - 10 Rules For Making Better Fantasy Maps...
▻http://io9.com/10-rules-for-making-better-fantasy-maps-1680429159
If you look at the beautifully illustrated fantasy maps on posters, in books, and across the Internet and wish that you could make such incredible pieces of worldbuilding, then you’re in luck. We have some guidelines for making your maps better, more beautiful, and easier to understand.
Top image: Map of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands by Jason Thompson.
1. Understand how your map tells a story.
Rainfall can release aerosols, high-speed video shows - YouTube
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waqmq_GTyjA
Using high-speed cameras, MIT researchers observed that when a raindrop hits a surface, it traps tiny air bubbles at the point of contact. As in a glass of champagne, the bubbles then shoot upward, ultimately bursting from the drop in a fizz of aerosols.
▻http://io9.com/high-speed-video-reveals-the-source-of-that-incredible-1679834126
▻http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150114/ncomms7083/full/ncomms7083.html
How Farming Almost Destroyed Ancient Human Civilization
▻http://io9.com/how-farming-almost-destroyed-human-civilization-1659734601
A Stunning Alt-History Map Showing A Completely Uncolonized Africa
▻http://io9.com/a-stunning-alt-history-map-showing-a-completely-uncolon-1658327669
via laurence Mazure
A map created by Swedish artist Nikolaj Cyon shows what Africa would have looked like had it not been colonized by Europeans. Shown upside down to skew the Eurocentric bias, it was compiled using historical, linguistic, and ethnographic data.
Cyon even created an alternative historical timeline to make it work. Check out BigThink’s fantastic feature about it.
#afrique_du_sud #cartographie #histoire #représentation #visualisation
Is There Any Plausible Reason Why Aliens Would Evolve To Look Like Us?
▻http://io9.com/is-there-any-plausible-reason-why-aliens-would-evolve-t-1638235680
10 Stupid Arguments People Use To Defend Comic Book Sexism
▻http://io9.com/10-stupid-arguments-people-use-to-defend-comic-book-sex-1636381824/+tinaamini
On y retrouve l’argument crétin utilisé récemment par Maddox à propos de spiderman et spiderwoman mais aussi tout un tas d’autres qui sortent comme un réflexe pavlovien.(Permalink)
Wild Concept Art For The Trippy Final Moments Of Luc Besson’s Lucy
▻http://io9.com/wild-concept-art-for-the-trippy-final-moments-of-luc-be-1619361939
It’s like they decided to make a film set inside the #matrix but neglected to tell the audience. (spoiler) I worked out the only way this film makes sense is if you assume the film is set inside the matrix and the universe can be manipulated like a virtual environment, including the ability to time travel (she essentially becomes Neo+)
vu mais #wtf ? :D
qu’est-ce qui t’as plu là-dedans ? moi, j’ai pas trouvé ...
Dans le lien de @booz, attention spoiler :
Vous pensez que j’exagère sur le bullshit philosophico-prout-prout de ce film et de sa phrase finale ? Alors dites-vous que je ne vous ai pas parlé, alors que Lucy est sur sa chaise à s’approcher des 100% de capacité cérébrale, des scènes où Lucy voyage dans le temps (si), l’espace (aussi), touche le doigt de Lucy l’Australopithèque façon chapelle Sixtine, comme ça, pour déconner, et voit que l’univers n’est en fait qu’un gros ovule qui s’est fait engrosser par de la semence intersidérale (si, là aussi). Parce que oui, le cosmos aussi a sa sexualité. Il est comme ça. Des fois, il va en boîte, rencontre un inconnu et paf, big-bang à l’arrière de la Twingo.
Et vous voulez le plus beau ?
Ambitieux, « Lucy » atteint ses objectifs comme spectacle de divertissement, spectaculaire et intelligent.
Culturebox – France Télévisions
« Intelligent« , donc.
Bravo, les gars.
Je crois que ce sera le mot de la fin. Inutile d’en rajouter.
Je sais pas trop pourquoi mais j’ai bien aimé (contrairement à @lucile). L’« intelligence explosion » de la singularité n’est pas devant nous, elle est en nous (#cerveau). Comme l’âge d’or de l’humanité chez Lévi-Strauss en fait (cf. Race et culture).
J’ai bien aimé aussi ! Je crois que ce qui m’a plu, c’est l’approche faite avec le LSD mais en je ne sais pas combien de fois plus puissant. Faire l’expérience du LSD permet peut-être de mieux appréhender ce film qui, à la fin, est complètement disjoncté ;)
#BBC institutes changes to prevent “false balance” in #science reporting:
▻http://io9.com/bbc-institutes-changes-to-prevent-false-balance-in-sc-1600207025 #journalism
How Soviet Artists Imagined Communist Life in Space
▻http://io9.com/how-soviet-artists-imagined-communist-life-in-space-1558140402
Artists from the Soviet Union didn’t just imagine a worker’s Utopia on Earth. They also thought that the great communist experiment would eventually reach other worlds, too. Here are some incredible works of art and conceptual design that put the Soviet Union in space.
Station Moon, a Soviet children’s book by Pavel Klushantsev, 1965 and 1974
#ex-urss #soviétisme #imaginaire #science-fiction #représentation #images
10 Scientific Ideas That Scientists Wish You Would Stop Misusing
▻http://io9.com/10-scientific-ideas-that-scientists-wish-you-would-stop-1591309822
1. Proof
Physicist Sean Carroll says:
I would say that “proof” is the most widely misunderstood concept in all of science. It has a technical definition (a logical demonstration that certain conclusions follow from certain assumptions) that is strongly at odds with how it is used in casual conversation, which is closer to simply “strong evidence for something.” There is a mismatch between how scientists talk and what people hear because scientists tend to have the stronger definition in mind. And by that definition, science never proves anything! So when we are asked “What is your proof that we evolved from other species?” or “Can you really prove that climate change is caused by human activity?” we tend to hem and haw rather than simply saying “Of course we can.” The fact that science never really proves anything, but simply creates more and more reliable and comprehensive theories of the world that nevertheless are always subject to update and improvement, is one of the key aspects of why science is so successful.
Star Wars Episode VII Cast Announced
▻http://io9.com/star-wars-episode-vii-cast-announced-1569312302
Le casting officiel du prochain Star-Wars.
Outre Luke, Leia, Han, C-3PO, R2D2 et Chewie il y a 7 nouveau rôles annoncés.
Dont UNE femme. Un seul nouveau personnage #féminin.
Ça les tuerai de faire preuve de représentativité un jour ?(Permalink)
Scientists Have Successfully Grown and Implanted Vaginas in Four Women
▻http://io9.com/scientists-have-successfully-grown-and-implanted-vagina-1562386876
Dancing Stick Figures Graph Mathematical Functions With Their Arms
▻http://io9.com/dancing-stick-figures-graph-mathematical-functions-with-1553087734
If you have trouble remembering how to graph different mathematical functions, these simple figures with their dancing arms can help. At the very least, they’ll make you think of math every time you dance to YMCA.
