Science
Science
Blindsight
I wonder how many people with reflexive responses (whether of approval or disapproval) to Stanley Milgram’s famous experiment have read the book he generated from its results, Obedience to Authority. It’s a curious document. He vastly overimagines the degree to which authority and obedience are ingrained in human interactions. To demonstrate that people have provisional authority in some situations who don’t in normal circumstances, he points out that a shoe clerk can order you to stand in your sock feet, a barber to present your throat to his razor, a movie usher to take the seat she (usually) shows you with the flashlight she carries for guidance in the dark, and a bank teller to surrender your money. The last is the only one of these that bears any real colour of truth, and most of the means by which banks extract money from their ordinary customers are imposed by the invisible authority of custom, not that of tellers whom we’re likelier to regard as servants than masters (if we don’t regard them as equals momentarily attending to our needs).
Martin HeavisidesPublished 3 years ago in FYIDaylight Saving and The Illusion of Time
Growing up in the tropics, we had two seasons: dry and wet. From January to June, rainfall is scarce, the air is practically devoid of moisture, and the sun is hotter than usual, which, living on an island in the Caribbean, is saying a lot. Onwards from July, it is more common to be lulled to sleep by the pitter-patter of rain outside your windows. As a bonus, the threat of hurricanes is ever-present. With the acceleration of climate change, the line between these two seasons has become a bit more blurred.
Laquesha BaileyPublished 3 years ago in FYIBlindsight
I wonder how many people with reflexive responses (whether of approval or disapproval) to Stanley Milgram’s famous experiment have read the book he generated from its results, Obedience to Authority. It’s a curious document. He vastly overimagines the degree to which authority and obedience are ingrained in human interactions. To demonstrate that people have provisional authority in some situations who don’t in normal circumstances, he points out that a shoe clerk can order you to stand in your sock feet, a barber to present your throat to his razor, a movie usher to take the seat she (usually) shows you with the flashlight she carries for guidance in the dark, and a bank teller to surrender your money. The last is the only one of these that bears any real colour of truth, and most of the means by which banks extract money from their ordinary customers are imposed by the invisible authority of custom, not that of tellers whom we’re likelier to regard as servants than masters (if we don’t regard them as equals momentarily attending to our needs).
Martin HeavisidesPublished 3 years ago in FYIDid You know? - The never-ending Rodent family
Rodents are among the most successful mammals in the world; almost half of all mammalian species belong to this family and their numbers are likely to be higher than the other mammals combined. This is due to their high reproduction rate: the house mouse reaches sexual maturity at 5-7 weeks and females can give birth to more than 50 pups every year as they can mate right after giving birth.
Daniel TothPublished 3 years ago in FYIBiology, Lesson 101: The *Strange* Animal Kingdom
If you are looking for the answer to if aliens helped build the great pyramids, if DaVinci ever successfully flew or if the chicken came before the egg- this article isn’t for you. You are about to walk down a dark path of completely useless, semi-entertaining, and just plain weird information that you never knew you never knew. How did I come across this? Why was there any interest? It probably began when I watched a documentary about the Galapagos turtle and then it was just all downhill from there. A million questions that just had to be answered and honestly, the internet was just asking for trouble!
Carissa BrownPublished 3 years ago in FYIA Pandemic and an Apple
Little to nothing was known of germs and bacteria prior to the 17th century. The Bubonic Plague or as it was more commonly named, the Black Death, was a major pandemic that raged through the known world in the Middle Ages from time to time with the people having no knowledge of its origins. Superstition was rife in these times and infection was attributed to a number of things including bad air, evil spirits, poisoned wells, foreigners and sin amongst other things. Populations affected by the plague had little reason to suspect it was transmitted from rats and mice to humans by the bites of fleas. It was incredibly virulent and is now known to have been caused by the fleas being infected with the bacterium Yersinia Pestis.
Michael TriggPublished 3 years ago in FYIFive Minutes to Live: The Story of the Female Dolania Americana
What would you do if you only had five minutes to live? For many, the idea of having 24 hours left to live can already present a difficult metaphysical quandary; to reduce the timespan to five minutes at a moment’s notice can seem, from a human perspective, almost inconceivable.
Samuel TwicksPublished 3 years ago in FYICells to Soul
I have the best job in the world. I get to see life as not many do, but, before I get to that a little backstory of how I got here.
Belkie BluePublished 3 years ago in FYIHistory of the 1st Year of Coronavirus
One year ago today, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the rapidly spreading Coronavirus a global pandemic.
Bill PetroPublished 3 years ago in FYIThe Mother Of The Sea
Even if you have never eaten it, you will recognise sushi. There are Sushi restaurants all around the world and over 4000 in the US alone. The small cylinders of rice, wrapped in dark green seaweed are iconic. But did you know that the seaweed, nori, which is so ubiquitously used to make sushi, used to have the name ‘lucky’ grass, as it was so rare? Did you know that until an English scientist, Kathleen Drew-Baker, conducted her research, nori could not be successfully farmed? In Japan, this almost unknown English scientist is known as the ‘Mother Of The Sea.’
Niall James BradleyPublished 3 years ago in FYITop Five Tornadoes In American History
Spring officially arrives on March 20th. I look forward to flowers poking up through the thawing soil, birds singing, and the warmer days after a brutally cold winter. But, with the Spring, comes the threat of one of nature's most devastating natural disasters, tornadoes. No Country on the planet is immune to this natural phenomenon. According to weatherwizkids.com, "A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of up to 300 mph. They can destroy large buildings, uproot trees and hurl vehicles hundreds of yards. They can also drive straw into trees." In other words, even though there is a great temptation to run outdoors and gawk at the skies when the tornado siren wails, the wise move is to take cover.
A Taste of Time
In my time of youthful innocence, I had dreams of grandeur. I wanted to be Indiana Jane, bush whacking through wildernesses and surviving the elements in search of a part of us we lost. I pursued this dream for a moment, brief though it was, before the bitter realities of life’s demands set in. In my pursuits, I learned some interesting things along the way. One of my favorite tidbits was how to distinguish bone fragments from pottery shards.
E. J. StrangePublished 3 years ago in FYI