Category: Culture & Society

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Culture & Society Technology

Christopher Reeves explains what Superman represents

In this video, the late Christopher Reeves who played Superman explains what the fictional superhero represents.

In a world of selfishness ushered in by smart devices and social media, Superman as a friend metaphor is a subtle reminder of the power of relationships.

It’s nice to know that there’s someone out there who’s willing to offer a hand and be a friend regardless of supposed differences, whether that be in race or politics.

Big thinking, small fragile world — such prescient words from Superman in the tribal world that is today.

Categories
Culture & Society Health

The best representations of “social distancing”

beatles abbey road social distancing

Given the paramount importance of social distancing to impede the spread of the coronavirus — everything from sitting nearly 7 feet apart or shopping 7 feet apart — we’ve collected some of the most compelling illustrations across the web.

The reality is that the longer people don’t comply with social distancing or space/physical distancing, the longer we’re going to have to do it to put an end to this pandemic.

Help flatten the curve — stay at home and stay connected with your friends on social media! Conversely, unplug and read books or spend the extra time on a personal project.

Only go out for groceries, medicine, and other essential items.

There are also memes, of course, because…the internet…

The best representations of “social distancing”
yelenart/tw
The best representations of “social distancing”
The best representations of “social distancing”
The best representations of “social distancing”
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Architecture & Design Culture & Society Health Technology

Why pirates actually wore an eye patch

History of the pirate patch

Eye patch, parrot, and wooden leg, and a limp. Those are the essential ingredients to becoming a pirate.

But did you know that pirates wore an eye patch, not because of a missing eye, but because the patch increased their sight instantly inside low lit areas?

During raids, pirates needed the ability to flip up the eye patch so they could quickly snag a cannonball faster below the deck of the ship.

So one eye was trained to see in daylight, the other in dark. The pirate patch was an early technology to solve the issue of temporary blindness caused by going to a dark room from a brightly lit space.

Why pirates actually wore an eye patch
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Culture & Society

Why 02-02-2020 is a special day in numbers

Why 02-02-2020 is a special day in numbers

Today may be Super Bowl Sunday and Groundhog Dog, but it’s also a day that celebrates the rare 8-digit palindrome — 02/02/2020 — the only one this century.

The eight digit palindrome reads the same forward, and backward in both the American and British formats. The last one occurred 909 years ago on 11-11-1111 and the next one won’t happen until 12/02/2121, 101 years from now.

It’s also worth mentioning that it’s also day 33 of this year, with 333 days remaining.

Categories
Culture & Society Nature Travel

Born to dive: The Bajau sea nomads spend 60% of their day underwater

The Bajau sea nomads

The Bajau sea nomads are people from the Malay Archipelago (Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia).

Aquatic life is literally in their DNA. According to a study from the journal Cell:

They are renowned for their extraordinary abilities, diving to depths of over 70 m with nothing more than a set of weights and a pair of wooden goggles (Schagatay, 2014) and spending 60% of their daily working time underwater (Schagatay et al., 2011).

They’ve evolved to harbor extreme breath-holding capabilities with up to 13 minutes underwater. For thousands of years, the Bajau people have developed expanded spleens due to their dependency on diving underwater for food.

No one knows what originally compelled the Bajau to dive other than their need to survive and feed entire families.

Without experimentation, evolution does not exist. It is through struggle and adaptation we evolve.

Learn more in the video below.

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Culture & Society

The calendar from 1895 and 2019 share the same dates

A calendar from 1895

This is neat. The calendar from 1895 and 2019 share the same dates. Mind the prescient quote.

Everything comes in circles…The old wheel turns and the same spoke comes up. It has all been done before and will be again…

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,The Valley of Fear