A weekly collection of links lovingly curated by Colin Wright.
The Mysterious Doodles Hidden in a 1,300-Year-Old Book
“Even more intriguing, Hodgkinson and colleagues found drawings of little people on other pages. In one margin, a square figure with outstretched arms – could it be a nun perhaps? (see below, top-left). In another, a person holding up their hand to the face of glum companion (bottom-right). An 8th-Century version of "talk to the hand"? Their meaning is a mystery.”
The UK is Wasting a Lot of Wind Power
“Last year, the UK generated ~30% of its energy from renewables, of which windpower (~23% total generation) was by far the biggest contributor. But on the windiest days, we deliberately capped the amount of power our turbines were producing, reducing the total amount generated by 6%. In fact, it’s worse than that: not only did we turn off our turbines, but we paid the owners of windfarms to turn them off. This is called curtailment. In 2022, a year characterized by extraordinary hikes in energy prices for consumers, we spent £215m on turning windfarms off, and then another £717m turning on gas power plants to replace the lost wind power. In the process, we emitted an extra 1.5 million tonnes of CO2.”
France’s Baby Bust
“In the eighteenth century, France was the China of Europe. But after a thousand years of dominance based on particularly fertile land, she declined over the next 250 years to be just another European power. Around this time, more than 100 years before the rest of Europe, French women began to have fewer children. In 1700, almost 1 in 25 inhabitants on Earth, and one in five in Europe, was French. Today, less than a percent of humanity is French. Why did France’s population decline in relative terms so dramatically, and did it really mark the decline of France?”
The 17th-Century Astronomer Who Made the First Atlas of the Moon
“The book, titled Selenographia, was created by perhaps the most innovative Polish astronomer since Copernicus. But Johannes Hevelius, as we call him in the English-speaking world, has been somewhat more forgotten among history’s great scientists. Selenographia was the first book of lunar maps and diagrams, extensively covering the moon's various phases. More than 300 years before humans stepped onto the moon’s surface, Hevelius was documenting every crater, slope and valley that he could see with his telescope. He conducted these observations, as well as others for a comprehensive star catalog, using his own equipment in a homemade rooftop observatory.”
Which Retail Websites Have the Most Dark Patterns?
“Pre-selected checkboxes on websites can cause users to accidentally sign up for mailing lists, share their data and enter into a contract. The Electronic Frontier Foundation highlights how political fundraising websites in the past have made monthly donations the default option when making a donation, so users end up getting charged repeatedly by mistake.”
The Surprisingly Sacred Roots of Chocolate
“In fact, artifacts from ancient Maya tombs are the main reason why we know anything about early uses of cacao. Vessels found in the burial sites of royalty and elites not only featured artistic depictions of cacao but—after chemical analysis—were found to have held cacao residue inside, suggesting that the living left edible offerings to honor their dead rulers and relatives.”
Twistronic Yarns Harvest Energy From Movement
“Scientists first reported the invention of twistrons about five years ago. They created these materials by spinning carbon nanotubes into high-strength, lightweight fibers that can also incorporate electrolytes. Twisting or stretching these yarns increases their density, which in turn generates a voltage that can drive an electric current. “Our dream in the future is to be able to use our twistrons to harvest the mechanical energy in the oceans to power cities,” says study senior author Ray Baughman, a materials scientist at the University of Texas at Dallas.”
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