Divertimento #165

"They’re called nurdles, and they’re the preproduction building blocks for nearly all plastic goods, from soft-drink bottles to oil pipelines. But as essential as they are for consumer products, nurdles that become lost during transit or manufacturing are also an environmental hazard. In the ocean and along coastal waterways, they absorb toxic chemicals and are often mistaken for food by animals. They also wash up by the millions on beaches, leaving coastal communities to deal with the ramifications."

"...scientists analyzed DNA to prove the existence of what might be the most fantastic hybrid of them all. They call it a narluga — the mash-up offspring of a beluga whale and a narwhal, the “unicorn of the sea.”

"The blockage was eventually cleared, but not before it created what one affected resident described as a “tornado of poop” in her bathroom, after raw sewage exploded from her toilet and immediately rendered her home completely uninhabitable."

"Because we're not morons."  A bumper sticker for the upcoming election proclaims your preference for "The Democrat 2020."

Striking photo of the face of an Ethiopian boy with Waardenburg Syndrome.

Giant wedding cake created at a cost of $50.

"The iron in 16 Psyche [asteroid] alone is estimated to be worth $10,000 quadrillion, if humans were able to somehow extract it and bring it to Earth, which sounds great, until you realize that the entire global economy is only worth $78 trillion. Injecting that much worth into the world economy would crash it, in a totally different kind of asteroid impact than most people think about."  (That of course doesn't make sense in economic terms, but it's an interesting concept to play with.)

The transition from a cash to a digital economy is wreaking havoc with strippers and lap-dancers.

"Just a few weeks before I arrived, he entered Nastasen’s tomb for the first time, swimming through the first chamber, then a second, then into a third and final room, where, beneath several feet of water, he saw what looked like a royal sarcophagus. The stone coffin appeared to be unopened and undisturbed."  From an awesome photoessay at National Geographic about Nubian tombs.

There is only one current national flag in the world that does not feature any of the colours red, white, or blue.

"After 6-Year Battle, Florida Couple Wins The Right To Plant Veggies In Front Yard."

"David Gilmour [Pink Floyd] auctioned off his guitars, including the black Fender Stratocaster that helped create Dark Side of the Moon and Shine On You Crazy Diamond. He said goodbye to the 12-string Martin behind Wish You Were Here. In all, he raised $21.5 million—that’s right, $21.5 million. He gave the proceeds from the most valuable auction of musical instruments in history to a nonprofit that fights climate change.

"Twenty-one oat-based cereal and snack products popular with children contain traces of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, according to tests from the Environmental Working Group. EWG said the tests found glyphosate levels above what it considers safe for children in all but four of the products."

A subreddit devoted to jarrariums (lots of interesting photos).

The Atlantic asks people "what lost treasure would you most like to find?"

"Several states have passed — and many others have considered — so-called “ag gag” laws, which criminalize the undercover investigations that reveal abuses on farms. Legislators have been forthright about their motives too. They’re worried that evidence of what goes on on these farms will outrage Americans — so they want to ban it."

"According to the Times, Wall Street donors opening their wallets for the 2020 race are attracted to Biden's "ideological moderation," Buttigieg's "charisma and intellect," and Harris's "potential as a possible primary victor even as she now trails in the polls."... "It can't be Warren and it can't be Sanders," the CEO of a big bank anonymously told Politico."

"The Reason Chicago is Called "The Windy City" Has Nothing to Do With Wind"

A child underwent intrauterine (fetoscopic) surgery to correct spina bifida before he was born.

The word "blog" was invented 20 years ago. (TYWKIWDBI was born 12 years ago)

"The cost of holding migrant children who have been separated from their parents in newly created "tent cities" is $775 per person per night, according to an official at the Department of Health and Human Services — far higher than the cost of keeping children with their parents in detention centers or holding them in more permanent buildings."

A detailed analysis of the Perpetual Diamond optical illusion, with truly awesome gifs.  Visit this link even if you normally don't like optical illusions.

Therapy dogs are becoming more common in funeral homes.

"This phenomenon is known as overtourism, and like breakfast margaritas on an all-inclusive cruise, it is suddenly everywhere. A confluence of macroeconomic factors and changing business trends have led more tourists crowding to popular destinations. That has led to environmental degradation, dangerous conditions, and the immiseration and pricing-out of locals in many places. And it has cities around the world asking one question: Is there anything to be done about being too popular?"

"Veronica Belmont, a product manager at Adobe Spark, was riding the train down to Silicon Valley, doing some work on her phone, when dozens of teenagers plopped down into the seats around her. Within moments, her phone began blowing up. She received an AirDrop request containing an image of several boys’ Bitmoji characters dressed in chicken suits. A group of them snickered as she opened it and looked around. Belmont was confused. “I was like, I don’t know what this means!” she told me.

Anyone who has accidentally left their AirDrop settings open around a group of teens is likely familiar with the deluge of memes, selfies, and notes that arrives so quickly it can often freeze your phone... AirDrop culture has gone mainstream—and more adults are getting caught in the crossfire."

India may be teetering on the brink of increased ethnic and religious turmoil.

"It's time to break that cycle by fixing the root cause: the misuse of Social Security numbers as proof of identity by financial institutions, insurance companies, landlords, health care providers and just about everyone else. Congress can cure this addiction with a drastic remedy: directing the Social Security Administration to publish all active Social Security numbers five years from today, rendering them useless as authenticators while providing time for the industry to implement a secure authentication alternative. Congress could also choose to adopt privacy regulations that either incentivize strong security practices or punish negligent behavior.  Social Security numbers were never intended to be kept secret.

Data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) indicates that more than 31,000 people were treated in hospitals for umbrella-related injuries between 2008 and 2017.

A graduation cake purchased at Walmart was made out of styrofoam.

"So, early and late in his career, Shakespeare worked with other playwrights. In the middle, other playwrights seem to have worked with him, or at least worked on his scripts. The playwright Thomas Middleton had a hand in Macbeth, probably in Timon of Athens, and likely in both Measure for Measure and All’s Well That Ends Well. No doubt there are other collaborations in the Shakespeare canon. That’s the way plays were composed."

"The severed head of the world’s first full-sized Pleistocene wolf was unearthed in the Abyisky district in the north of Yakutia. " (photo at the link)

"Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Louisiana State University confirmed Bradley’s worst fears in forecasts published Monday, predicting this spring’s record rainfall would produce one of the largest-ever “dead zones” in the Gulf of Mexico. An area the size of New Jersey could become almost entirely barren this summer, posing a threat to marine species — and the fishermen who depend on them."

"The unusual death of a woman’s dog in Virginia has sparked outcry and a debate over whether it is ok to kill a healthy pet and bury it with its owner according to their dying wish. Emma, a shih tzu mix, was euthanised and cremated in March as per its owner’s will. The dog was put down despite the efforts of animal shelter workers who spent two weeks trying to talk the executor of the woman’s estate out of the plan.

"Plans to redraw the [$20 bill], replacing the slaveholding president Andrew Jackson with the abolitionist leader, are being put off until at least 2026, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Wednesday."

This video shows how artificial intelligence can animate heads and faces from still images.

"Baseball’s timeless appeal is predicated upon an equilibrium between pitching and hitting, and in the past, when that equilibrium has been thrown off, the game has always managed, either organically or through small tweaks, to return to an acceptable balance. But there is growing evidence that essential equilibrium has been distorted by the increasing number of pitchers able to throw the ball harder and faster. Rising pitch velocity has altered the sport, many believe, and not necessarily in a good way... The 2018 season was the first in history in which strikeouts outpaced hits, a trend that has accelerated so far in 2019. The ball is in play less than ever, with a record 35.4 percent of plate appearances in 2019 resulting in a strikeout, walk or home run."

A good BBC read about decluttering one's life.

"The results reveal these individuals were part of a previously unknown yet widespread group, dubbed the Ancient North Siberians by the team, who were genetically distinct from both Western Eurasians and East Asians... the population that became the ancestors of native North Americans was the result of liaisons about 20,000 years ago between East Asians, who travelled north, and a group distantly related to the Ancient Northern Siberians."

"The Attorney General who ordered Chelsea Manning back to prison for refusing to comply with a subpoena... is refusing to comply with a subpoena."

A zoomable map of the United States "where city names are replaced by their most Wikipedia’ed resident: people born in, lived in, or connected to a place."

"Old houses in Ireland often have horse skulls buried beneath the floors, but folklorists and archaeologists disagree on exactly why."

Putting the fun back in funerals.  "At my funeral take the bouquet off the casket and throw it into the crowd to see who next."

This week MAD magazine announced that it is ceasing publication after 67 years.  The embedded images are some of my favorite covers from my collection of 1960s-era issues, which I'm in the process of selling on eBay.