It sometimes seems that the history of innovation is really the history of lucky accidents - and here's another case in point open.substack.com/pub/originso... #inventions 🧪

Smoke signals

How one scientist’s dirty habit gave us a staple of home safety

open.substack.com

Buble Wrap: we all know it, we've all used it, we've all popped it. But did you know that the product as we know it was not what the inventors intended when they created it in the 1950s? Read on to discover Bubble Wrap's curious history originsofeverything.substack.com/p/cushioning... #inventions

Cushioning the blow

How a failed wallpaper design became the world’s most famous packaging material

originsofeverything.substack.com

Did you enjoying thumbing through The Guinness Book of Records books when you were younger (or perhaps still do!)? Ever wondered who came up with the concept for the book, and why? 👇

Oh look, a bunch of joyless, souless, loveless idiots can't throw a decent party, quelle surprise

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3mo ago

INCREDIBLE SCENES ON FOX as there is LITERALLY NOT A SOUL at Trump's fair, which has now been open for 15 minutes

In case your creeping feelings of existential dread were beginning to wane, here's your booster shot

Prof Bill McGuire@profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This is absolutely terrifying The Nino 3.4 forecast temperature anomaly mean is now at 4C, when even the biggest historical super ninos have seen less than 3C I really have no idea what this is going to bring over the next 12 months, but it will be very, very, grim

lol #integrity

Jeff VanderMeer@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I had a piece commissioned by The Yale Review. However, since they published Christopher Sorrentino's sophomoric, frankly pathetic ode to using generative AI for his writing, I have told them in the strongest possible terms that I no longer have any interest in writing for them.

Old British bodies can't cope with the heat. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with the same one I had last year...(I'm not *old* but I do turn 50 next week and that sounds, well, bloody old to my eternally youthful mind)

David Blanchflower BSc@davidbflower.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Old British fridges 'cannot cope with the heat.' Handily I got a new one last year. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Want to look into space? Want to *really* look into space? Then trip on this (you may need to download a 9Gb - yes, 9Gb - image. Worth it...)🔭🧪

Phil Plait@philplait.bsky.social · 3mo ago

WOOHOO! The immense Vera Rubin sky survey has begun! And while the first image may not look like much at first glance, you can go deeper, and deeper, and DEEPER into it. Assuming your internet connection can handle it… badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-immens... 🔭 🧪

If you're ever feeling like you're a pathetic loser, you can always favourably compare yourself to this ridiculous man-child in red (both of them, actually)

The Independent@the-independent.com · 3mo ago

Kid Rock admits he calls Trump late at night to show off to his drinking buddies

"It would basically kill the AI industry overnight" Oh boo fucking hoo. Always thought this guy was a prick (Clegg, not Ball)

Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Damned inconvenient to have to ask people if you can use their work for your own profit. This comment from Clegg crystallizes the problem, not least because it shows folks in the industry don't even understand the problem. musictech.com/news/industr...

Super interesting new research exploring the fuzzy zone between non-life/life, and perhaps where the latter came from 🧪🧬

Genesis Story: Part I

The deep origins of life on earth

originsofeverything.substack.com

Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 3mo ago

Meet SpudCell, a synthetic cell made from lifeless ingredients that feeds, grows, divides, and experiences selection. If it doesn't have all the hallmarks of life, it has a lot! Here's my story. Gift link: nyti.ms/4vCbTih

I've read this supposed history of everyone who ever lived by @adamrutherford.bsky.social , and I don't get a single fucking mention, absolute scammer! But seriously, the talk sounds well worth going to....

Adam Rutherford@adamrutherford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Come and hear @davidolusoga.bsky.social and I chatting about history, genetics, race, that sort of thing, to mark the 10th anniversary of my book A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. unionchapel.org.uk/whats-on/ada...

LEGO. We’ve all played with it. We’ve all built with it. We’ve all trodden on it in the dark. And we all know it’s a Danish concept through and through – right? Well, not quite: it was actually inspired by a British toy maker who never saw his own inventions succeed like LEGO blocks.

Have you ever wondered about how the universe came into being, but felt intimidated by the physics/didn't want to read a whole book about it? Here's the shirtest, gentlest version of this amazing, mind-boggling origin story that I could manage 🧪🧬 originsofeverything.substack.com/p/the-bigges...

The Biggest Origin Story of All

How our universe came to be

originsofeverything.substack.com

He's not wrong you know...

Christopher Mims@mims.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Not the point and not going to sway anyone, but as someone who has a degree in (among other things) biological anthropology, I just want to point out that the argument that there is only a gender binary is complete and utter bunk, the sort of thing that gets demolished in a 101 course on this stuff.

This event was so pathetically embarassing and I love that fact

Madeline Peltz@peltzmadeline.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Just left the great American state fair where I watched Michael Knowles debate a ten year old girl about the Salem witch trials in front of DOZENS of people

Fighting with fire - the Finnish birth of the Molotov cocktail originsofeverything.substack.com/p/would-you-...

Would you like a drink with your picnic?

How Soviet propaganda inspired the Molotov cocktail.

originsofeverything.substack.com

Traffic lights before cars? That's right - find out more about the curious history of this essential feature of the modern world originsofeverything.substack.com/p/stopgo

Stop/go

The Victorian origins of the traffic light

originsofeverything.substack.com

Long before germ theory, quaratines were a staple of public health policy. Here's where they came from.... open.substack.com/pub/originso...

The Forty-Day Law

From the Black Sea to the Black Death: the gruesome origins of the quarantine

open.substack.com

Cool thread on a story I most likely would not have looked into in much detail, but am glad to know the revelant details 🧪🧬

Buttons (Ashley) 🏴‍☠️#OFMDForLife🏴‍☠️ 🏳️‍🌈🤡@sevensugars.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Since I did do my PhD in cyanobacteria growth and treatment optimization modeling AND work in the water treatment industry, I’m gonna share my theory as to what’s happening here and how to fix it. People are focusing on the painted bottom of the pool increasing residual heat, and while that 1/19

Always down to watch a Ken Burns doc

The Times and Sunday Times@thetimes.com · 3mo ago

The American Revolution review — Ken Burns’s accomplished origin story

@michael-marshall.bsky.social wrote an excellent book on the origins of life a few years back (The Genesis Quest: amzn.eu/d/09s…) so no better guide - I'm looking forard to hearing about the latest thinking in this tricky area...🧪�� #scicomm #originoflife

Michael Marshall@michael-marshall.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This always gives me a little happy: my feature on the origins of life is this week's cover story in @newscientist.com In shops tomorrow morning! https://www.newscientist.com/issue/3600/

Chances are you’ve owned a Slinky. I have, and over the past 80 years so too have some 300 million people. Here’s it's origin story in brief [🧵👇] #toys #inventions

Always torn about separating the art from the artist - generally I'm quite tolerant but there are definitely limits (eg, I won't listen to the one song by the Lost Prophets that I liked, because of Ian Watkins). Interested to take a moment out and think more deeply about my position here.

Greg Jenner (Historian)@gregjenner.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Happy publication day to Dr Daisy Dixon! Depraved is a fantastic philosophy book exploring how to think about dangerous art made by very bad people — I highly recommend it (and scan the QR code for the accompanying playlist)

I would not have thought Rob Kenyon had a novel in him. I suspect that is where it should've remained. But I can't pretend I'm not intrigued to see at least excerpts...

The Economist@economist.com · 3mo ago

Reform has said that it does not wish children to be “indoctrinated” at school. Happily Rob Kenyon, a Reform candidate who has written a new novel, has not been

Brilliant and detailed dive into the connections and networks of reciprocal favours that bound the Epstein class of scientist-thinkers.

Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com · 3mo ago

“Epstein was a central node in a toxic gift network that included celebrities, politicians, and billionaires. Academic scientists of the Epstein class covered for his crimes, laundered his reputation, and legitimized his pseudo-intellectual pursuit of eugenics, racism and sexism.”

Really good piece. In the late 90s/early-to-mid 00s I was reading a lot of the big names of the Edge community, and the New Atheism. Started to get turned off a lot of these thinkers for Epstein-unrelated reasons, but my parting of ways has only become more sensible as the years go by.

Adam Rutherford@adamrutherford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

'It was not a huge surprise to find myself in the Epstein files...' My investigation into the scientists bewitched by money and the dilettante superficiality of Jeffrey Epstein's need to be near clever men. newhumanist.org.uk/articles/a-t...

Painful to recall my optimism of 2008, and my naivety of the coming whitelash...

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 3mo ago

😕

"Man, why do people stop talking about problems once they've solved them? Pretty sus, no?" 🤔🧪

GreyBruceInfo- Part Owner of Canada 🇨🇦@brucegreyinfo.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Everyone knows the feeling of a cold stethoscope pressed against warm skin. But when and why was this icon of medicine created? [A thread 👇...🧪🧬 #histtech #histsci #inventions #scicomm ]