One of our Public Study lessons this fall focuses on community design centers and public education about architecture, preservation, and development. I think I pulled together a pretty good lesson – and a nice list of supplemental resources: www.are.na/shannon-matt...

You know you’re in for a fun commute when the GPS app breaks out the hiking man emoji. 😭

From @theathletic.com: A crocodile-inhabited river in Australia has been chosen as a venue for rowing and canoeing events at the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. nyti.ms/4xz038L

Crocodile-inhabited river chosen as venue for 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane

The last official sighting of the reptile in the Fitzroy River was August 18 but Olympic authorities say it passes the technical assessment.

nyti.ms

Earlier in the year I had the honor of writing a piece on the legendary Bob Mackie for TCM. Mackie's impact on the history of fashion especially in television and film is immeasurable. God speed to a one-of-a-kind visionary. www.tcm.com/articles/598...

Bob Mackie: Costume Party

tcm.com

New cat just dropped. Landed on its feet, it’s fine.

Meet the First New Cat Species Discovered in 100 Years

A small, spotted tiger cat from Bolivia may just be the beginning of a wave of new small cat species.

nationalgeographic.com

"Whatever it is you want to do, find the person who does it best, and then see if they will teach you."

Alexander Chee@alexanderchee.bsky.social · 7d ago

I wrote about being Annie Dillard's student at Wesleyan in the spring of my last year in college for Elizabeth Benedict's Mentors and Monsters anthology, and The Morning News: themorningnews.org/annie-dillar...

For any NY people: I’m delighted to share I’ll be one of the storytellers at the NYC Secrets & Lies event at the NYC Transit Museum next month! Tickets and info here: www.nytransitmuseum.org/program/secr...

NYC's Secrets and Lies: Transit Tales - New York Transit Museum

In this storytelling event, the audience will have to guess which spooky transit stories are true, and which is the lie.

nytransitmuseum.org

August edition of Space Policy is out, with articles covering lunar safety zones, NATO's space policy, megaconstellations, Korean's national space policy, public preferences on NASA's budget, and more! www.sciencedirect.com/journal/spac...

For decades, ordinary Swedes secretly prepared for the day Soviet forces might occupy their country. Listen here 🎧🎧 coldwarconversations.com/episode473 #sweden #coldwar #staybehinds @johanwennstrom.bsky.social @ospreypublishing.bsky.social

🌐 The internet doesn’t remember everything. CARTA Presents: “DIGITAL GHOSTS - ACCESS TO WEB ARCHIVES THROUGH DATA AND CREATIVITY” looks at how creative visualization can make online decay visible, and what disappearance means for cultural memory. Oct. 7, 8 AM PT 🎟️ us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The US is a signatory to the Outer Space Treaty which states that space is for peaceful purposes only.

Space.com@space.com · last wk.

US Space Force says it operates weapons in orbit: 'Our aim is deterrence' www.space.com/space-explor...

one of the cool things about this project in the age of AI is how through citizen science, we were able to transcribe the backs of hundreds of photographs from the Daily Herald Archive at the @mediamuseum.bsky.social

Dr Alex Fitzpatrick@animalarchaeology.com · 3w ago

📜 I was also able to finally see the display based on a research project I worked on a few years ago - it’s so nice to see our project volunteers given their flowers next to the photographs they digitised and curated. You can read more here: journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/comm...

This is what our home looks like from 6 billion kilometres away.

I was invited to write up a short blogpost for the Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month based on our recent JGR Planets paper! We make the case that some of the highlands on Venus have borders that form in the same way mountain belts on Earth do: planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com

Astrophotographer Adam (AJ) Smadi caught this image a few hours ago from Washington state. A thin crescent Moon, sunlight illuminating the rugged lunar surface. And 2,400 times farther away—and on the other side of the Sun—mighty Jupiter, and its moons Io (left) and Ganymede (right).

Millennium math problem solved by OpenAI may have "regurgitated" competitors unpublished work... also they spent more than $22 million in computing power in one week to scoop them. techcrunch.com/2026/09/08/o...

OpenAI fought dirty on career-making math problem, says NYU mathematician | TechCrunch

There is a $1 million bounty for the first person providing a solution to the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem.

techcrunch.com

Dolly Parton's take on AI in 2023: “I hope nobody can ever replicate me or what I do. AI is a scary thing. I’m sure it’s a good thing for scientists or medical things. But when it comes to trying to duplicate a human being and every little thing they are, it don’t seem right to me. It’s too much.”

Dolly Parton's Sister Asks People to Stop Posting AI Slop of the Legendary Singer

"I hope nobody can ever replicate me or what I do. AI is a scary thing," said Dolly Parton in 2023.

gizmodo.com

I enjoy the no a/c kinda weather. Driving with my windows down; airing out the house in the mornings. Right before scarf weather.

#Monazite (pictured on right ) is rich in Cerium, which is used in making tunable UV lasers. Continuous wave, not pulsed! It can also contain trace radioactive elements that allow you to date the rocks, geochronology. I like Andalusite for jewelry, but cmon, vote for the geochronometer Monazite

Mineral Cup & Ore Cup@mineralcup.bsky.social · 2w ago

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 7 It's a color-changing match of informative minerals! Time-tracker #Monazite-(Ce)'s yellow in sunlight darkens to orange in incandescent light while index mineral #Andalusite is pleochroic VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Today I learned that some foods that I've been consuming all my life were originally developed for soldiers to carry in their packs. Including M&Ms! historyfacts.com/world-histor...

6 Popular Foods That Came From the Military

War is full of logistical challenges, one of the major concerns — in conflicts both ancient and modern — being how to feed the armies doing the fighting. Whether it’s Roman legionaries, British Redcoa...

historyfacts.com

Pioneering fossil hunter recognised with blue plaque. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Carmarthen fossil hunter Dorothea Bate recognised with blue plaque

Dorothea Bate discovered the dwarf elephant and the myotragus, an extinct goat-like antelope.

bbc.co.uk

Ancient cave art discovery suggests first known humans in Ireland walked over from Wales www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cave art discovery suggests first humans in Ireland came from Wales

During the most recent Ice Age, researchers believe there was a "lost land bridge" between Wales and Ireland.

bbc.co.uk

After 40 Years, a Long-Lost Book by One of Our Most Beloved Authors Is Finally Back in Print—and Worth Reading slate.com/culture/2026...

After 40 Years, a Long-Lost Book by One of Our Most Beloved Authors Is Finally Back in Print—and Worth Reading

Octavia Butler disliked Survivor so much that she let it fall out of print. It can finally be read again today.

slate.com

I love how they keep reframing this with language like RETRO TECH BOOM. We've all simply realized it's the only way we own anything. We're not buying out of nostalgia. We're buying so companies can't take it away after we've purchased.

CD sales are making an unexpected comeback amid a retro tech boom | TechCrunch

U.S. CD revenue jumped 58.6% in the first half of 2026, reversing last year’s decline as interest in retro tech and physical media continues to grow.

techcrunch.com

Sharing a terrific article by project scientist Ashwin Vasavada describing a day in the life of Curiosity Mars rover science operations. theconversation.com/mars-rovers-...

Mars rovers give scientists a ground-level view of the red planet – peek inside their NASA control room

Each day in the control room of the Curiosity rover is jam-packed with important scientific decisions, as a NASA project scientist describes.

theconversation.com

Please repost! Drexel announced that it will close the Academy of Natural Sciences public museum- the oldest nat history museum in the US. There are 2 petitions to support the academy. Please sign both & come to our rally Tues. actionnetwork.org/petitions/pe... www.change.org/p/the-academ...

I'm going with #quartz this round of #MinCup26. Even though it doesn't produce laser light, quartz IS a very important optical material. You can easily use it to make the windows and mirrors and lenses in your laser. Never met #asagiite, laser potential seems unlikely.

Mineral Cup & Ore Cup@mineralcup.bsky.social · 2w ago

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 6 It's a classic vs a newbie as the most common named mineral in the crust #Quartz is up against an exceedingly-rare sea foam-green mineral discovered just a few years ago #Asagiite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

VERY helpful guide

Your Local Epidemiologist@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 3w ago

13/ Bottom line: Vaccines are one of the best things you can do this fall and winter to stay healthy and minimize disruption. For specific questions or guidance, talk with your doctor. Tap for the full breakdown 👉 yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/your-guide-to-fall-2026-vaccines

Newly discovered ‘demon cave fish’ hid out in Alabama military installation for 40 years www.scientificamerican.com/article/newl... 🦑🐟🧪🌎

Newly discovered ‘demon cave fish’ hid out in Alabama military installation for 40 years

Scientists named this oddball creature after the Demogorgon from Stranger Things

scientificamerican.com

Bandcamp Friday!