If Earth Had Rings
First off, they would be really pretty to look at. They would also dominate the sky in both night and day at exactly the same place as they would never rise nor set. And at night you would see the Earth’s shadow swing across the rings, like in the 4th photo here.
However, life would be very different on Earth if this were the case. Nocturnal animals would have a hard time being nocturnal, as the light reflecting from the rings would illuminate the night.
Because we are closer to the Sun than Saturn is, the rings would be more rocky than ice, making them less bright but still pretty bright. In fact, you would see far less stars at night (living anywhere other than the equator or the arctic circle) because of the light pollution and not to mention ruin most meteor showers because of that.
During the day the rings would block sunlight in certain regions of the planet creating wild weather cycles and effecting plant life as well. So basically, they would be definitely pretty to look at but they would also make a whole lot of things screwy.
Illustrations by Ron Miller // io9
— Click the photos for captions
David Foster Wallace was like, Art must be sincere! We must use every tool in the linguistic toolbox to cut through sentiment and dishonest cliche and build fresh ways to reveal the power and reality of unironized emotion.
And Mister Rogers was like, Basically the same thing, but without any shame or pretense or fear of sincerity.
(Source: marketwarriors)
Because today is Mel Brooks day.
Anne Bancroft on meeting Mel Brooks
Things Yahoo! Has Made Better
Texts with Mom
- Me: Where are you coming from?
- Mom: Dallas. I was in training.
- Me: There's more for you to learn? Is that where all the "I piss excellence" status came from?
- Mom: Yes. :)
- There was a big debate on the nature of our existence too.
- It was $3 margarita night.
- Me: You can't start an existential debate without cheap margaritas.
- Mom: Exactly.
- One of the guys on my team has a Masters in Philosophy. He didn't participate; he just labeled all of our beliefs.
- Me: Typical.
I’m thrilled to announce that next Wednesday, May 22, Maggie Appleton will be doing a Chartist in Residence.
I first ran into Maggie’s work thanks to a few of her rather ingenious charts of quotations (like the one below) that made their way to my inbox. Maggie is an illustrator-designer-chartist with a penchant for anthropology, tea, and illuminating quotations and we will be giving her the keys to the blog next Wednesday to do whatever she choses for the entire day. Please tune in to see some brand new charts and illustrations and whatever else she decides to bring to the table with her unique charting style. Should be awesome!
Restored Faith in Humanity of the Day: Reddit Restores WWII Veteran’s Damaged Navy Photo
Back in April, at the request of his 87-year-old grandfather, Redditor stevieboy1984 turned to the /r/PicRequests subreddit to see if anyone could clean up a scanned JPEG image file of his grandfather’s World War II-era photo taken during his service in the Navy as a submarine sonar/radar operator. After a number of people offered their photoshop wizardries to help its restoration, stevieboy1984 showed his grandfather six variations before handing him a framed version of top commenter unhi’s submission. Here’s a video of the big reveal. Grab a box a tissues, manly tears are coming.
“So my amazing daughter, Emma, turned 5 last month, and I had been searching everywhere for new-creative inspiration for her 5yr pictures. I noticed quite a pattern of so many young girls dressing up as beautiful Disney Princesses, no matter where I looked 95% of the “ideas” were the “How to’s” of how to dress your little girl like a Disney Princess…We chose 5 women (five amazing and strong women), as it was her 5th birthday but there are thousands of unbelievable women (and girls) who have beat the odds and fought (and still fight) for their equal rights all over the world”
- Jaime Moore, Not Just a GirlThis is awesome!
Dearest chart-enthusiasts,
It appears we, as a group, have occasioned some criticism for our interest in women in politics. While I am tempted to dismiss this with a flippant GIF, I will instead direct you to this chart from the Center For Women In Politics:
… and then a flippant GIF.
