Nullary Sources

We Bought an Orchestra

chz — Thu, 07 May 2026 12:02:45 -0700

On the evening of February 18, the Deutsch-Romantisches Orchester (DRO) gave a performance in Berlin’s Funkhaus, a one-time radio broadcasting center converted into a chic concert hall. It was a classical concert like any other—except for the guest list, five-course banquet, and glaring mismatch between the skill levels of the professional instrumentalists and their conductor, a relatively unknown young musician named Marina Quasha.

Just after 7:00 p.m., Quasha strode to the podium in the cavernous concert hall. A kind of gray mist hovered above the orchestra. She gave the audience a tiny combination bow-nod. She then raised her hands and launched into conducting the overture to Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, followed by arias selected from Tosca and Macbeth, and, finally, Brahms’s First Symphony. Her work smacked of inexperience: Beautiful individual solos were undermined by an overall loud, blunt, and sludgy sound, a sign of missing vision and restraint. She let phrases that needed distinction bleed together and neglected the subtle countermelodies that give the music richness. Her hands beat timid time, and the musicians often ignored her tempo—they barely even looked at her.

After the concert, attendees and musicians alike filed into the banquet hall, where three long tables with thin candles, handwritten place cards, and elegant menus waited. Amid the chatter, a musician gushed about the DRO’s innovative approach to reaching new audiences, as if we weren’t at an invitation-only concert followed by a luxurious dinner. Others, commenting on Quasha’s conducting ability, offered a masterclass in the art of the polite non-compliment. “It’s quite an exciting project.” “She has something in her heart.” “We all have room to grow.” Perhaps they felt reluctant to bite the hand feeding them—and me—Gillardeau No. 3 oysters and citron caviar.

In between courses, Quasha popped by where I was sitting and mentioned that she was going to Malta, where she was applying for citizenship in the hopes of competing for the country in horse show jumping at the 2028 Olympics. “You can imagine that she is very liquid,” someone told me after she walked away.

It’s like patronage, but way stupider and everyone’s laughing except one highly specific person

Urban Birds Appear to Fear Women More Than Men, But Why?

chz — Wed, 06 May 2026 12:00:33 -0700

Carly Cassella for ScienceAlert:

Male birdwatchers may have an unexpected advantage when sneaking in for a close-up in a city park.

Scientists were recently surprised to find that dozens of common birds in Europe are more ruffled by the approach of a woman than a man.

In experiments in France, Germany, Poland, Spain, and Czechia, researchers found that urban birds ‘chickened out’ sooner when a woman strolled toward them.

They let men come roughly one meter closer, on average, before flying or wandering off.

This is so relatable

From the 2017 remaster of his 1985 album Metal Fatigue, here’s the title track by Allan Holdsworth,…

chz — Tue, 05 May 2026 12:00:30 -0700

From the 2017 remaster of his 1985 album Metal Fatigue, here’s the title track by Allan Holdsworth, featuring Paul Willams on vocals. It’s feelin’ like a proggy fusion kind of Tuesday

A new US phone network for Christians aims to block porn and gender-related content

chz — Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:37 -0700

James O'Donnell for MIT Technology Review:

A new US-wide cell phone network marketed to Christians is set to launch next week. It blocks porn, which experts in network security say marks the first time a US cell plan has used network-level blocking for such content that can’t be turned off even by adult account owners. It’s also rolling out a filter on sexual content aimed at blocking material related to gender and trans issues, which will be optional but turned on by default across all plans.

The network, which is currently being tested ahead of its May 5 launch date, will be run by Radiant Mobile, a newly launched mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). These operators don’t own cell towers but buy bandwidth from the big providers (in this case, T-Mobile) and sell to specific demographics (President Trump announced his own MVNO last year called Trump Mobile; CREDOMobile sends donations to progressive causes).

“We are going to create—and we think we have every right to do so—an environment that is Jesus-centric, that is void of pornography, void of LGBT, void of trans,” Radiant Mobile’s founder, Paul Fisher, told MIT Technology Review.

“This Whole Thing Smacks Of Gender,” i holler as i overturn my uncle’s cell phone plan and turn the 4th of July into the 4th of Shit

Bees can detect viruses in food sources, but don’t necessarily avoid them

chz — Sun, 03 May 2026 12:00:33 -0700

As part of our continuing coverage of bees, here’s Ingrid Fadelli for Phys.org:

Past studies suggest that honeybees (Apis mellifera) can detect contamination in their surroundings from indirect cues, such as changes in smell or taste. Whether they can directly sense the presence of viruses outside of their body, however, remains poorly understood.

Researchers at the USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding Genetics and Physiology Laboratory recently carried out a study assessing the ability of honeybees to pick up the presence of viruses in food sources. Their findings, published in Biology Letters, suggest that bees can in fact detect viruses in foods, and—in some cases—they even tend to prefer contaminated foods.

“They even tend to prefer contaminated foods” is probably how alien researchers would describe some of our eating habits, to be quite honest

Here’s a 13 minute sales video produced by Commodore in 1990 to demo the video capabilities of their…

chz — Sat, 02 May 2026 12:01:51 -0700

Here’s a 13 minute sales video produced by Commodore in 1990 to demo the video capabilities of their Amiga computer: 2D & 3D graphics, title animations, video editing, etc. Because we all love dated sales pitch videos, don’t we? Yeah we do

Smithsonian-Led Research Shows That Scorpions’ Weapons Are Fortified With Metal To Suit Their Needs

chz — Fri, 01 May 2026 12:01:07 -0700

News release from the Smithsonian:

Scorpions wield some of the natural world’s most formidable built-in weapons, from crushing pincers to venomous stingers. Scientists have long known that these structures contain trace metals that strengthen them, but only a small fraction of the roughly 3,000 scorpions had ever been examined for this trait.

A new study published April 28 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface dramatically expands that understanding. Researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute analyzed 18 scorpion species and uncovered striking patterns in the concentration and distribution of these metals.

Someone please remind me to not bring my scorpion through the metal detector when I’m at the airport later

‘Suicidal’ model of capitalism leading to war and fascism, climate summit told

chz — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:00:18 -0700

Jonathan Watts and Fiona Harvey for The Guardian:

The world is threatened by a “suicidal” model of capitalism that is leading to war, fascism and the potential extinction of humanity, Colombia’s president has said, as he convened 57 governments to address the climate crisis.

Gustavo Petro blamed fossil fuel interests for taking ever more desperate measures to prevent a transition to green energy. “There is inertia in the power and the economy of this archaic form of energy – fossil fuels – that lead to death. Undoubtedly, that form of capital can commit suicide, taking with it humanity and [other] life,” he said. “The question that needs to be asked is whether capitalism can truly adapt to a non-fossil energy model.

Damn. I mean, he’s not wrong, but you don’t ever really expect a head of state to say something like that

The universe may end trillions of years sooner than we thought

chz — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:00:30 -0700

Paul Sutter for Live Science:

Scientists have long assumed our universe would continue on for trillions of years, but a new study presents a much shorter life span for the cosmos: Our universe might last only another 33 billion years.

That’s just a cosmic blink before everything collapses in on itself ‪—‬ a process dubbed the “Big Crunch,” where expansion reverses, causing all matter and space-time to collapse back into an extremely dense state similar to the conditions of the Big Bang. While long considered a discarded possibility for the fate of the universe, because of accelerating cosmic expansion, this new research has reopened the surprising — and slightly unsettling — option.

Oh HELL yeah, I mean damn that’s rough for us in 33 billion years

It’s been only a month and a half since the last time I posted a Lemm song here, and I like to space…

chz — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:01:05 -0700

It’s been only a month and a half since the last time I posted a Lemm song here, and I like to space things out a bit rather than post music from the same five people every week forever, but he just released his first album in like seven years, so I kinda have to.

French vocalist Pernelle and he have started a new project called PAON which makes what they’re calling “space jazz,” which is like Lemm’s usual subtly proggy electronic orchestral hybrid music but even more chaotic in both composition and genre mashups. Their first album is called Philosophie du Soi and here’s the first track, “Métamorphose.”

The Moon Might Be More Prone To Fires

chz — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:35 -0700

Andy Tomaswick for Universe Today:

Engineers love a good practical challenge, especially when it comes to spaceflight. But there’s one particular challenge facing the crewed missions of the near future that scares mission planners above almost all others - fire. For decades, we’ve relied on a NASA test known as NASA-STD-6001B to screen material flammability for flight. But space is much more complicated than an Earth-bound test provides for. A new paper from researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and Johnson Space Center and Case Western Reserve University details a planned mission to test the flammability of materials on the Moon’s surface - where they expect flame to act much differently than it does here on Earth.

Wait, they’re gonna go set the Moon on fire and I wasn’t invited???? What the hell NASA

Suicide among young Americans declines in first years of 988 hotline

chz — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:00:35 -0700

Good news from Steve Gorman for Reuters:

Thousands fewer young Americans than expected took their own lives during the first two-and-a-half years following the launch of a national “988” suicide-prevention hotline in ‌the U.S., according to a Harvard-based study published on Wednesday.

Researchers also found that reductions in expected suicide deaths among adolescents and young adults were greatest in the 10 states with the highest traffic in 988 calls during the study period, which ran from July 2022 through December 2024.

It’ll be less good news when the current administration completely defunds the hotline to pay for one half of one missile which it’ll use to kill civilians, but we’ll take the good news for now

Soundtrack of the sea: divers use underwater speakers to help dying coral reefs

chz — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 12:00:42 -0700

Ben Tracy for The Guardian:

The northern coast of Jamaica once served as the backdrop for scenes in the James Bond thriller No Time to Die. But today, beneath those same turquoise waves, a real-life mission is unfolding: the race to pull a dying coral reef back from the brink.

However, the tools a team of divers are carrying to the seafloor are not what you would expect to find in a marine biologist’s kit. They are installing waterproof speakers at the bottom of the ocean, and the man leading the team is not a scientist.

…

A study published in the journal Nature demonstrated the power of what is known as “acoustic enrichment”. Researchers at the Great Barrier Reef found that playing healthy reef sounds lured fish to degraded areas, doubling the total fish population in just six weeks. Not only did more fish arrive, but the diversity of species increased by 50%, a critical factor for long-term reef resilience.

I’d laugh at fish for falling for this shit, but businesses extensively pipe in different kinds of audio to induce us to spend more money, so we’re just as stupid actually

Pilot’s selfie led to mid-air collision in F-15K fighter jet, says South Korea’s air force

chz — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:00:38 -0700

Reuters report:

South Korea’s air force has apologised for a 2021 mid-air collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident.

“We sincerely apologise to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesperson said in a press briefing. The spokesperson said one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military.

lmfao

‘Stop sucking up to America’: Japan’s youth rises up to protect pacifist constitution

chz — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:00:31 -0700

Justin McCurry for The Guardian:

It may be a toy, but Gohta Hashimoto’s lightsaber is symbolic of the battle he and his fellow protesters face as they attempt to derail moves by Japan’s government to change the country’s pacifist constitution for the first time in its 80-year history.

“I’ve been interested in the constitution for about a year, ever since the rise of far-right parties in Japan,” says Hashimoto, a 22-year-old university student. “I wanted to be part of a movement that keeps my country peaceful and protects the constitution.”

He and other young people are the driving force behind a growing movement to protect Japan’s supreme law, or constitution, a US-written document that is now being challenged by the demands of an American president.

Their movement gained further urgency on Tuesday, when Japan’s government scrapped a ban on exports of lethal weapons – a move seen as a direct challenge to the country’s postwar pacifism.

I feel like I must’ve talked about this before on this blog, but I did a little searching and couldn’t find anything: I’ve long had really conflicted feelings on the anti-war article in Japan’s constitution.

On the one hand, it’s inspiring to me that it exists. Like, insanely, incredibly inspiring. It’s a constant reminder to me that we can just… do that. The documents that bind us aren’t infallible, immutable contracts sent from above; we craft them ourselves from our fundamental beliefs and values, and one of our fundamental beliefs can be “no war.”

But on the other hand, the reason it’s there in Japan’s constitution is because we, the United States, forced it there. And as much as I would like Japan to keep it, I have a real hard time justifying that they should keep it if they want to remove it, because who the fuck am I of all people to argue that they should keep it.

So anyway, it makes me feel real good in the heart area to see that there are at least some Japanese folks in the new generation who look up to those specific words, and that’s why I’m posting this today

Disabled parrot is undefeated alpha male of his group thanks to novel ‘beak jousting’

chz — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:00:44 -0700

Article from Cell Press:

A study reported in Current Biology shows how physical disabilities in the animal world can be overcome through behavioral innovation. The report features an endangered kea parrot in captivity at New Zealand’s Willowbank Wildlife Reserve named Bruce who is missing his entire upper beak. While earlier reports had described his unique use of pebbles as self-care tools, the new findings show how he uses a novel beak jousting technique to turn his disability into social dominance.

“Bruce is the alpha male of his group,” says study first author Alexander Grabham of Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) in New Zealand. “He achieved this status by himself with the aid of a completely novel fighting technique—a jousting thrust with his exposed lower beak—that beak-intact kea cannot replicate.”

Compared to other kea using their beaks during fights, the researchers found that Bruce not only used jousting more frequently but also targeted different body areas in different ways. His jousting was also more effective than when he kicked. His innovative fighting technique led him to win every single male dominance interaction that the researchers recorded.

On this blog we stan a disabled king 🧎

Here’s an original piece, “chameleon,” composed by Yuka Usui while she was studying composition at…

chz — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:00:36 -0700

Here’s an original piece, “chameleon,” composed by Yuka Usui while she was studying composition at the Tokyo College of Music. How did I end up on this? Well it’s the usual reason of course, this person just joined Nintendo as a composer, so I had to check what she was up to before that. Mostly jazz and solo piano stuff. This piece was the funniest because the synthy intro already sounds like Nintendo music

Scientists Discover a Strange Arachnid Trapped in Amber 35 Million Years Ago

chz — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:00:27 -0700

Jess Cockerill for ScienceAlert:

Harvestmen are some of the weirdest-looking arachnids to roam this Earth, and they’ve been doing so for millions of years.

A particularly wacky new species has now been found in two separate 35-million-year-old amber specimens from Ukraine and the Baltic region.

The new species, Balticolasma wunderlichi, belongs to a subfamily of harvestmen known as Ortholasmatinae.

Free them

How poison frogs built a chemical weapons system one evolutionary step at a time

chz — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 12:00:36 -0700

Ingrid Fadelli for Phys.org:

Poison frogs are small and brightly colored amphibians that originate from Central and South America. As suggested by their name, these frogs can release highly toxic chemicals from their skin, which deter and neutralize predators.

The toxins released by poison frogs, known as alkaloids, are derived from their diet in the wild, which consists of specific ants, mites, millipedes, and beetles. The animals absorb and store alkaloids via a process called sequestration, in some cases modifying them to further increase their toxicity.

Researchers at University of California-Berkeley, University of São Paulo, John Carroll University, Butantan Institute, and Osaka Metropolitan University recently carried out a study investigating the evolution of the sequestration process in poison frogs. Their findings, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, suggest that the process developed gradually over time, as opposed to suddenly appearing, with poison frogs slowly adapting to increasingly toxic diets and environments.

Honestly, eating so much poison as a species that you become poisonous is metal as hell, evolution is so cool

Roger Adams Dies at 71; Invented the Rolling Sneakers Known as Heelys

chz — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 12:00:40 -0700

Richard Sandomir for The New York Times:

Roger Adams, the son of roller-rink owners, who compensated for an unfulfilling career as a psychologist by inventing a twist on roller skates — sneakers with embedded wheels that popped out — died on March 24 at his home in Glenbrook, Nev., on the east shore of Lake Tahoe. He was 71.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, Robert Nachbar, a spokesman for the family, said.

…

Mr. Adams started Heelys in late 2000 with an investment from the venture capital firm Capital Southwest. The company quickly became a success. In 2004, it sold 697,000 pairs; four years later, sales peaked at 7.6 million. He holds several patents on Heelys.

The Heelys safety panic of the 2000s was a real stupid thing to live through