https://flipso.com/ Latest posts on Flipso Flipso en-us https://flipso.com/static/img/favicon_rss.png https://flipso.com/ 144 144 Tue, 08 Sep 2026 21:20:32 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss co21qfb0a https://flipso.com/p/co21qfb0a?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 21:20:32 GMT The phrase “dog days” traces back to Sirius, the Dog Star in Canis Major, whose late-summer rise was long associated with intense heat and ill effects. The term moved from Ancient Greek into Latin as dies caniculares and later into European languages as a word for a heatwave or the hottest stretch of summer. [weirdmedievalguys.substack.com] i4sqxvbll https://flipso.com/p/i4sqxvbll?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:20:19 GMT The legend of Barlaam and Josaphat preserves a Christianized version of the Buddha’s life story. It traces how the tale moved through Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Georgian, and later Christian traditions, where it was eventually treated as the story of two saints. The post also notes how widely the tale spread and how religious stories can be transformed as they pass between cultures. [signoregalilei.com] 0hwc70hql https://flipso.com/p/0hwc70hql?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:00:21 GMT The long read: Scientists are battling over whether supposedly simple organisms should be considered ‘intelligent’. The outcome could reshape our understanding of the natural world – and our own place within it [theguardian.com] mwnhcwjxn https://flipso.com/p/mwnhcwjxn?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:00:20 GMT Putting your hands in soil and spending time around grass, trees and moss may support skin health and help train the immune system, with benefits that can appear within weeks. [bbc.com] mxx8lw8i0 https://flipso.com/p/mxx8lw8i0?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 06:00:17 GMT New research suggests the Tasmanian tiger was not built to hunt livestock. Its unusually large skull and long, narrow jaw point instead to quick, powerful bites aimed at smaller prey, helping explain how a myth about sheep attacks may have contributed to its extinction. [cnn.com] yoyq27n9j https://flipso.com/p/yoyq27n9j?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 04:00:17 GMT A rich archive of John Margolies’ photographs capturing quirky roadside architecture, novelty signs, and eccentric attractions across the United States, with many images preserved through the Library of Congress. [publicdomainreview.org] ma9w5zk18 https://flipso.com/p/ma9w5zk18?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 03:20:18 GMT An international team including Oxford physicists has observed a long-predicted effect of gravity on a falling quantum object for the first time. The study provides an experimental connection between quantum physics and Einstein's theory of gravity. [ox.ac.uk] waz7k344h https://flipso.com/p/waz7k344h?ref=rss Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:40:15 GMT A sharp essay on why Macbeth is so hard to stage well: the play’s magic, tonal whiplash, and thin motivation for Macbeth himself. It argues that the tragedy’s power depends on how productions solve problems Shakespeare leaves deliberately unresolved. [porticoquarterly.com] 6gmqy5dj3 https://flipso.com/p/6gmqy5dj3?ref=rss Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:00:18 GMT Interactive 3D map of Los Angeles buildings, with one box per structure colored by the decade it was built. Watch the city fill in from 1880 to today, and switch between decade and height views. [lax-skyline.parcelscope.net] jk5234zii https://flipso.com/p/jk5234zii?ref=rss Mon, 07 Sep 2026 19:00:36 GMT Sean Carroll talks with Jared Diamond about how geography, environment, and individual leaders shape historical outcomes — from empires and institutions to companies, religions, and sports teams. They discuss Diamond’s new book, Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and Kings, and when leaders matter most. [preposterousuniverse.com] zhxswlb5j https://flipso.com/p/zhxswlb5j?ref=rss Mon, 07 Sep 2026 17:00:35 GMT Ancient Hebrew texts, Greek translations, and later Jewish traditions help explain the biblical Nephilim, including the main interpretations of who they were and why they appear in Genesis and Numbers. [thecollector.com] 5cej1fnip https://flipso.com/p/5cej1fnip?ref=rss Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:40:30 GMT A reflection on bucket lists as a record of passing fancies rather than fixed life plans. The author revisits an old list, notes how many goals have been completed or outgrown, and argues that long-term goals work better when they’re tied to current commitments and values instead of photogenic peak experiences. [raptitude.com] vrue6si62 https://flipso.com/p/vrue6si62?ref=rss Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:40:18 GMT Researchers designed urinals using fluid physics and differential equations to reduce splashback. Experiments found the new designs cut splash to 1.4% of a common commercial urinal, with the potential to improve hygiene, lower cleaning costs, reduce water and chemical use, and make public restrooms more accessible. [academic.oup.com] 2d3gthvet https://flipso.com/p/2d3gthvet?ref=rss Mon, 07 Sep 2026 14:02:03 GMT Wendell Berry’s life in Kentucky points to a broader lesson: choosing a life on purpose over prestige, distraction, and default paths. His decision to leave an elite academic career and return to his family’s farm became a model for living with intention, rooted in place, work, and conviction. [calnewport.com] yr73x198l https://flipso.com/p/yr73x198l?ref=rss Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:16 GMT Emma Adler argues that many novels only become compelling after a subjective turning point she calls the “volta,” and suggests that understanding this pattern could help readers persist through slow starts. [publicbooks.org] 9nk7yiqqz https://flipso.com/p/9nk7yiqqz?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 23:00:18 GMT Former surplus store for Los Alamos National Laboratory equipment, from vintage oscilloscopes and liquid-nitrogen dewars to obscure research hardware. The business is no longer operating, but the Atlas Obscura entry preserves its history. [atlasobscura.com] cfehuaek5 https://flipso.com/p/cfehuaek5?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 20:20:14 GMT Modern recreations and ancient Babylonian recipes, including a lamb stew with beets and a barley-and-bread stew, with ingredients and step-by-step instructions. [babylonian-collection.yale.edu] li9xkbxv9 https://flipso.com/p/li9xkbxv9?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 12:40:34 GMT A thrift-store find of old O-Pee-Chee hockey cards becomes a nostalgic look at the surprise and thrill of opening packs, with Gretzky, Ron Francis, and other 1980s players turning up along the way. [somenice.com] 8ji1ophdk https://flipso.com/p/8ji1ophdk?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 18:00:37 GMT How African empires governed conquered regions through a mix of direct rule and local “native” rulers, with examples from Songhai, Ethiopia, Lunda, and ancient Nubia. The piece traces how imperial administrations balanced tribute, appointed officials, and inherited local offices across different periods and regions. [africanhistoryextra.com] gqgprs0l5 https://flipso.com/p/gqgprs0l5?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 16:40:16 GMT A British Museum exhibition explores the 1,000-year-old Bayeux Tapestry, its uncertain origins, and what it reveals about the Norman Conquest and medieval life. [economist.com] giml56cs8 https://flipso.com/p/giml56cs8?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 15:20:33 GMT An accessible look at electric fields, locality, and why “touching” is less straightforward than it seems at the microscopic scale. The post argues that charges influence one another through fields, then connects that picture to quantum field theory, where empty space is not truly empty but filled with underlying fields. [quantumfrontiers.com] mgrrnmi5c https://flipso.com/p/mgrrnmi5c?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:40:18 GMT Roopika Risam’s new book shows how various data regimes, from clay tablets in ancient Mesopotamia to today’s biometric databases, shaped human lives. [lareviewofbooks.org] i1s0zmyer https://flipso.com/p/i1s0zmyer?ref=rss Sun, 06 Sep 2026 06:00:20 GMT Calibrite is celebrating 50 years of the ColorChecker with a virtual museum, timeline, fun facts, and a quiz exploring the chart’s history and uses in photography. [dpreview.com] rhepup6ny https://flipso.com/p/rhepup6ny?ref=rss Sat, 05 Sep 2026 18:20:17 GMT For years, the winter destination of rare red-footed falcons was unknown. GPS tracking led ornithologist Péter Palatitz to a massive communal roost in central Angola, where hundreds of thousands gather each year in a place the team nicknamed Falcopolis. [nationalgeographic.com] x4hp7d051 https://flipso.com/p/x4hp7d051?ref=rss Sat, 05 Sep 2026 18:00:15 GMT UC Berkeley’s Laura Schmidt traces how tobacco companies expanded into food, helping popularize hyperpalatable, chemically engineered products that became ultra-processed foods. The discussion links that shift to rising obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases in the U.S. [vcresearch.berkeley.edu] 5dz0hsxtt https://flipso.com/p/5dz0hsxtt?ref=rss Sat, 05 Sep 2026 17:40:27 GMT Neal Ascherson’s life in journalism ranged from colonial Malaya and Cold War Berlin to Poland, Chile, and South Africa, while his writing kept circling Europe’s upheavals, nationalism, and the legacy of empire. The profile traces a reporter who tried to stay intellectually engaged with history as it was unfolding. [newyorker.com] d2wknzics https://flipso.com/p/d2wknzics?ref=rss Sat, 05 Sep 2026 06:40:16 GMT Judy Brady’s 1971 feminist essay contrasts the expectations placed on wives with the freedom husbands often take for granted. Through a sharp, ironic list of domestic and emotional labor, Brady exposes the imbalance in traditional marriage roles and the assumptions behind them. [sevanoland.com] oqp8jfpmh https://flipso.com/p/oqp8jfpmh?ref=rss Sat, 05 Sep 2026 02:20:13 GMT A look at the claim that guitar frets line up with slide-rule multiplication, and why that resemblance works only up to a point. The post compares fret spacing with logarithmic scales, tests the idea on acoustic and electric guitars, and then explains how real slide rules actually use logarithms to turn multiplication into addition. [charlespetzold.com] ma3kxqv54 https://flipso.com/p/ma3kxqv54?ref=rss Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:40:15 GMT A psychologist and longtime meditation teacher set out to study meditation’s benefits and instead found that intensive practice can sometimes worsen sleep, trigger dissociation, and cause other serious side effects in some people. [theatlantic.com] p7azjkxzw https://flipso.com/p/p7azjkxzw?ref=rss Fri, 04 Sep 2026 22:00:29 GMT A reflection on two neighbors who were kind, helpful, and politically opaque, followed by a broader argument for treating neighbors and casual acquaintances as people first instead of demanding public alignment on every issue. [marco.org]