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The Australian saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) was driven to the edge of extinction in the mid-20th century, with an estimated 3,000 individuals left by the 1970s. Now, after decades of protection, they have achieved 'full recovery,' with an estimated 100,000 individual crocodiles in Australia today. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320722002993

"Ezra Stiles bears a healthy dose of responsibility for popularizing a system in which public recognition and classification of performance mattered more than individual learning, student development, or the cultivation of curiosity and inquiry — all of which are ostensibly the primary goals of education." https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2024/02/the-origin-of-grades-in-american-schools/

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Google's newest office has AI designers toiling in a Wi-Fi desert

Something something benefits of hybrid work
https://www.reuters.com/technology/googles-newest-office-has-ai-designers-toiling-wi-fi-desert-2024-03-07/

Apparently if you use Google Calendar, you can use "Time Insights" to understand where you spent your time. That might help you contemplate how you feel about those time investments. https://engmanage.wordpress.com/2023/12/06/year-end-review/

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Three abandoned children, two missing parents and a 40-year mystery
This is FACSCINATING. #Longread and worth it. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/28/three-abandoned-children-two-missing-parents-40-year-mystery-elvira-moral-barcelona

If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?

Successful design systems move more slowly than the products they support. That’s a feature, not a bug. https://bigmedium.com/ideas/design-system-pace-layers-slow-fast.html

It’s common knowledge that Michelangelo loathed the commission to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. In a poem written for a friend in 1509, the tempestuous artist griped about the long hours laying on his back: “My brush, above me all the time, dribbles paint so my face makes a fine floor for droppings!”

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/artists-self-portraits-artsy/index.html

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From mustard to ketchup, here's what to know about how a warming world will impact the availability of beloved pantry staples. https://modernfarmer.com/2024/02/climate-change-condiments/

When the Florida golden aster (Chyrsopsis floridana) was listed as endangered in 1986, only nine clusters of the yellow daisy-like perennial herb could be found growing in Hillsborough County, Florida. Now, 37 years later, 30 populations have spread across five counties in West Central Florida, and it's just been taken off the endangered list by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2024-03/delisting-florida-golden-aster

We started talking about the "fake twang" in country music, so I looked up this article. It's far more fascinating than I initially expected.
https://inthesetimes.com/article/country-music-southern-accent-conservatism-confederacy-ken-burns-blues

Coming to Phoenix for spring training? This is a decent list of where to eat. https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/restaurants-near-spring-training-stadiums-in-phoenix-8120878

It has come to this: Neko in a browser window.
(Leave the page open and Neko will start wandering around.) https://adrianotiger.github.io/desktopPet/Pets/neko/

NASA really made its own tabletop RPG for you to play https://gizmodo.com/nasa-reveals-tabletop-roleplaying-game-lost-universe-1851306892