The countdown associated with rocket launches had its origins in the Weimar Republic, where Fritz Lang’s 1929 film Woman in the Moon featured an extended countdown to a moon rocket launch. No one had ever heard of or seen anything like the launch before—or the countdown.
https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2021/12/27/count-down-new-year/ideas/essay/

Cats vs Christmas trees: the escalating war. 
https://rumble.com/vc6rq9-hanging-christmas-tree-doesnt-deter-kitty.html

Statistical methods predict that old-age record could reach 130 by century’s end https://knowablemagazine.org/article/society/2021/supercentenarians-yet-reach-limits-potential-human-life-span

"I have come to understand that conspiracy theories are about certainty, about belonging and about power. They do not function like spells; they do not lull people into a trance. They are only as widespread as they are resonant." https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/29/american-conspiracy-theories-essay/

Chinese Restaurant Syndrome was either a racist prank by an orthopedic surgeon in 1968, or part of an even stranger hoax by that same surgeon 49 years later. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/668/transcript

Take a few moments to appreciate the positive news of 2021. https://www.wired.com/story/2021-positive-news/

Although dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of explanations have been offered to account for the dodecahedrons, no one is certain just what they were used for. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/514246/are-roman-dodecahedrons-worlds-most-mysterious-artifact

In the wild, hamsters hoard ryegrass seeds and fruit in their burrows, and they eat this fermenting store as it becomes more and more alcoholic over the winter. In the lab, well, they’re pretty happy with Everclear. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/12/alcohol-consumption-hamster-drunk/621125/

Paywalls Everywhere You Go? Get to the Goodies With These Two Paywall Ladder Bookmarklets https://researchbuzz.me/2021/11/25/paywalls-everywhere-you-go-get-to-the-goodies-with-these-two-paywall-ladder-bookmarklets/

The letter just sold for $1.3 million, alongside a portrait of the monarch by Dmitry Levitsky. https://www.openculture.com/2021/12/catherine-the-great-of-russia-sends-a-letter-urging-her-fellow-russians-to-get-inoculated-against-smallpox-1787.html

Long before Siri, GPS, and well-worn road atlases, mariners relied on ancient, time-tested navigational tools such as stick charts https://www.sapiens.org/column/curiosities/stick-chart-marshall-islands

“Everywhere I went led me where I didn't want to be.” —Paul Simon, on writing “Bridge over Troubled Water” https://austinkleon.com/2021/04/13/the-song-machines/

This experiment is inspired by Wassily Kandinsky, an artist who compared painting to making music. It turns anything you draw – lines, circles, triangles, or scribbles – into sound. https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Kandinsky/

The diminutive “Curta” is a striking machine, a mechanical calculator that combines the complexity of a steamship engine and the precision craftsmanship of a fine pocket watch. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/the-remarkable-history-of-the-hand-cranked-curta-mechanical-calculator/

My review of _Scandal in Babylon_ by Barbara Hambly

5 stars

In which an SF/F story is reimagined as historical mystery -- successfully! https://amzn.to/3Hho1eO

A pre-hippie zappa but still zappa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYmf1qLMVxk

>> If you’re the type of person that listens to music all the time, then it’s quite likely that you’ve thought about making it, too. But finding the right software to try and create can be difficult, not to mention confusing.

>> Luckily, there’s a wide range of different options available online with a wide range of differing complexities. All you have to do is open them up in your browser, and you’ll be good to go.

https://www.makeuseof.com/free-online-music-makers/

Is this you? "We are in need of a talented content writer and editor to create compelling stories about our members, projects, engineers, and the power of open-source software." https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/LinuxFoundation/743999794219368-lead-editor-and-writer

Liger-Belair has had the pleasure of focusing the last 20 years of his work on the bubbles in champagne and other fizzy drinks, including cola and beer.

https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2021/champagne-bubbles-science