June 27, 2015
A T O M I C !
All Engine Running
Jack King, voice of Apollo 11, has died. He was 84. King, a former NASA Chief of Public Information and Public Affairs Officer, is remembered for having voiced the commencing countdown of, among hundreds of other NASA launches, perhaps the most famous space launch in human history: the launching of Apollo 11. Named as "the voice of launch control", King's presence and contributions are deeply woven into the beginnings of NASA. Indeed, save for that of Neil Armstrong's, no voice is as indelibly etched in our collective memory of humankind's move to space as Jack King's. Recounting those halcyon days of NASA and the birth of the Space Age, here is one of King's last interviews.
The first time I coughed up blood, I shook it off.
Medical Fat Shaming Could Have Killed Me Sex educator Rebecca Hiles (Frisky Fairy) details the years of being told to lose weight to deal with her persistent cough before doctors finally diagnosed her with lung cancer. Part I of her cancer story.
“We look for people who are isolated,” he said.
Just another day in the third dimension
"The only way to play Virtual Boy for any length of time is lying flat on your back with the visor laying on your face and its flimsy stand propped on your chest. Then you just had to hope Teleroboxer didn’t give you eyestrain and nausea-inducing headaches. Outside of kitsch value and the zealous fandom Nintendo inspires, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to play the damn thing 20 years after the fact. When you do, though, there is something unmistakably alluring about Nintendo’s biggest failure. As with a curious stench you can’t stop sniffing, the Virtual Boy is hard to ignore because of how it embodies some of Nintendo’s best qualities. It’s also easy to see how its limited catalog hid some intriguing, forward-thinking ideas about how to make games..." With the Oculus Rift and friends putting virtual reality video games back on the scene and generating buzz, let's take a look back at one of the most beloved, most critically and commercially successful game consoles of all time--and the Virtual Boy. [more inside]
Elegy for a Dead World
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
a mosquito being hit by a raindrop is roughly the equivalent of a human being whacked by a school bus, the typical bus being about 50 times the mass of a person. And worse, when it’s raining hard, each mosquito should expect to get smacked, grazed, or shoved by a raindrop every 25 seconds. So rain should be dangerous to a mosquito. And yetwhy aren't mosquitos hurt or killed by raindrops?
The Rosa Parks of our time
This morning a woman named Bree Newsome climbed the flagpole at the South Carolina State Capitol and took down the Confederate flag. [more inside]
“One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.”
Summer Reading Guide [LA Times]
Another summer, another chance to draw up the perfect reading list to see you through those languid, sun-drenched days. Whether you’re stretched out by the pool or nestled in a coffee shop, clutching a hardcover, paperback or e-book, we’ve got more than enough titles to keep you reading through Labor Day.[more inside]
American Revolutionary
For this weekend only, you can watch the award winning documentary "American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs". "It tells the story of Chinese American and Detroit icon who has spent 70-some years as a writer, activist and philosopher with an eye on social justice and change. The portrait by filmmaker Grace Lee (who is not related) finds Grace Lee Boggs at the forefront of major movements of the past century.." Today, June 27th, 2015, is Grace's 100th birthday.
« Previous day | Next day »