Consider the snail. One lung, one heart, one foot, 15,000 teeth, and first appeared 200 million years before dinosaurs
Consider the snail. One lung, one heart, one foot, 15,000 teeth, and first appeared 200 million years before dinosaurs
Showing 346 articles in Culture
To understand whatâs lost when a waiter tells you to scan a QR code, peruse the history of the menu
To understand whatâs lost when a waiter tells you to scan a QR code, peruse the history of the menu
The Black Hole That Could Rewrite Cosmology. Astronomers may have found a...
The Black Hole That Could Rewrite Cosmology. Astronomers may have found a primordial black hole, perhaps formed by quantum fluctuations during post-Big Bang inflation âbefore any stars had yet appeare
Justin Smith-Ruiu writes a philosopherâs guide to psychedelics
Stuart Jeffries in The Guardian: This book is a trip. Among other things, it copiously details all the drugs that the US-born professor of history and philosophy of science at the UniversitÊ Paris Cit
Former NBA star Reggie Miller's neighbors got him hooked on mountain biking....
Former NBA star Reggie Millerâs neighbors got him hooked on mountain biking. âI was still in basketball shape. And they destroyed me. Being out there on the mountain bike, I was like âoh my God this i
Worldâs oldest person had a young microbiome and âexceptional genomeâ
James Woodford at New Scientist: Between 17 January 2023 and 19 August 2024, MarĂa Branyas Morera, of Spain, was officially the worldâs oldest person, until she died aged 117 years and 168 days. To un
The Music of the Everyday
Artist and composer Matthew Wilcock looks for patterns in the everyday and creates music from them. Itâs easier to quickly watch an example than to explain: Instantly thought of the video for Star G
A few moments ago I was handed my very first American fan letter
An endearing letter from 20-year-old David Bowie
What if the Post Office had its own A.I. model?
Public-option A.I.
Zadie Smith: "In my experience, every kind of writing requires some kind...
Zadie Smith: âIn my experience, every kind of writing requires some kind of self-soothing Jedi mind trick, and, when it comes to essay composition, the rectangle is mine.â
Ezra Klein talk to political theorist Corey Robin about Trump
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IKEA catalog archives
I probably read the last printed IKEA catalog was in 2021 but spaced on the fact. Theyâve since transitioned to digital Home Ideas & Inspiration for browsing. That said, I love that theyâve created th
The Hummingbird Bike
Gooood lord, just look at this exquisite handmade bike, a collaboration between British design collective Tomato1 and Shinichi Konno of Cherubim. Karl Hyde and Rick Smith of the electronic group Unde
Dawson City: Frozen Time
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Global call for international red lines to prevent unacceptable AI risks signed by Nobel Laureates, other prominent figures
From the website of AI Red Lines: AI holds immense potential to advance human wellbeing, yet its current trajectory presents unprecedented dangers. AI could soon far surpass human capabilities and esc
New issue of Laura Olin's newsletter, full of good stuff. "I had...
New issue of Laura Olinâs newsletter, full of good stuff. âI had forgotten that the Statue of Liberty was, upon installation, brown.â đŹ Join the discussion on kottke.or
Vegas: A Memoir of a Dark Season
Hannah Gold at Bookforum: In a 1996 interview with The Paris Review, the reporter and novelist John Gregory Dunne was asked why he chose to classify his 1974 book, Vegas: A Memoir of a Dark Season, as
Book Club Recap: Paradise Lost
Introduction (Books I-VI)
Two Slice is a bitmappy font that's only two pixels tall and...
Two Slice is a bitmappy font thatâs only two pixels tall and âsomewhat readableâ. đŹ Join the discussion on kottke.org â
Lonely Island Adventures
One of the weirder 20th-century pulps was called Lonely Island Adventures. It published Robinson Crusoe-style stories about people cast off on isolated islands, forced to survive with their wits.
Fantastic essay by Roxane Gay: Civility Is a Fantasy. "Calling for civility...
Fantastic essay by Roxane Gay: Civility Is a Fantasy. âCalling for civility is about exerting power. It is a way of reminding the powerless that they exist at the will of those in power and should act
Nicholas Boggs on James Baldwin
Donovan Hohn and Nicholas Boggs at Laphamâs Quarterly: This week on the podcast, Donovan Hohn speaks with biographer Nicholas Boggs about Baldwin: A Love Story, a book three decades in the making. The
Thursday Poem
Before the Coming of the White Man âThe Beaverâs Song I follow the river In quest of a young beaver. Up the river I go Through the cut willow path I go In quest of a young beaver. âThe Bearâs Song A f
The great university shake-up: four charts show how global higher education is changing
Dan Garisto in Nature: If the 264 million students enrolled in higher education around the globe were a country, it would be the fifth most populous in the world. Some 53% of its citizens would identi
âHow Long?â â King Abdullahâs Fiery Speech on Gaza at UN General Assembly
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Fathers and Sons: Disease and Hubris
by Mark Harvey The late Robert F. Kennedy, who ran for President in 1968, could be considered a great man and even more commendably, a good man. It wasnât always so. As a young ambitious lawyer he ser
The Hacker Folk Art of Esoteric Coding
Esolangs, or esoteric programming languages, highlight the hidden metaphors and conventions that structure mainstream programming.
Eye on the Ball
by Alizah Holstein Today an electrician came to visit. He was tall and broad-shouldered and had arms like sausage links that were fairly covered in tattoos. One of the tattoos was a date: January some
This Weekâs Photograph
Two ceramic swans my wife bought cheaply at a flea market somewhere. They might be tea-light holders. Or something like that. I like them. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating n
The Science Behind Centuries-Old Infant Massage Techniques
In a small village in Uttar Pradesh, Sarita Devi sings to her newborn grandson. Sitting on the ground with the infant nestled into her lap, the 56-year-old massages him with oil from her kitchen. He y
chasing a god
faith, fear, & the ache of wanting to believe in something bigger than us
Steamed Hams but It's a Critically Acclaimed Feature Film. The classic Simpsons...
Steamed Hams but Itâs a Critically Acclaimed Feature Film. The classic Simpsons bit but itâs live-action and a My Dinner with Andre parody. So many more where that came from.
Generative Design
I had a lot of fun playing around with this collection of generative design tools, especially the textual ones. I wore out the ârandomizeâ button on each of these. (via sidebar) Tags: art ¡ design ¡ p
What does an essayist need from a reader? To be willing to enter spaces in which solidarity is one of the possibilities
What does an essayist need from a reader? To be willing to enter spaces in which solidarity is one of the possibilities
Michel Houellebecqâs writing is a serious, perhaps desperate effort to express directly the experience of total absorption
Michel Houellebecqâs writing is a serious, perhaps desperate effort to express directly the experience of total absorption
Sally Mann is not just a taker of ethereal photographs. She is a Southern yarn-spinner, a humorist, and a darkly comic raconteur
Sally Mann is not just a taker of ethereal photographs. She is a Southern yarn-spinner, a humorist, and a darkly comic raconteur
Why Do Wind Turbines Have Three Blades? Why not two? Or five?...
Why Do Wind Turbines Have Three Blades? Why not two? Or five? Or eight? Turns out that three is sort of a Goldilocks sweet spot for blade count due to physics, engineering, and aesthetic reasons.
Why we should treat caffeine like the brain-altering drug it is
Jonathan Simone at Psyche: When it comes to caffeine, we often speak about âneeding our fixâ but Iâve yet to hear of an intervention staged for the friend who drinks three double espressos before noon
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time. "An emotional research team became...
Huntingtonâs disease successfully treated for first time. âAn emotional research team became tearful as they described how data shows the disease was slowed by 75% in patients.â
Hybrid ASCII Art
Enigmatriz uses ASCII art to punch up and blow out public domain photos and illustrations â I love their style. From Itâs Nice That: Using the Image to ASCII tool available online, Enigmatriz found a
Showing 40 of 346 articles