10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #133

Weird and shameful food combos, a timeline of a #posthuman galaxy, wolpertingers, purple jellyfish and their friends, how to have better arguments, and other esoterica, edition #133

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Kitschy glasses ads from the ye olde 80s

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Shameful food combos and abominations

An amusing look at weird food combos that some people actually enjoy. Via First Dog on the Moon. Great additions in comments underneath. Do you eat weird things?

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All ancient libations deserve this cup!

Persian Achaemenid rhyton (drinking vessel or vessel for pouring libations) made of lapis lazuli and gold. 6th-5th century BCE. Abegg Foundation, Riggisberg, Switzerland (6.7.63). Via Angela O’Brien on Twitter

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How to remove stains from different materials

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Redesigning random street flyers in a beautiful way in NYC

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An eye-popping guide to the very distant future of our planet and what will happen to it

It very much boggles the mind that after are all merely speckles of dust floating around the atmosphere and are remembered by nobody…this stuff will be happening. It is rather humbling.

Found via Cool Guides on Reddit and from the book Knowledge is beautiful.

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Deep Time Diligence

What would it mean to operate from a place of deep time diligence? To feel our obligation to the beings around us and future generations? In this conversation, Tyson Yunkaporta, an Aboriginal scholar and author who belongs to the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland, speaks with executive editor Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee about deep-time thinking and how it can radically reshape our relationship to the cosmic order. With candor and humor, Tyson pokes at the many ways Western civilization has cut us off from knowledge held in union with the living world. Opening us to long-term thinking, in which Lore, technology, and story are cared for intergenerationally, Tyson urges us to consider how we might begin to sow the seeds of cautionary tales that will carry us into an uncertain future.  Read more and listen to podcast.

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Ask Reddit: What are some stupid purchases that people regret later on

• A friend spent $1,000 on a drone 2 years ago. Has used it twice, for about 2 hours each time.
• NFTs.
• An (inbred) designer dog. Thousands of dollars for the ‘pedigree’ and thousands and thousands more for the vet bills.
• Beanie Babies.
• Timeshare apartments.

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Bavaria is the home of the shape-shifting Wolpertinger

The Wolpertinger is a mythical creature from Bavarian folklore in Germany, with a body that’s a mash-up of parts of other creatures. They typically having wings, antlers, tails, and fangs and often resembling a rabbit with antlers and wings.

This chimera-like beast is said to inhabit the Alpine forests of Bavaria, embodying the whimsy and mystery of the region’s folklore. Tales of the Wolpertinger are often told with a mix of humor and caution, serving as entertaining stories for locals and a playful warning to gullible travelers. The creature reflects the rich tapestry of Germanic myths, combining elements of the familiar and the fantastical to spark the imagination and celebrate the cultural heritage of Bavaria.

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Trees Reimagined: Plant Scientists Call for a Holistic Perspective

Plant scientists are urging us to rethink what trees truly are, portraying them as far more than just tall, woody giants. Amidst the challenges of climate change, these experts suggest viewing trees as complex, interconnected systems known as ‘holobionts.’ This term highlights the intimate relationship between a tree and the diverse microorganisms living within and on them. According to a paper in Trends in Plant Science, trees might adapt to rapid climate shifts through their dynamic microbiomes. Dr. Sarah Addison from Western Sydney University explains that by understanding trees as co-evolved entities with their microbiomes, we can better support their survival in an ever-changing climate. This holistic view underscores the need to see trees as interactive networks, deeply entwined with their environment and microbiomes, offering a robust model for studying climate change resilience. Via Cosmos

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Gorgeous fish travels along with a mauve jellyfish to escape from predators

No one isn’t eating the other…they are friends protecting each other!!

Via Open Ocean Explorer

Images Songda Cai http://bit.ly/2MkUNPm

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“Where something becomes extremely difficult and unbearable, there we also stand always already quite near its transformation.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

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Feeding birds and making art is a pure activity

From The Used Life

Feeding birds is one of the purest things I do. Feeding them, cleaning up after them, taking their photographs. I don’t do it for money. I don’t do it for approval, acceptance, or notoriety. Nor do I expect anything in return, not from them or anyone else. I do it because I care. I do it because they matter to me. 

Collage is also among the purest things I do. When I sit down in my studio with my scissors, glue stick, and a stack of old magazines, I play like a child. I feel energetic, lighthearted, free. And while I sometimes exchange my artwork for money, profit is not and never has been my reason. If it were, I would have quit long ago.

I could say the same about poetry, cooking, physical exercise, and even this blog, for that matter. These pursuits are, for me, very much ends in themselves. I do them because it’s in me to do them.

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To have better disagreements, change your words – here are 4 ways to make your counterpart feel heard and keep the conversation going

We used the tools of computational linguistics to analyze thousands of interactions between people who disagree with each other on hot-button social and political issues: police brutality, campus sexual assault, affirmative action and COVID-19 vaccines. Based on these analyses, we developed an algorithm that picks out specific words and phrases that make people in conflict feel that their counterpart is thoughtfully engaging with their perspective.

We encapsulate this conversational style in the simple acronym H.E.A.R.:

• H = Hedge your claims, even when you feel very certain about your beliefs. It signals a recognition that there are some cases or some people who might support your opponent’s perspective.
• E = Emphasize agreement. Find some common ground even when you disagree on a particular topic. This does not mean compromising or changing your mind, but rather recognizing that most people in the world can find some broad ideas or values to agree on.
• A = Acknowledge the opposing perspective. Rather than jumping in to your own argument, devote a few seconds to restating the other person’s position to demonstrate that you did indeed hear and understand it.
• R = Reframing to the positive. Avoid negative and contradictory words, such as “no,” “won’t” or “do not.” At the same time, increase your use of positive words to change the tone of the conversation.

Via The Conversation

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Cunk versus children

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Varsam Kurnia’s esoteric art taps into mythological realms of mystery and wonder

Varsam Kurnia is a painter and illustrator from Jakarta, Indonesia whose artwork is totally mesmerising. With deft paint strokes he captures dreamlike scenarios with an ethereal quality. These artworks feature esoteric themes that explore the mysteries of life, death, love, pain and everything else in between. In can see a lot of influence from mythology, folklore and science fiction and many different artistic styles. The deep blues and the subject matter reminds me of Odilon Redon’s art. Found via Inspiration Grid on Mastodon.

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Did you enjoy this collection? let me know what you think of it below. Thank you for reading my dear friends!