In 1997, the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet published an article, “Clinical findings in three cases of zombification” by Roland Littlewood and Chavannes Douyon. Mo Costandi at NeuroPhilosophy provides cultural context and discusses anthropologist Wade Davis’ work on the ethnobiology of the Haitian zombie. And Patrick D. Hahn writes about a Clairvius Narcisse, provides [...]
At a panel discussion, Octavia Butler reveals how she became a writer, watching a movie and thinking, “Jeez, I can write a better story than that!” Butler is interviewed by Charlie Rose in 2000. And a clip of her from a television documentary on science fiction.
Filmmaker Ken Russell has died at the age of 84. The extremely prolific Russell’s films include: Tommy; The Harry Palmer film, Billion Dollar Brain; Women in Love; The Music Lovers; The Devils; Altered States; Crimes of Passion; and Lair of the White Worm. The Guardian has an obituary and Mubi has a collection of articles [...]
Take a look at the OB TUBE (observation tube) at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
Sy Montgomery has a lovely piece up about octopi, intelligence, consciousness and, maybe, friendship. (via @hudsonette)
Astronomers confirm the day and time of Mary Shelley’s “waking dream” that led to the creation of Frankenstein. They do not explain why they thought her account needed to be confirmed. (via Kate Laity)
Gamers decode a protein structure in an amazing display of speedrunning. If you want to play games and help humanity, go to Fold It.
An interactive map of fiber-optic cables running beneath the world’s oceans (and seas). (via etsy)
A thorough and well-illustrated look at Soviet science fiction, from the 1920s through the 1980s. (via SF Signal)
Science studies whether spoilers spoil. Strangely enough, they might not. Even more strangely, they might make the spoiled story more enjoyable.
Please read instructions before operating the Zero Gravity facilities: “The toilet is of the standard zero-gravity type. Depending on requirements, System A and/or System B can be used, details of which are clearly marked in the toilet compartment.”
It’s summer time and instead of beer bottles exploding out of coolers in a shower of refreshing ice, bikini-clad hotties and fireworks as we know it should be, everything is wilting and perhaps even melting. As far as I can tell there are only two possible explanations—Hot Lava Monsters have readjusted the earth’s thermostat to [...]
Here’s George Méliès’ 1902 Trip to the Moon/ Le Voyage de la Lune on the anniversary of the 1969 Moon Landing. I’m sure Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have some stories to tell about the Moon People.
Today on “Romance Fiction, Romance Fact,” Linda Holmes takes apart a recent hand-wringing essay in which Susan Quilliam fears for the sexual health of woman who read romance. “Quilliam discusses a bunch of research, some of which indicates that reading romance novels is correlated with happy relationships, and then heartily editorializes that she nevertheless still [...]
2 minutes of solar bliss.
Marcel Duchamp is ahead of all of us once again: “Who knew that Duchamp would also loosely anticipate the emerging field of internal atmospheric forensics, deployed as evidence in a U.S. murder case?” More about Duchamps’ 50 CC of Paris Air, the historical study of air environments and the gasses of the dead.
Scientific Illustration is exactly that. Many, many scientific illustrations.
Mesmerism, the mystery beyond the veil and bodily decay are all rendered in delightfully cartoony style in Bahij Jaroudi’s “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar.” Cartoon Brew has an interview as well as the short.
6 reasons space travel will always suck.
In the interest of Science: gallery of anatomical drawings of yokai, Japanese folk monsters. Hopefully, no actual yokai were harmed in making these drawings.
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What, it’s June already? I’m sure a I had a whole year here a minute ago. In any case, summer means humidity, allergies, and a sad lack of home AC. This year, it also means squirrels in the roof (don’t ask. No, really).
