Thursday, July 26, 2018

Hello! It's another busy day, and then we are off on adventures for the next few days. Folderol should return late next week. Until then, enjoy our long blood moon eclipse (yikes) and stay safe. See you soon!

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Home remodelers found a time capsule from a WWII soldier. If you’re in the Cleveland area, see if you know the house and/or its previous owner! 

There are zillions of movies about time travel, but which ones are scientifically accurate? Well…

I’m going to be out for a few days at the end of this week and part of next week (and seeing this concert  during that time!), so we’ll be featuring links from others throughout.

From Cassandra: The mysterious world of sleep. 

Also from Cassandra: Maybe it’s better to create one’s passion than spend a lot of time trying to find it.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Happy Monday!

The (ostensibly fictional) Scarfolk Council got some well-deserved (although unintended) recognition from the UK government last week. Now you know what to do if a child gets rabies! 

Retronaut is back, and the latest feature depicts some incredibly brave London “ironfighters.” 

Your spooky artist of the week is Josh Courlas. I love the stained glass piece.

Friday, July 20, 2018

Happy Friday!

The mysterious sarcophagus has been opened, and apparently it just contains three unidentified skeletons. That’s even WEIRDER.

From Zazoo: Two of Jim Henson’s children talk about growing up with the Muppets. 

From Holly: Chicago is vehemently opposed to ketchup. I had no idea!

Via Matt Staggs: A Canadian lynx found a way to use a camera crew to his advantage while hunting rabbits. (Beautiful footage of the lynx in the snow, too.)

Have a safe and spiffy weekend, everyone. See you next week.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Banksy is here to help the libraries of Bristol! Hooray!

Meanwhile, here in the bonkers USA, the Knights Templar order has been revivified. Sort of. (This seems like not such a great idea to me, personally.)

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Are you a Big-Endian or a Little-Endian? Well, it probably depends on where you live. 

Climate change might even affect criminal detection, with thermal cameras needing some tweaks. 

An entomologist rates ant emojis. (Who knew there were so many different ant emojis?)

And now, your moment of zen, courtesy of NASA. These are (most of) my favorite colors in one image.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

I’ve gone back to playing 2048 in between reading the news, just to have something logical in this ridiculous timeline.

Honda’s friendly neighborhood Asimo robot has gone off to the AI afterlife. I checked on Aibo, and I’m happy to report it’s still around. 

If you have a spare $23 million, the house featured in Blade Runner and House on Haunted Hill (among many other films) is for sale. Some renovations are required due to earthquake damage, but who knows what spooky things could happen there?

Thanks to interns at the U.S. National Archives, we can look at some patents with a distinctly steampunky flair!

Monday, July 16, 2018

Happy Monday, and welcome to a special edition of Links from Others, normally reserved for Fridays!

From Julie: Five hundred years ago this summer, villagers in Strasbourg danced themselves to death. What happened, exactly?

Also from Julie: Newly discovered dinosaur skeletons reveal the existence of absolute units roaming the earth. 

From Matt Staggs and Curiosity Bomb: The recent heat wave in Wales is uncovering ancient settlement foundations. 

Also from Matt (among others): Who (or what) lies inside this huge black sarcophagus? A noble Alexandrian? A cursed mummy? Nyarlathotep?

From Satori: Scientists are puzzled about the purpose of hundreds of tiny carved spheres made in prehistoric times in Scotland. I agree with Satori, who says “some look suspiciously like role-playing die.”

Tuesday, July 03, 2018

Hello! Would you like to live in a gorgeous monolithic dome? It can be yours if you have a spare five million dollars lying around. (Link from Bunny.)

Consider becoming a seed librarian. It’s fun, and you’ll be helping the planet!

The periodic table of the elements lends itself to all kinds of creative expression. This one has a haiku for each element, combining poetry with chemistry. Really, what more could one ask for?

Have a spiffy and safe holiday/week/weekend, everyone. See you soon! (We may be posting to our Instagram account while we’re out and about, so feel free to say hi over there!)

Monday, July 02, 2018

Happy Monday! We will be gone on various excursions over the next week or so; look for regular updates to start again around the 16th, maybe earlier. That being said, on to the links!

A long article about The National and my hometown, through the eyes of visitors from the UK, is a really interesting look at the band and our shared city. (Fun fact for Cincy locals of a certain age: Matt Berninger was on some of those 97X riverboat dance nights. I have totally forgotten what those were called; let me know if you remember!)

From Zazoo: Johnny Marr is not about to defend Morrissey these days. (Good call, Johnny.)

Here’s a wonderful way to spend some time: When a canal was drained in Amsterdam, all the objects in it were collected, scanned, and put online! Objects date from 2005 back to 10,000 BC (seriously), with tons of information about each find.