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Ian Kenway boosted

Today we know Charles Darwin as the father of the theory of evolution, but Darwin's wasn't the first theory of evolution. Before Darwin, a man named Jean-Baptiste Lamarck had a different idea about how life evolved.

His theory, like Darwin's, explained the variation of plants and animals around the world, but the mechanism was completely different.

Article, transcript, interview and/or 16min of audio at CBC Radio One 'Quirks and Quarks'
cbc.ca/radio/quirks/dec-22-201
book: amazon.com/Lamarcks-Revenge-Ep

Ian Kenway boosted

The most iconic form of aragonite is mother of pearl, otherwise known as nacre. This brilliantly iridescent form of aragonite has an intricate microstructure consisting of layers of aragonite crystal tablets sandwiched with organic layers. This produces the complex coloration which makes pearls so valuable.
The clam doesn't really care that it's pretty, but that layered (lamellar) microstructure also makes it extremely strong against the crushing forces of predators or wave energy. #clamfacts

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Ian Kenway boosted

RT @waxpancake@twitter.com
Best joke I heard this week was from my 11-year-old nephew: “Gender was invented by bathroom companies to sell more bathrooms.”

I voted for Jeremy Corbyn twice in the Labour party Leadership Elections in 2015 and 2016 (paying good money in the process) because of his anti-austerity platform (something not offered by the other candidates).

Friends warned me of my naivety but I didn't listen! Damn it. I didn't listen.

My friends were right. Jeremy Corbyn is a man of the past, not a person of the future. As this moment, the Labour Party is just as 'fucked' as the Tories. Unbelievable!

I have huge problems with Jeremy Corbyn's attitude towards Brexit. However, in fairness, I've analysed the relevant footage of today's PMQs using Igrigorik's Video Speed Controller Chrome plugin which, together with my basic understanding of phonetics, leads me to believe with 85-87% certainty that Jeremy Corbyn did NOT utter sotto voce "Stupid Woman". In short I smell a rat!

Ian Kenway boosted

New Brexit referendum, Overton Window 

#Brexit: the Overton Window on a 2nd referendum, characterized a "People's Vote", appears to be shifting npr.org/2018/12/18/677783499/a

Ian Kenway boosted

EU rejects "managed no-deal" Brexit 

#EU rejects the concept of a "managed no-deal" if the #UK fails to approve the current #Brexit plan by March 2019 bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

Ian Kenway boosted
♲ @pudo@twitter.com: I think the EU should be more creative in what we we are going to do with a "vassal state". Should we move the British museum to Ljubljana? Have the queen show up at mid-level aristocratic weddings in rural Saxony? #brexit
Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted

What a Newfound Kingdom Means for the Tree of Life
Neither animal, plant, fungus nor familiar protozoan, a strange microbe that sits in its own “supra-kingdom” of life foretells incredible biodiversity yet to be discovered by new sequencing technologies.
quantamagazine.org/what-a-newf
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1

Ian Kenway boosted

The Spacing Effect: How to Improve Learning and Maximize Retention

Oh how I wish I was better at remembering what i read!

READING TIME: 12 MINUTES
We are not taught how to learn in school, we are taught how to pass tests. The spacing effect is a far more effective way to learn and retain information that works with our brain instead of against it. Find out how to use it here.

fs.blog/2018/12/spacing-effect/

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1

Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted

Why is software that is programmed with taxpayers’ money not released as Free Software? We want legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed for public sector must be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence. youtube.com/watch?v=iuVUzg6x2y

Ian Kenway boosted

I lent my tiny tablet (ok, a phone with no sim) to a friend, so I gave it a factory reset. Just got it back, so I gave it another reset.
Sadly, it's not supported by anything I can find to give it new open firmware (BLU - very cheap and likely backdoored...).
I wonder how functional it can be with zero google login and fdroid?

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