by Grania
It’s a new week, welcome to it! If today marks your return to the office, lucky you.
It’s a busy day in history.
- 1610 – Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day.
- 1782 – The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opens.
- 1835 – HMS Beagle drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago. (Coast of Chile)
- 1939 – Marguerite Perey discovers Francium, the last element first discovered in nature, rather than by synthesis. Sadly, it caused her death as well.
- 1959 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
- 1999 – The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins.
- 2015 – Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others.
Birthdays of note today:
- 1911 – Butterfly McQueen, American actress and dancer (d. 1995) Most remembered for the role of Prissy in Gone with the Wind.
- 1912 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist, created The Addams Family (d. 1988)
- 1917 – Ulysses Kay, American composer and educator (d. 1995)
- 1925 – Gerald Durrell, Indian-English zookeeper, conservationist and author, founded Durrell Wildlife Park (d. 1995)
- 1991 – Caster Semenya, South African sprinter
A: Hili, we are going back to work.Hili: A fascinating suggestion.
Ja: Hili, wracamy do roboty.
Hili: Fascynująca propozycja.
Under the sea Twitter
You might be surprised to know that this feather-like structure—dubbed a sea pen—is a colony of polyps working together to survive in the ocean. Polyps have different responsibilities depending on their location on the pen. ~300 species of sea pens can be found around the world. pic.twitter.com/8Va1fvOCwu
— American Museum of Natural History (@AMNH) January 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/DrowningOrpheus/status/1081615608884707328
It’s like God gave the angels the leftovers when he got tired of Creating.
ok stop whatever you're doing. thursday has officially been put on hold because this worm exists and it likes to hang out on undersea volcanic vents pic.twitter.com/ASI8Ia3SBm
— The Oatmeal (@Oatmeal) January 3, 2019
Felid Twitter
https://twitter.com/CrazyinRussia/status/1080969286620008449
Troof pic.twitter.com/Lm6LtPRgpB
— MushuWeasel (@mushuweasel) January 6, 2019
Having the c(h)ats. #caturday #mytalkingcat #flufferthecat pic.twitter.com/VPcPrKn6Q9
— Aoife (@AoifeMhaith) January 5, 2019
Physics Twitter
https://twitter.com/PhysicsVideo_/status/1081643684368572416
You need to click through on this one to see the whole photograph
Did you see this? NASA’s @OSIRISREx captured this photo of the Earth, the Moon and the asteroid Bennu before entering into orbit around Bennu. You can see the Earth and the Moon in the lower left of this image. More: https://t.co/Ywl13zWcfn pic.twitter.com/AGZ4PV93wW
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) January 5, 2019
Magnificent obsession Twitter
so this is pretty much the coolest thing ever 😱 pic.twitter.com/3VVp9exi1n
— Ian Laking (@IHLaking) January 6, 2019
Critter Twitter
Yet another incredible case of (aggressive) mimicry! An orchid mantis https://t.co/O4O3TUEigd pic.twitter.com/s3fTorrALR
— Mike Inouye (@minouye271) January 6, 2019
I LIVE FOR THIS. Just found this paper that's a list of 99 spider (and arachnologist) world records. Most eyes! Strongest silk! Loudest spider! A spidery Guinness book, with citations! PUT IT IN MY BRAIN. https://t.co/CBjPP4FJyL
— Ed Yong (@edyong209) January 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1081776891772657664
Random Stuff Twitter
https://twitter.com/casigus/status/1081584327253725187
Is that bear REALLY in Russia? Looks like an Ursus americanus to me…
Agreed– it looks like U. americanus. If it’s an American black bear, the cat is unlikely to be Russian!
Gerald Durrell the naturalist and author wrote an autobiography of his youth which is now a PBS Masterpiece series: The Durrell’s of Corfu.
It’s quite entertaining. Louisa Durrell the mother and widow leads her children to the Greek island of Corfu. In the first seasons episodes, the children try to set her up with a new man. Chaos ensues.
Gerald Durrell’s “A Zoo in My Luggage”, which I read in the early 1960s, was one of the books, along with T. Roosevelt’s “Through the Brazilian Wilderness” filched from my grandfather’s book shelf, led me, along with a homemade insect net, into biology.
I’m sure you’re glad you did! We are.
I like Nereis the humanoid worm!
Looks like the CGI staff of a horror movie have been getting carried away…
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