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XPerceniol

By XPerceniol
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msfntor

msfntor

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A Striking Crater on Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede

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This look at the complex surface of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede came from NASA’s Juno mission during a close pass by the giant moon in June 2021. At closest approach, the spacecraft came within just 650 miles (1,046 kilometers) of Ganymede’s surface.

Here: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/a-striking-crater-on-jupiter-s-moon-ganymede

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msfntor

msfntor

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IO: Fire and ice

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 With 67 moons and counting, Jupiter is a solar system in miniature, full of many weird worlds to explore. But two of its moons excite the imaginations of science enthusiasts like no others: Io and Europa.

Io is the most volcanic world in the solar system. Slightly larger than our Moon, the world fosters multiple erupting volcanoes on a daily basis, some of which shoot plumes of lava 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the surface. Vast lakes and rivers of dark magma flow while a caldera named Loki emits more heat than all the volcanoes on Earth combined.

Why so hot?Io is caught in a cosmic tug-of-war between gigantic Jupiter on one side and large jovian moons (Europa and Ganymede) on the other. The varying gravitational pulls stretch Io like a rubber band. On Earth, we experience ocean tides from the Moon’s gravity. On Io, there is a ground swell.

The stretching of all that rock produces heat, which melts a layer not far below the moon’s crust that then bursts out of volcanoes that pepper its surface. Io is literally turning itself inside out....

More: Weird Moons of the Solar System: http://www.cosmosup.com/weird-moons-of-the-solar-system/

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msfntor

msfntor

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In 1906, the Bronx Zoo Put a Black Man (Ota Benga) on Display in the Primates' House

By Bill DeMain

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1906 photograph of Ota Benga, described as being taken at Bronx Zoo. / Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

 

When the New York Zoological Park (now the Bronx Zoo) opened in September 1906, people visiting the Primates’ House encountered a startling sight. There, amid the cages full of exotic animals, they found a human: Ota Benga, a member of the Mbuti pygmy tribe from what was then known as the Congo Free State. Though he was just 23 years old, this was not the first time Benga had been publicly displayed as a curiosity.

Benga was brought to America by explorer and missionary Samuel Phillips Verner, who first exhibited him at the notorious “human zoos” of the 1904 World’s Fair. His life before the fair is largely a mystery—as Pamela Newkirk writes in Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga, “Given the various conflicting accounts offered by Verner as to how he acquired Benga, the true story will probably never be known.”

The Man With a Five-Cent Smile

A 1904 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article claimed a tribe had held Benga captive as a slave until Verner purchased him at a slave market. A 1916 New York Times article said Verner met Benga at a Belgian Army station, where soldiers had saved Benga from a cannibalistic tribe. And there were more variations in-between. Beyond that, it’s also thought that Benga had a wife and two children, who were killed either by Belgian forces looking for ivory or a hostile tribe.

In 1904, Verner brought Benga to the U.S., where he displayed him at the St. Louis World Fair (officially called the Louisiana Purchase Exposition). The main draw was his sharpened teeth, which he showed for five cents. Though newspapers at the time said they were shaped to facilitate cannibalism, tooth sharpening was a common form of body modification within Benga’s tribe, and did not indicate someone who noshed on human flesh.

After the fair, Benga returned to Africa with Verner, then later accompanied the missionary back to the United States. According to Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s African American Lives, “Otabenga married a second wife, a Batwa woman who died from snakebite soon afterward. The Batwa blamed Otabenga for her death and shunned him. That decision appears to have strengthened his relationship with Verner.” Though again, Newkirk points outthat Verner gave differing versions of events over the years.

By the time Verner brought Benga to New York City, the explorer was broke. Eventually, he contacted William Temple Hornaday, the then-director of what is now the Bronx Zoo, who agreed to temporarily loan Benga an apartment on the grounds. Whether Hornaday had ulterior motives from the start is unclear, but before long, he was displaying Benga as another exhibit.

"Is that a man?"

According to New York Magazine, in his first few weeks, Benga wandered around the grounds of the zoo freely. But soon, Hornaday had his zookeepers urge Benga to play with the orangutan in its enclosure. Crowds gathered to watch. Next, the zookeepers convinced Benga to use his bow and arrow to shoot targets, along with the occasional squirrel or rat. They also scattered some stray bones around the enclosure to suggest the idea of Benga being a savage. Finally, they cajoled Benga into rushing the bars of the cage and baring his whittled teeth at the patrons. Kids were terrified. Some adults were, too—though more of them were just plain curious about Benga. “Is that a man?” one visitor asked.

Hornaday posted a sign in the Primates’ House listing Benga’s height and weight—4 feet, 11 inches tall and 103 pounds—and how he had ended up at the zoo. “Exhibited each afternoon during September,” it read. If Hornaday’s attitude toward his new "acquisition" needed further elaboration, it was summed up in the tone of an article he wrote for the zoological society’s bulletin:

"Ota Benga is a well-developed little man, with a good head, bright eyes, and a pleasing countenance. He is not hairy, and is not covered by the ‘downy fell’ described by some explorers ... He is happiest when at work, making something with his hands."...

MORE: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/30399/1906-bronx-zoo-put-black-man-display-monkey-house

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msfntor

msfntor

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‘White Elephant’? 10 American Phrases That Baffle the Rest of the World

American slang and idioms can liven up a conversation, but if English isn’t your native language, phrases like couch potato or white elephant can be easily misunderstood....

1. Over the Moon

2. Devil’s Advocate

3. Bucket List

4. Pain in the Neck

5. No Pain, No Gain (..“No blank, no blank”)

6. Playing With Fire

7. Piece of Cake

8. White Elephant

9. Couch Potato

10. Dog Days of Summer

Here: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/american-phrases-that-baffle-rest-of-world

MORE: America's Top 10 Most Puzzling Phrases in 2022: https://im-a-puzzle.com/blog/most-puzzling-american-phrases

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UCyborg

UCyborg

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19 hours ago, XPerceniol said:

I did quite enjoy chardonnay, but never stopped at just a buzz. I'm 6 full years clean and sober. Don't worry, you're not missing much @UCyborg your GABA receptors will thank you :yes:

If I ever drink anything alcoholic these days, it's a small glass of white wine per year, only for new year time really.

I was told in the past in one social setting I should drink a bit to ease up, apparently I appear real tense in those. That time I just said I'm not much for alcohol. There was one other time before that when I did opt to drink some beer with the guys I was with at some bar, all it did was it gave me a headache and sent me to the toilet sooner.

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msfntor

msfntor

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15 minutes ago, UCyborg said:

If I ever drink anything alcoholic these days, it's a small glass of white wine per year, only for new year time really.

I was told in the past in one social setting I should drink a bit to ease up, apparently I appear real tense in those. That time I just said I'm not much for alcohol. There was one other time before that when I did opt to drink some beer with the guys I was with at some bar, all it did was it gave me a headache and sent me to the toilet sooner.

Le cidre... I prefer cider, it puts me in a very good mood!

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msfntor

msfntor

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Dad Looking Forward To The Peace And Quiet Of Work After The Holidays

LIFE·Jan 2, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

SAN DIEGO, CA — With the last hours of the Christmas and New Year's seasons ticking away, a local man found himself looking forward to the coming peace and quiet he will experience when returning to work after the holiday break.

"It will be so wonderful to go back to the seemingly endless, daily grind of my job after this period of noise and chaos," said Lloyd Braun as his children ran screaming in circles around him. "It's important to have a break from celebrating and weathering daily hurricanes in the living room."

Braun had initially fallen into the annual trap of looking forward to the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year's holiday season, thinking it would be a wonderful time of relaxation and offer an opportunity to recharge his batteries at the end of the year. Unbeknownst to him, his wife had been looking forward to his time off from work, taking opportunities each day to "get some stuff done" while he was available to stay with the kids.

Before long, Braun found himself longing for the stress of his job. "I really find myself missing the endless meetings, frustrations with coworkers, and unreasonable expectations I deal with at work," he said.

At publishing time, Braun was excitedly packing up his briefcase, laying out his outfit for his first day back at work, eagerly looking at his upcoming work calendar, and dreaming of the time he would have to spend sitting in his car in heavy traffic during his morning and evening commutes to and from the office.

Here: https://babylonbee.com/news/dad-looking-forward-to-the-peace-and-quiet-of-work-after-the-holidays

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