Cool, cool, cool.
Originally at http://www.shaunagm.net/blog/2012/01/cool-cool-cool/
I like the word cool. Unlike other positive adjectives, like groovy, gnarly, or dope, it’s been around for 50-150 years (depending on whether you count this use by Abraham Lincoln) and always stayed, well, cool.
In its honor, here are some cool things in the world:
Liquid Air
On my bus ride to DC for the holidays, we stopped at a Delaware rest station which had a very proud display about how they build their bridges. Turns out they use “liquid air”, something I didn’t know existed (but which, on reflection, is clearly possible. After all, air is mostly nitrogen, and liquid nitrogen a) exists and b) is great for making bottle rockets.) Unfortunately I can’t find anything on line about Delaware’s Bridges! Made! of! Air! and why it’s actually a useful construction material. But I am glad it exists. And that it’s faintly blue.
Walking Marriages
I like reading about different community/family structures, in large part because I think Western/American ones are kind of dumb. This is a particularly interesting arrangement: “Traditionally, a Mosuo woman who is interested in a particular man will invite him to come and spend the night with her in her room. Such pairings are generally conducted secretly, so the man will walk to her house after dark (thus the description of “walking marriage”), spend the night with her, and return home early the next morning. … This does not mean, however, that the men get of scot-free, with no responsibilities for children. Quite the opposite, in fact. Every man will share responsibilities in caring for all children born to women within their own family, be they a sister, niece, aunt, etc.”
Chemists’ interpretation of a Goldberg Machine
“The Way Things Go” is a film which documents one incredibly long series of physical and chemical reactions. I saw this at a bar (gotta love River Gods) and sat entranced for the whole thirty minutes. Here are the first three.
Andrew Bird covers Shel Silverstein