Warm out again, so it's a good job there's no need to go out there when the Internet has this kind of stuff to offer 
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- Why does Switzerland have more nuclear bunkers than any other country? - Going underground: ”Switzerland is home to more than 370,000 nuclear bunkers – enough to shelter every member of the population. But if the worst should happen, would they actually work?”
- Salmon-hat wearing orcas also give each other massages with kelp, scientists discover - More on the dapper whales: ”Orcas have been spotted giving each other rubdowns with kelp tools, rubbing pieces of the seaweed between their bodies.”
- No certainty of a Milky Way–Andromeda collision - There may be one less thing to worry about in a few billion years: ”We consider the latest and most accurate observations by the Gaia and Hubble space telescopes, along with recent consensus mass estimates, to derive possible future scenarios and identify the main sources of uncertainty in the evolution of the Local Group over the next 10 billion years… Uncertainties in the present positions, motions and masses of all galaxies leave room for drastically different outcomes and a probability of close to 50% that there will be no Milky Way–Andromeda merger during the next 10 billion years.”
- Orangutans sacrifice sleep to socialize–but naps can help - Party animals: ”If you’ve ever had a late night out with friends and then needed an afternoon lie-down the next day, you’re in good primate company. Wild orangutans also nap to make up for lost sleep, according to new research on an orangutan population in Indonesia. And, one of the biggest factors determining how much sleep they get is their social environment.” More details in the paper Wild orangutans maintain sleep homeostasis through napping, counterbalancing socio-ecological factors that interfere with their sleep
- Churches say ‘we’re cool’ as climate change supercharges heatwaves - If you're in need of somewhere to cool down in a heatwave, perhaps you should reject your godless ways and go to church: ”When a heatwave struck the East of England last week, Rev Annie Blyth stepped through the doors of one of her churches in Norwich – and bathed in mercifully cool air. Parts of St George Colegate date from the 1400s. It’s a big church, with thick stone walls and a high ceiling… From churches to concrete structures, caves, cellars and bunkers – there are likely a number of potential cool refuges near where you live, which could offer respite to people during hot weather in the future.”
- World’s Biggest Freddo 🐸🍫 - A hundred Freddos become one: ”The Freddo is possibly the most iconic amphibian-themed chocolate bar you can buy, but it’s tiny. So in April 2021, live on Twitter, we tried to make the biggest one ever.”
- LURS: London Underground Railway Society Historical Archive - HT to DoctorStrangelove for pointing me towards this wealth of info about the Tube: ”The Society is pleased to be able to offer you the opportunity to view and download the historical archive of ‘Underground’ and ‘Underground News’ magazines from 1962 – 1987 including indexes and supplements.” In fact, the good doctor originally sent me a link to the PDF asking the important question When was the last steam train on the Underground? but I know you’ll all want to dig into such a treasure trove
- Cold War Civilian Communications Home Page - HT to WTFH for another treasure trove! ”This website has become a fascinating repository of information on the U.K. Communications Networks, the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (U.K.W.M.O.) and Royal Observer Corp. (R.O.C.), thanks entirely to the wonderful feedback of information and photographs from visitors since its inception in 2001… The 30th September 2021, was the thirtieth anniversary of the standdown of the Royal Observer Corp. (ROC) and the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO). After stand-down, the HANDEL warning system giving the four minute warning was turned off. Detailed descriptions of all these defunct systems are drawn from declassified documents, once protected by the official secrets act.”
- ZX81 Input / Output Board - HT to DoctorStrangelove again for this revival of a long-dormant hobbyist project: ”Like many people of a similar age i was part of the 'ZX Generation ' that learned hands on about computer hardware and software on the Sinclair ZX81 home computers. I had plans to control the world from my ZX81 so when Maplin started producing add on boards i had to get one… Recently a friend and i were reminiscing about the 'ZX days' and he asked me if i had ever got the I/O board working. That got me thinking there was some unfinished business lurking somewhere in a cupboard so i set about finding it. I had a good idea where i had stored it and there it was still in the original 'Jiffy Bag' it was delivered in as a kit of parts. I unpacked the parts and took the photographs on this page. I plan to complete the assembly and test the boards on the ZX81 and see if after over 30 years it all still works!”
: - EuroBus (2011-?) - Taylor Holland is an American artist and a professor at the Paris College of Art. This ongoing project involves photographing the artwork he sees decorating tourist coaches: ”A series of 1200+ photographs of tourist bus graphics shot in Paris, France. This work examines the place of anonymously authored, mobile artworks in the vernacular of European graphic design.”
Happy invoicing!
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