Good evening, or good morning to our European partners. Please take a moment to check out the new articles on commenting and writing guidelines. We have commenced herding cats and we are hoping that this will make Crasstalk more fun for everyone. Please feel free to give us feedback in those threads.
Usually for open threads I post a few news items, but since I am guessing we can all find the BBC I thought I would do something a little different. I am going to post a few of my favorite Wikipedia articles. I am picking them because they are fascinating, weird, or thought provoking. Post yours as well and maybe we can find out some interesting things to talk about.
Lysenkoism is the manipulation of scientific fact for political purposes. The term is named for a Soviet agronomist who was favored by Stalin for his loyalty. Lysenkoism is the worst outcome when science fuses with politics. This page illustrates the awful consequences of dogmatically driven politics.
Toynbee tiles are a set of weird, cryptic messages found embedded in asphalt in several US cities. The messages reference the movie 2001, but are named for Arnold Toynbee who is also frequently referenced.
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born actress who emigrated to the United States. A classic beauty, she starred in Cecil B. Demille’s Samson and Delilah. However, there was much more to Hedy than looks. Along with a musician friend she developed a rough frequency-hopping idea which served as a basis for modern wi-fi.
Have a wonderful night Crasstalk.
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