jillthompson: jewist: Aerogel, also know as frozen smoke, is the world’s lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. If you hold a small piece in your hand, it’s practically impossible to either see or feel, but if you poke it, it’s like styrofoam. It supports up to 4,000 times its own weight and can withstand a direct blast from two pounds of dynamite. It’s also the best insulator in existence. This is science fiction stuff! :-)
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jillthompson:

jewist:

Aerogel, also know as frozen smoke, is the world’s lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. If you hold a small piece in your hand, it’s practically impossible to either see or feel, but if you poke it, it’s like styrofoam. It supports up to 4,000 times its own weight and can withstand a direct blast from two pounds of dynamite. It’s also the best insulator in existence.

This is science fiction stuff! :-)

Source: jewist

Junot Diaz on Men Who Write About Women

  • The Atlantic: It sounds like you're saying that literary "talent" doesn't inoculate a writer—especially a male writer—from making gross, false misjudgments about gender. You'd think being a great writer would give you empathy and the ability to understand people who are unlike you—whether we're talking about gender or another category. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
  • Junot Diaz: I think that unless you are actively, consciously working against the gravitational pull of the culture, you will predictably, thematically, create these sort of fucked-up representations. Without fail. The only way not to do them is to admit to yourself [that] you're fucked up, admit to yourself that you're not good at this shit, and to be conscious in the way that you create these characters. It's so funny what people call inspiration. I have so many young writers who're like, "Well I was inspired. This was my story." And I'm like, "OK. Sir, your inspiration for your stories is like every other male's inspiration for their stories: that the female is only in there to provide sexual service." There comes a time when this mythical inspiration is exposed for doing exactly what it's truthfully doing: to underscore and reinforce cultural structures, or I'd say, cultural asymmetry.

Source: The Atlantic

archaiaentertainment:

So today we got our socks blown off by some of the greatest fan mail we have ever received here at Archaia. No, these staggeringly awesome pages of art are not ripped from the Cursed Pirate Girl book, but are instead a thank you letter from Daniel Ginex for sending him a few of our titles. Daniel is a librarian and teacher at Near North Montessori School in Chicago, which is where our Editor-in-Chief  went to grade school growing up. Daniel is an incredibly accomplished artist in his own right (as you can see from his illustrations here) and we’ve been proud to help Near North’s library build up a nice little collection of Archaia graphic novels for the kids who go to school there. Daniel, thank you for the support, and keep drawing!

beyondvictoriana: Josephine Baker in “La Joie de Paris,” 1932-33.Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, she became a citizen of France in 1937. Fluent in both English and French, Baker became an international musical and political icon. She was given such nicknames as the “Bronze Venus”, the “Black Pearl”, and the “Créole Goddess”. Baker was the first African-American female to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934), to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, but turned it down), for assisting the French Resistance during World War II, and for receiving the French military honor, the Croix de guerre. (Text source) (Image source)
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beyondvictoriana:

Josephine Baker in “La Joie de Paris,” 1932-33.

Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, she became a citizen of France in 1937. Fluent in both English and French, Baker became an international musical and political icon. She was given such nicknames as the “Bronze Venus”, the “Black Pearl”, and the “Créole Goddess”.

Baker was the first African-American female to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934), to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, but turned it down), for assisting the French Resistance during World War II, and for receiving the French military honor, the Croix de guerre.


(Text source)

(Image source)

pbsthisdayinhistory: May 13, 1846: The Mexican-American War Begins On this day in 1846, U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico. The Mexican-American War was a defining event for both nations, transforming a continent and forging a new identity for its peoples. By the war’s end in 1848, Mexico had lost nearly half of its territory (the present American Southwest from Texas to California) and the United States had become a continental power.Explore a timeline of the Mexican-American war to learn about events that preceded the war, its battles, and the aftermath. Image: Battle of Veracruz during the Mexican-American War. 1851 Painting by Carl Nebel.
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pbsthisdayinhistory:

May 13, 1846: The Mexican-American War Begins

On this day in 1846, U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico. The Mexican-American War was a defining event for both nations, transforming a continent and forging a new identity for its peoples. By the war’s end in 1848, Mexico had lost nearly half of its territory (the present American Southwest from Texas to California) and the United States had become a continental power.

Explore a timeline of the Mexican-American war to learn about events that preceded the war, its battles, and the aftermath.

Image: Battle of Veracruz during the Mexican-American War. 1851 Painting by Carl Nebel.

krelllabs: Here’s the third page from my story for the Voices Against Bullying anthology. I wasn’t going to show any more of this just yet, but this page is so much better than the previous two that I couldn’t hold off. There’s a weird kind of alchemy at work when you draw comics on a regular basis. Something eventually clicks and your pages get dramatically better. I wish I could bottle it. I think in this case there are three things at work: First, I’m mostly over a case of bursitis that has been plaguing the elbow of my drawing arm. Second, I’ve regained enough freedom of movement to go back to drawing with a brush. Third, I think I hit the critical mass point where improvement comes in bunches. I remember the last time that happened to me. The results were dramatic. Anyway, enjoy. (via Christianne’s Art and Comics: Voices Against Bullying, Page 3) Hey, check out awesome artist Christianne. Yes, I KNOW her. ;)
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krelllabs:

Here’s the third page from my story for the Voices Against Bullying anthology. I wasn’t going to show any more of this just yet, but this page is so much better than the previous two that I couldn’t hold off. There’s a weird kind of alchemy at work when you draw comics on a regular basis. Something eventually clicks and your pages get dramatically better. I wish I could bottle it. I think in this case there are three things at work: First, I’m mostly over a case of bursitis that has been plaguing the elbow of my drawing arm. Second, I’ve regained enough freedom of movement to go back to drawing with a brush. Third, I think I hit the critical mass point where improvement comes in bunches. I remember the last time that happened to me. The results were dramatic. Anyway, enjoy. (via Christianne’s Art and Comics: Voices Against Bullying, Page 3)

Hey, check out awesome artist Christianne. Yes, I KNOW her. ;)

ruckawriter: Chapter Nine resumes, and Farrow becomes afraid of the dark (with good reason) today at Lady Sabre & The Pirates of the Ineffable Aether. Our Kickstarter campaign to bring the first five chapters to print is entering its second week, as well. It’s gone better than we could’ve dreamed, and thus, our dreams have grown to fill the space. Please consider contributing if you haven’t, and please, as ever, share the word about what Rick, Eric, and I are doing for free at the site.
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ruckawriter:

Chapter Nine resumes, and Farrow becomes afraid of the dark (with good reason) today at Lady Sabre & The Pirates of the Ineffable Aether.

Our Kickstarter campaign to bring the first five chapters to print is entering its second week, as well. It’s gone better than we could’ve dreamed, and thus, our dreams have grown to fill the space. Please consider contributing if you haven’t, and please, as ever, share the word about what Rick, Eric, and I are doing for free at the site.