My favourite finds from July 2012 – under the headings science, editing, and business. Except for this one which defies categorization:
Whomp, whomp, wizz, sploosh! Many sounds you will hear in Olympics coverage are enhanced… or fake.bit.ly/Nv0EjA HT @edyong209
Science
This sung and illustrated alphabet is based on diseases and such. This alphabet is beaver (and giardia) approved.
What if you had a mol of moles? what-if.xkcd.com/4/ Now, to get this in any one of my math or sci textbooks. M-wahaha
Lightning strike, filmed at 7207 f/s. http://vimeo.com/28457062 I could watch this all day. (But back to the deadline!)
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/28457062]
Some people see >3 primary colours, b/c of extra cone. Mantis shrimp have cones to see 12: radiolab.org/2012/may/21/pe… AND, from the same @Radiolab podcast: There’s no blue in Homer’s writing? radiolab.org/2012/may/21/sk…
Like bottle-feeding a baby. Er, yoinks! RT@science: Whale shark learns to suck fish out of holes in fishing nets bit.ly/NutCQR
Wondering about first & second relations, once or twice removed? Describe the lineage on wolframalpha.com – see the term & a tree. Also good for getting stats on the popularity of names (try “Helen, Rita, Adrienne, for example.) or for looking up the structure and other facts about any chemical formula.
The official figure for the percentage of human cancers caused by viruses is around 20% ow.ly/cimpt via @ScienceNewsOrg
30 under 30: Using Insights from Physics to Develop New Tools for Cell Biology bit.ly/OBTtsn
Wikipedia getting too “accurate” to make sense of? Try simple.wikipedia.org. Great when you just need the gist of it – to answer the kid.
@NatGeo: Friday Fact: Your stomach would digest itself without mucus.
[warning]Uncyclopedia is “full of misinformation and utter lies. You might say it puts the ‘psych!’ in ‘encyclopedia’.”uncyclopedia.wikia.com To be clear: do not use this. For LOLs only.[/warning]
75x lighter than Styrofoam MT@esciencenews Scientists from N Germany produce lightest material in world bit.ly/Oc8Epk
Maggie Koerth-Baker @maggiekb1 tweeted: First, I was like “Oh!” But then I was like “Oh.” RT @mims Ocean turning into giant fizzy drink (that will kill us all) cbc.ca/news/canada/br…
Baby’s birth captured in MRI movie for the first time ow.ly/bPBXL via @newscientist
Good guide to bosons, fermions, hadrons and other particles that I’m hereby calling “confusons”.theatlantic.com/technology/arc…via @edyong209
I post a periodic table while I write, & I’d forgotten about this one. Thanks @RicDay. periodictable.com
Editing (& writing, too)
Love Kimberly Gerson’s Friday Fiction Facts. Keeping jaguars, leopards, panthers, cheetahs, and cougars straight is her latest instalment in this blog series.
This describes the same method that I used to discover how quickly I edit (a.k.a. productivity). If you want to create accurate estimates that don’t leave you working for pennies, you need to do this. speed. via @Copyediting: Tip of Week: how to measure your editing productivity.bit.ly/KKBkGk
MS Office 2013 bringing some changes to Track Changes. @CatEditorial @sciEditorengadget.com/2012/07/16/mic… Thanks @RicDay.
An editor will tell you that you have spinach lodged in your teeth.baltimoresun.com/news/language-…
“I like kittens, u punch kittens. Now we fight!” 25 Things (wordsmiths) Should Know re Antagonists. bit.ly/MTJ19V HT@gabrielle_h
Editors—she likes us. She really likes us. MT @AmandaLeduc: A “thank you” to all editors, everywhere…ow.ly/1kV674 via @joeditweet
“More Than Words: How Some Movies Wind Up With Lousy Subtitles”npr.org/blogs/monkeyse… via @Mark_Lindenberg
The Ultimate eLearning Design & Dev Checklist ow.ly/bSkEc #elearning… via @learningcouncil
Business (of freelancing and editing)
Publishing
17% of U.S. adults now using cell phone as primary Internet device. Implications for publishers? bit.ly/KBGlvW via @DigiBookWorld
Can outsiders save#publishing? MRT @DigiBookWorld Q&A with new HarperCollins CMO bit.ly/LnqLUJ
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