{"id":263944,"date":"2024-10-08T09:09:31","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mathewingram.com\/work\/?p=263944"},"modified":"2024-10-08T09:09:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:09:41","slug":"if-you-meet-a-space-alien-you-should-try-to-kill-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mathewingram.com\/work\/2024\/10\/08\/if-you-meet-a-space-alien-you-should-try-to-kill-them\/","title":{"rendered":"If you meet a space alien you should try to kill them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Nautilus<\/a>: “If we ever contact extraterrestrials, we\u2019ll have to find a way to understand them. Who are they? What are their intentions? What have they discovered that we haven\u2019t? Olaf Witkowski thinks the only way to begin that dialogue is to try and kill them. Clearly, there are going to be major differences between us and them. Biological, technological, and cultural gaps are likely to be as wide as interstellar space itself. \u201cThe only way to communicate with a creature that is very different from you, and you can make no assumptions at all about how they encode language or meaning, is just killing them,\u201d Witkowski says. He argues that the only universal basis of communication, the sole feature that all life shares, whatever its form is that life wants to live.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts at the Van Gogh Museum have exposed three early fakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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From The Art Newspaper<\/a>: “For decades Interior of a Restaurant<\/em> was regarded as a second version of an authentic painting, Interior of the Grand Bouillon-Restaurant le Chalet, Paris<\/em>. This was understandable, since Van Gogh would sometimes make another version of a composition. The second version of the restaurant scene, which only surfaced in the 1950s, was recently studied after its owner submitted it for possible authentication. The colours also included Manganese blue, a synthetic pigment only patented in 1935. In the original painting the red flowers can be identified as autumn begonias, which graced restaurant tables in November or early December 1887, when the picture was completed. The artist of the second version interpreted them as yellow sunflowers, which would have been over by the end of September.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note<\/strong>: This is a version of my When The Going Gets Weird newsletter, which I send out via Ghost, the open-source publishing platform. You can\u00a0see other issues\u00a0and sign up here<\/a>.<\/em>
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World War II propaganda cartoons by Dr. Seuss, Frank Capra & Mel Blanc<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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From Open Culture<\/a>: “Private Snafu was the U.S. Army\u2019s worst soldier. He was sloppy, lazy and prone to shooting off his mouth to Nazi agents. And he was hugely popular with his fellow GIs. Private Snafu was, of course, an animated cartoon character designed for the military recruits. He was an adorable dolt who sounded like Bugs Bunny and looked a bit like Elmer Fudd. And in every episode, he taught soldiers what not to do, from blabbing about troop movements to not taking malaria medication. The idea for the series reportedly came from Frank Capra and the chairman of the U.S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit. He wanted to create a cartoon series for new recruits, many of whom were young, unworldly and in some cases illiterate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Nietzsche’s writing has been distorted by his sister Elisabeth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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From the LRoB<\/a>: “We more or less know about Nietzsche, but Elisabeth, the little sister and living embodiment of everything the mad philosopher disdained, who took control of her brother\u2019s thought, should not on any account be overlooked. Her life is a story of mediocrity triumphing over inspiration, meanness over excess, ressentiment<\/em> over the \u00dcbermensch. Her transformation of her brother\u2019s work into a Nazi cookbook bears an uncanny resemblance to the rise of National Socialism itself in a chaotic Germany. After a lifetime of failing to keep up with her brother, she finally appropriated him, body and what was left of his mind: not so much will to power as determined opportunism. Little beasts that lay their eggs in a larger creature and whose offspring use the living body of their host as a food store come to mind.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How grape growers managed to get around the rules of Prohibition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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From Now I Know<\/a>: “The law that banned alcohol was called the \u201cNational Prohibition Act.” But the law had a few loopholes, most notably Section 29, which allowed 200 gallons of non-intoxicating cider and fruit juice to be made each year at home. Initially intoxicating was defined as exceeding 0.5% alcohol by volume, but the Bureau of Internal Revenue struck that down in 1920, effectively legalizing home winemaking. Unfortunately for the home vintners out there, that was easier said than done. Most people don\u2019t have a large supply of grapes at the ready. To make things even more complicated, the grape growers couldn\u2019t help you do this either \u2014 at least, not explicitly.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A coyote waits for his badger friend so they can go on an adventure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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An unexpected duo, a coyote and a badger, traveling together through a tunnel under a highway. pic.twitter.com\/nOJlE2b14K<\/a><\/p>— Nature is Amazing \u2618\ufe0f (@AMAZlNGNATURE) October 4, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>