Notices by Sheril Kirshenbaum (sheril@mastodon.social), page 8

You know that feeling when you’re within 100 pages of finishing a beautiful story & notice you’re a bit sad because you’re not ready to say goodbye to such enchanting characters?

I’m at that part of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It’s the most magnificent book I’ve read in years. #books

I'm preparing a public talk & just popped my #Mastodon handle on the first slide.

It's a good look & I hope to see more of these logos at conferences & events.

An imperfect doodle from the weekend

I’m finding so many interesting posts & links about #science & #history on #Mastodon.

It’s not that this kind of content wasn’t on #Twitter, but it got lost in a sea of outrage in my feed, which was organized by algorithms, promoted tweets & ads.

The lack of those algorithms & a new chance to curate an intentional list of follows has certainly helped too. So I’m really enjoying interactions here & learning a bit along the way. (It is the Internet, so always check the sources of course!)

Have you ever thought about visiting all of the national parks in the U.S. in one epic road trip?

In 2016, data scientist Randy Olson optimized the route of 14,498 miles (23,333 km) which would take 2+ months. He even designed the journey as a circle so you can begin at any point & direction.

All the details: https://randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national-parks-centennial-road-trip/ #science #data #nature #travel

Verification on #Twitter was sought after because it conveyed status. Now a blue check is meaningless or even suggests that those paying for it have fallen for a scam.

The Verge explains:

“The basic truth of cool, as anyone can tell you, is that trying to be cool is not cool, and paying to be cool is for suckers.”

https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/4/23668722/elon-musk-twitter-blue-checkmark-verified

We live closer in time to Tyrannosaurus rex than it did to Stegosaurus. #science #SharedPlanet

Once upon a time, ~40M years ago, there was a species of penguin that was 6'8" (2m) tall & 250 lbs (115kg) called Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, also known as the ‘mega penguin’ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25990-extinct-mega-penguin-was-tallest-and-heaviest-ever/ #science #history #nature #SharedPlanet

Evolution doesn’t look how it’s depicted in pop culture. We often picture the famous “March of Progress” illustration where a series of apes stand in line leading to a modern human.

But evolution is not linear. It branches and branches. Divides in some places and recombines in others. #science
Image: @keesey #SharedPlanet

I rarely post about Musk & #Twitter, but I am currently writing a dissertation related to the spread of misinformation.

This is not true. ⬇️

What kind of biologist should you be?

I adore this charming - and pretty accurate - chart by @rosemarymosco to help make the decision.

Also, fungi wins ? #art #science

Planet Earth or Planet Ocean?

Take a look at this fascinating data visualization of countries by their share of Earth’s surface.

There are over 510M square kilometers of area, but <30% is covered by land. Over 70% is the ocean.

Image by Nicholas LePan for Visual Capitalist. Details at https://www.visualcapitalist.com/countries-by-share-of-earths-surface/ #nature #science

Trees improve our air & water. They reduce flooding & erosion, help address #climate change, conserve energy & create habitats for plants & animals. We’re fortunate to walk among them.

Born in 1821, Elizabeth Blackwell was determined to become a physician. But she was rejected from every med school she applied to bc she was a woman. She was finally admitted to Geneva College, but her acceptance letter was intended as a joke.

Dr. Blackwell was the first woman to receive an M.D. from a U.S. med school & championed women in medicine. Eventually, she open a clinic, started a medical college for women & became a professor. https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_35.html #science #history #HistoryRemix

Well, it's Groundhog Day, again.*

“Only in America do we accept weather predictions from a rodent but deny #ClimateChange evidence from scientists.”

* I share this meme every year on February 2. Source unknown. #science

“If current trends continue, women & men will be equally represented in the field of biology in 2069. In physics, math & engineering, women should not expect to reach parity for more than a century.“

“The data show that women are systematically denied the chief currencies of scientific credit: publications & citations.”

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674919297&fbclid=IwAR1n_I15VP9IWil1uOoFjUwcxvrm_k9tKfxaAQExVUeaL7kYVGsB4b1zC9w&mibextid=Zxz2cZ #women #science #books

Marion Walter was born in 1928 to a Jewish family in Berlin.

In 1939, she escaped Nazi Germany on a Kindertransport - a rescue operation that evacuated thousands of Jewish children to England before World War II.

Eventually Marion arrived in the US & earned her doctorate in mathematics education from Harvard. She became a professor & founded the Boston Area Mathematics Specialists focused on improving math education for children.

Marion passed away in 2021, at age 92. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Walter/

Satyendranath Bose was a brilliant theoretical physicist born this week in 1894 in West Bengal (now India).

In 1924, while on faculty at the University of Dacca, he wrote a short paper to Albert Einstein about indistinguishable particles related to quantum theory.

Einstein immediately recognized Bose’ genius, translated the work into German & made sure it was published. Bose ideas led to Bose-Einstein statistics which continue to be studied in quantum mechanics. #science #history

In the 1960s, the sugar industry funded its own research on the effects of sugar on health.

The results didn't look good - for them. Studies revealed a high-sugar diet may increase risks associated with heart attacks, strokes & certain cancers.

But... rather than share emerging findings, the study was curiously halted & the industry successfully shifted blame onto fats.

It took decades to widely link sugary diets to disease. It didn't have to. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/11/21/565766988/what-the-industry-knew-about-sugars-health-effects-but-didnt-tell-us #food #science

Maryam Mirzakhani was the first woman & Iranian to earn the Fields Medal in mathematics for her brilliant work in hyperbolic geometry.

Her achievements influenced quantum field theory, engineering & material science & may have applications related to how the universe began.

Mirzakhani was an immigrant & became a Stanford professor. She passed away at just 40 in 2017. In her words:

“The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers.”

https://theconversation.com/maryam-mirzakhani-was-a-role-model-for-more-than-just-her-mathematics-81143 #women #history