A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Time’s editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs joins TODAY with the exclusive announcement that the architects of AI have been selected as the 2025 Time Person of the Year. "Never before has so much power been concentrated in so few individuals," Jacobs says.
This award is as much about technology as it is about economics. May it mean that AI be a net benefit for the economy. Right now, it looks like it's doing more destruction than creation.
If the projections are correct, it will be doing both, with 20% of people losing their current jobs while quintupling GDP. Yikes! That's an outcome the residents of Richistan would approve of. As for the rest of us, I'll repeat what I wrote a dozen years ago in Robots are coming for our jobs, "the loss of jobs to robots will be the major effect of the Singularity, not everyone becoming cyborgs or the machines enslaving or killing off humanity." It's not like we weren't warned.
TODAY exclusively reveals Time’s picks for 2025 entertainer of the year and CEO of the year.
I'll be writing more about DiCaprio when I blog about his nominations at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards. As for Neal Mohan, I'd heard of him before, but didn't pay much attention to him. Now he has my attention.
I started following women's basketball when I was attending UCLA, as it was easier to play in the band for women's games than men's games when I was a sophomore. I thought they were more fun even then. I guess that make me an early adopter. I'm pleased to see everyone catch up to me, four plus decades later.
Everyone now includes TIME.
TIME made a good save by naming KPop Demon Hunters Breakthrough of the Year. They could just as easily have been Entertainers of the Year. I'll write about their nominations, too. That could be as early as tomorrow for the Sunday entertainment feature. Stay tuned.
Sup my dudes! It’s Demi, and tonight we are going on a full resort crawl to check out the 2025 Walt Disney World Gingerbread Displays!🎄✨
Every holiday season, the Disney resorts transform with incredible pastry creations, but this year is a little different. We are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Beach Club Carousel (with 5 incredible horses!), checking out the Boardwalk’s Deli replica, and heading to the Contemporary for a Frozen-style castle. HOWEVER, we have some shocking news regarding the iconic Grand Floridian Gingerbread House and the new construction in the lobby. Is it gone forever?
Come along as we hunt for hidden Mickeys, review the exclusive holiday treats (Italian cookies, frozen hot chocolate, and more), and catch the Very Merry fireworks from a secret viewing spot! Plus, we take a peek at the ALL-NEW display coming to Wilderness Lodge. Let’s get into some Holiday Hijinx!
No Grand Floridian gingerbread house because of construction, but Wilderness Lodge's gingerbread cabin returns for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for their work on quantum mechanics that is paving the way for a new generation of very powerful computers.
"There is no advanced technology used today that does not rely on quantum mechanics, including mobile phones, cameras... and fibre optic cables," said the Nobel committee.
The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences at a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
The three winners will share prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor (£872,000).
Yay, three physicists from the University of California, even if they aren't from my undergraduate alma mater, UCLA!
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi "for the development of metal–organic frameworks." The new type of molecular architecture developed by the group allows for "large cavities in which molecules can flow in and out. Researchers have used them to harvest water from desert air, extract pollutants from water, capture carbon dioxide and store hydrogen," according to the award-giving body. Their research could provide solutions for combatting climate change.
"A small amount of such material can be almost like Hermione's handbag in Harry Potter. It can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume," Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said during a press conference.
The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their work on the functioning of the human immune system.
The award, announced by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute on Monday, will be presented to the trio in December for “their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body”.
The research “relates to how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease”, said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at the Karolinska Institute.
The prize of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.17m) is to be shared equally between Brunkow and Ramsdell, both 64, of the United States and Japan’s Sakaguchi, 74.
The king of Sweden will also present them with gold medals.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys reports from Stockholm.
This advancement could help me personally, as I am a cancer survivor and Type I diabetic, an autoimmune disease. May I live long enough for the science to advance enough to improve my condition.
Coffee spills more than most beverages. And it all comes down to an unlucky connection between your walking pace, the cup, and that tasty morning brew.
Today's evergreen educational entry features two videos about a common theme, how nuclear fallout helps fight crime. I begin with Howtown's The only good nuclear accident.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union (with contributions from the UK and France) conducted a series of above-ground nuclear tests that led to an increase in the radioactive carbon-14 concentration in the atmosphere. This global surge, known as the "bomb pulse" or the "bomb spike", is one of the most distinctive chemical signatures of the Cold War. The radiocarbon spread worldwide, embedding into plants, animals, and humans. Scientists later discovered that this bomb-pulse radiocarbon spike could be used as a precise dating tool. Bomb-pulse dating allows researchers to determine whether biological material formed before or after nuclear testing. This method has been applied to forensic science, medical research, and environmental monitoring. It has been used to identify forgeries in artwork, measure human cell turnover, and estimate the lifespan of Greenland sharks. One of the most important applications has been in tracking the illegal ivory trade. Elephant tusks absorb atmospheric carbon while the animal is alive. By analyzing the carbon-14 content of ivory artifacts or raw ivory, investigators can determine whether the material comes from a legally antique source or from a recently killed elephant. This intersection of nuclear history, atmospheric science, and conservation biology demonstrates how Cold War nuclear fallout became a forensic tool for fighting elephant poaching and wildlife trafficking. More broadly, it demonstrates the creativity and resourcefulness of scientific researchers, who find ingenious uses for datasets of unlikely origin.
Peggy Guggenheim purchased a painting she believed to be by the famous artist Fernand Leger. Almost immediately, there were questions about its authenticity. But it took 40 years and an unlikely group of art detectives to solve the mystery.
Hosted by: Madelyn Leembruggen (she/her)
I discuss the effects of nuclear testing in my plate tectonics lecture in geology along with magnetic reversals, although in that case, it's about monitoring underground tests with seismometers instead of carbon-14 from atmospheric tests. Still, these stories would be useful in my environmental science classes as well. Welcome to blogging as professional development.
Stay tuned for another evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. and HBO, which includes the legendary TV and movie studio and assets like the HBO Max streaming service, for $72 billion, plus debt. The deal could reshape Hollywood, but first faces a tough regulatory review process around the world. CNN’s Brian Stelter reports.
Surprise! The attempted Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger didn't and probably will not happen. That means that John Oliver, who did not want to work for Paramount and the Ellisons, avoided that possibility, at least for now. CNN also escaped that fate so far, because they're not part of the deal. Netflix does not want to get into the cable TV business, so CNN and the rest of the Warner Brothers-Discovery channels, other than HBO, which Netflix is buying, remain together to be spun off as a separate entity, Discovery Global. That at least postpones what I was worried about in September: "CBS News and CNN merging would likely result in a more conservative news outlet, which would make Donald 'Hoover Cleveland' Trump get out of the deal's way." He and Pam Bondi's Department of Justice might not be so accommodating with a Netflix-Warner Brothers merger.
Netflix has struck a nearly $83 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO Max, beating out Paramount and Comcast after a bidding war. If finalized, it would unite the world’s largest streamer with one of Hollywood’s oldest studios. The move raises questions about the future of theatrical releases and concerns about market concentration. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Matthew Belloni of Puck.
While this deal is good for Netflix and Warner Brothers-Discovery's management and shareholders, it may not be good for theater owners, actors, and writers, who stand to lose money or at least have smaller paychecks. It may not be great for directors, either, although more artistically than financially; they want their movies shown on the big screen and think streaming them at home diminishes them, literally.
Netflix is playing this deal up as good for consumers. In terms of variety of content and convenience, it probably will be. However, it will probably make subscriptions go up, although viewers like my wife and me, who subscribe to multiple streaming services, might ultimately save money as we will subscribe to one service instead of two. Just the same, the commenters on CNN's video are already grousing about their Netflix subscriptions going up to pay for this deal.
I'm sure I'll have more to write about this deal and the legal hoops it will have to jump through over the next year and more. In the meantime, stay tuned for another evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
As Detroit’s population declined and nature reclaimed the city’s vacant spaces, wild carnivores like coyotes, raccoons, and skunks are now returning and making themselves at home.
Ecologist Nyeema Harris studies how these opportunistic predators and scavengers are adapting to urban life. Through a series of experiments in city parks, and with the aid of camera traps, she's uncovering unexpected interactions — like dogs acting as a buffer with the coyote population — which provide valuable insights into how wildlife navigates urban environments. Her research suggests that peaceful coexistence is achievable when humans make small changes to accommodate their wild neighbors.
My readers should not be surprised that I embedded this video; they should only be surprised that it took me a month to get around to it. It's exactly my kind of content.
Wildlife is making a comeback in metro Detroit, from river otters to foxes and coyotes. Last week, we caught coyotes along Detroit's riverfront, and the wild animals are becoming more brazen. Terry McFadden has been with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for over 20 years. He said he isn't surprised coyotes are making a comeback in urban areas like Detroit.
New research shows sea level rise could accelerate far faster than cities can adapt to. In this episode, Maiya breaks down why even today’s warming may already be enough to trigger long-term ice-sheet collapse. And what that means for our coasts, our cities, and our future.
I lectured on climatechange last night and when the last video played, the preview for this video appeared on screen. I told my students I would watch it when I got home and I did! After watching it, it reminded me of the following questions from My students are watching 'Chasing Ice' during Earth Week.
17. What is happening to Greenland's melt zone as the climate changes?
It's expanding and moving up and into the interior of the ice sheet.
18. How much will sea level rise during the lifetimes of Balog's daughters?
1.5 to 3 feet (0.5 to 1 meter).
19. How many people will the rising sea level displace?
About 150 million.
20. What effect will rising sea level have on hurricanes and typhoons?
It will make the storm surges higher, making them more damaging.
It made the front page of the New York Times. Ancient DNA over 2 million years old, retrieved from the frozen dirt of Greenland. It reached back further in time than many scientists used to think was even theoretically possible. And it contained the genetic ghost of an /entire ecosystem/ – one that has no counterpart in today’s world and one that we had /no idea/ even existed. It told of a time when Greenland was green…and how we might borrow genes from that ancient past to help us adapt to the future.
I was glad to be wrong about "Hunt for the Oldest DNA" episode of NOVA, the winner.
This is the only episode of NOVA nominated and I agree it's probably the best one of 2024. It's also the nominee with the most important science. That written, it's not likely to win the most votes, since most of the electorate will judge the nominees for their cinematic and journalistic merit, not their scientific value. As I reiterate nearly every time I write about awards shows, electorates matter.
The News & Doc Emmy voters pleasantly surprised me by voting for the nominee with the most important science. Congratulations to them and NOVA!
The Earth 2.4 million years ago, during the earliest Pleistocene, wasn't as warm as it was 3.6 million years ago, the last time carbon dioxide levels were as high as today, but it's a good analog just the same. If that's the future we're heading towards, then it might be a good idea to borrow the adaptations those organisms had to prepare today's organisms for the warmer world that's coming. That's a Crazy Eddie concept, but I'm enough of a Crazy Eddie to approve of it.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for another evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
I told my readers to "Stay tuned for comedy" today and do I have comedy for them! Randy Rainbow uploaded RFK! A Randy Rainbow Song Parody yesterday, so sing along with Randy!
Parody of “Cabaret” (Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb)
Ahead of Giving Tuesday, Nakia Mills from the Better Business Bureau advises donors to verify charities before donating to ensure their money is used as intended. The BBB recommends checking the accreditation and financial practices of charities on their website as a precautionary measure.
Good advice, the kind I would given about security if I had celebrated Cyber Monday yesterday instead of World AIDS Day.
On Giving Tuesday, donations will be collected for THAW, the Heat and Warmth Fund, to assist people in crisis with utility bills during winter. THAW offers more than just bill assistance, including energy-efficient home improvements as experienced by beneficiary Byron Spivey. Serving families with children, seniors, and veterans, THAW helped 11,000 homes with $10 million last year, with over 80% of donations going directly to services. The organization aims to enhance the long-term health and financial security of Michigan neighborhoods with additional support like home assessments and appliances.
Not only does THAW pay people's utility bills, it pays for energy conservation upgrades. I approve.
Learn more about the mental health benefits of giving ahead of Giving Tuesday. (Dec. 1, 2025)
I used to be a director of a nonprofit. I can tell you that a physical quarter in a Salvation Army kettle will probably be a net benefit, but any online donation less than a dollar will likely cost the charity money in processing fees.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for comedy tomorrow.
As the world marks World AIDS Day, researchers note the four decades battling the disease have proven crucial in battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Kiet Do reports. (12/1/21)
I was expecting another take on CNBC explains how HIV research led to COVID-19 vaccines for World AIDS Day, a double pandemic update. Instead, I found out how experts applied public health lessons learned from the AIDS pandemic to COVID-19. That made the video worth watching. As a bonus, I probably have only one degree of separation from Dr. Sarah Ruddman and Dr. Marty Fenstersheib because the ex-girlfriend I most often mention here was working for the Santa Clara County Health Department last I checked, which was before the COVID-19 pandemic. They almost certainly know her and she would certainly know who they are. By the way, Dr. Fenstersheib's predictions about the disease persisting and people needing a booster shot for COVID-19 every year have proven to be true. We should listen to him.
Jennifer Lotito, President and Chief Operating Officer, (RED) joins CBS New York to discuss World AIDS Day, which is on December 1.
Lotito offered both facts and action, even if that action was shopping. People will be shopping today anyway, so they might as well do it for a good cause.
Monday will mark the 37th World AIDS Day, which was started in 1988 by the World Health Organization to raise awareness and understanding of the global AIDS pandemic.
I relate to Lynn Kid. She said that it's important that she not allow a disease control her and that she's way more than HIV. I feel the same about diabetes. It may "be a central organizing fact of my life," but it's not everything about me.
I'm finishing up my series on the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for today's Sunday entertainment feature by recognizing Pee-wee as Himself and 100 Foot Wave, the last two Emmy winners I haven't already blogged about. The GRAMMYs aren't until February, so they can wait.
The team from Pee-wee As Himself accepts the Emmy for Documentary Or Nonfiction Special at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Congratulations to the production team for Pee-wee as Himself. Should I also congratulate the prognosticators at Gold Derby?
Gold Derby's odds break the tie in favor of Pee-wee as Himself with 100% of experts, 80% of editors, and 71.5% of users currently picking it to walk off the podium with the Emmy. Only 20% of editors and 24.3% of users so far think Will & Harper will win. Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) is in third, but well behind with the support of 1.6% of users, while Deaf President Now! and Martha are tied at 1.28% of users.
Gold Derby's odds still favored Pee-wee as Himself by the time of the ceremony two months later, but the support shuffled around with only 66.7% of experts but every editor plus 78.1% of users behind the eventual winner. The 33.3% of experts who changed their minds lined up behind Will & Harper along with 18.5% of users. The experts were right the first time, which is why I generally pay more attention to the editors. Just the same, congratulations!
Small businesses feed our communities. They keep our main streets thriving and employ nearly half of the American workforce. Supporting small businesses means you're supporting your local economy, local business, tax base, schools, and infrastructure. Your holiday shopping will put food on the tables of people you know.
You will be doing your community some good, and you will also be finding quality gifts. Small businesses take pride in their work. They've worked hard for their dream, and it shows in their craftsmanship.
Small Business Saturday a great day to shop small — business owners say 20% of their annual revenue will come from this year's event. However, it's important to shop small businesses all year long. NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin stopped by @NBCNews Now to talk all things supporting small.
Big businesses like At Home, Kohl's, Joann, Claire's, and Target aren't the only ones affected by tariffs; small businesses might be even more affected by them. This makes tariffs a sustainability issue, since I count shopping small and local as a sustainable action.
Small Business Saturday is an annual shopping day that encourages consumers to support local businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. NBC’s Brian Cheung joins Saturday TODAY to share tips for shopping local, how to find small businesses and more.
In addition to reinforcing the points about the importance of Small Business Saturday to small businesses, Brian Cheung and the TODAY panel previewed Cyber Monday. I'm glad they did, because I'm not observing it this year. That's because it falls on December 1st, World AIDS Day. Since the Trump Administration canceled funding for World AIDS Day commemorations after 37 years, effectively meaning it won't celebrate the day officially, I'm going to celebrate it here all the more. Priorities.
That's a wrap for both today and the string of holiday posts. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature to close out September.
One of the country's biggest retailers has been having issues. This video explores the recent struggles behind Target.
I couldn't resist this bar chart showing the top ten chains/companies by 2024 retail sales.
I've blogged about Walmart, Amazon, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, and now Target. I've mentioned Costco, Home Depot, and Lowe's, but not Albertsons, until now. That's a company that does not operate under that name, or the other names I'm familiar with — Vons, Pavilions, and Jewel/Osco — in Michigan, so I haven't had an opportunity. On the other hand, Costco, Home Depot, and Lowe's are now on my to-do list, especially Costco.
There is also an AI summary.
Target's recent struggles are explored, examining the retailer's history from its 1960s origins to its current challenges. The video analyzes several contributing factors, including leadership changes and economic shifts impacting discretionary spending. A look at DEI initiatives and customer experience reveals further complexities in Target's current situation.
That's a good summary that reflects Company Man Mike's list closely.
Company Man has listed leadership as an issue threetimesbefore — four times if one includes the criminals running Crazy Eddie's — so I'm not surprised, but this example looks like the investors not having confidence more than Michael Fiddelke being an inherently bad choice. "Discretionary items" ties into tariffs and inflation, which have been an issue for other chains like At Home, Kohl's, Joann, and Claire's. None of the above are unique.
On the other hand, this is the first time I've seen Company Man Mike list DEI initiatives, or rather their abandonment, as contributing to a company's problems. I'm not surprised, as my wife and I shifted our shopping from Target to Costco because the former abandoned DEI. We did the same for Amazon: "My wife and I have decided to cut back on our Amazon purchases and will re-evaluate our Amazon Prime membership when it expires this summer. Jeff Bezos rolling over for Hoover Cleveland pissed us off."* Our disappointment extended to Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon. Target should have realized that knuckling under to Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump would have had a major effect because of their customer base, the people like me who call the company "Tar-zhey" and declare "between Walmart and KMart, I shop at Target." Now I'm shopping at none of them.
Seeing customer satisfaction as reason number four reminds me of this graph that I embedded last year.
Costco treats its employees well while offering a great shopping experience, so I'm not surprised it's in first. My wife and I would shop there more often if it had a closer location and we ever needed to buy in bulk.
Or if we had a reason to boycott Target and Whole Foods, which happened this year.
Thanksgiving is arguably one of the yummiest celebrations in the US and one where you’re expected to be home for the holidays. But, what are your options when going home isn’t one? In recent decades, Friendsgiving has emerged as the go-to choice as an additional event or complete alternative to Thanksgiving.
It can be tough during the holidays with the pressures of trying to get everything just right to present yourself as a well-adjusted adult hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, or to be present with family that may think they know what’s best for you. Friendsgiving has opened the door to do things a little bit differently. The intention is to have a laid-back, low-pressure (or over-the-top, totally up to the host) potluck-style dinner with friends and other people in your chosen community — because as cheesy as it sounds, friends are the new family.
Friendsgiving was seemingly plucked from obscurity in the 2010s. While its exact origins are debated, it was likely widely practiced prior to its fame on The Real Housewives of New Jersey in 2011. Even then it took a few more years for it to pick up steam in the media.
That was a cozy, chill video for a chill post, even if it didn't shy away from the darker side of the holiday's history.
FOX 5 NY's Kendall Green speaks with some members of Alcorn State University’s marching band "Sounds of Dynomite."
Yes, I'm sharing the bands in alphabetical order as listed on Macy's website with the last two swapped for a narrative. I'm glad it resulted in an HBCU band first. Also, I'm glad I got a non-NBC affiliate because of what I wrote last year.
A group of New Hampshire performers is set to take part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time.
Paul LaFlamme and the corps members look and sound so happy to be marching in NYC the day after tomorrow. May they be as thrilled during and after the performance on national TV. I'll be watching!
The pre-show graphics in DCI Spartans 2025 Final Open Class Show included the Spartans marching in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so I'm including it here.
The Nashua Spartans in their final 2025 Open Class World Championship performance!
Good luck marching in the Macy's Parade this week and in World Class next summer!
Stay tuned for the actual marching bands marching in Thursday's parade.
Today's evergreen educational video is Vox explaining The salmon dilemma.
Earth’s population is growing. We’re expected to have 2 billion more mouths to feed by 2050. But how can we feed all those people in a way that is still sustainable and ethical? Many have argued that aquaculture (or fish farming) is one of the most sustainable ways we can consume animal protein, since it requires less land use. It’s currently the quickest-growing form of food production in the world. But how exactly does it work? And is it really the best path forward?
To find out more, Vox video producer Nate Krieger went down the rabbit hole on salmon aquaculture. Salmon is currently the most popular fish in the US: The average American consumes 3.2 pounds of salmon annually. And over 70% of that salmon comes from farms, totalling 3 million tons of salmon a year.
To understand the impact that the salmon industry is having on our planet and our future, and on the salmon themselves, we spoke to industry insiders, marine biologists, and fish welfare experts.
This is a complicated issue, full of lots of caveats and trade-offs. But the more we know about the food we eat and where it comes from, the more responsible we can be.
Many of the commenters on this video called it superficial and too slanted in favor of salmon aquaculture. Maybe, but I know exactly where in my environmental science course to show it, so this is blogging as professional development about one of the stories I tell my students. The video also applies to one of the questions I ask in 'Food, Inc. 2' worksheet for National Food Day.
28. Why is Bren Smith raising kelp and oysters instead of fish? What are their advantages? Answer both questions.
Fish farming disgusted him. The fish had sea lice and looked miserable and stupid. Also, it was like raising pigs and cattle in a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation). He decide to raise organisms that didn't need to be kept in pens and would improve the environment.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned to see if I post another evergreen entry tomorrow or go full holiday for the rest of the week.
Yesterday, I asked "More GRAMMY nominees, anyone?" I'm following through with the Gold Derby odds for Best Music Film. Music by John Williams leads as the choice of every expert and editor plus 65.3% of users. Raye: Live at the Royal Albert Hall sits in second as the pick of 26.5% of users, followed by Diane Warren: Relentless with 4.1% of users, Piece by Piece with 2.3%, and Devo with 1.8%. I'm embedding Music by John Williams | Official Trailer | Disney+.
Meet the man behind the music that changed our lives.
A movie about the importance of music in movies? No wonder it's favored. Remember, electorates matter.
Yellowstone was massive. Roughly a thousand times larger than the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, the biggest eruption in the history of the continental United States. And if Yellowstone erupted again, the consequences for the U.S. and the world would be devastating. But there’s something far bigger than Yellowstone. Something so powerful it’s been linked to nearly every mass extinction in Earth’s history. And astonishingly, most people have never heard of it.
In this episode of Weathered, we explore the true giants of Earth’s volcanic past: the Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs). These vast flood basalt events dwarf supervolcanoes, pouring out millions of cubic kilometers of lava, filling entire regions thousands of feet thick, and unleashing pulses of greenhouse gases that have repeatedly driven abrupt climate change and global die-offs.
Along the way, we investigate what a modern Yellowstone eruption would actually look like, how ash, cooling, and atmospheric disruption would cascade across the world, and what ancient climate catastrophes can teach us about the rapid warming we’re causing now.
I think I've only mentioned Yellowstone in the context of its volcanic activity once before on this blog in NOVA warns of 'The Next Pompeii' for the Ides of March, and that was only in passing as one of the stories I tell my students about volcanic calderas. On the one hand, that's surprising, as the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano would be a civilization-ending event. On the other, it's not, as the possibility is remote; it's likely tens of thousands of years away. Humanity has more pressing threats to worry about.
Maiya May also linked the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) to the eruption of another LIP, the North Atlantic Large Igneous Province. I may have heard that before, but, if so, I forgot, so I'm counting this as learning something new, which makes today a good day. It's also blogging as professional development.
Some parents are concerned (or thrilled?) that their kids might be developing an Australian accent from watching Bluey... but is that really possible? How much of our language acquisition comes from TV anyway?
This was the perfect video to upload on World Television Day, as it shows the significance of television to society. Since no one else has mentioned it, a belated happy World Television Day to Erica/Dr. B., all of the Storied crew, and viewers!
I knew then that I would be sharing this video today.
By the way, I recommend reading the comments, which are full of Australians saying it was time Australia struck back at the U.S. for all the Americanisms introduced through television. TV can change the way you speak!
That's a wrap for today's holiday about the effect of technology on society. Stay tuned for an evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
In 2004, the chain of Mexican restaurants closed all of its locations. This video explores the history of the brand while identifying some of the main reasons behind its decline.
For years, when I ran into another person who had moved to Michigan, I asked them, "So, do you miss Mexican food?" and they invariably answered, "Yes! Do you know where any is around here?" They also missed cheap Cantonese food, too. I was always happy to steer them to the nearest good examples of both.
Within the past decade, Chinese takeout places run by immigrants from the mainland have sprung up all over southeast Michigan, to the point where two of the three small towns on the outskirts of Irish Hills each have one and the next small town I moved to had one as well. Also, Mexican food has become common enough and people have developed enough of a taste for it that the local blues joint that served ribs has become a Mexican restaurant. I no longer run into Californians who can't find the food of home; it's now all around them. I personally consider this to be an improvement.
I still do, but it probably helped doom Chi-Chi's, which I mourned briefly when it closed down, but didn't really miss. There are much better options for Mexican food in Michigan today.
I didn't know the rest of Chi-Chi's story except for the addition of El Torito to the company. That was my favorite chain of Mexican restaurants in southern California, and I was hoping Chi-Chi's would incorporate some of what I liked about them. It didn't happen. That was disappointing, but at least El Torito still exists.
Business Insider's video also lists Purina as a former owner of Hostess's parent company from 1984 to 1995. That means I have a distant connection to Hostess, as my first job for a large employer was as cook and cashier for Jack In The Box from 1977 to 1979, which Purina owned from 1968 to 1985. My fellow employees and I joked that we worked for Purina People Chow. Our manager told us to never say that in front of the customers. We didn't.
At least Purina no longer owned Foodmaker by the time it acquired Chi-Chi's, so Chi-Chi's never did serve "Purina people chow."
While the evolution of the butthole was a major breakthrough in animal development, its story might actually end with redefining what it means to have a butthole at all.
Corrections: 06:10 Starfish are actually deuterostomes! Earthworms are protostomes.
06:18 Earthworms are actually protostomes! Starfish are deuterostomes.
I left two comments on this video. First, "It's literally a fundamental question, as fundament means buttocks or anus in addition to the foundation or basis of something." Second, "It took me five days to realize that you uploaded this on World Toilet Day. To be fair, it seems that no one else noticed that, either, so I think I'll be the first to wish Kallie, the rest of the Eons crew, and the viewers a belated happy World Toilet Day!" I knew then that I would be posting it today.
That's a wrap for PBS Eons doing for bathroom humor what it did for stoner jokes, telling the smartest ones on YouTube. Stay tuned for an evergreen educational post followed by a Storied video for WorldTelevisionDay.
Scientists just released the 2025 Global Tipping Points Report. And they say we’ve already crossed our first major tipping point, but it’s not what you think.
From melting ice sheets to collapsing ocean currents, these sudden, irreversible changes could reshape the planet in ways we can’t undo. But what does it really mean to cross a tipping point? How do we know we’ve crossed one? And how close are we to triggering others?
In this episode of Weathered, Maiya May talks with scientist Tim Lenton, who helped popularize the term “tipping point” in a landmark 2008 paper, to uncover which Earth systems are at risk, why they’re so hard to predict, and what crossing a tipping point means for our future.
[C]onvincing people to be less wasteful, particularly creating less food waste and eating less meat, especially beef, would be helpful. [One] could consider that to be a technology. So is renewable energy. Between the two, it would move Earth Overshoot Day back more than a month. Progress!
Yes, it is, and it's good news I can share with my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for World Toilet Day tomorrow. I have something planned from PBS Eons. Yes, really.
A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
As Alive As You Need Me To Be — From TRON: Ares
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
Golden — From KPop Demon Hunters
EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)
I Lied to You — From Sinners
Ludwig Göransson & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Miles Caton)
Never Too Late — From Elton John: Never Too Late
Brandi Carlile, Elton John, Bernie Taupin & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Elton John, Brandi Carlile)
Pale, Pale Moon — From Sinners
Ludwig Göransson & Brittany Howard, songwriters (Jayme Lawson)
Sinners — From Sinners
Leonard Denisenko, Rodarius Green, Travis Harrington, Tarkan Kozluklu, Kyris Mingo & Darius Poviliunas, songwriters (Rod Wave)
I'm thrilled to see speculative fiction so well represented — animation, horror, and science fiction! Add Wicked in categories below the jump, and fantasy appears in these awards as well. Superheroes? They should be so lucky; they're having a down year.
K-pop joins the history-making fun thanks to ROSÉ and KPop Demon Hunters. ROSÉ's hit collaboration with Bruno Mars, "APT.," and HUNTR/X's chart-topping KPop Demon Hunters smash, "Golden," are the first songs by K-pop artists to be nominated for Song Of The Year, with "APT." also becoming the first song by a K-pop artist to be nominated for Record Of The Year. Both songs are also up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, marking another milestone: the first time two songs by K-pop artists have been nominated in that Category in the same year.
"Golden" is also nominated for Best Remixed Recording and the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media. Because it beats all the other nominated songs in total nominations, I'm embedding “Golden” Official Lyric Video | KPop Demon Hunters | Sony Animation first.
We’re going up, up, up. Watch the official lyric video for “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters. KPop Demon Hunters is now on Netflix.
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About KPop Demon Hunters:
When they aren't selling out stadiums, KPop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey use their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet – an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.
Directed by: Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans
Produced by: Michelle Wong
Co-Produced by: Scott Berri, Jacky Priddle
Cast: Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Joel Kim Booster, Liza Koshy, with Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong and Byung Hun Lee.
Based on the number of nominations, especially for Song of the Year, "Golden" is my pick to win Best Song Written For Visual Media. It's also Gold Derby's, where every expert, 83.3% of editors, and 86.7% of users have picked it to win. "Golden" should also be a lock to be nominated for Best Original Song or its equivalent at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and Oscars, although Gold Derby doesn't include that category in any of it movie nominations predictions, so I can't rely on them for backup. Speaking of awards, I no longer have Flow penciled in for Best Animated Film at the Saturn Awards, as I wrote in The 2025 Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards nominees. My vote will be for KPop Demon Hunters, which leads Gold Derby's predictions at all three movie awards shows.
The other songs with support are "Never Too Late" from Elton John: Never Too Late with 16.7% of editors and 5.4% of users picking it, "I Lied to You" from Sinners with 6.1% of users choosing it, and "As Alive As You Need Me To Be" from TRON: Ares with the remaining 0.8% of users supporting it. I'm embedding the videos of these nominees. Sorry, "Pale, Pale Moon" and "Sinners"; Gold Derby doesn't give either of you a chance, so I'm skipping you for now.
‘Never Too Late’ with Brandi Carlile - a new original song taken from the Disney+ documentary, ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’. You can listen to it everywhere now here: https://eltonjohn.lnk.to/nevertoolateID
The official music video includes unseen footage from the documentary 'Elton John: Never Too Late', along with Elton and Brandi recording the track in the studio. After watching an early cut of the work-in-progress documentary, Brandi was inspired to write an original song, taking influence and guidance from Bernie Taupin’s style. Brandi brought the lyrics and concept to Elton to continue co-writing together, with Andrew Watt adding additional writing and production.
The Tron: Ares soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails is out now featuring the song "As Alive As You Need Me To Be".
This song is also nominated for Best Rock Song, an award I think it has a better chance of winning. While this song might earn an Oscar nomination, the movie itself is more likely to earn at least two Razzies, Worst Remake/Ripoff/Sequel and Worst Actor for Jared Leto. On a more positive note, it might still garner some Saturn Award nominations. I doubt I'll vote for it. I predicted "a match between Lilo & Stitch and Jurassic World: Rebirth" in 'Dune: Part Two' at the Critics Choice Super Awards, which I would resolve in favor of the dinosaurs.
Sinners song "I Lied To You,” performed live by Miles Caton as Sammie. The Sinners Movie Clip shows the raw, emotional blues track that channels the character’s longing, defiance, and dream of escape. Look for the horror adventure movie on digital.
Written by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson, two award-winning multi-hyphenates, “I Lied To You” was filmed and recorded over several days on set, capturing the energy of a live juke joint crowd. It marks Sammie’s breakout as an artist and reflects on the film’s deep connection to the cultural roots and legacy of the blues.
From Ryan Coogler—director of “Black Panther” and “Creed”—and starring Michael B. Jordan comes a new vision of fear: “Sinners.” Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back. “You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”
