The Sound of Stone Henge, When Sushi Came to America, High Moms, etc.
In which I drop some science like Galileo dropped the orange.
🌞 School’s out for summer.
🎹 Scores aren’t usually my thing, but there were a few mornings I listened to Nicholas Britell’s Succession soundtracks, mostly because 808s and pianos are my thing. How the composer shaped the sound of the show: “the musical signature is its mix of ‘dark, courtly classical sound’ with ‘oversized hip-hop beats and 808s,’ with the latter reflecting the taste of both protagonist Kendall and real-life hip-hop enthusiast Britell. And it's meant to sound ‘off-kilter.’ Britell says he gets asked whether the piano and strings are supposed to be out of tune — and the answer is always yes.”
🪨 What did Stone Henge sound like? “It once acted as a giant echo chamber, amplifying sounds made inside the circle to those standing within, but shielding noise from those standing outside the circle. This finding has led some to ponder whether the monument was actually constructed as a ritual site for a small and elite group.” Bet it rocked.
🍱 The two friends that popularized sushi stateside. “When Noritoshi Kanai and Harry Wolff Jr. sat down for dinner in Tokyo one night in 1965, they had no way of knowing they were about to stumble onto an idea that would upend American dining — and their own lives.”
🌲 From Atlas Obscura, Monterey’s Moon Tree, “grown from astronaut seeds which were exposed to cosmic rays.”
💡Who invented the lightbulb? The answer is a bit more complicated than you might think.
🦀 Why do animals keep evolving into crabs? “Crabby bodies are so evolutionarily favorable, they've evolved at least five different times. So why does this process, known as carcinization, keep happening?” (Unrelated but can’t read the word “crab” and not think of Weezer.)
📦 This is too odd not to share: German kids kinda/sorta dancing to Kraftwerk in cardboard robot costumes.
💃 How rhythm shapes our lives. “Rhythm plays an important role in how we perceive and connect with the world around us, even playing a role in our social lives and health.”
🧏♀️ This doesn’t seem like a good thing: fake sign language is spreading on Tik Tok. “Sign language has become trendy on TikTok, but many videos feature incorrect signs, sparking fears the trend will cause lasting damage to American Sign Language.”
📈 Some great advice: if you’re not getting better at something, you’re getting worse at it.
😬 An excerpt from the Dictionary of Gestures: an illustrated guide to mouth gestures and their meanings around the globe.
💨 Breaking news: moms are way higher than they used to be.
✌️Hope you’re having a great weekend. Remember to keep the Hoping Machine running.
Love,
Luke
