A few years back, the Mini Cooper’s taillights were designed to look like the Union Jack flag, which is fine until you turn the blinker on and it looks like an arrow pointing in the wrong direction. I hated this design the moment I saw it on the road.
Oh my gosh, look at these tiny snow leopard cubs from...
Oh my gosh, look at these tiny snow leopard cubs from the Melbourne Zoo. 🥹
Longreads
• Brendan Fitzgerald
Redshift
"Rehearsing for humanity’s future on Mars."
The Astronomy Picture of the Day , in which the...
The Astronomy Picture of the Day, in which the International Space Station looks like it’s landing on the Moon.
Project Plowshare: Nukes for Peace!
I’d vaguely heard of Project Plowshare but good god, what a ridiculous and dangerous waste of time and money.
At the height of the Cold War, nuclear weapons were seen not only as devices of destruction, but also as tools for progress. Project Plowshare was a bold attempt to use atomic explosions for more practical purposes: from digging canals and creating harbors to reshaping entire landscapes. This project was designed to push the limits of what seemed possible, but instead turned into an environmental disaster.
This reminds me of that episode of the Simpsons when Homer buys a gun and uses it around the house for everything, like changing the TV channel and opening beer cans. If the only tool you have is a hammer…
Tags: Cold War · nuclear bombs · science · video
“ Here are some things that have been found in...
“Here are some things that have been found in donation bins: A live puppy. Live Japanese grenades. An 1854 tombstone for Rebecca Jane Nye. Old skulls. A stolen Frederic Remington sculpture. Customized Air Jordans made for Spike Lee.”
Tens of thousands of Lebanese return home after ceasefire
A 10-day pause in the fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah has led to tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese families returning home. Despite the ceasefire, Israel has said it reserves the right to continue targeting the Iran-backed militant group. It also says civ...
Historian Eric Cline, author of 1177 BC, explains how...
Historian Eric Cline, author of 1177 BC, explains how the collapse of several civilizations circa 1200 BC was the result of an “overly interdependent system that had no way to absorb multiple shocks at once”.
Radiolab
• WNYC Studios
The Resistance of a Cow
There’s something rotten in the cows of Denmark. And Minnesota. And Wisconsin. And Idaho. What could cause a previously thriving herd of majestic dairy cattle to stop drinking water and start drinking … urine? A Danish farmer calls a special investigator, who takes one look ...
Longreads
• Cheri Lucas Rowlands
How Our Grandmothers Made Us and Saved Us
"What evolution owes aging women."
16.04.2026
Longreads
• Cheri Lucas Rowlands
Leaving America
"Americans have always moved away. These days, expat Lindsey Tramuta writes, record numbers are leaving or planning to leave in search of health care, civil rights, freedoms, even safety. Does exiting the United States mean you’ve given up? Not necessarily."
Longreads
• Longreads
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: the jaws of history; war and piece(s); the last day of camp; stay a while; picture me rollin’.
datasette 1.0a28
Release: datasette 1.0a28
I was upgrading Datasette Cloud to 1.0a27 and discovered a nasty collection of accidental breakages caused by changes in that alpha. This new alpha addresses those directly:
Fixed a compatibility bug introduced in 1.0a27 where execute_wri...
Ceasefire in Lebanon begins
A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect after it was brokered by the United States. Hezbollah have indicated they will observe the truce, though Israeli troops are to remain in Lebanese areas they have occupied. Iran has welcomed the development bu...
Hollywood’s World Map of California
This is a map published in 1927 by Paramount Studios showing the areas of California & Nevada that doubled as shooting locations for far-flung locales, including Siberia, Wales, the Nile, New England, the Red Sea, and the Alps.
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
App Store Reviews Are Busted
blog.terrygodier.com/2026/04/13/app-store-reviews-are-busted.html
Terry Godier:
For example, if you have a 4.1 star rating in the App Store, any 4
star review is going to decrease that average. In other words,
leaving a 4 star review is essentially leaving a negative
review. [...]
You will see a lot of 4 star reviews that say things l...
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Freecash Was More Like Scamcash
techcrunch.com/2026/04/14/how-the-rewards-app-freecash-scammed-its-way-to-the-top-of-the-app-stores/
Sarah Perez, writing for TechCrunch:
If you’ve been on TikTok this year, you’ve more than likely
encountered ads for Freecash. The app has been marketed as
a way to make money just by scrolling TikTok — and jumped to the
top of the app stores in recent months, peaking at...
Simon Phillips on hitting rimshots #drums #drummer #shorts
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Colliding With Reality, Indeed
Anton Troianovski, reporting for The New York Times under the headline “Trump’s Portrayal of the War in Iran Collides With Reality”:
President Trump is trying to cast his Iran war as all but over, a
done-and-dusted success.
But after years of trying to impose his own re...