Read on Twitter
TWITTER what are your fave "whoaaa" threads of all time? First that comes to mind is this one (scroll to top) in which spider scientists and astronomers WORK OUT that jumping spiders can see **Andromeda** with the naked eye. https://twitter.com/jrlomax/status/872089059979653120
This highly fascinating thread on plantlife of the Colosseum was what prompted this post (follow through it for some others) https://twitter.com/shockproofbeats/status/936252520208400386
I'm sure many of you are already familiar with this, but a real favourite of mine from earlier in the year; the incredible, mind-blowing Lossy Compression Of Cultural Coding In Afghan War Rugs. https://twitter.com/respectablelaw/status/907360800326774784?lang=en
Yes there IS this one I did about my dad, but cannot confirm that it is fascinating because it would be simply improper to say so. https://twitter.com/shockproofbeats/status/804672849424384000?lang=en
On a similar theme, the incredible @evilmallelis was responsible for the collection I return to more times than any other; this incredible thread of hilarious dad stories. My god it's perfect. https://storify.com/crayallred/mallory-dads
See also the excellent follow-up on mammies. https://storify.com/Shaun_T_K/moms
This thread of proper stylin' Nazi-smashers. https://twitter.com/NitrateDiva/status/805440799576125440
Let's add this truly insane list of Chinese Nicknames For NBA Basketball Stars. https://twitter.com/shockproofbeats/status/993980795424530432
And from today - here's a list of the (almost literally) mind-bending tricks the human brain and eye play on your perception of sight in real time. mind-bending. https://twitter.com/shockproofbeats/status/1014872003285803008
This tale of how an algae boffin was mistaken for a codebreaker and accidentally helped beat the fucking Nazis. https://twitter.com/floschechter/status/983371581039763456
Oh and HERE is the Lossy Compression of Afghan War Rugs link since the link was borked before; https://twitter.com/respectablelaw/status/992125693365452805
Ooooh my days you'll want to read this wonderful exploration of the aesthetics and politics of Russian tailoring from the time of the Tsars to the present day. https://twitter.com/CZEdwards/status/1018901361574928384?s=19
Putin's tailoring is particularly fascinating when compared to Trump's. https://twitter.com/CZEdwards/status/1018908124923584512?s=19
A thoroughly diverting litany of the disciplinary proceedings taken against 18th century students, in case you thought today's lot were feckless, irresponsible or immature. https://twitter.com/calluna_/status/1020031158455848960?s=19
Thank you to @lisadree for reminding me of this absolute beauty of a thread from keyboard connoisseur, the Queen of Qwerty himself @mwichary concerning a lil museum he discoverd during a trip to Spain. https://twitter.com/mwichary/status/791709895083102209
Bumping my mega-list of super fascinating WHOOOOAAAA threads, with this collection of absurd/invasive technology hacks collated by @hypervisible this January. https://twitter.com/hypervisible/status/946822278582603777
I wrote about it at the time in my Irish Times column, namely how it and Logan Paul's suicide forest video were further markers on the path to a dystopian Black Mirror reality. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/youtube-superstar-logan-paul-s-descent-into-black-mirror-territory-1.3344861
Oh and @problemsdog was good enough to point me in the direction of @Iron_Spike's highly diverting history of Incompetent Pyramid Builders. https://twitter.com/Iron_Spike/status/801540792527572993
Sweet suffering Jesus, this thread by @FrogCroakley on the nightmarish existence of sperm whales is some of the best Twitter ever twot. Thanks to @Nick_Pettigrew for the tip. "They have broken into hell and eaten the demons". https://twitter.com/FrogCroakley/status/939422363338395648
Whooooaaaa! This thread on the bridge construction skills of legionary ants is pretty far out. And features some in-thread hypothesising about their limitations. https://twitter.com/boni_bo/status/1026067216360501248?s=19
Oooooh my days, this thread on the wrecks of Lake Nemi is a masterful read from @PaulMMCooper, who you might remember did the wonderful thread on the Coliseum's plant-life that began this thread of thready threads. https://twitter.com/PaulMMCooper/status/1049264432583462913
The estimable @Scientits points us in the direction of this STELLAR little snapshot of how the mighty little Dung beetle makes its way in the world via lunar - and cosmic - orientation. https://twitter.com/GeneticJen/status/897153589193441281
A great addition for 2009 - lobsters and how their insanely fascinating immortality is actually a deal with the devil, (as tipped in my direction by @alexdecampi). https://twitter.com/JUNIUS_64/status/1009809294437572608?s=19
That's right 2009. Not 2019. Move along
Haven't bumped any of these in a while - here's @DorsaAmir's handy guide to vestigial bodyparts, a really good primer on evolutionary dead-ends in the human body; particularly great for demonstrating to any curious kids you know. https://twitter.com/DorsaAmir/status/1085227486869377024
Here's @RBrock94 telling a short, brutal tale of kin conflict in tree bumblebees that dovetails into a really fascinating explanation of how bee "families" are laid out, and cites the *marvelously* named paper, Conflict Resolution In Insect Societies. https://twitter.com/rbrock94/status/1121038497689870338?lang=en
First bump in a while for this mega-thread of threads I find fascinating, with this from Celeste Labedz, lays out a delightfully detailed scheme for a cat-based earthquake detection system. https://twitter.com/celestelabedz/status/1193586065174458368
Shout out to @MagazineFence for recommending this incredible thread of African architecture from Igbo Excellence. https://twitter.com/1ncognito___/status/1167748981188902914
On the study of decaying carcasses and resisting the lure of MYSTERY MONSTERS. https://twitter.com/Lisavipes/status/863056322610184193?s=19
THREAD OF FASCINATION RE-BUMP.
Here's @jjvincent's story (and mini thread) on the age-old problem of gene data being auto-formatted into dates by Excel. Rather than wait on Microsoft for a fix, they've *renamed the actual genes* to stop it forever. https://twitter.com/jjvincent/status/1291362734563622912
Here's @jjvincent's story (and mini thread) on the age-old problem of gene data being auto-formatted into dates by Excel. Rather than wait on Microsoft for a fix, they've *renamed the actual genes* to stop it forever. https://twitter.com/jjvincent/status/1291362734563622912
Another thread I read recently and forgot to include, THIS great tale from @OptimoPrincipi. A remarkable crime story about an ancient ring, its owner, its thief and its (possible) status as the inspiration for some absurdly famous books. https://twitter.com/OptimoPrincipi/status/1281534833320222721
Latif Nasser takes a deep dive into one strange blue swoosh across the electoral map of the American south, which appears to match early geological formations of the continent. The full explanation of why is pretty astounding. https://twitter.com/latifnasser/status/1323334035066642432?s=19
