FATE ~ Feb 23, 2016
Stories of portents & omens & the illusion of free will, from the Scottish Play & Nostradamus, to the major arcana & magic eight balls
HEROIC ANTARCTICA ~ Feb 16 2016
Rare Whisky, Silent Film, Explorers' Tales & Penguin Sex - at The Interval, with the Long Now Foundation
TIME ~ Feb 9, 2016
Short talks from the odd corners of the history of time, from the mysteries of the Antikythera Device to the realities of time travel, the race to solve the challenge of determining longitude to the methods of ancient monumental time keepers.
Invocations: Carpe Diem
The words of the poet Horace remind us that although life is short and the future uncertain, to savor the moments we do have, and seize the day. For as…
Feb 6, 1837: The Great Chess Automaton finally shown to be hoax
On this day in 1837 in Philadelphia, a mechanical marvel was revealed to conceal a hidden master.
February 4, 1912: Franz Reichelt’s homemade parachute suit fails spectacularly
On February 4, 1912, the “Flying Tailor” was killed after testing his parachute suit by leaping off the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Jan 18, 1803: Giovanni Aldini attempts to reanimate the dead
Giovanni Aldini galvanizes the corpse of an executed criminal. “…the experiments I did on the hanged criminal did not aim at reanimating the cadaver, but only to acquire a practical knowledge as to whether galvanism can be used as an auxiliary, and up to which it can override other means of reanimating a man under such circumstances….” Giovanni Aldini, 1804
Jan 4, 1903: Topsy the Elephant Publicly Executed
On January 4, 1903 Topsy the elephant was executed through a combination of strangulation, poison, and a liberal application of the new technology of electric current. A terrifying film made the event infamous, leading to confusion over whether this was part of the epic battle between Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla known as the "War of the Currents" .
Jan 2, 1860: The Discovery of Planet Vulcan
On Jan 2, 1860: Urbain Le Verrier announced the discovery of Planet Vulcan, orbiting between the sun and the planet Mercury. This astonishing discovery finally solved the question of why Mercury orbited so strangely... the only problem was that it was totally wrong.
Invocations: Science & Beauty
A spirit of adventure, intellectual curiosity, and a passion for science drove Marie Curie to explore, discover, and excel despite the myriad obstacles placed in her path.
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