June 10

Better Than News

• 

  The Last Temptation of Constantine is an epic religious superhero horror film directed by Martin Scorsese and Francis Lawrence, starring Keanu Reeves, Willem Dafoe, and Tilda Swinton.

• 

  Buttery Toppings of the Caribbean is an American swashbuckler foodie film starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and Orville Redenbacher. It is set in a fictionalized version of the Golden Age of Artificial Popcorn Toppings (circa 1965-1995).

• 

  John Wick: Alea Iacta Est is an American action gaming film starring Keanu Reeves as John Wick, a legendary Dungeons & Dragons player who comes out of retirement to seek revenge against the dungeon master who stole his twenty-sider, a final gift from his recently deceased wife.

• 

  Natural Born U.S. Marshals is romantic crime action film directed by Oliver Stone and Stuart Baird, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Juliette Lewis.

• 

  Tintinitus is the perception of Tintin when no actual external Tintin is present.

Beyond Plausible

• 

  Full Petal Jacket is a 1987 war drama film about two Marine Corps florists who struggle under their abusive drill instructor, and the experience of combat floristry during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War.

• 

  Hammocks for Humanity is a documentary television series hosted by Jimmy Carter and Hank Scorpio.

In Other Words

• 

  To Kill a Clown 2: Rise of Pazuzu is a religious psychological horror film set in ancient Mesopotamia, starring Alan Alda, Blythe Danner, and Heath Lamberts.

• 

  Cite Baudrillard or Die is the debut album by American crossover thrash philosophy group Shatterproof Doom Rest.

Are You Sure

... that mathematician and astronomer Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī made important innovations in spherical trigonometry; that his work on arithmetics for businessmen contains the first instance of using negative numbers in a medieval Islamic text?

Selected Anniversaries

• 

  940: Mathematician and astronomer Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī born. His Almagest will be widely read by medieval Arabic astronomers in the centuries after his death.

• 

  1793: French Revolution: Following the arrests of Girondin leaders, the Jacobins gain control of the Committee of Public Safety installing the revolutionary dictatorship.

• 

  1836: Physicist and mathematician André-Marie Ampère dies. He was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as "electrodynamics".

• 

  1909: Aerospace engineer and weapons designer Ludwig Roth born. During World War II, Roth will head Germany's Future Projects Office, which will design the Wasserfall and rockets such as the A9/A10 ICBM. Roth will then be recruited by American intelligence under Operation Paperclip.

• 

  1972: Modern dance company Rhizolith Group debuts new work based on the history of high-energy literature in New Minneapolis, Canada.

Topic of the Day

Tardigrades

• 

  Panspermia Travel Agency is a travel agency run by and for tardigrades.

• 

  "Tardigrades Sing For Enya": an album of the music of Enya arranged and performed by tardigrades.

• 

  Tardigrade spacecraft are any of various types of spacecraft occupied by tardigrades. This image from the aft berth compartment shows a scan-view of a passenger in its characteristic "cabbage pod" space suit.

• 

  Twittergrades is a 2022 book about how Twitter's work policies stimulated the evolution of new species of tardigrades.