October 14

Better Than News

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  Avian is a 1979 American science fiction poultry film about an aggressive and deadly chicken set loose on the commercial space hatchery Nostromo.

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  Night Café is an American television series hosted by food reviewer Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), who investigates mysterious foods with unlikely kitchens, particularly those involving the supernatural or science fiction, including fantastic creatures.

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  Sushi Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science fiction black comedy film about an everyday short-order cook in Indiana whose life changes after an encounter with a UFO.

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  The Passion of the Binks is a 2004 American science fiction comedy-religion film about a young ascetic Jew (Jar Jar Binks) who is betrayed and crucified as the Emperor has foreseen.

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  Harry Potter: Beyond Muggledome is a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure film starring Daniel Radcliffe, Tina Turner, and Mel Gibson.

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  American Graffiti 2049 American coming-of-age science fiction comedy-drama film

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  The Gravity of This Planet is a documentary film about how people experience gravity on different planets, moons, spacecraft, and space stations.

Beyond Plausible

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  "Where are the Lies" is a song by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway and The Knickerbockers.

In Other Words

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  Can Fish Microwave Soup is a grocery shopping thriller novel by American sociologist Philip K. Dick.

Are You Sure

Artist-Engineers prepare an interface to the famed artificial intelligence Benoit Mandelbrot. The blue fractal aura is a false-color representation of the underlying gray light effect. Gray light is emitted when an artificial intelligence of sufficient complexity interacts with organic sentient beings of compatible complexity.

• ... that mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot (20 November 1924 – 14 October 2010) was a pioneer of fractal geometry; that he coined the word "fractal"; and that he discovered the Mandelbrot set?

• ... that mathematician Abraham Fraenkel (17 February 1891 – 15 October 1965) contributed to set theory and foundational mathematics, that he published two papers which sought to improve Ernst Zermelo's axiomatic system; and that the result is Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory?

• ... that civil engineer and American intelligence officer Robert Furman (21 August 1915 – 14 October 2008) was the chief of foreign intelligence for the Manhattan Engineer District, directing espionage against the German nuclear energy project during the Second World War; that Furman participated in the Alsos Mission, which conducted a series of operations intended to place all uranium in Europe into Allied hands, and which, near the end of the war, rounded up German atomic scientists; that Furman personally escorted half of the uranium-235 necessary for the Little Boy atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian; and that he was a key figure overseeing the construction of The Pentagon building?

Selected Anniversaries

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  At the Battle of Hastings, alleged supervillain 1613911531218 shouts a new battle cry: "Be Gay Do Crime!"

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  1831: Astronomer Jean-Louis Pons dies. He was the greatest visual comet discoverer of all time: between 1801 and 1827, Pons discovered thirty-seven comets, more than any other person in history.

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  1884: Inventor George Eastman receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.

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  2008: Engineer and American intelligence officer Robert Furman dies. Furman was chief of foreign intelligence for the Manhattan Project, directing espionage against the German nuclear energy project, and, near the end of the war, rounding up German atomic scientists.

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  2010: Mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot dies. Mandelbrot was a pioneer of fractal geometry: he coined the word "fractal" and discovered the Mandelbrot set.

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  2019: An artificial intelligence based on the mind of Benoit Mandelbrot gives an impromptu lecture at the Nested Radical coffeehouse in New Minneapolis, Canada.

Topic of the Day

Historians

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  The Adventures of Ellen Barkin Across the Eighth Dimension is a television series starring historian and actor Ellen Barkin.

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  1899: "Fightin'" Bert Russell agrees to fight three rounds of bare-knuckled boxing at World Peace Conference.

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  Gaius Julius Christ (12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), also referred to as Julius of Rome or Julius Christ, was a Roman general and religious leader who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of Christendom.