Category: Article of the Day

The idea that reality could be simulated to a such a degree that it becomes indistinguishable from “true” reality raises a number of questions, including whether the reality we experience is in fact a simulated reality, whether it is possible to determine if we are in a simulated reality, and whether a simulated reality differs from a “real” one. What common phenomenon, which leads many people to believe that a false reality is true, is cited as proof that people will accept simulated realities? Discuss

Due to a wealth of fossil remains, the first of which was found in the late 1870s, Diplodocus is one of the best-studied dinosaurs. The herbivorous dinosaur roamed western North America about 145 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period, walked on four legs, and had an extremely small brain and skull. One of the longest known sauropods, Diplodocus could grow to be 88 ft (27 m) long, most of which was neck and tail. With what man-made structure is it often compared? Discuss

Street art is any art developed in public spaces and includes traditional graffiti, stencil graffiti, sticker art, video projections, street installations, and posters. Though it usually refers to art of an illicit nature, the term is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art. Some street artists have even achieved mainstream recognition and commercial success. Who are some prominent street artists? Discuss

Disparaged by critics as the new opiate of the masses, “mourning sickness” is the relatively recent phenomenon of collective public grieving for murder victims and celebrities who have died. Princess Diana’s death in 1997 prompted one of the most widespread examples of this in the UK, where makeshift memorials quickly became gathering places for public displays of mourning. The advent of the Internet provided the public with a new forum in which to share their grief. Who was Anna Svidersky? Discuss

Also called vote swapping, vote pairing is an election system that allows people to vote tactically. A person who engages in this sort of vote trading agrees to vote for a less-preferred candidate who has a greater chance of winning in his district, and in exchange, a voter from another district agrees to vote for the candidate the first voter prefers. Though the practice is fairly informal, it can sometimes be quite sophisticated and involve websites that pair up voters. Is the practice legal? Discuss

Tessellations are patterns of carefully juxtaposed, non-overlapping shapes—like the multicolored tiles of a mosaic—that fill a given surface. They have been used throughout history, from ancient architecture to modern art, and are frequently found in the works of M.C. Escher. Regular tessellations, which are highly symmetrical and made up of congruent, regular polygons, can only be formed using equilateral triangles, squares, or hexagons. Where can tessellations be observed in the natural world? Discuss

A term used to classify wine, vintage describes the yield of wine or grapes from a vineyard or region during one season and usually identifies a high quality product. In contrast, wine made from the produce of multiple years is deemed non-vintage. Wines of superior vintages often command higher prices than those from average vintages, especially if they are likely to improve with age. Were experts who took part in a recent blind tasting able to distinguish between wines of good and bad vintages? Discuss

The African wild dog has the strongest bite, relative to its mass, of any existing carnivorous mammal. Also known as the “painted dog,” the species can be identified by its mottled black, yellow, and white coat. Wild dogs once freely roamed sub-Saharan Africa, but they are now threatened by hunting, disease, and habitat loss. With fewer than 3,000 remaining in the wild, they have been named the second most endangered carnivore in Africa. How do they bring meat back to their dens after a hunt? Discuss

Exceeded in trunk diameter only by sequoias, baobabs are gigantic trees native to Africa, Australia, and India. Some are reputed to be thousands of years old, but their ages are impossible to verify because the wood does not produce annual growth rings. Though wide enough to be hollowed out for dwellings, baobabs are not very tall, and are often called “bottle trees” and “upside-down trees” because of their appearance. What is “the Boab Prison Tree,” and how was it once used? Discuss

Guerrilla gardening is a form of activism in which groups take over abandoned plots of land that they do not own in order to grow crops or plants. The earliest recorded use of the term was in 1973, when the Green Guerilla group transformed a derelict private lot in New York’s Bowery district into a garden. That garden is still being cared for by volunteers and is now protected by the city’s parks department. What American folk hero do some consider an early practitioner of guerrilla gardening? Discuss