Authenticity Show

29/07/2025

Alma Karlin, born in 1889 in Slovenia, with atypical spine, motor disabilities, and a drooping eye, wasn't expected to survive, but she did. Alma was a genius linguist who learned English, French, Latin, Italian, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Russian, and Spanish, and later studied Persian, Chinese, and Japanese. She was interested in humanity and culture and became a world traveller, supporting herself on very little money, overcoming all the hurdles a disabled solo woman traveller was bound to encounter.

"In 1919, with nothing but a cardboard suitcase, her old typewriter "Erika," and a multilingual dictionary she had compiled herself, Alma left from Genoa to travel the globe. Over eight years, she journeyed through more than sixty countries—from Peru to Japan, India to New Zealand—living off the articles she wrote and sent back to European newspapers. [She also earned money ad hoc as a translator.] She was a self-taught anthropologist, writer, traveler, and chronicler of the unseen.
"The world that once rejected her finally began to listen. Yet each return home became a new kind of exile. The N***s arrested her for suspected ties to Tito, and Tito’s partisans later shunned her as a “dangerous German.” She was never enough for anyone—except Thea. Thea Schreiber Gamelin, a German painter, was her partner for twenty years—her refuge, her chosen family, the one who stayed until the end. When Alma died in near total isolation in 1950, her vast collection of over 850 cultural artifacts was dismissed as witchcraft. Children were warned: “If you misbehave, Alma Karlin will come for you.” A woman who sought to understand the world had become its boogeyman.

"Today, the same city that once feared her has raised a statue in her honor. Her once-ridiculed “Cabinet of Curiosities” is now a gem of the Celje Regional Museum. Alma was many things: a polyglot, writer, fearless traveler, a woman who lived freely and differently. But above all, she was brave—in a world that demanded obedience. In a time that branded her a monster, she chose to keep walking."
From the History Pictures page: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?

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28/07/2025

I don't know who "Mark" is, but hopefully, he doesn't mind being confused with "Mars"!

📅 Save the Date — July 28!

An extraordinary night sky event is on the horizon, and it’s one you’ll definitely want to catch. 🌕🌑 On this date, the Moon will glide stunningly close to Mars, leading to a rare lunar occultation — where the Moon briefly blocks the Red Planet from view.

🌑🔴 What’s the Big Deal?
The Moon will pass directly in front of Mars, making it vanish from sight for a short time. This phenomenon, called a lunar occultation, is a mesmerizing and uncommon astronomical alignment.

📍 Where to Look:
Depending on where you are, you may witness:

Mars completely hidden behind the Moon (a full occultation), or
A strikingly close pairing, with both bodies appearing side-by-side in the sky.

🔭 How to Watch It:

No telescope necessary, but binoculars or a zoom lens will enhance the experience.
Look toward the eastern sky soon after sunset.
Astronomy apps can help you find the exact timing based on your location.

🌌 Why It’s Special:
Lunar occultations involving bright planets like Mars don’t happen often. This is a golden opportunity for stargazers, photographers, and space lovers to see two celestial bodies align in dramatic fashion. It’s a visual treat that’s truly worth your attention.

✨ Be sure to catch this magical meeting of the Moon and Mars — a rare and radiant show in the night sky!

28/07/2025

25/07/2025

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." – Oscar Wilde
🧩 Wilde critiques the lack of authenticity in society. Many live lives shaped by others — thinking borrowed thoughts and chasing borrowed dreams. Real individuality is rare and precious.

25/07/2025

25/07/2025

A giant octopus civilization may have emerged under the sea — and it’s not what scientists expected

Off the coast of Australia, marine biologists recently discovered something that defied decades of assumptions: a massive, organized group of octopuses living in a dense underwater community — sharing space, arranging rocks, and even using tools. Nicknamed “Octopolis” and “Octlantis,” these settlements are rewriting what we thought octopuses were.

Octopuses have long been considered antisocial loners — solitary predators with short lifespans. But these sites, found in 2012 and revisited with deeper cameras in 2024, revealed over 20 individuals living together in stone “apartments,” arranging debris to form barriers, and even signaling each other with skin color pulses.

Footage shows octopuses stealing, retaliating, cooperating to fend off predators, and even engaging in what seems like ritual courtship displays — far more complex than previously thought. They aren’t just surviving — they’re structuring space, behaving territorially, and possibly even forming alliances.

Researchers are hesitant to use the word “culture,” but what else do you call a species modifying its environment, developing social behavior, and showing learning across generations? Especially when it’s done without bones, vocal cords, or language?

Even more incredible: these octopuses may have created their habitat using discarded scallop shells and human litter — turning our waste into building material. In a strange way, they’ve adapted to the Anthropocene faster than many mammals.

Now, biologists are deploying AI-powered submersibles to monitor interactions, hoping to catch evidence of teaching or long-term pair bonds. What we’re witnessing may not just be strange animal behavior — but the rise of another form of civilization, deep beneath the waves.

24/07/2025

Turns out he gave a damn.

17/07/2025

16/07/2025

Voyager 1, the farthest human-made object from Earth, just got a second wind thanks to some clever work from NASA engineers. Launched in 1977, the spacecraft is now over 15 billion miles away. After 47 years in space, its aging thrusters—vital for keeping the craft pointed toward Earth—had nearly failed. Without a working system to stay properly oriented, Voyager 1 would eventually lose communication, especially with a planned upgrade to the Earth-based antenna that sends and receives commands. But in a surprising turn, NASA managed to bring its dormant backup thrusters back to life after more than two decades of silence.

The backup thrusters had been in use since 2004, when the main ones became unusable due to broken heater circuits needed to warm the fuel. Over time, even the backups started clogging with residue. This threatened the spacecraft’s ability to stay aligned with a reference star it uses to maintain communication with Earth. Just when things looked grim, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory performed a near-miraculous fix, reviving the long-inactive thrusters and extending Voyager 1’s lifespan through at least next year.

This rescue buys time to continue gathering valuable data from interstellar space, where Voyager 1 has been traveling since leaving the Sun’s protective bubble in 2012. With this fix, a little piece of Earth keeps pushing further into the cosmos.

16/07/2025