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This Beautiful Dance

How did we get the landscape that we have today? I’m talking the big stuff, geology, not horticulture. Plate tectonics. We all know what Earth looks like now, but how did we get here?

This animation starts with the world we recognize, then rolls back time to show how the planet’s macrostructure has changed. Fun, right?

Witness 1.8 billion years of tectonic plates dance across Earth’s surface in a new animation

Mapping our planet through its long history creates a beautiful continental dance — mesmerising in itself and a work of natural art.

It’s a beautiful dance.

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Photo by Drew Colins on Unsplash

With love.

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Photo by Anders Krøgh Jørgensen on Unsplash

James Earl Jones (1931-2024)

His career spanned three-quarters of a century and included work from stage to voice to movies, but for me he will always be Darth Vader. I’ve written about my love of Star Wars before, and that’s my anchor when thinking about James Earl Jones. 

Who else could have captured Vader’s complex and contradictory traits? Who made us both hate and finally feel for the tortured soul that was Anakin Skywalker? 

‘Star Wars’ colleagues lead tributes to James Earl Jones

“James was an incredible actor, a most unique voice both in art and spirit. For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being. He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn. James will be missed by so many of us…friends and fans alike.” 

— “Star Wars” creator George Lucas

A lot of tributes are being published, and if you’re interested in learning more about his impressive and wide-ranging career, I recommend reading them. Here’s just one, from NPR: Actor James Earl Jones, a beloved baritone, dies at 93.

But if you just want to take a quiet moment to appreciate the loss of this generational talent, may I recommend this: 

Thankfully, as Luke says, no one is ever really gone.

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Photo by Josh Howard on Unsplash

Busy, Being Silly

“Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.”

— Horace

Hope you have fun being a little silly today too.

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Photo by Harry Cunningham on Unsplash

I gave this advice to a friend once and still find it to be useful: Whatever you do, make sure you do it on purpose.

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

The Essentials

Light, water, kindness, and not giving up. These are huge; all there is.

— Anne Lamott

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Photo by Ian Chen on Unsplash

If you’re the sort of person who enjoys looking up, you might like this list of September skywatching tips from NASA.

What’s on the roster? Another supermoon, a partial lunar eclipse, Saturn doing its ring thing, and something called International Observe the Moon Night, plus more more more.

Check out the article or watch the video here:

Have fun!

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Photo by Jordan Steranka on Unsplash

Sayonara, Shadows

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.”

— Walt Whitman

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Photo by Johen Redman on Unsplash

Tinged in Red

Nights are cooler, the afternoon sky is a crisp blue, and the outermost leaves of the giant maple tree across the street are tinged in red. It must be time for fall foliage predictions!

Fall foliage map: When and where to expect autumn colors

Click through for animated maps and links to more info, explainers, and a printable coloring book for the kiddos (or you, I don’t judge!).

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Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

You’re Wellcome!

It’s Tuesday (ugh) and it’s practically a Monday thanks to the holiday weekend and I’ve been thinking about Nature thanks to our recent museum visit, so let’s get a little weird, shall we?

Welcome to the University of Glasgow’s Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology!

What’s this, you may ask? A serious science center (excuse me, centre) with a public engagement arm so dedicated and creative that they turned parasites into a comic book? And when the first issue became a surprise hit, went on to produce a five-part series about some of the world’s most impactful parasites?

Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.

You’re wellcome.*

* Heh, see what I did there. Yeaahhh, because it’s that kind of day:)

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Photo by João Pedro Schmitz on Unsplash