Thursday Things: Guy Fawkes Edition
5 November 2020. Vol 2 No 45 By Dan McGirt. #65
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Do you smell smoke? Photo by Marcin Nowak on Unsplash
Remember, remember, the fifth of November. Today is Guy Fawkes Day in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the Commonwealth. Who is Guy Fawkes and why does he have a day? You’ve probably heard the rhyme:
Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot….Encyclopedia Britannica sums up the background on Guy Fawkes Day as well as anyone:
The Gunpowder Plot conspirators, led by Robert Catesby, were zealous Roman Catholics enraged at King James I for refusing to grant greater religious tolerance to Catholics. They planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster) during the state opening of Parliament, intending to kill the king and members of Parliament in order to clear the way to reestablishing Catholic rule in England. The plan failed when the conspirators were betrayed. One of them, Guy Fawkes, was taken into custody the evening before the attack, in the cellar where the explosives to be used were stashed. The other conspirators were all either killed resisting capture or—like Fawkes—tried, convicted, and executed. In the aftermath, Parliament declared November 5 a national day of thanksgiving, and the first celebration of it took place in 1606.
So Guy was the poor guy who got caught standing next to the suspicious stash of gunpowder in the the basement. Smooth move, Guy! Today his ineptitude and bad luck is celebrated in the UK with fireworks, parades, bonfires, and cute little effigies called “Guys” that are tossed into the bonfires. Well, maybe that’s not happening this year, since Britain is on extreme lockdown. But the spirit of Guy Fawkes Day lives on — even if Guy himself does not.
“And, Guy, you guard the gunpowder. If things go wrong and they name this day after one of us — well, ‘Robert Catesby Day’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?”
Here are some slides showing a Guy Fawkes celebration a few years ago, from National Geographic. And more of the history of the Gunpowder Plot, from History
I should probably find an item about sleep deprivation to include here, but I’m too tired.
You think you don’t get along with your neighbors? Try living next to the Neanderthals. Neanderthals and humans were engaged in brutal guerrilla-style warfare across the globe for over 100,000 years, evidence shows
But scientists have tussled with trying to explain why Neanderthals went extinct around 40,000 years and humans lived on.
Several theories have been put forward to explain how this happened, including competition for the same resources, such as food and shelter; Neanderthals being unable to adjust to rapid climate change; and direct confrontation.
Now it is believed a combination of all of these things contributed to the Neanderthal extinction.
But the latest data reveals the two hominin species were fighting grisly guerrilla-style battles for 100,000 years.
Looks like the Risk board to me.
The article is interesting, if you’re into prehistoric warfare. Which, obviously, our ancestors were very into, and very good at, or I’d be writing Thursday Things in Neanderthal. Bottom line, ancient humans excelled at “cooperative aggression”, or getting organized to go kill some other people over there. Glad we’ve mellowed since then!
Earth Keeps Pulsating Every 26 Seconds. No One Knows Why. That can’t be good…
Why is Earth pulsating every 26 seconds, and why can’t scientists explain it after 60 years? This is an enigma wrapped in a periodically predictable mystery motion. It could be a harmonic phenomenon, a regular seismic chirp caused by the sun’s energy, or a beacon drawing scientists to its source to begin a treasure hunt.
In the early 1960s, a geologist named Jack Oliver first documented the pulse, also known as a "microseism," according to Discover. Oliver, who worked at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory at the time, heard the noise, but didn't have the advanced instruments seismologists have now at his disposal.
Since then, scientists have spent a lot of time listening to the pulse and even finding out where it comes from: “a part of the Gulf of Guinea called the Bight of Bonny,” Discover says.
Here is the Discover article about the mysterious pulsing.
How to Escape a Sinking Ship (Like, Say, the Titanic) Strangely specific advice from Wired on how to survive the sinking of the Titanic if you’re in steerage. This is a not uncommon time travel scenario, so it might worth a read just in case you mysteriously find yourself transported back in time to 1912. (Like, maybe by investigating the mysterious Earth pulse, which is obviously a time machine beacon.)
Let’s close out with some soothing art appreciation. Astronomers solve a longstanding artwork puzzle: Using modern tools, a team of astronomers uses celestial sleuthing to figure out when Vermeer painted his masterpiece "View of Delft."
What time is it anyway?
You may not be as familiar with "View of Delft," a landscape that writer Marcel Proust declared "the most beautiful painting in the world." Vermeer's genius here makes viewing this masterpiece feel as if you're actually there, warmed by the morning sun that illuminates the scene across the water.
Or is it the afternoon sun? Not much is known about Vermeer's life, and people have puzzled over this landscape for years, trying to identify exactly the view it depicts and when Vermeer could have painted it. Some experts had tagged its source of light as coming from the west, while others felt that it must've been directly overhead.
Now a team of researchers from Texas State University led by astronomer Donald Olsen have solved the riddle, thanks in part to the uncanny manner in which Vermeer was able to capture the play of light and shadow. When was it painted? According to the study, it was September 3 or 4, 1659 at 8 a.m. from a second-story inn window.
I was thinking it was more like 8:15, but close enough. The full report is in the September 2020 Sky & Telescope
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