The Agents of F.L.A.S.K.

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Nature. Whatza few more to the chicka cacophony?

 

[Tiki Tom]

A real mystery. What were these things? What were they used for? My best guess is that they were used in some sort of game of chance.

https://hackaday.com/2024/01/29/roman-dodecahedrons-a-mystifying-archaeological-find/

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Loaded dice?

 

[Tiki Tom]

Sadly, some things never change. Art as plundered war booty. Caught red handed! I am surprised this story is not more prominent in the press.

https://news.artnet.com/market/russian-auctioneer-painting-stolen-ukrainian-museum-2437067

And apparently there is still a Lot of art that was plundered in WWII that still has not been recovered.

https://www.monumentsmenandwomenfnd.org/join-the-hunt

Great opportunity for Agents of F.L.A.S.K. Who are interested in joining a treasure hunt.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

I can recommend Helen Mirren in Woman in Gold, a film depiction based historical fact recount of a recovered
Jewish family's masterpiece from the Austrian government. A must see movie.

 

[Tiki Tom]

That’s pretty wild.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Oh, good lord. This is a F.L.A.S.K. wet dream come true! Lost Spanish Treasure. There are dumpster loads of it yet to be found.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...k-caribbean-gold-treasure-found-b2505134.html

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

^ I'll read later.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Well, it DOES seem like they are a significant step closer to resurrecting the woolly mammoth. (or elephants that are genetically very similar to woolly mammoths, if you want to nit pick.) Interesting how they will make them mostly tusk free to mitigate the risk of ivory poaching. Still… I have vague misgivings about this project. Just because we CAN do it, does not necessarily mean that we SHOULD do it. Or am I just being a party pooper?

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...oth-really-on-the-brink-of-being-resurrected/

 

[Benny Holiday]

Not party pooping at all TT. Years ago, wolves were moved out of Yellowstone National Park, and the entire ecosystem ended up on the verge of collapse. When the animals were finally reintroduced, the park started to flourish again. And these 'scientists' reckon they want to reintroduce tens of thousands of mammoth-like elephants into the arctic after they've been extinct for thousands of years? Yeah, i can see that working out real good.

As for the concept of genetically engineering a mammoth itself, originally there was only one elephant 'kind' that speciated into all the variants found in the fossil record (just as an original wolflike creature gave rise to all the canine types we see today, from coyotes to chihuahuas and great Danes, and an original cat ancestor speciated into everything from lions to the common house cat), so I don't think it's that big a leap in that sense.

 

[Woodtroll]

Reestablishing the woolly mammoth is wondrous to think about; who wouldn't want to see a live one? But a mammoth without tusks is not a mammoth to me. And the discussion about reestablishing mammoths saving us from climate change, as the article asserts, is bovine scat and makes the whole article too far-fetched to believe. And that's a shame, in a way. I'd like to see one!

 

[Benny Holiday]

Agreed. We need to see tusks.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Oh, good lord. This is a F.L.A.S.K. wet dream come true! Lost Spanish Treasure. There are dumpster loads of it yet to be found.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...k-caribbean-gold-treasure-found-b2505134.html

Extraordinary find. As everyone wants to dutch uncle wedge themselves in for a slice of that pie, as a Briton I say
the Royal Navy should claim the prize galleon and its booty. We sunk it fair and square.
And didn't I read all that tosh about these laggards aren't interested in all that loot. Rubbish they aren't. Right.
We'll take all of it mates and leave bare bones History to these scoundrel saints.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Evidence of ancient human megalithic stonework in Canada? Strange location, to be sure. Hidden in plain sight.
The whole thing definitely looks out of place.
Probably a natural formation (?) but it is intriguing.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

^ Running for a scotch & soda before more market look, see this later.
But those stones are man cut and hauled. Recall Montana chislers.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Well. After much investigation of this topic, I think there is something to it. There does seem to be a connection between consciousness and “reality”. That said, the influence, though statistically significant, seems to be pretty weak. Additionally, it is generally hard to make predictions based on this phenomenon. So what good is it? On the other hand, this hints that we have a long way to go before we understand the true nature of reality. Is it “woo woo” or something that deserves further research?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Some politicians want to get rid of beef & dairy cattle, blaming the methane gas cattle produce for global warming. I wonder how much methane gas a continent full of plant eating wooly mammoths would produce?

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

There does seem to be a connection between consciousness and “reality”.

London is ablaze royal rumour and smoke ascends fire. Where there's smoke, there is certainly flame.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Physicist claims he has cracked time travel.

https://www.earth.com/news/astrophysicist-says-hes-cracked-the-equation-for-time-travel/

Have we learned nothing at all?
Before galavanting through time, we need to ask the philosophical and timey-wimey questions. What happens if you accidentally step on that butterfly? Is it possible to go back in time and kill your own grandfather? What strange historical ripples would occur if you killed baby Hitler in his crib? If the past solidly exists somewhere, does the future also solidly exist somewhere? Is free will therefore an illusion?

Regarding Princess Kate’s cancer; before diving into all these classics about 19th century aristocracy (Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina) I didn‘t bother to think much about the royals. Now I do find myself paying attention and sympathizing. Have the classics expanded my horizon? Anyway, I wish Kate and her father-in-law all the best.

Regarding The all important issue of Mammoth farts, you make a good point. See above questions about messing with time’s intended outcomes. And don’t stand directly down wind.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Afternoon here and I'm still waking coffee, so I'll read this physics paper tomorrow.
Post covid home work does offer some flexible advantages.