Mad Quickies: You Become Anime-ted; Resusci Annie Was French; Manuscript Cats Clean Themselves and Much More!

Hello, my lovely nerds! I’m transmitting from my bunker in the center of my city which is in the middle of their enormous annual music festival. So I’m feeling a little wacky and way too sleep deprived and I know by the Friday Quickies roll around those links might just be internet cat videos and snippets from Wallace and Gromit movies. Not that that’s a bad thing. Anyway- here are some interesting and quirky items that I hope lift your spirits. Well, ummm, uplifting after this first bit that’s rather terrifying…

Science Goes Too Far, Creates AI That Turns You Into an Anime Character
“Thanks to researchers at video game company NCSoft, machine learning can turn you into anime.”

“We live in an age of miracles and horrors. Artificial intelligence now has the power to create fake videos of people doing and saying things they’d never say or do, simulate the ravages of age, and transform you into a classical work of art. Now, thanks to researchers at video game company NCSoft, AI can convincingly transform you into an anime character.”

[You have @criticaldragon1177 on twitter to thank for that.]

……………………………

I swear some fun things are coming up. But first here’s a thing from NASA. In fact, the featured image is the Aerosol Earth image.

Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth
“Take a deep breath. Even if the air looks clear, it is nearly certain that you will inhale millions of solid particles and liquid droplets. These ubiquitous specks of matter are known as aerosols, and they can be found in the air over oceans, deserts, mountains, forests, ice and every ecosystem in between.”

“If you have ever watched smoke billowing from a wildfire, ash erupting from a volcano or dust blowing in the wind, you have seen aerosols. Satellites like NASA’s Earth-observing satellites, Terra, Aqua, Aura and Suomi NPP, “see” them as well, though they offer a completely different perspective from hundreds of kilometers above Earth’s surface. A version of a NASA model called the Goddard Earth Observing System Forward Processing (GEOS FP) offers a similarly expansive view of the mishmash of particles that dance and swirl through the atmosphere.”

……………………………

“Australian artist Anthony Lister paints illustrative murals that blur the line between street art and fine art. The subjects on his walls range from figurative paintings of dancing ballerinas, to large scale portraits with rosy cheeks and red noses. Lister’s unique style is a result of his early influences and experience with graffiti, as well as his formal art education at Queensland College of Art and mentorship with New Zealand artist Max Gimblett.”

Check out his wild and loose “adventure painting” —

Fine and Street Art Aesthetics Merge in Anthony Lister’s Expressive Murals

……………………………

L’Inconnue de la Seine was a woman whose death mask fascinated hundreds and saved thousands. this mystery woman was so compelling that even Albert Camus decided to weigh in with his own observations. Legend’s speculation is that she had committed suicide since there were no signs of foul play when she was pulled from the Seine.

“Peter Safar and Asmund Laerdal, the creators of the first aid mannequin Resusci Anne, chose the Seine woman’s death mask as the face of the CPR doll,” thus rendering her the “most kissed face” of all time.

Read more about this 19th-century woman’s visage that that became the face of CPR resuscitation.

……………………………

Oddity #1—

A dissected intact human nervous system is quite a rarity.

Check out this framed system, one of only four in the world.

……………………………

Oddity #2—

In Italy, Donkey Nannies are a thing!

Those wee newborn lambies…oh my heart!

……………………………

Oddity #3 and by far the most confounding of the three—

So my paisana Janice visited me over the weekend for said music festival and while she was here she happened to mention that cats licking their butts was a thing in the world of medieval manuscripts. It just sort of came up in conversation, as it is bound to do.

So after a wee bit [wee!] of investigating, I found these enlightening articles for you.

Medieval Paintings of Cats Licking Their Butts
“Medieval monks were put to work making “illuminated manuscripts” – holy books in which every page was filled with beautiful works of art. Sometimes, they would fill the page with beautiful patterns of flowers and ivy. Sometimes, they would add depth to the words by illustrating the stories. And sometimes, they’d just draw cats licking their butts.”

and

Apparently Medieval People Found Cats Licking Their Butts Fascinating And Here Are 14 Pics As Proof
“Our fondness for cats and their idolization in popular culture far precedes the internet – humans have been lovingly sharing pics of our feline friends since the days of Ancient Egypt. Usually, we prefer to admire cats being cute, funny or majestic. However, there appears to be one period in human history when we enjoyed creating images of them doing something else entirely – licking their butts.”

And lastly, please enjoy this weirdly gorgeous Pinterest Beastiary that can totally turn itself into a rabbithole just word to the wise and all that!.

……………………………