Bangkok, Thailand – A man hugs a monitor lizard wearing a festive hat during a Christmas Day garden party held by reptile enthusiasts
Photograph: Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

O Guardian também me traz “notícias da minha terra”

Welcome to Cabeça, the Christmas capital of Portugal

When the sun sets, Cabeça lights up with all the brilliance of the Star of Bethlehem. Photograph: Pedro Miguel Lourenco Costa Ribeiro/Pedro Ribeiro / Centro de Portugal

Every year this hilltop community becomes Christmas Village, a rustic, artisanal festive wonderland attracting visitors from far and wide

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/dec/24/cabeca-the-christmas-village-of-portugal

E desta vez de preferência apocalíptica e interplanetária. Deve ser o tédio dos confinamentos sucessivos. E nós todos nas mãos deles…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/23/putin-accuses-west-coming-with-missiles-doorstep

‘He touched a nerve’: how the first piece of AI music was born in 1956

Long before Auto-Tune and deepfake compositions, university professor Lejaren Hiller premiered a concert recital composed by a computer and became an overnight celebrity

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/dec/07/he-touched-a-nerve-how-the-first-piece-of-ai-music-was-born-in-1956

Obra completa em Lejaren Hiller : Early computer music (play list)

Zurich, Switzerland

Photograph: Michael Buholzer/EPA

https://www.mummenschanz.com/en/history/

Where’s the sleight, where’s the f***ing sleight???

Começo a recear que na contagem final os anti-vaxxs tenham uma certa razão: os laboratórios detentores das patentes das diversas vacinas ganharam biliões que podiam ter sido investidos na investigação aprofundada (mas acelerada) e em grandes estruturas de emergência dos serviços de saúde e a batalha contra o vírus está longe de estar ganha…

The Guardian, 05/12/2021

“How easily does the [omicron] variant evade the body’s anti-virus defences?

On this question, scientists are clear. Evidence indicates that Omicron has an advantage over other variants in bypassing the immune system. “From what we have learned so far, we can be fairly confident that – compared with other variants – Omicron tends to be better able to reinfect people who have been previously infected and received some protection against Covid-19,” said Prof Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London.”

Lynx cub licking by Antonio Liebana Navarro, Spain

Iberian lynx are one of the world’s most endangered cats due to habitat loss, decreasing food sources, car hits and hunting. Thanks to conservation efforts the species is recovering and can be found in areas of Portugal and Spain. Antonio captured this image while leading a conservation project based around photography in Peñalajo, Castilla La Mancha, Spain. He knew a family of lynx used this waterhole, so he rigged up a hide close by. He was lucky enough to capture the moment the cub lifted its head, licked its lips and gazed into the camera

Photograph: Antonio Liebana Navarro/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

BAULT, um dos meus muralistas preferidos

Adoro os bonecos do ilustrador Tiago Galo