Curious Citizen of the World

Cosmos, languages, genetics, history, Russian literature, maps, physics, religion, Neanderthals, bronze age collapse, Roman empire, Istanbul, Balkans

[Curious Citizen of the World @CCoftheW]

Human voices, casually chatting in different languages, looking over man made equipment, in space.
Maybe having coffee, simultaneous sip even.
We are in the future that I always wanted to be in. Perfect Sunday.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Dragon is docked with @Space_Station

[Boze Herrington, Library Owl 😴🧙‍♀️ @SketchesbyBoze]

You can't pretend Catch-22 was scribbled without any preparation. This is Joseph Heller's original outline, meticulously plotted over a period of many months on the floor of his living room.

[UBERSOY @UBERSOY1]

Japan never legalized the Pill until 1999. Their fertility still crashed in 1970 anyway.

[Adeo Ressi @adeoressi]

I organized an intervention to stop Elon from starting SpaceX. Here is the story...

Twenty five years ago, Elon and I sat in a car on a dark stretch of Long Island highway, two neurodiverse geeks staring at the night sky and wondering what came next. We had both experienced substantial exits and felt the weight of possibility ahead of us.

When I joked about 'space' while gazing upward, neither of us imagined we were planting the seed for what would become the largest IPO in history. We spent the next two hours debating why space was so hard. In the end, rockets are fuel and metal. We also debated where to go, and it was crystal clear that Mars was the only real destination.

Upon returning to NYC, we embarked on a global tour of space, meeting space agencies and luminaries worldwide. This opened our eyes to an industry stuck in bureaucratic thinking. If things continued at that pace, it was clear that we would never explore space in our lifetime.

So, we launched Life to Mars to show the world that two ambitious young men (29 and 30 years old), could send life to Mars without any government backing or support. We planned to send and grow plants on Mars, though some were pushing us to send mice.

We had a $50 MM budget that rested on our purchase of two Russian ICBMs for $7 MM each. We assumed one ICBM would fail, and we would learn and fix everything before launching again. When Elon went back to actually buy the ICBMs, the Russians tripled the price, bringing out launch costs from a total of $14 MM to $42 MM.

Our ambitious Life to Mars plan was no longer viable.

As you might imagine, Elon was not pleased. So, he decided to start SpaceX and create his own Mars rockets. Now, this is a crazy idea, both now and at the time, so I organized a large panel of top space experts, and we ambushed him at the Georgian Hotel one morning. It was set up like an intervention for an alcoholic, but for space.

Elon looked me in the eye when leaving the room and said, "I am going to do this." The intervention failed. Elon was committed. The rest is history.

I am excited to see this IPO after 25 years of hard work. What SpaceX has done is a testament to human will and overcoming insurmountable obstacles. It's nothing short of amazing.

Congratulations, E. Amazing.

[Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike]

This was one of the many spectacular stone castles that were built in Kingdom of Hungary after the Mongol invasion of 1241.

The invasion proved that the old wooden fortifications were insufficient for the defense of the kingdom!

[Vintage Maps @vintagemapstore]

A lovely overview of the approximate limits of the world known to the Romans, around 150 AD. Map by Don Davis.

[Ancient History Hub @AncientHistorry]

Map of Roman legions by 212 AD

[Tarihin Penceresinden @_tarihpenceresi]

Homeros'a göre dünya

[Civixplorer @Civixplorer]

The world's largest populations after Columbus arrived in the Americas.

This era marked the beginning of a truly global age.

[Science Simplified @Scivf4]

This is what the AI brain looks like.

[Muse @xmuse_]

The difference between Hello and Goodbye. Fabian Perez, 2018.

[Uking Sun @UkingSun]

A digital ID for every humanoid robot?
China has launched its first national full-lifecycle management platform for humanoid robots, assigning each unit a unique 29-digit code: country code (2) + enterprise name code (4) + product model code (6) + serial number (17).
The system already covers 100+ companies, 200+ models and 28,000+ robots, marking a push towards standardised and traceable development.
The ID system was led by the Humanoid and Embodied Intelligence Standardisation Technical Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

[Curious Citizen of the World @CCoftheW]

@aestheticsguyy

[Curious Citizen of the World @CCoftheW]

@solisolsoli Curiosity, a heavenly road to the truth within

[Michael Button @MichaelButtonX]

Two photos of the same species at the same moment in time

[Curious Citizen of the World @CCoftheW]

@solisolsoli Thorn has found the softest spot

[kitty mayo @Kitty_Mayo_]

Two weeks ago, watching Agnessa Pedersen mind control a drone in real time, was one of the most moving moments in my career. Agnessa is a rare and wondrous human working towards a wild future.

[Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600]

On this wonderful map @blambertcarto shows us Europe and Its cities. Gorgeous piece.

[Curious Citizen of the World @CCoftheW]

@oilcanvasvibes Choose your bride.
It is time, plock one,
Fruit is ripe.
Which one?
One with the seeds.

[Curious Citizen of the World @CCoftheW]

@_ArtMuseum Dare to join
Touch the fire, hold my hand
Feel my hair, hear my heart
Lick the sweat, smell the skin
Be scratched, my nails are waiting