Author: briery

26/f

Kafka saw humor not only as a defense against the pain and anguish he felt inflicted upon him by the outside world, but also against the pain he rained upon himself. This was a man who chose words carefully and used humor sparingly. But when Kafka used humor, he used it to further emphasize the horror of what was going on in his worlds. […] The humor brought out the absurdity of the situations and thus helped to heighten the tension. It was also used to create even greater contrasts both in scene and storyline, to further emphasize the darkness felt in so many of his stories.

Mark A. Seaver, from Franz Kafka: The Irony of Laughter

I think of you always all the time. I can see you in bed, more lovely than anything that has been at all. I love you. I love you more, even, than when I said I loved you only a few seconds ago.

Dylan Thomas, from a letter to Caitlin Thomas written c. August 1943

We Finally Know How Birds Can See Earth’s Magnetic Field

A special eye protein is helping birds to “see” Earth’s magnetic field! If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.

The ability to see Earth’s magnetic field, known as
magnetoreception, relies on the presence of specifically the blue
wavelength of light. The complex process involves “radical” intermediate
molecules which are sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field. The Earth’s
magnetic field, as it relates to the direction the bird is facing, could
alter the intermediate radical molecules differently, giving the bird a
sense for where it is facing in relation to the Earth’s magnetic field.

While
the exact way birds visualize Earth’s magnetic field is part of further
investigation, scientists believe the Cry4 protein acts as sort of a
filter over the bird’s vision. This filter would allow birds to see a
sort of compass of the Earth and direct their migratory flights
accordingly.

Source: Forbes

We Finally Know How Birds Can See Earth’s Magnetic Field