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A Number System Invented by Inuit Schoolchildren Will Make Its Silicon Valley Debut

Math is called the “universal language,” but a unique dialect is being reborn

In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The “Kaktovik numerals,” named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm.

Today’s numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system. This system, adopted by almost every society, is what many people think of as “numbers”—values expressed in a written form using the digits 0 through 9. But meaningful alternatives exist, and they are as varied as the cultures they belong to.

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You are in a café with me, what tea do you order?

1. Rosehip tea: Which book did you love when you were younger? 2. Oolong tea: Which book series could you read again? 3. Rooibos: What is one of you favourite books? 4. Strawberry tea: Tell me about your first kiss, if you had one. 5. Apple tea: Tell me about your first break up, if you had one. 6. Earl Grey: Which countries have you visited? 7. Chai: Where do you want to travel next? 8. Darjeeling: What languages do you speak? 9. Hop tea: Do you have a favourite tea? Which one? 10. Herbal tea: Which person would you chose to travel the world with? 11. Nettle tea: Are you jealous on a person? Why? 12. Ice tea: Do you miss somebody? Why? 13. Yellow tea: What shampoo do you use? 14. Peppermint tea: What is your favourite gif at the moment? 15. Ceylon tea: Do you have a song you like, but have bad memories with? 16. Hibiscus tea: What is a song you can always hear? 17. Flowering tea: What is a movie you can always watch? 18. Pu-erh tea: What is a book you can recommend to others? 19. Turkish tea: What is your favourite cake? 20. Green tea: What was the first movie you saw in a cinema? 21. Blueberry-Muffin tea: Tell me a memory, which makes you smile. 22. Panda tea: Do you have pets? Which one? 23. Butter tea: Show / Tell me about one thing i your room you find awesome. 24. Hot chocolate: Do you have (a) stuffed animal(s) sitting in your room? Which one(s)? 25. 24 flavors: What is your favourite word? 26. Jasmin tea: Can you draw / paint? Wanna show me something? 27. Kombucha: What do you order on a pizza? 28. Cloud tea: Which movie do you want to watch next? 29. Gunpowder tea: If you had the chance: would you go to space? 30. Matcha: Bonus question of you choice! I might answer…

Hello! Do you have any favorite fiction works that intentionally address/explore linguistics? (For example, the Arrival movie, or Out of the silent planet)

hmm i don't think i know a ton, but babel is an auto-rec for me (translation magic! also breaks your heart!) and i really enjoyed the original ted chiang story that arrival is based on, "story of your life." ann leckie's imperial radch series does fun things with pronouns too, although linguistics is much less central.

always happy to get recs!

Calling all grapheme-color synesthetes!!

I made a spreadsheet to compare all of out alphabet's colors! If you have colors for letters, chose a row and add your alphabet in. This is entirely non-scientific, it's just fun to see all the colors!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k49odT3L986otANtsX73VQY6cNc9940b0IJp_NuVjb4/edit?usp=sharing

All you need in life is a color picker willing to expose you to the unbounded madness we call color vision.

me, absolutely clueless: "I want a color just like this one, but in red" color picker: Fuck you think you are, a Mantis Shrimp? Don't talk to me again until you can afford a wide gamut monitor.

5 simple exercises to awaken dormant muscles

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For the folklore side of tumblr...

Folklore and fairy tales ask game!

1. Did you grow up with any fun folk beliefs/customs/superstitions?

2. What is one of your favourite romantic fairy tales?

3. What is one of your favourite non-romantic fairy tales?

4. Did you grow up hearing or reading folktales?

5. Did you have a favourite folktale as a kid?

6. Do you have a favourite book with folklore or folk/fairy tales?

7. What is one of your favourite folkloric creatures?

8. Is there a specific fairy tale you dislike?

9. Is there a particular culture's folklore you know most about?

10. Is there a particular culture's folklore you'd like to know more about?

11. Have a bit of folklore trivia you'd like to share?

12. Do you have any media about folklore to rec?

13. Do you have a folklore rant you're holding in? (Let It Out)

14. If you could change something about a specific fairy tale what would it be?

15. Got any burning folklore questions?

16. What's a folktale you used to love but grew out of?

17. Do you prefer fairy tales, fables, legends or myths?

18. Do you care about the distinction between literary fairy tales and folk fairy tales?

19. If you could own any object from folklore what would it be?

20. If you met a talking animal would you prefer it to be an enchanted human, a disguised spirit, or simply a gifted animal?

21. For the multi-linguals: do you like the term 'fairy tales' or do you prefer what they are called in your other language(s)?

The Insects of Hawai'i - BBC Earth

it’s ace week apparently so here’s my two cents contribution in the form of this short old personal comic