Miscellaneous
What’s up with all those merpeople and sea monsters on old maps? Why Peru opened up Machu Picchu after seven months for one single man to visit. The supermassive black hole that spaghettified a star. And the Anti-Ad Ad Club paying influencers to trash talk corporations.Sponsor:FightCamp, joinfightcamp.com/RIDELinks:Why Did Renaissance Europeans See Merpeople Everywhere? (Literary Hub)In 1562 Map-Makers Thought America Was Full of Mermaids, Giants, and Dragons (Atlas Obscura)Peru opens Machu Picchu for a single Japanese tourist after almost seven-month wait (Reuters)After a 7-Month Wait, This Tourist Got Machu Picchu All To Himself (NY Times)ESO telescopes record last moments of star devoured by a black hole (Science Daily)Astronomers get a front row seat to a star getting torn apart by a huge black hole (Bad Astronomy)Get paid for shitting on Amazon, Facebook, and other big brands (A/V Club) Anti Ad Ad ClubKottke.OrgJackson Bird on Twitter