⬛️🟥 RUS vs HAM - what Stewards got wrong... this time 🟥⬛️ AKA Vanja vs Stewards part 9849651 🤣 In short, Russell kept turning into Hamilton and hit his front wing, causing loss of front grip for Hamilton, which ultimately lead to snap oversteer and collision. 🧵 THREADshow more

‡ Yet Another Dubious Stewards Decision There is a... long-standing complaint relating to stewards decisions that is shared by virtually all horseplayers: they should be more consistent in their decision making. Such complaints are legitimate, and consistency should always be a goal, not only in the officiating of horse racing. But it seems to me that the problem illustrated by the DQ in Del Mar's 11th race on Saturday is, in some ways, even more frustrating. I am referring to what seems to be a far too common inability of stewards to watch replays carefully, and thoughtfully process what has been seen. While I credit Del Mar for having edited together all three views of the incident in the embedded clip, it would have been better if they had (also) slowed down the drone view, which, as is so often the case, appears to be the definitive view. I have extracted the salient drone view portion and zoomed in on the action, so that readers might more easily see the crucial incident that the stewards apparently failed to take into account. The dubious decision to DQ the winner (#3 red and white silks) was made on the basis that nearing the wire, it drifted out, and caused the eventual fourth-place finisher (#5 pink silks) to steady, possibly costing that one a better placing. But I would argue that a careful, and reasonably thoughtful viewing of the drone shot, clearly shows something different. Just before the incident referred to by the stewards, the #5 horse (pink silks) and #9 (yellow silks) made contact, and it was that contact which initially caused the former to steady. The winner did subsequently drift out, but that was incidental, and did not, at least on its own, cost the #5 a placing. In fact, that the two even came so close was arguably a direct result of the #5 briefly losing its hind-end as a result of the bumping with the #9 horse. Had it not been for that initial contact, causing the #5 to angle in towards the eventual winner, there almost certainly would not have been any meaningful loss of momentum. Parsing it even more finely, it appears, again from the drone shot, that the #9 was not at fault, and it was, ironically, the "victim" in the questionable eyes of the stewards (#5), which angled in and lost its hind-end as a result of that earlier contact. Given that the rider of #5 had understandably steadied more sharply after the initial, far more dangerous incident, the most important momentum loss had already occurred before the rider again steadied slightly, due to the winner drifting out. In summary, there were clearly two incidents which contributed to a loss of momentum on the part of the #5 horse. Equally clearly, it was the initial incident, not even mentioned by the stewards, that caused the greater loss of momentum. In my view, the incident that the stewards used to rationalize the DQ was trivial, relatively speaking, and given the broader context, there should not have been any change in the order of finish.show more

This man was driving in stop and go traffic... with wet road conditions. The people in front hit their brakes but he doesn’t hit his at first, he speeds up a little and swerves into the left shoulder lane and the truck with a trailer behind him smashes into the car in front of him causing a chain reaction accident of cars. Some say he might be to blame because he didn’t brake because he was going to fast himself and it didn’t give the truck behind him enough time to stop. Others say no way, he had great defensive driving skills being aware of what was happening behind him. I am constantly looking in my rearview mirror and have swerved many times to avoid being hit from behind. Do you think his defensive driving skills were top notch or do you think he was partly to blame for that accident? Do you constantly watch your review mirrors? Been rear ended before.show more

This doesn't look like a "Stepford wife" or someone... who was brought into the RF because she "fit the mold". This looks like a confident woman, leading her family from the front, she's in charge and she's in control, ushering her children into their places smoothly and effortlessly. It made me wonder that if H was watching yesterday, and saw his family just getting on with life, if he felt the slightest bit of regret or remorse for everything he's said and done over the last 5 years. We all know Twerkle won't give a flying fig... she got exactly what she wanted (how's that workin' out for ya megsy?)... but H must be feeling his isolation more than ever, he needs to accept his part in causing it, take responsibility and realise that the chances of reconciliation are currently zero!show more

🚨BREAKING: In Columbus, Ohio, ICE agents hit a U.S.... citizen’s vehicle, and then admitted, on camera, that they “do this all the time”… before driving away. A 17-year-old U.S. citizen was reportedly on his way to church, when multiple officials surrounded his car, backed into his front bumper, and jumped out of their vehicles. When he rolled down his window, they told him… “We got the wrong person.” And walked back toward their cars. The 17-year-old got out to document what happened, and told an officer they had hit his vehicle… And the response was: “You can take a picture if you want. We do this all the time. You’re okay.” And then they drove off. The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. And courts have made clear that a “seizure” isn’t just being arrested, or put in handcuffs. It also includes situations where law enforcement use their authority in a way that blocks your freedom to leave… or creates an intimidating, forced encounter. So, when officers surround a car, hit it while backing up, and pull a teenager into a sudden law enforcement interaction, with no valid reason… At minimum, it’s a reckless stop. At worst, it’s an unlawful seizure, with property damage, and no accountability. And then there’s the part when she casually said… “We do this all the time.” Because that turns an “oops” moment into a pattern. And when that pattern violates your constitutional rights and due process, it starts to feel a lot like the government is using the Constitution like they use the Bible… Quoted when it’s useful, ignored when it isn’t.show more

We’ve seen guys like Judge, Stanton, Wells and others... tinker with their stances to get into a better hitting position to attack strikes in the zone. When a guy like Volpe has struggled to hit consistently for his first 3 years, is constantly late on mid-velocity heaters in the middle of the zone and is constantly off-balance when he misses the off-speed stuff; you think to take a look at his pre-pitch habits especially what he’s doing with his hands and stride, and consider eliminating some of the unnecessary movements to simplify things and be ready to attack a pitch in the strike zone sooner. Volpe starts with his hands high above his head with some waggle to probably keep his hands moving and stay in rhythm, then as he strides he drops his hands into the slot while he loads, then wraps his hands behind him as he strides and keeps his weight back on his backside. That front foot needs to get down early as he gets his hands back to be ready to smoke something in the zone. Why hasn’t someone suggested dropping his hands pre-pitch in his stance to get them into the slot early, keep them back to prevent wrapping, and cut out one less moving part to get him better ready to attack pitches in the zone? He can even still have some waggle back there if he prefers to keep his hands moving. In theory if his hands are down and back already, all he needs to do is get his front foot down in time? It’s worth a try lolshow more

Exactly. While this is true, it’s also irrelevant in... the grand scheme of things. Ross was at fault, period. Here’s why: First off, it’s against DHS policy & training for an officer to approach a vehicle from the front in this situation, and this “officer-induced jeopardy” negates the officers use of force claim and puts him at fault, period. There’s no debate on this as video evidence from multiple sources clearly show Ross stopping in front of her vehicle, and then taking the time to shift his phone from his right hand to his left so he can draw his weapon…BEFORE she even started moving. THIS is simply reality, and the conversation should end here. Second, it’s against DHS Use of Deadly Force policy (which is codified law) to fire at a moving vehicle that doesn’t pose imminent danger to officers, and even if they ARE in danger, it mandates deescalation before using deadly force, which EXPRESSLY states simply “moving out of the way” of a vehicle as a correct course of action before using deadly force (see attached doc below). Third, there is already well-established legal precedent governing these EXACT types of situations, and this officer would likely be found guilty by any jury in the U.S. For example: Adam’s vs. Speers (2020): “Once Speers was no longer in the path of the vehicle, the justification for the use of deadly force ended.” Orn vs. City of Tacoma (2019): “A reasonable jury could conclude that once Orn was no longer in the car’s trajectory, the threat of serious physical harm to him was eliminated.” Cordova vs Aragon (2009): “Where the officer had moved out of the way of the oncoming vehicle, the use of deadly force was not justified.” Villanueva vs. Cali (2021): “a reasonable jury could conclude that the Officers used excessive force, because they lacked an objectively reasonable basis to fear for their own safety, as they could simply have stepped back or to the side to avoid being injured.” Fifth, the videos/pics below CLEARLY show the officer was NOT in immediate danger, and the woman was moving away from him when he fired his FIRST shot when he was already clear to the left of the vehicle, and he fired the second & third shots point-blank into her face from the SIDE of the vehicle as she passed. That alone is enough to send him to prison, even if his first shot was somehow inexplicably deemed to be justified.show more

🇺🇦 Ukraine has significantly increased the deployment of its... domestically produced electronic warfare system “Lima” both on the front lines and in the deep rear. 🟥 Lima is a Ukrainian-made system that does not destroy drones and missiles, but instead disrupts their navigation and alters their course. 🚀 Effect on missiles: Thanks to Lima, missiles lose satellite navigation, causing their accuracy to degrade by approximately 2 kilometers for every 100 kilometers flown. This means a missile aimed at an infrastructure target can ultimately land in an open field. 💰 Cost: One Lima unit costs up to 3 million hryvnia. Protecting a large city requires 30 to 100 stations — approximately €5 million, which is roughly the price of a single Patriot PAC-3 missile. Where physically destroying every threat is too expensive, it is possible to disrupt their guidance systems and force them to miss targets by a significant margin. 🟥 According to Cascade Systems, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already received more than 400 Lima complexes. Over the past 18 months, the system has suppressed over 20,500 Shahed-type drones and altered the course of dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles. Lima represents one of Ukraine’s most effective and economical innovations in the war. By redirecting rather than destroying incoming threats, it achieves substantial defensive results at a fraction of the cost of traditional air defense systems. Its mass deployment is playing a major role in reducing the effectiveness of Russian long-range attacks. Video is generated by grok AIshow more

This fact absolutely shatters evolution. ...And makes the intelligent... design in Life certain. All the systems in Life that make things function - like everything that enables birds to fly - require a whole set of complex interconnected parts. Nothing works in isolation. Something evolutionists overlook is how the nature of all these systems are intricately interconnected. Every part relies on something else to make it work. You need the whole system, down to the DNA itself, or the function fails. This coordinattion between so many systems makes step-by-step evolution all but impossible. For instance... A wing isn’t just bones and feathers (or membrane). A wing requires a certain type of hollow bones, which the alleged ancestors of birds didn't have. And wings by themselves are useless - what reproductive benefit would wings have without the accompanying systems that lead to actual flight (the simultaneous requirements for bone pneumatization, muscle attachment sites, feather or membrane development, and the regulatory changes that control all of them)? Wings without these features would be harmful. Hollow bones without flight would be detrimental. The step-by-step path leading from non-bird to flying birds is filled with easily killed, unselectable intermediates. This is where evolutionists constantly fail - they look at modification in isolation, without considering that these systems are large, interconnected networks of functional parts all working together. And it all starts at the genetic level, from the DNA itself. DNA genes code for proteins. Regulatory information organizes when these proteins are built and how much should be made. Further regulatory systems coordinate where these proteins go after they’re built. And yet more informational networks place the proteins into the final system in coordination with other proteins. Then these protein systems are fit together to make entire organs, tissues, bones, etc. All of these systems and processes are coordinated from the DNA - which means major modification like turning a fish fin into a bird wing requires many coordinated DNA changes across the entire network. One change at a time simply cannot lead to the coordination of an entire multi-part coordinated system like this. A mutation that changes one protein would need another coordinated mutation to fit that mutated protein into the right place, which would require other proteins to be mutated to fit together into that system, which would also require yet more regulatory mutations to keep everything coordinated... Nothing works in isolation. It's all connected. Which is why it can't evolve one step at a time. One step at a time does nothing. Life requires all or nothing systems. Only intelligence can engineer all or nothing systems.show more

Make a lot of stuff, allow perfection to emerge,... and focus on the process. - beeple A short visit to the NODE this weekend to support a fellow artist and someone who inspires me to dream bigger. From his 20 years of daily activities to his forward thinking evolving technical capabilities, he shows us what the present moment is and what the future can look like in art. I believe Mike is one of the most down to Earth and influential artists working today in art and technology. How he and his brother, Scott, push the boundaries of art, experience, participation inspires us to think and create in new dynamic ways. Not only is he pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and show us things we have never seen before, he cares deeply about other artists; His community! Mike lead millions of artists to think about NFTs in 2021 which was a huge first step for the future of preserving art. Now in 2026, with the patronage of NODE, the organization of phil, and the graciousness of Micky 🐸, it is genuinely gearing up to be a massive paradigm shift for an art movement as we live and breathe. This is it folks! We like to say that we are in the golden age, or undergoing a digital art renaissance. It’s happening right now! And you who are reading this is part of it. On X, and in person. It requires us all who give a fuck to show up and support each other and make the art that’s true to us, and collect what we connect to or that moves us. To share how we each see the world from our perspectives in making art or experiences art; sharing ideas helps us become a collective consciousness and allows us to learn and grow together. With every event I can feel we get closer and closer; I was fortunate to spend more quality time with the people I learn from and respect. Like El Barba Roja blue check and Coldie 🟦🟥, AP, MrMerge, Winnie, Lanett Bennett Grant, joeyL.eth / Yatreda ያጥሬዳ, and of course the homie Chikai! It takes a village, and in this case it takes a village to raise Human One as Ryan Zurrer & Jehan Chu said in their recent posts. We all play a role here and contribute our hearts with our love for the game. You can see in Mikes work and character that he uplifts everyone. From his hometown studio in Charleston to the exhibitions he’s cultivating around the world. He includes 100s of artists to be a part of it. That’s true leadership! Thank you Mike for bringing us along and being a part of your journey of commitment, community, humility, humor, and have a good fucking time at your art shows. Congratulations, We love you bro!show more

“Can you just imagine WWE if every single guy... came out wearing the exact same thing?” In April 2022, Big Ben Rothwell announced on Ariel Helwani’s show that after 13 years with the UFC, his request for release was granted. After receiving offers from Bellator, PFL, and BKFC, Rothwell ultimately signed with BKFC, citing a great deal and the desire for creative freedom that had been stifled during the UFC’s Reebok era. Rothwell recalled an incident where he wore his iconic “cloak” backstage, only for the UFC to demand he take it off. Another time, Rothwell offered to let the UFC keep the $10,000 Reebok money so he could wear the cloak. Their response? “We’ll stop the whole show and take your entire purse if you wear it.” Rothwell drew inspiration from Francis Ngannou crossing over to boxing and Conor McGregor’s ventures into the same space, but his main desire was simple: to fight in front of live crowds again. “The Apex is not for me,” he said bluntly. He also spoke about his comfort fighting bare-knuckle, revealing that during his UFC days, he often waived the requirement for hand wraps. If anything happened to his hands, he’d accept the consequences. The first time he did this was in his fight against Brendan Schaub—though no, he didn’t head to P.F. Chang’s afterward to celebrate. Less than three years later, Rothwell is crowned BKFC champion, winning the belt in just 36 seconds in front of a record-breaking crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. He called it the “craziest” crowd he’s ever fought in front of during his 25-year career. To make the moment even more surreal, McGregor—one of Rothwell’s inspirations to make the crossover—was in the ring as a part-owner of BKFC. Few could have imagined this back in 2022 when Rothwell first announced his move to BKFC. Big Ben Rothwell / Ariel Helwani Bare Knuckle FC / Conor McGregorshow more

Last night in Kyiv, for the first time, I... went down into the subway to shelter. I just got to the city at that time. The platforms were packed - not with commuters, but with families. Kids curled up on the floor with blankets. Parents sitting shoulder to shoulder. Elderly couples holding hands. Strangers sharing chargers, snacks, and quiet conversations. Above us, the city echoed with air defense and explosions. Below, people tried to make a few hours feel safe. At first, it was mostly silence. Then the stories began. A woman told me her husband was on the front line. A teenage boy showed me a photo of his older brother in uniform. Another family spoke about a son who hadn’t come back. These weren’t dramatic conversations. They were calm. Almost routine. Because for Ukrainians, this has become part of life. Standing there, surrounded by hundreds of people who never asked for this war, I didn’t feel fear. I felt responsibility. Responsibility to keep showing up. To keep helping. To keep turning support into real action. Because behind every donation, every delivery, every piece of equipment, there is a family like the ones I met that night. The war doesn’t pause. So neither do we. Our fundraising is still happening. Our work is still moving forward. For the people in the subway. For the people on the front lines. For Ukraine. Kyiv stands. Ukraine stands. And we keep going. Donate if you can:show more

Let’s be absolutely clear with the facts from today’s... “march against the far right” which I attended from the start. 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 1. These were left-wing organisations from all over the UK. Every union under the sun was in attendance. National Education Union are definitely indoctrinating children within the teacher and school environment, just look at their presence today. It is very concerning. Watch what they teach your kids. They, as an education union, along with Unite the union: join a union, were also fighting over who got to be at the front of the march today, thanks to two lesbian powerhouses not having it. Comedy gold 😂 2. The second video shows over 100 coaches being used to bus in all these so-called “concerned citizens” on organised transport. They are all part of a left-wing narrative which just doesn’t work anymore, we see exactly what they are doing. That was the entire left-wing loony left in attendance. That’s it. That’s them. This is a major point! We have millions who know what’s right, and the left wing in this country is about to get the shock of their lives in the next elections, swept off the map. That was a panic march. They know it’s coming! 3. There was no working class at this march! Fact! It was all middle and upper class people who attend the usual Palestine marches and Palestine Action events. They hate the Union Jack flag and they hate the working class. This was a stunt by the well-organised unions to pretend the country is behind them which it is not. And that was clear as day to witness today. Also a clear panic march. 4. We don’t have much to worry about. These people are not in the real world. They are privileged and wealthy. And as I said, that’s the crowd, that’s them. They are in total fantasy land, and it’s now time for the adults to get back in charge. 5. Long live England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿✝️🇬🇧show more

😓 Air India 🇮🇳 Flight AI171 with fully loaded... Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner fatal accident: I‘m an airline pilot with >15‘000h of experience and a physics institute: My brief PRELIMINARY analysis of the visible facts from the video of the takeoff: * The flaps are only slightly extended, presumably to position 1 instead of 5. * The landing gear is still extended, which should have been retracted at this altitude and causes additional drag. * The aircraft is at a high angle of attack, which confirms the insufficient flap setting. * From the video and witness accounts, only low engine noise is audible. * Neither smoke nor fire is visible. * An engine failure is less likely. The most probable cause is presumably a human factor, an incorrectly chosen, insufficient flap setting for takeoff, and consequently an inadequately selected thrust. In this context, the correlated speeds were too low because they were calculated for a larger flap setting or a lighter aircraft. As a result, the aircraft took off with insufficient speed and intentionally but falsely derated thrust, was therefore on the unstable side, and rapidly lost more speed and altitude due to the additional failure to retract the landing gear in a timely manner, leading to a subsequent stall at low altitude and crash. For the experts: the aircraft got onto the wrong side of the speed vs drag curve and maneuvered itself into a corner from where there is no escape. Another possible cause could also have been an incorrect input of a wrong takeoff weight into the Flight Management System, resulting in too low thrust and too low speeds. The pilots got startled after takeoff, couldn’t wrap their head around what went wrong and incorrectly prioritized making an emergency call instead of flying the aircraft first, manually increasing thrust immediately to maximum, and retracting the landing gear. In summary of this very early and preliminary assessment (your confidence level should be as low as mine): The most probable cause is human error 😓 - as most of the time these days. Not because the pilots got worse (although that effect can be observed as well with prioritization of diversity over competence) - but because technology got so much better.show more

The past year has seen me have a renaissance,... in the truest sense… I won’t go into details now but will at some point before long. What has brought so much happiness to my life and those around me this past year has been my falling back in love with sport. Cycling has, and always will be, my number one. Yet I’d forgotten that I simply love sport, not for results but for the sheer joy of doing it, I’d completely forgotten that the health of my mind is intrinsically connected to the health of my body. I’ve rediscovered the love I had for sport that existed before the world of professional cycling took over in the way it did. I’ve been pushing myself and trying new things this past year, indifferent to the results, just out having fun and at times going deeper than I thought I was capable of anymore. Last week I got on a TT bike for the first time in a decade, Factor Bikes built me a bike, I’ve been looking at it for two years and decided it was time to get fitted, getting back on it felt like going home. Anyway, the long and the short of this is that it’s inspired me to create a club to inspire and be inspired. A community for us to share our love for getting out there and doing it, because I’ve realized that although I spend most of my sporting life on my own I derive the most pleasure when feeling part of something. It’s in its early days, I’ve called it Sporting Club CHPT3 aka SCC3, I’d love you to check it out and join. It’s still in its infancy, but I hope it’s going to grow into something that will inspire you as much as me.show more

INF Gavin Kilen (Tennessee Baseball) will be a key... piece within a loaded Tennessee lineup this season. Earned the starting 2B job as a Freshman and contributed, but broke out last spring to the tune of a .330/.361/.591 slash line with 23 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR and 41 RBIs. Kilen is slightly undersized and has an average build at 5'11 and 180-lbs. Some room to fill out and add ~10 pounds or so. Relaxed, slightly crouched stance in the box with a medium high handset. Minimal load in which his hands drift slightly, leg lift leads into a small stride. Short, compact swing and takes a direct path to contact. Above-average hand speed, it's an operation that's tailored towards spraying line drives all over the yard. Kilen is a hit-over-power profile with an aggressive approach in the box. He has plus bat-to-ball skills and his feel for the barrel is evident. Last spring, Kilen worked a 93% IZ contact rate, including 95% against FB. His aggressive approach and somewhat free-swinger mentality does lead to some chase up against FB and secondaries down, but it hasn't been a hindrance to his production. Kilen pounces on pitches in the zone and steps in the box ready to hit. Would give his hit tool a 55. It's more gap power than it is over the fence power for Kilen, but he did tap into some more impact last season. Part of that is due to getting the ball up in the air more: between '23 and '24 he increased his FB+LD% from 44% to 51%. It will always play as slightly below average (fringy), but he did post a Max EV of 108.5 during the spring and 101.4 this summer. Kilen's HR impact and highest quality of contact comes to the pull side. Vast majority of his XBH power comes on pitches in the bottom-half of the zone, which makes sense given his bat path. Has shown the ability to work from gap-to-gap. Kilen was Louisville's every day SS last spring, but he'll slide over to 2B this season for Tennessee. I actually think that's where he profiles best defensively as a professional, where he has an average arm with some range. After seeing him at SS for a couple of summers, his actions and clock translate better at 2B. Kilen is a day 1 type this July with top-55 overall upside.show more

🪦Here, carved into a 200+ year-old stone, lies the... mystery of Allord Myrick. During a cemetery clean-up last fall, the light hit this headstone at the perfect moment and caught my eye, so I knelt down to read the hand-carved inscription. It said: “Allord Myrick, b. April 18, 1796, d. Jun 1799.” Only three years old when young Allord died, his family was likely distraught by the loss. And in that era, grief was literally carved in stone. Back then, family members often carved markers for their loved ones themselves, which adds another layer to this story. Because it isn’t just the story of Allord, but the story of the family who lost him and chose to memorialize him in a stone that still holds his name more than 200 years later. I wanted to know more about them, but there are no other Myricks buried in this cemetery. So where did his family go? Maybe they’re here too, and the records have been lost to time. Or maybe they moved on after losing their son. We may never know, but it’s fascinating to imagine what the full story might have been.show more

Road Rage on Southend roundabout: A driver almost caused... a collision when they failed to give way to another car on a roundabout. It happened at the busy roundabout next to Garon Park and the Southurch McDonalds. Kerry meek said: “I was already on the roundabout, going straight for the second exit, when suddenly, this car yeets in front of me. Brave. Bold. Unnecessary. “He slams his brakes like his brain just remembered The Highway Code exists, then starts posturing like he’s the main character and I’ve interrupted his audition tape. Pulled out, slammed on, got aggressive… and somehow he still believed I was in the wrong. “Now, I’m no expert, but I’m fairly sure give way to the right implies, aka the person already on the roundabout… meaning me." Kerry added: “All I wanted was the universal driver handshake: hand up, ‘oops!’ or a nod… and we both carry on like emotionally stable motorists.” “It’s a roundabout, not Fight Club: 2. Yet somehow, he still tried to invite me ‘round the corner’ for a fight. We all make mistakes. Just own it, wave a hand, apologise, and move on, my guy. Some of us are apparently action movie characters trapped in a Ford Focus. “So for Christmas this year, I’d like to nominate him to receive a copy of The Highway Code, some humility and maybe some proper driving lessons.”show more

Look at the tips of her fingers. The marble... is turning into leaves... This is the most astonishing detail in Bernini's Apollo and Daphne, in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. Daphne, fleeing the god Apollo, has begged to be saved, and at the instant he catches her she begins to turn into a laurel tree. Bernini carved the exact second it happens, and the change starts at her hands: her raised fingers are sprouting laurel leaves, so thin that in bright light they turn faintly translucent, the way a real leaf glows when you hold it up to the sun. To understand what that took, consider what marble actually is. It is heavy, brittle, and utterly unforgiving. A single slip, one vibration too many, and a leaf that took days to carve shatters, and there is no putting it back. When the sculpture was restored in 1997, conservators discovered how Bernini protected this fragile growth while he worked: he had wrapped the thinnest, most delicate parts in little cushions of plaster, to shield them from the vibrations traveling through the stone as he carved the rest. The same restoration revealed his real secret... The leaves and the strands of windblown hair are riddled with the marks of a bow drill, a tool that bores holes into stone. But Bernini did not drill straight in, which would have left round, mechanical holes. On the tiny leaves at Daphne's fingertips, he tilted the drill at an angle, cutting long shallow grooves instead, so the marble would mimic the natural veins and splits of a living leaf. He was imitating the way foliage actually grows. I wrote this so that the next time a sculpture detail takes your breath away, you do not see only marble. You see the months of patience of a human being who chose to spend part of his short life turning cold stone into a living leaf, so that four hundred years later a stranger would stop and feel something... I started this newsletter because our past is extraordinary, and fewer and fewer people are showing us how to truly see it. Every week I try to. If that is something you would like to be part of, you can join at the link below, and if you'd like to support my work, a paid subscription is what makes it possible: Thanks for reading.show more