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2B034C5 In addition to Herman Melville's own experience on the whaling ship Acushnet, two real events served as the genesis for his Moby Dick. One was the sinking of the Nantucket ship Essex in 1820, after a sperm whale rammed her 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the western coast of South America. The other event was the alleged killing in the late 1830s of the albino sperm whale Mocha Dick, in the waters off the Chilean island of Mocha. Mocha Dick was rumored to have 20 or so harpoons in his back from other whalers, and appeared to attack ships with premeditated ferocity.

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Once Upon a Prime review: The connections between maths and fiction

Sarah Hart's engaging book about how central maths is to literature by authors from George Eliot to Georges Perec is a homage to both subjects

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2F618EY Landing of the James Caird On South Georgia, 1916

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Presence review: A lively look at why we experience ghostly presences

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Images and caption info from the book Your Brain on Art Universe of Water Particles on a Rock where People Gather ? teamLab The interdisciplinary arts collective teamLab created an audience-driven experience in Tokyo called teamLab Borderless that brings the natural world to life. See image E in the color insert. The collective incorporates light, sound, and visual effects that feel as though you are part of the art, and that seem to transcend our normal perceptions of time and place. As you meander through the space, you are able to manipulate the surroundings through touch, and to watch as digital flowers bloom, and die, and bloom again. We often think of ourselves as individuals separate from our surroundings, from nature, but this stunning interactive museum dissolves the boundary between art and the viewer, allowing you to feel your surroundings in a visceral way. Composed of artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects, teamLab represents the exciting, transdisciplinary collaborations of the future.

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Your Brain on Art review: Fascinating guide needs a bit more science

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Credit: David Blandy, Atomic Light, installation view, John Hansard Gallery, 2023. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Reece Straw

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Atomic Light review: Solar astronomers rescue an uneven installation

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Ep4 Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

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Don't Miss: Explore great mysteries of physics in an ambitious podcast

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Episode 2. Meryl Streep in

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Don’t Miss: Extrapolations, a star-studded new climate change drama

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Cosmic Tumbles, Quantum Leaps review: Embodying Schrodinger's cat

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Cosmic Tumbles, Quantum Leaps review: Embodying Schrodinger's cat

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Adam Driver stars in 65.

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Don't Miss: 65, a sci-fi dinosaur thriller by writers of A Quiet Place

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Creature review: Human nature is key to a sci-fi ballet

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Creature review: Human nature is key to a sci-fi ballet

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The Mandalorian Season 3

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Don't Miss: The Mandalorian's third season, streaming on Disney+

91av's weekly round-up of the best books, films, TV series, games and more that you shouldn't miss

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Magisteria review: How science and religion have a tangled past

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Animalia review: Intriguing sci-fi thriller, shame about the aliens

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Don't Miss: Explore wildfire's power at Science Gallery London

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Don’t Miss: Learning about how the first black hole image was taken

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