Hi,

Welcome to the Procrastilearning Newsletter, where your time is well spent even though you should probably be doing something else.

3 things worth procrastilearning over

1. The colours of dinosaurs are mostly made-up

For decades, the colours of dinosaurs have been largely the stuff of artistic license and educated guesswork. Was the T-Rex green just because, I dunno, trees are green and it sounds plausible? Sure, why not. Paleontologists (and Hollywood) just filled in the blanks with whatever hues seemed vaguely reasonable at the time. Here is one explaining to a 7-year-old just how clueless they have been:

But in the last 20 years, science has made real strides in actually figuring dinosaur colours out. Tiny pigment structures called melanosomes can survive fossilization from time to time and we’re getting better at studying them. By looking at their shapes and comparing them to those in modern birds, researchers can now infer actual colours and patterns for some dinosaurs.

So far, we only have a handful of dinosaurs with reasonably confident colour reconstructions, like Anchiornis, which had striking black-and-white patterns with reddish highlights, and Psittacosaurus, which was darker on top and lighter underneath, possibly for camouflage.

But for most of the big names, like the T-Rex and triceratops, their colours are still a mystery. So until evidence says otherwise, let’s just say triceratops was purple with yellow spots. It’s just as valid a guess as the fluorescent green and dusty greys you’re used to seeing.

2. There’s something AI is helping us with

After listing several depressing AI news items in recent issues, I thought I'd just stick to one positive titbit this time round.

AlphaFold by DeepMind has been fixing a problem that had stumped scientists for decades: predicting the three-dimensional structures of proteins from their amino acid sequences. Before you fall asleep, just understand that it has transformed biology and medicine by making experimental approaches way faster, cheaper and more accessible.

So far its huge growing database has already helped develop vaccines for malaria, improved cancer therapies and our understanding of Alzheimer’s, and deciphered the structures of COVID-19 proteins. It’s even enabled the design of enzymes that help break down plastics, which is kind of a big deal.

But yes, otherwise AI is still wank.

3. There’s a tourist spot where China, North Korea and Russia's borders all meet

There is a place on Earth where three, let's say, rather cheeky governments meet. It’s the perfect destination for tourists who love having guns pointed in their face. I'm talking about the unique border junction of China, Russia and North Korea.

On the Chinese side, the Fangchuan National Scenic Area offers spots where you can glimpse all three countries at once (somebody has helpfully put a video on Google Maps). Elsewhere in the area, things are a bit less scenic. Just look at the delightful Korean-Russian Friendship House, for example.

Unsurprisingly, security is tight and the borders themselves are under strict control. While China seems to actively encourage tourism within its scenic zone, crossing over or even closely approaching the actual tripoint requires special clearance that barely anyone gets. There are comparatively few tourists on the Russian side (although you can find this Russian family’s photo with the tripoint monument) due to its inaccessibility from elsewhere in the country, and we all know North Korea isn’t going to be recommending its citizens treat their borders as tourist spots. The dilapidated ‘Bridge of Friendship’ visually sums up the reality here.

2 quotes to keep in mind

1 simple tip for focusing when working

Put headphones on without any music.

I do this all the time, mostly without thinking. I will put on headphones planning to put on something in the background, but instead I get side-tracked by what I'm doing and just sit there and work with silent headphones in my ears. I am doing it right now.

Wearing silent headphones is a simple cue that tells you that you're supposed to be focusing now. But it doesn't require you to expend any energy on trying to find some kind of noise or music to put on. It still dims out background noise a little and it also gives your ears a break.

The practice is apparently quite common in open-plan offices as it stops colleagues (at least, some of them) from talking to you too often.

That's all for today. Many thanks for reading.

Adam

Adam Zulawski
Procrastilearning on Beehiiv / More stuff

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