06 Feb 23 Monday Briefing

A roundup of five things I found interesting in the past week

• The culinary ethnography I never knew I needed – US gas station snacks.

• Fascinating history of metal casting and yes, the sand casting technique first used in the Shang Dynasty is still a process used today.

• Etiquette for the 21st century, including how not to talk to your animal if another human is present.

• Finding ghosts in Java, no special equipment needed.

• So far, the only reasonable response I have to the balloon kerfuffle are these two meme tweets.