We all have those thoughts, the ones that come to us in the small hours of the night. Who am I? Why are we here? What if my cellphone ran on vacuum tubes instead? Randall Munroe has the answer to, well, only one of those questions, but also the answers to a whole bunch of others collected together into What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. Yes, that is a T-Rex eating an airplane. In the excerpt below Munroe examines what it would take to haul an average sized human in a chair over Australia's tallest skyscraper, using only the power of pigeons. Lots and lots of pigeons. Penguin Random HouseExcerpted from What If? 2 by Randall Munroe. Copyright © 2022 by Randall Munroe. Excerpted by permission of Riverhead, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.How many pigeons would it require in order to lift the average person and a launch chair to the height of Australia’s Q1 skyscraper?In a 2013 study, researchers at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics led by Ting Ting Liu trained pigeons to fly up to a perch while wearing a weighted harness. They found that the average pigeon in their study could take off and fly upward while carrying 124 grams, about 25 percent of its body weight.The researchers determined that the pigeons could fly better if the weights were slung... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2022-09-18 15:00:37 UTC ]
Penguin Random House will allow independent bookstores in the United States to take an additional month to pay their invoices to the publisher, the company announced on Wednesday. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a merger investigation into Penguin Random House owner Bertelsmann's acquisition of Simon & Schuster. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-21 18:05:27 UTC ]
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From LOLITA IN THE AFTERLIFE, edited by Jenny Minton Quigley. Reprinted by permission of Vintage Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Essay copyright © 2021 by Robin Givhan. Compilation copyright © 2021 by Jenny Minton Quigley. The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-03-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Audio has launched Ahab, a global online casting platform for voiceover actors in any business. The platform was originally developed as an internal tool for PRH's audiobook producers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK is publishing a series of essays from its authors, including Richard Dawkins and Charlie Mackesy, offering reasons to feel hopeful about the months and years ahead. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-01 14:00:07 UTC ]
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The merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has the potential to touch every part of the industry, including how much authors get paid and how bookstores are run. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-25 10:00:22 UTC ]
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Literary pivot alert! Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly announced we’re getting a new novel from A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility author Amor Towles, out from Penguin Random House on October 5. Towles told EW that he “likes to mix it up,” and he has; while his previous novels centered... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-18 17:03:11 UTC ]
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Some good news: today, Publishers Weekly reported that We Need Diverse Books is partnering with Penguin Random House on a series of programs to get more books by Black writers published. The Black Creatives Fund initiative involves a “Revisions Workshop”; a mentoring program; and marketing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-17 18:23:38 UTC ]
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Operating under the Black Creatives Fund banner, We Need Diverse Books is partnering with Penguin Random House on a series of programs designed to get more books by Black writers published. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Karp, who took the helm at Simon & Schuster after the loss of its formidable former c.e.o. Carolyn Reidy, reveals how he intends to navigate the pandemic, a Penguin Random House takeover, and US politics Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-11 15:06:22 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK is to publish four books from Amanda Gorman, the youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history, including a special edition of “The Hill We Climb” which she read at Joe Biden's inauguration. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-08 03:19:06 UTC ]
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Several organizations sent a letter to the Department of Justice on Friday urging it to stop Penguin Random House from purchasing Simon & Schuster. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-01-29 22:12:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House owner Bertelsmann has extended Thomas Rabe’s contract as chairman and c.e.o. for another five years. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-21 01:01:48 UTC ]
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Patrick Nolan has been promoted to publisher of Penguin Books, among several other role changes at Penguin Random House imprint Viking Penguin. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House has named David Drake, Scott Shannon, Kara Welsh, and Chris Jackson to new roles with expanded responsibilities, among others. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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In an open letter published on the company's website, PRH UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon has expressed confidence in the industry's prospects on entering a third lockdown, and revealed Penguin Random House UK is donating a further 15,000 more books to communities most affected by the coronavirus... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-12 10:23:48 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Children’s Books has scooped Lies Like Wildfire, the “compulsive and explosive” debut YA novel from Jennifer Lynn Alvarez. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-07 03:46:12 UTC ]
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Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau are starting their own publishing company, after seeing their eponymous imprint shuttered by Penguin Random House in a reorganization at the company late last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Canada is splitting the Knopf Random House Canada publishing group into two different imprints: Knopf Canada and Random House Canada. Each imprint has new leadership and will operate independently. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The planned merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster may be global but it's bad for books both foreign and domestic. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-12-04 19:25:12 UTC ]
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