Tosny Digest 61: Do You Get Vellichor?

Nov 06, 2025

🐶 What did I do?

“The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.“

🗨️ Bill Clinton

Definition: (noun) The strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time and the stories of all the books they contain.
Surrounded by towering shelves of leather-bound volumes, he was overcome with a sense of vellichor, a quiet melancholy for all the forgotten worlds and unread lives lining the walls.

Canada Launches Wildfire-Fighting Satellite Program: The Canadian government has announced a new C$30 million program to develop and launch satellites specifically designed to detect and monitor wildfires earlier. The initiative aims to give crews a critical head start in containing blazes.
France Returns Looted Artifacts to Benin: France has officially repatriated an additional 13 precious artifacts to Benin, part of an ongoing effort to return cultural property looted during the colonial era. The ceremony took place in Paris before the items were shipped to Cotonou.
Japan’s Railway Tests “Floating” Anti-Earthquake Tech: Central Japan Railway Company has begun testing a new seismic isolation system that uses a “floating” mechanism to lift sections of railway track during an earthquake, drastically reducing the shaking transferred to the trains and infrastructure.

San Luis Obispo, California
This is a 15-foot-high, 70-foot-long alleyway whose walls are completely covered in used chewing gum. Started in the mid-20th century, it has become a bizarre, colourful, and slightly sticky public art installation where visitors add their own piece to the collage.

Morse Code Trainer: A simple, interactive website that helps you learn and practice Morse code. You can set the speed, choose between sound or light signals, and test your skills.