Omnium Gatherum: 23may2021

An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together … Omnium Gatherum for May 23, 2021

Here’s a variety of notable things I’ve recently found that you may also be interested in checking out:

• Crowdfunding with 6 days to go: “Discordia #0-#1: A Noir Horror Series. An alcoholic war veteran is tasked with finding a missing girl in the ruins of Discordia.” As it says in the image for the campaign: “Do you like: Dark Gods? Cosmic Horror? Worlds Ravaged by War? Disgusting Creatures? Sci-fi, Action and Adventure? Then you’ll love Discordia.”
• “We’ve Been Evolving For Millions Of Years, So Why Are Our Bodies So Flawed?” About Evolution Gone Wrong: The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don’t) [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Alex Bezzerides
• “Home Sick Pilots is a haunted house story with a punk rock edge. If Stephen King discovered Riot Grrrl.” About Home Sick Pilots, Volume 1: Teenage Haunts [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard, due May 25—”In the summer of 1994, a haunted house walks across California. Inside is Ami, lead-singer of a high school punk band- who’s been missing for weeks. How did she get there? What do these ghosts want? And does this mean the band have to break up? Expect three chord songs and big bloody action as Power Rangers meets The Shining (yes really), and as writer DAN WATTERS (Lucifer/COFFIN BOUND) and artist CASPAR WIJNGAARD (Star Wars/Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt) delve into the horrors of misspent youth.”
• “World is home to 50bn wild birds, ‘breakthrough’ citizen science research estimates. University of NSW study suggests six times as many individual birds as humans but that many species are very rare.”
• “Egyptian Archaeologists Accidentally Discover 250 Ancient, Rock-Cut Tombs. Some of the burials found at the Al-Hamidiyah necropolis date back 4,200 years.”
• “The Cicadas Are Here. Please Enjoy These Horrible Pictures Of Them.” Also “How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love—or at Least Tolerate—the Cicadas.” Also, holy shit, people aren’t the only ones gonna go crazy post-lockdown! “A Fungus Is Pushing Cicada Sex Into Hyperdrive And Leaving Them Dismembered.”—”‘Everybody’s having a good time while they’re infected,’ he says. ‘So I don’t imagine there’s much pain — maybe a desire to listen to the Grateful Dead or something like that, but no pain.’”
• Even a corpse flower, trollin’ the gas station for hook ups. “Famous flower pops up at abandoned Bay Area gas station, draws crowds“—”It produces it over and over every year until the bulb has sort of enough energy for it to bloom. This can take 10 years, this can take 15, this can take 20.”
• From the What’s Your Poison? dept: “Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds.”—”There is no such thing as a “safe” level of drinking, with increased consumption of alcohol associated with poorer brain health, according to a new study. In an observational study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers from the University of Oxford studied the relationship between the self-reported alcohol intake of some 25,000 people in the UK, and their brain scans.”
• 2001’s space child will always be the first space baby to me. “When will the first baby be born in space?”
• “Physicists Identify the Engine Powering Black Hole Energy Beams. Supermassive black holes emit jets of white-hot plasma that stretch thousands of light-years across the cosmos. For the first time, researchers have identified what’s creating these jets.”
• Archaeologists train a neural network to sort pottery fragments for them. The network turned out to be as good at the job as human archaeologists.”
• Wait. Is this an example of the former or the latter? “Research findings that are probably wrong cited far more than robust ones, study finds. Academics suspect papers with grabby conclusions are waved through more easily by reviewers.”
• “What mimes interacting with invisible objects says about visual perception. Mimes ‘make us feel like we’re aware of an object just by seeming to interact with it.’”
• “Robotic ‘Third Thumb’ use can alter brain representation of the hand.”
• “Move over, Death Valley: These are the two hottest spots on Earth.”—”Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature on the planet: On 10 July 1913, temperatures at the aptly named Furnace Creek area in the California desert reached a blistering 56.7°C (134.1°F). Average summer temperatures, meanwhile, often rise above 45°C (113°F). But when it comes to surface temperature, two spots have Death Valley beat. A new analysis of high-resolution satellite data finds the Lut Desert in Iran and the Sonoran Desert along the Mexican-U.S. border have recently reached a sizzling 80.8°C (177.4°F).”
• “The Atlantic hurricane season’s first storm forms early—again. Ana’s formation is part of a trend toward earlier storms in the Atlantic.”
• “A zombie-fire outbreak may be growing in the north. ‘Overwintering’ fires smolder under the snow, reigniting vegetation in the spring.”
• “Tampons, sanitary napkins could diagnose yeast infections with color-changing threads.”
• “Electric cars: Special dyes could prevent unnecessary motor replacements. One day in the near future dyes in electric motors might indicate when cable insulation is becoming brittle and the motor needs replacing. Scientists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), together with ELANTAS, a division of the specialty chemicals group ALTANA, have developed a new process that enables the dyes to be directly integrated into the insulation. By changing colour, they reveal how much the insulating resin layer around the copper wires in the motor has degraded. The results were published in the journal ‘Advanced Materials’.”
• “A new form of carbon. Not graphene: researchers in Germany and Finland discover new type of atomically thin carbon material.”—”Theoretical studies have shown that carbon atoms can also arrange in other flat network patterns, while still binding to three neighbours, but none of these predicted networks had been realized until now.”
• “New technology converts waste plastics to jet fuel in an hour.”
• “Oxford scientists discover how to alter colour and ripening rates of tomatoes. Scientists at the University of Oxford’s Department of Plant Sciences have discovered how the overall process of fruit ripening in tomato (including colour changes and softening) can be changed –speeded up or slowed down – by modifying the expression of a single protein located in subcellular organelles called the plastids. This offers a novel opportunity for crop improvement.”
• “A gentler strategy for avoiding childhood dental decay. By targeting the bonds between bacteria and yeast that can form a sticky dental plaque, a new therapeutic strategy could help wash away the build-up while sparing oral tissues, according to a new study by a team from the School of Dental Medicine.”
• “A gut feeling. Scientists link genetic makeup of bacteria in the human gut to several human diseases.”
• “Tapeworm infestation gives lowly ants long life. Parasite-ridden ants don’t venture out of the nest, which might help to prolong their lives.” Also “The Never-Aging Ants With a Terrible Secret. A parasite gives its hosts the appearance of youth, and an unmatched social power in the colony.”
• “Preemie boys age faster as men, study shows.”
• “Famed Darwin’s Arch collapses due to erosion in Galapagos Islands.”
• “Tulane researchers develop test that detects childhood TB a year ahead of current screenings.”
• Researchers Identify Proteins That Predict Future Dementia, Alzheimer’s Risk. Large study of plasma proteins and dementia illuminates the biology of dementia and may help lead to treatments.”
• “HIV/AIDS vaccine: Why don’t we have one after 37 years, when we have several for COVID-19 after a few months?”
• “Virus deaths are probably two to three times more than official records, the W.H.O. says..”
• “Sniffing Labrador retrievers join Thai coronavirus fight.” Also “Cattle for raffle gets Thai town in moood for vaccines.”
• Not just dogs, apparently: “Stop Impulse Buying Hamsters During the Pandemic and Abandoning Them. An animal shelter in Singapore reported a surge in hamster rescues during the pandemic.”
• I Worked A Vaccine Hotline. Here’s The Big Problem With The System. ‘I had callers cry on the phone. There was nothing I could do but stay on the line and try to be empathetic.’”
• “Twitch launches a dedicated ‘hot tubs’ category after advertiser pushback. ‘Being found to be sexy by others is not against our rules’.” Also “Transgender’ will be among more than 350 new tags Twitch is adding next week. ‘We should have done this sooner,’ the company said in a blog post.” Also “Nearly 1 in 10 teens identify as gender-diverse in Pittsburgh study. The figure is vastly higher than the roughly 2 percent cited in most national estimates.”
• “Leaked Emails Show Crime App Citizen Is Testing On-Demand Security Force. Citizen would deploy private security forces at the request of app users, according to documents and sources.” Also “Citizen Ceo Offered to Personally Fund LA Arson Manhunt — for the Wrong Person. ‘We make this sort of heinous crime impossible to escape from’.”—”As wildfires raged through Southern California last weekend, an app called Citizen offered an unorthodox bounty over livestream and in push alerts to local residents: “hunt down” the alleged arsonist, and we’ll give you $30,000 cash.”
• For my part, I experienced first hand rural broadband with capacity that was oversold, so … not capped, but definitely bottlenecked on their network. “Frontier knowingly sold Internet speeds it can’t deliver, FTC lawsuit says. Frontier capped actual DSL speeds to levels below its advertised rates, FTC says.”
• “Verizon forces users onto pricier plans to get $50-per-month gov’t subsidy. You might have to change Internet plans to get the FCC’s $50 low-income subsidy.”
• “Mandatory opt-out, data breach notification part of new privacy bill. Senators reintroduce bill as scrutiny of social media ramps up.”
• RSS über alles! “Chrome’s RSS-powered “Follow” button is like a rebooted Google Reader. For now, it’s an Android “experiment” that might get “a broader rollout in Chrome.”
• “Snap debuts true AR glasses that show the potential (and limitations) of AR. Limited availability, battery life, and FOV make for a curiosity, not a product.”
• “Taiwan’s TSMC claims breakthrough on 1nm chips. Research project with MIT and NTU will help improve efficiency of future semiconductors.”
• “RAI’s certification process aims to prevent AIs from turning into HALs. It’s like the LEED green building system but for artificial intelligence.”
• From the Gold Rush Economy dept: “The battle for the future of ‘gig’ work. Ride-sharing companies are pushing to make a third category of ‘independent’ worker the law of the land. Drivers say the notion of independence is little more than a mirage.”
• “Tim Cook’s Fortnite trial testimony was unexpectedly revealing. Apple at its most and least idealistic.”
• “A 20-year-old Xbox Easter egg has been revealed, and there may still be more. The console came out in 2001.”
• “This AI makes Robert De Niro perform lines in flawless German. Technology related to deepfakes helps match facial movements to dialogue.”
• “Facial recognition system used to identify Lafayette Square protester to be halted. The move comes after Virginia passed tight new restrictions on the technology.”
• “Time, money, and the new vaccination push. It’s time to bring vaccines to work.”
• “The Lawmakers Behind ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Abortion Bans Are Lying To You. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is the latest to sign one of these laws, which doctors say are arbitrary and medically misleading.”
• “Gaza Tests Biden Foreign Policy Team’s Promise To Learn From Obama-Era Mistakes. No Biden staffers who signed a letter regretting Obama’s Yemen policy would say on the record how the administration’s support of Israel’s bombardment is different.”
• “Turks May Be Rediscovering the Merits of the Secular Paradigm. The departure of some Turks from Erdoğan-style manifest Islamism based on visible piety instead of spiritual and moral piety probably means their departure from Erdoğan’s voter base.”—”‘The piety of the ruling class … corruption, nepotism and injustice … All of that makes people think ‘if this is Islam, I am not Muslim.’ That is one reason why deism and atheism are on the rise,’ explains Abdullah Sevim, a board member of Saadet (Felicity), a splinter Islamist party in the opposition.”
• “7 rural counties in Oregon that voted for Trump have voted in favor of effort to secede from the blue state and join Idaho.”
• “Why Prosecutors Need to Prepare the Country for Donald Trump’s Trial. If the former president is charged, Americans will be shocked.”
• “Why Conservatives Want to Cancel the 1619 Project. Objections to the appointment of Nikole Hannah-Jones to an academic chair are the latest instance of conservatives using the state to suppress ideas they consider dangerous.” Also “Her ‘1619 Project’ Is a Political Lightning Rod. It May Have Cost Her Tenure.”
• “Acupuncture, Tupac’s Stepdad and the Untold Story of NYC’s Heroin Epidemic. “Dope is Death” revisits America’s first acupuncture detox program and the political persecution of its leaders.” About Dope Is Death, dir Mia Donovan—”In 1973, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, along with fellow Black Panthers and the Young Lords, combined community health with radical politics to create the first acupuncture detoxification program in America. This form of radical harm reduction was a revolutionary act toward the government programs that transfixed the lives of black and brown communities throughout the South Bronx. Dope is Death utilizes an abundant archive while giving us insight into how the acupuncture clinic rose to prominence and, despite funding challenges, still functions to this day. Some of those who benefited from the program became acupuncturists themselves. Dr. Mutulu’s legacy is cemented within this profound story of community healing and activism.” Watch “Dope is Death” trailer.
• “An ‘Army of 16-Year-Olds’ Takes On the Democrats. Young progressives are an unpredictable new factor in Massachusetts elections. They’re ardent, and organized, and they don’t take orders.”
• “U.S. proposes global minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, with an eye on something even higher.”
• “This Magical Trick Solved an Ice Cream Shop’s ‘Labor Shortage’. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ said co-owner Jacob Hanchar.”—”a novel idea to solve the ‘crisis.’ Like … offering to pay workers $15 an hour.”—”This is a problem that a capitalist economy is supposedly equipped to solve: If there’s truly a “shortage” of labor and a demand for more workers, companies can increase wages to incentivize workers to apply. It just so happens that a lot of companies are resistant to the idea of raising wages for fear of cutting too heavily into their profit margins. (Which raises the question of whether the business model is entirely reliant on paying people less than their labor is worth in the first place.) ”
• “Texas gov knew of natural gas shortages days before blackout, blamed wind anyway. Official’s phone logs offer blow-by-blow account of the disaster as it unfolded.”
• “Why Do Police Keep Shooting Into Moving Cars? The killing of Andrew Brown Jr. highlights a problem departments have struggled to address.”
• “How a Nevada Town’s Racist ‘Sundown’ Siren Became a Quaint Dinner Bell in the White Imagination. Every day, at 6:30 p.m. sharp, a siren blares through the town of Minden. For citizens of the Washoe nation, the sound carries a painful, violent memory.”
• “Was Mother Teresa a Cult Leader?” Tweet—”‘It raises the question of whether the difference between a strict monastic community and a cult lies simply in the social acceptability of the operative faith.’ Or… it shows that abuse can happen in all varieties of religious group, and…”
• Series 2: Unfinished Business, British Library. “The fight for women’s rights is unfinished business. But where do we begin? The British Library’s Curator of Contemporary Archives, Polly Russell, is joined by guests including actor and activist Jameela Jamil, Sex Education writer Laurie Nunn, Olympic gold medal winner Victoria Pendleton, Nubian Skin founder Ade Hassan, and psychoanalyst and feminist writer Susie Orbach, to talk all things sexual liberation, intersectionality, mental health and more. Find out about the long history of women fighting for justice, discover remarkable characters from the past and hear from women today who are challenging and changing the world for the better. Creating a space for in-depth conversations on issues that matter across the world, this brand new podcast accompanies the British Library’s major new exhibition, opening 23 October 2020, Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights open now. Book your tickets. Learn more about the fight for women’s rights, our online resources are a great place to start with articles and videos on everything from women’s work during the war to disability activism and a suffrage map of Britain detailing the true breadth of the movement across the country.”
• “What My Korean Father Taught Me About Defending Myself in America. Lessons in tae kwon do, style, and activism.”
• “The “Participation Trophies” Argument Has Always Been a Myth. Accolades for “just showing up” have been around much longer than the internet, and for good reason.”
• “The New York-Is-Dead Talk Was a Parable of Human Arrogance. We seem to have some primal need to feel like we’re present for the End Times, maybe because it makes us feel important.”
• “Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals. Plastic Waste Makers index identifies those driving climate crisis with virgin polymer production.”
• “Hollywood. Are they finally facing consequences? From Ellen DeGeneres to Scott Rudin, the entertainment industry’s coddling of jerks is coming under examination. Sort of.”
• “Stalking. The quest to see without being seen.”
• “Biohacker Ari Rastegar claims to have body of a little kid.”
• “In Speed Racer’s fossil-fuel-free future, speed is freedom. The Wachowskis’ endlessly watchable 2008 blockbuster imagines a more ideal world.”
• “No Man’s Sky confirms Mass Effect crossover, adds iconic Normandy SR-1 to fleet. The SR-1 can be yours, if you find it in-game by May 31. Also: NMS’s DLSS-VR tease.”
• “E-Bikes Can Provide a Good Workout. Pedal-assisted electric bikes provided a faster and more “fun” commute while raising breathing and heart rates enough to contribute to fitness.”
• “Boom Supersonic aims to fly ‘anywhere in the world in four hours for $100’”
• Watch “Star Citizen: The Best Game Ever”
• “New BATMAN and SUPERMAN Animated Series Coming to HBO Max.”—”HBO Max and Cartoon Network have greenlit a straight-to-series order for Batman: Caped Crusader. This is an all-new animated series and reimagining of the Batman mythology. It’s told through the visionary lens of executive producers Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams, and Matt Reeves.”
• Only if you can get past Rowling: “‘Harry Potter’ Quiz Show, Retrospective Special Coming to HBO Max. The five-night event will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first film in the franchise.”
• “Superman Animated Series Starring Jack Quaid Coming to HBO Max, Cartoon Network.”—”Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Clark Kent and Lois Lane in an all-new, family-friendly animated series with Jack Quaid (“The Boys”) and Alice Lee (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”) voicing America’s most recognizable super-sweethearts. HBO Max and Cartoon Network announced a two-season series order for “My Adventures With Superman,” which follows the Man of Steel and the dogged Daily Planet reporter in their 20s, as well as their best friend Jimmy Olsen, as they begin to discover who they are and everything they can accomplish together as an investigative news team.”
• “The Best Day Of The Week To Take A Mental Health Day Off Work. Any time off work is great, but there’s a way to make the most of a break for self-care.”
• The Dee Sanction: Ex Libris from Just Crunch Games. “In 1593, the Agents of Dee set out to Deptford in search of a lost remnant from the sacking of Mortlake, Dee’s home. The paper trail indicates the owner of a home in Deptford village received an annotated copy of The Book of Dead Names, and Dee wants it back. The problem? He isn’t the only one who wants it.”
• “A Finnish drink with a heroic past. In the 16th Century, effervescent sima was a more desired drink than beer and has since become Finland’s go-to beverage for ushering in spring.”