Omnium Gatherum: 30may2021

An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together … Omnium Gatherum for May 30, 2021

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

• Upcoming release from one of my favourite artists: Amy Denio’s Pandemonium, due to release in June. Via email: “This is my 18th solo recording. Enjoy. This album contains material I created during my quarantine in Seattle between April 2020 – May 2021. Some pieces are remixes from my Corona Sonora digital album, others come from a commission by Wayward Music Series. Many thanks to all who helped bring this audio adventure to life.”
• Five Parsecs From Home – Solo Adventure Wargaming by Ivan Sorensen of Nordic Weasel games, from Modiphius—”Five Parsecs From Home is an rpg-lite solo adventure wargame where you assemble a ragtag crew of galactic trailblazers and head out to explore the stars, pick up jobs, and every now and then — engage in some action-packed, sci-fi combat! Battles are procedurally generated with huge combinations of enemies, weapons, battlefield circumstances and objectives whether fighting rivals or carrying out jobs. With each encounter you earn experience and loot, progressing your crew and story as you send your crew to look for contacts, trade, explore the colony, recruit replacements or train up their skills. The game is playable with any miniatures you have on hand and requires only a small number to get started, making it ideal for both experienced and new science fiction gamers. All you need is a few six-sided dice and a couple of ten-sided dice.” And follow along.
• “Crowdfunding is killing board game expansions. When a game and its nine expansions all ship on the same day, how does anything get fixed?”
• Crowdfunding with 9 days to go: “Abyss of Hallucinations Vol. 1 – A MÖRK BORG setting. MÖRK BORG compatible screenprinted zine inspired by Aleister Crowley’s Book of Lies.”—”For decades, I have been pulling inspiration from Aleister Crowley’s Book of Lies in my games. Since playing Mork Borg, I found it was perfectly ripe for the Beast’s profane world and imagery in which death is embraced and thought itself is untrue. Volume 1 of the Abyss of Hallucinations is a Mork Borg compatible setting intended to expand over multiple volumes. Bringing Frater Perdurabo’s nihilistic death-obsessed whimsy to taint your players’ imaginations. Enter the psychedelic void in which love is the law and death is born anew. Prepare to be broken. You’re IT.” An add-on of Book of Lies in the same style as the game book is available too.
• I’m okay with chewing, but, wow, I can’t handle buzzing fluorescent lights and CRT monitors for long, myself: “Supersensitive connection causes hatred of noises. A supersensitised brain connection has been identified in people who suffer from misophonia, an extreme reaction to ‘trigger’ sounds.”
• “Greener AND cheaper: Graphene@Manchester solves concrete’s big problem.”—”In a world-first for the sector, the team has laid the floor slab of a new gym in Amesbury, Wiltshire with graphene-enhanced ‘Concretene’, removing 30% of material and all steel reinforcement. Depending on the size of onward projects, Nationwide Engineering estimates a 10-20% saving to its customers.”
• “Dark energy: The eerie force accelerating the expansion of the universe.”
• “Huge egg from extinct dwarf emu found in sand dune. The egg was startlingly large.”
• “Caffeine is less effective than you thought, and it doesn’t improve this 1 important function. Talk about a coffee comedown.”
• “The Spacefaring Paradox. Deep-space human travel is a lose-lose proposition.”—”If the dream of space travel involves new horizons and feelings of unbound freedom—to explore, to discover, to spread humanity—a nightmare lurks just around the corner of consciousness. There will be no real ‘arrival’ on this fantasy trip: It’s enclosures and pressurized chambers all the way down. When it comes to human space travel, the destination really is the journey. And the journey will be long, and claustrophobic.”
• “Scientists induced hallucinations in mice to learn more about human psychosis. Study uncovered a surprising link between how human and mouse minds malfunction.”
• “Heads up! The cardiovascular secrets of giraffes. Giraffes: Scary high blood pressure, yet few of the issues plaguing people with hypertension.”
• “Ancient cemetery tells a tale of constant, low-level warfare. Men, women, and children were repeatedly wounded in skirmishes along the Upper Nile.”
• “Human life span may have an ‘absolute limit’ of 150 years. After that, the human body can’t repair itself.”
• “NASA’s Mars helicopter had a midair brain fart. Ingenuity made frantic attempts to correct ‘phantom errors’ based on glitchy navigation data.”
• “NASA’s Curiosity Rover Captures Shining Clouds on Mars. The science team is studying the clouds, which arrived earlier and formed higher than expected, to learn more about the Red Planet.”
• “Biologists construct a ‘periodic table’ for cell nuclei.”—”One hundred fifty years ago, Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table, a system for classifying atoms based on the properties of their nuclei. This week, a team of biologists studying the tree of life has unveiled a new classification system for cell nuclei and discovered a method for transmuting one type of cell nucleus into another.”
• “Miss the Super Flower Blood Moon this week? Here’s when to see the next total lunar eclipse.”—”If you missed the total lunar eclipse on Wednesday (May 26), you’ll have to wait nearly a year for the next one.” “Although there is another lunar eclipse coming up in November, that eclipse won’t be a so-called “blood moon,” or total lunar eclipse. The next blood moon will occur on May 16, 2022, but it will be another 12 years before a supermoon coincides with another blood moon.”
• “We’re Speeding Toward Climate Hell, UN Warns.”—”The world may surpass the key 1.5-degree-Celsius (2.7-degree-Fahrenheit) global warming threshold within the next five years, a major new outlook on climate trends shows. It’s the latest sign that we’re speeding toward the grim future that climate scientists have warned about for years unless we change course.”
• “Giant tortoise thought extinct 100 years ago is living in Galapagos, Ecuador says.”
• “Europa’s Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes. Jupiter’s moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea volcanoes.”
• “Good bacteria can temper chemotherapy side effects. Naturally occurring gut bacteria can clean up chemo toxins in the body, study finds.”
• From the Can’t Pick Your AI’s Nose dept: “Slender robotic finger senses buried items. The technology uses tactile sensing to identify objects underground, and might one day help disarm land mines or inspect cables.”
• “Can regulating a novel brain circuit help control obesity?”
• Verdens mindste frugtplukker styret af kunstig intelligens. Inspireret af insekter, der lever af at suge næring direkte i planteårerne, har fysikere fra DTU undersøgt, om værdifulde kemiske stoffer kan høstes direkte fra cellerne i planter. Med en høster på et par mikrometer har de nu fået et gennembrud i teknologien.” (The world’s smallest fruit picker controlled by artificial intelligence. Inspired by insects that live by absorbing nutrients directly in the plant veins, physicists from DTU have investigated whether valuable chemical substances can be harvested directly from the cells in plants. With a harvester of a few micrometers, they have now made a breakthrough in technology.)
• “Serendipitous discovery could lead to treatment for strokes, cardiac arrest. Researchers identify a mechanism that could lead to new treatments for brain injuries caused by oxygen deprivation.”—”Oxygen deprivation in a mammal’s brain leads to increased production of hydrogen sulfide.” “Interestingly, the mice that became tolerant to hydrogen sulfide were also able to tolerate severe hypoxia. What protected these mice from hypoxia? Ichinose’s group suspected that enzymes in the brain that metabolize sulfide might be responsible.”
• “New technique breaks the mould for 3D printing medical implants. Researchers have flipped traditional 3D printing to create some of the most intricate biomedical structures yet, advancing the development of new technologies for regrowing bones and tissue.”
• “Study confirms longer-term lung damage after COVID-19. A study by Sheffield and Oxford researchers using a cutting-edge method of imaging has identified persistent damage to the lungs of COVID-19 patients at least three months after they were discharged from hospital, and for some patients even longer.”
• “Apple Employees Are Going Public About Workplace Issues — and There’s No Going Back. Employees say the recent leaks might have changed the tech giant forever.”—”Even to the workers who wrote the letter, the leaks came as a shock. Apple employees rarely speak to the media, particularly about the company culture. In Silicon Valley, Apple operates with an unprecedented level of secrecy, managing personnel issues and product launches with complete authority.”
• “Even a Dystopia Would Wince at Amazon’s ‘ZenBooth’. Warehouse workers need more bathroom breaks, a union, and dignity. Instead, they get a box to meditate in.”
• “Covert channel in Apple’s M1 is mostly harmless, but it sure is interesting. Technically, it’s a vulnerability, but there’s not much an attacker can do with it.” Also “Apple’s M1 has an unfixable security flaw that’s effectively harmless. The flaw creates covert channels that let malicious apps communicate with each other.”
• “Wanted: Millions of cybersecurity pros. Salary: Whatever you want.” If governments, and companies like Microsoft and Google and Facebook all can’t manage their own hardware and software security, what hope in hell, except obscurity, is there for the rest of us?
• Speaking of privatization and corporate responsibility to keep us all safe … How’s that working, again? Oh, right. Not so well. “Texas’ ‘failsafe’ generators failed, risking weeks-long catastrophe. Black start generators—and their backups—failed en masse during deep freeze.”
• “Israel’s operation against Hamas was the world’s first AI war. The IDF used artificial intelligence and supercomputing during the last conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
• “Facebook’s AI treats Palestinian activists like it treats American Black activists. It blocks them.”
• “A Worker-Owned Cooperative Tries to Compete With Uber and Lyft. About 2,500 drivers in New York are organizing to create what they say is a better deal for drivers than what the ride-hailing giants offer.”
• “Women suing Google over gender bias win class-action status. Four female former employees of Google can now pursue their gender-pay disparity lawsuit against the tech giant on behalf of almost 11,000 other women.”
• “The Open-Source Software bubble that is and the blogging bubble that was.”—”People think that Google killed weblogs in 2013 when it discontinued Google Reader. Which isn’t entirely true. Google Reader was a murder weapon, not a victim.” “Our world is built on looting what others have to give—what we make them give. And we’re fine with it. We’re all fine with looting.”
• “Sandwell Bitcoin mine found stealing electricity. A suspected Bitcoin “mining” operation illegally stealing electricity has been found by police who were searching for a cannabis farm.”
• “Tesla Activates In-Car Cameras for Driver Monitoring on Autopilot. In the wake of controversies around Autopilot use and inattentive drivers, it appears the automaker is instituting a change.”
• “Futuristic Autonomous Buses Will Soon Roam the Streets of Cambridge, UK. The futuristic vehicles will soon hit the streets of the English town, transporting passengers along the way.”
• “Senators Want NASA To Give Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Space Company A $10 Billion Consolation Prize.”
• “Competitor fears Musk’s SpaceX could ‘monopolise’ space.”
• “A Culture of Fear at the Firm That Manages Bill Gates’s Fortune. At least four employees at the firm, Cascade Investment, complained to Mr. Gates about Michael Larson, his longtime money manager.”
• “What Breakthrough Infections Can Tell Us. Post-vaccination infections reveal how effective vaccines are—and which variants are sneaking past our defenses.”
• “CDC loosened mask guidance to encourage vaccination—it failed spectacularly. FDA approval and paid time off would make people more likely to get a shot, poll finds.”
• “Faster than a PCR test: dogs detect Covid in under a second. Study in London used six enthusiastic dogs in a double-blind trial.”
• “Ohio lawmakers want to abolish vaccine requirements—all vaccine requirements. Someone would only have to verbally decline vaccination and cite ‘reasons of conscience.’”
• “The Unique Pain (And Anger) Of Grieving Someone Who Refused A COVID Vaccine. ‘Knowing there’s something that was free, accessible, and could have prevented their death, it’s heartbreaking.’”
• “Stetson pulls hats from Nashville shop selling Star of David anti-vaccine badges. Owner of HatWRKS appeared to apologize Saturday as protesters outside the store held signs including ‘no Nazis in Nashville’”
• “What’s Happening In Arizona Is Not Really An Audit Or A Recount. It’s A Partisan Inquisition.”
• “Can Removing Highways Fix America’s Cities?“—”As midcentury highways reach the end of their life spans, cities across the country are having to choose whether to rebuild or reconsider them. And a growing number, like Rochester, are choosing to take them down.”
• “Why Everyone Hates Think Tanks. The world needs policy professionals. Respecting them is another matter.”
• “Biden’s Internet Plan Pits Cities Against Dominant Carriers.”—””‘We could sit and wait for the private sector to do this—we just didn’t really know when that would be,’ says City Administrator Scott Darrington. Residents have complained of slow broadband, and Utopia’s fiber network holds out the promise of fast speeds that don’t lag as more households log on, Darrington says. It will also reach areas not served by current providers.”” Huh. Carriers don’t like their de facto monopoly put in jeopardy? Who could have guessed. Also, this is yet another example of ways that private enterprise isn’t about enterprise, and there are things that governments of people organized for mutual support can do better. Also, double huh: “Charter charges more money for slower Internet on streets with no competition. Spectrum costs $30 for 400Mbps on one street, $50 for half the speed on another.”
• From the trouble in Cascadia dept: “‘Greater Idaho’ took one step closer to being a real thing as 5 more counties voted to explore leaving liberal Oregon for conservative Idaho.”
• “Industry groups sue to stop Florida’s new social media law. Yes, the one with the theme park exception.”
• “Disability Rights Groups Join Lawsuit Over Georgia Voter Suppression Law. The Georgia-based groups state in an amended complaint that the law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against disabled voters.”
• “ACLU Joins Lawsuit Over West Virginia Banning Trans Girls And Women From Sports. House Bill 3293 prohibits trans girls and women from playing on women’s sports teams at any public secondary school or state institution of higher education.”
• “Oscar Isaac will star in Disney Plus’ Moon Knight series. They’re giving Poe Dameron a cape.”—”Moon Knight, or Marc Spector, is a mercenary possessed by an ancient Egyptian moon god named Khonshu. That possession is what gives him his superpowers but also multiple conflicting personalities, including a taxi driver, wealthy playboy, and masked vigilante. Marvel and Isaac’s announcement — ‘WE ARE MOONKNIGHT’ — seems to directly reference the character’s complex psychology.”
• Watch “The Economics of IKEA: Why Does Labor Lead to Love?“—”Counterintuitive though it may seem, part of furniture giant IKEA’s success stems from its policy requiring its customers to build its products. In this video, WSJ explains the behavioral psychology behind the ‘IKEA effect.’”
• “Why Economics Is Failing Us. The profession suffers from a lack of boldness and imagination.”
• “An Elementary School Teacher’s Secret Life As A White Nationalist Writer. Benjamin Welton uses pen names to write racist articles. He’s also a teacher, PhD student, and freelance writer for major media outlets. Now he’s been exposed.”
• “Should we censor art? Tearing down sexist paintings or racist monuments raises as many problems as it resolves. There’s a better way to combat hate.”—”We can challenge, refute or even undo the harms of hate speech with more speech” and curatorial activism.
• “Daily investigation finds divergence in U-M, outside organization’s handling of allegations against CSE professor.”—”This article is the first part of a two-part investigation by The Michigan Daily’s Focal Point team into allegations of sexual misconduct against computer science professor Walter Lasecki and the University of Michigan’s handling of these allegations. It is based on emails, documents, notes and interviews with 12 individuals knowledgeable of these events.” “UPDATE: According to an email sent to CSE faculty on May 28, Walter Lasecki resigned from UM effective August 30. In the interim, he has been barred from “in-person interaction” with UM students.”
• “Scientology’s secrets spill into open in Danny Masterson rape case.”—”The Church of Scientology works hard to keep its inner workings out of the public eye. … But at a hearing last week in the rape case against actor Danny Masterson, church officials were unable to stop their practices from being debated in open court.” “In ruling that there was sufficient evidence against Masterson to allow the case to proceed toward trial, Olmedo concluded Scientology has “an expressly written doctrine” that “not only discourages, but prohibits” its members from reporting one another to law enforcement. The policy explained why several of the women did not report Masterson’s alleged crimes to the police for more than a decade, the judge found.”
• “Treating Ethno-Racial Trauma With Cultural Humility. How mental health professionals are confronting collective psychological distress.”
• The Relatable Emotions of Depressed People From 3,000 Years Ago. ‘He eats bread and drinks beer but it does not go well for him, then says, ‘Oh, my heart!’ and is dejected.’”
• “Here’s How People Tried To Buy Happiness During The Pandemic. ‘While money can’t buy true and lasting happiness, it most certainly can still create moments of joy and it can ease a lot of suffering.’”