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  Quick Links, Updated Constantly

The Kardashev Scale. Categorizations of "Type I, II and III civilizations [are] based on their ability to extract and utilize the power in their planet, star and galaxy, respectively."  youtube.com
From Nature: How the pandemic might play out in 2021 and beyond. "This coronavirus is here for the long haul – here's what scientists predict for the next months and years."  nature.com
Download the plans to build a nesting box for the Great Crested Flycatcher. They're declining in population in the Northeast, Midwest, and the Southwest.  nestwatch.org
Scientists rename human genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates. ("It looks like you're entering genetic data. Would you like me to muck it up for you?")  theverge.com
New York's Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against the NRA alleging fraud and seeking to dissolve the organization. The NRA is a terrorist organization – good riddance.  npr.org
An extensive reading list on how the sound of Roland electronic music machines (like the 808 drum machine) came to be embedded in hip-hop, rap, dance, and electronic music.  twitter.com
A meticulous restoration of Manhatta, a short documentary film about NYC made by Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand in 1921. It's considered the first avant-garde film made in America.  openculture.com
Immunology Is Where Intuition Goes to Die. Great piece by Ed Yong on how the human immune system works, both generally against viruses and specifically against SARS-CoV-2.  theatlantic.com
August 5
The argument over the New York Times' 1619 Project is just the latest skirmish in a longstanding debate among historians about "a proslavery reading of the American Revolution".  bostonreview.net
The trailer for City Dreamers, a documentary about four pioneering architects (Phyllis Lambert, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, and Denise Scott Brown) who accomplished much in a male-dominated profession.  youtube.com
August 4
A review of some of the lingering symptoms that are affecting Covid-19 "long-haulers" for months after their initial infections.  sciencemag.org
We Need to Talk About Ventilation. "How is it that six months into a respiratory pandemic, we are still doing so little to mitigate airborne transmission?"  theatlantic.com
The pure joy of learning a difficult skill after much hard work (in this case, how to kick-flip a skateboard)  twitter.com
August 3
Nirvana's "Come As You Are" as an old-fashioned swing tune. How can something so wrong feel so right?  youtube.com
Loved seeing @austinkleon and his boys' artwork in the NY Times! "I never went to art school, but being home with my kids turned out to be more inspiring than any art school I can imagine."  nytimes.com
The headline here says it all: The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free.  currentaffairs.org
Ed Yong: How the Pandemic Defeated America. "How did it come to this? A virus a thousand times smaller than a dust mote has humbled and humiliated the planet's most powerful nation."  theatlantic.com
"We should be hopeful about the prospects of a vaccine for Covid-19." The natural decrease in antibodies after an infection is not cause for alarm.  nytimes.com
July 31
There's some really good stuff in this profile of Choire Sicha. "Not meddling with talent and not diluting great ideas by committee are two smart strategies in a creative workplace that are rarely deployed successfully."  patreon.com
July 30
A new study argues for a greater appreciation of hedonism in our lives. "Enjoying short-term pleasurable activities that don't lead to long-term goals contributes at least as much to a happy life as self-control."  media.uzh.ch
"Screen time expert" Anya Kamenetz reflects on what she's learned about kids & screens during the intense pandemic lockdown time. "Lean into video chat and real-time interactions. And play games, watch TV and videos together as a family."  nytimes.com
A 118-page toolkit for reparations published by the Movement for Black Lives to help people "better understand what reparations are and how Black people in the United States can get them."  m4bl.org
MacKenzie Scott just donated $1.7 billion to a variety of organizations working in areas like racial equity, LGBTQ+ equity, functional democracy, climate change, gender equity. Check out the whole list here.  medium.com
"Actress and director Amy Seimetz has obtained a temporary restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, director Shane Carruth, accusing him of years of mental, emotional and physical abuse."  variety.com
Several US states (like Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama) still offer license plates w/ the Confederate flag on them where profits go to Confederate pride groups.  twitter.com
A visual investigation by the NY Times: How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland.  youtube.com
July 29
MineSweeper implemented in CSS + HTML (no JavaScript)  github.com
What Vermont and Its History Might Teach the Nation About Handling the Coronavirus. Whatever the reason for the state's success during the pandemic so far, I feel very lucky to be living here right now.  newyorker.com
July 28
A new study may show why SARS-CoV-2 causes a temporary loss of smell and taste. "SARS-CoV-2 infection is unlikely to permanently damage olfactory neural circuits and lead to persistent anosmia."  news.harvard.edu
"Life improves when I let go of ideas of what I want it to be."  drawinglinks.substack.com
An oral history of Quokka Sports. This team did incredible, experimental things on the web back in the mid-90s.  sportico.com
A survey of US museum directors finds that 1/3 of museums are in danger of permanently closing due to the pandemic.  npr.org
July 27
Jesus, Trump's advisors have started presenting him with evidence of "our people" suffering in Republican states so that he takes the pandemic more seriously.  washingtonpost.com
"Where Is My Name?" is a campaign by women in Afghanistan to be able to freely use their names in public. "Women are generally only referred to as the mother, daughter or sister of the eldest male in their family..."  bbc.com
Inexpensive paper-strip tests for Covid-19 designed for near-daily use, that give near-instant results, and only detect high levels of virus could be key in controlling the virus.  npr.org
"You can now boot a Windows 95 PC inside Minecraft and play Doom on it."  theverge.com
How Police Unions Fight Reform, a long piece in the New Yorker by William Finnegan. "Imagine a nurses' union that hated patients, that went on TV and talked about how much trouble the patients give them."  newyorker.com
A new poll indicates that "an increasingly broad majority of Americans are wearing masks in public". The numbers are up significantly since June. Common sense and public health are winning out. Thanks for wearing a mask! Keep going!  huffpost.com
July 24
There have been anecdotal reports of Covid-19 reinfection, but epidemiologists & immunologists increasingly believe that reinfection is rare.  nytimes.com
A photo of Comet Neowise photobombed/ruined by SpaceX's Starlink satellites. Yuck. I know most people on Earth can't even see the night sky anymore because of light pollution, but this sucks.  twitter.com
From I Love Typography, a great post about the history of early African American printing and publishing (books, pamphlets, newspapers, etc.)  ilovetypography.com
Coming soon from one of my favorite food writers/chefs/magicians Kenji López-Alt: a children's book called Every Night Is Pizza Night, "a story about open-mindedness, community, and family". Includes a recipe for making pizza!  bookshop.org
July 23
What You Need To Know About The Battle of Portland. This is a good summary of the situation in Portland written by someone who "has worked as a conflict journalist in Iraq and Ukraine".  bellingcat.com
Nice White Parents is a new podcast series from the makers of Serial that's about "the 60-year relationship between white parents and the public school down the block".  nytimes.com
July 22
A lovely remembrance of Robin Williams from someone who went to the same 12-step meeting for years. "He kept a very low profile but he was unfailingly kind."  twitter.com
Seven books to read in which very little happens. Includes Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine, which is fantastic.  lithub.com
The sports writers at the NY Times have come up with some interesting ideas (good and bad) about how to fix professional sports (e.g. too-long baseball games, confusing rules in soccer & football, boring golf).  nytimes.com
Whoa, a paper that presents evidence of possible human presence in Mexico "as early as 33,000–31,000 years ago", which is more than 15,000 years earlier than the Clovis culture.  nature.com
The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service. Spoiler warning: it's libertarian dipshit Charles Koch, who has done untold damage to our country and the Earth.  inthepublicinterest.org
Billie Eilish's bad guy, but played in the major key. "instead of playing it normal i'm the good guy so i play it in the major key, to the screams of music majors everywhere."  youtube.com
July 2020 »  •  June 2020 »  •  May 2020 »
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