Links of Note (week 47/220)
Every week I highlight the most interesting items from my media diet.
Photo by Sushant Jadhav
Arecibo Observatory (°18.35,-66.75) used by scientists to look through space and time, is going to be demolished as two of the main cables suspending the structure have snapped. Luckily we will always have Goldeneye!
Articles
- Denmark’s 300-year-old homes of the future Residents of the Danish island of Læsø use eelgrass as thatching for the roofs of houses.
Not only is eelgrass naturally fire-, rot- and pest-resistant, it also absorbs CO2, and as it doesn’t require heat to produce, is carbon neutral when harvested and used locally. Eelgrass becomes fully waterproof after about a year and has insulation properties comparable to those of mineral wool, a dense, fibrous material made from molten glass, stone or industrial waste. A roof can last hundreds of years — one of island’s remaining seaweed roofs dates more than 300 years — for comparison, a concrete tile roof typically lasts around 50. -via
According to Mitchell, our intestinal microbiome isn’t keeping up with the rapid pace of globalization. “Things are changing incredibly quickly,” he says, “but our genetics are still pre-industrial.” He associates modern ills such as high rates of allergies, obesity, and inflammatory bowel disease with modern substances that affect the gut, from antibiotics to fast food. “Parts of us are coping, but other parts are suffering,” Mitchell says.
via polymath
Thanks in part to its adoption in the 1840 presidential campaign, what began as a lame joke in a Boston newspaper morphed into one of the most ubiquitous expressions in the English language
Podcasts
- On Deviate with Rolf Potts and Stephanie Rosenbloom talk about The pleasures of (and strategies for) traveling solo. I know it seems strange to talk about travelling at this time but the conversation is a real pleasure. Part vicarious travel part warm memories resurfaced.
Quote
Sooner or Later All Games Become Serious - J.G.Ballard Super-Cannes
Declad Articles
- A review of the Book A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander.