The magical sculptures of Lee Sangsoo
With minimalist swirls of colour, like brush paintings in three dimensions, this Korean artist captures the energy of animals in motion. His stretching cat is amazing.
With minimalist swirls of colour, like brush paintings in three dimensions, this Korean artist captures the energy of animals in motion. His stretching cat is amazing.
Friday Cocktail: Air Mail
Sip: on an Air Mail
Weekend reading:
Farewell to the father of flow: RIP, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Listen: Abba releases a new (old) song, Just A Notion
“Just a notion
That you’ll bе walking up to me
In a while and you’ll smile
And say hеllo and we’ll be dancing through the night
Knowing everything from thereon must be right.”
Sip: on an Air Mail
Weekend reading:
Farewell to the father of flow: RIP, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Listen: Abba releases a new (old) song, Just A Notion
“Just a notion
That you’ll bе walking up to me
In a while and you’ll smile
And say hеllo and we’ll be dancing through the night
Knowing everything from thereon must be right.”
It’s in the air (somebody open a window)
One of the important side-discoveries of the pandemic is how wrong we have been on the airborne spread of infectious disease. For years, the consensus has identified the main threat as large droplets expelled over short distances in sudden bursts: “coughs and sneezes spread diseases”. This was in part a reaction against the errors of miasma theory, which once blamed “bad air” for cholera – until it turned out to be water-borne.
This was the logic behind social distancing for Covid: stand back a couple of metres and you can avoid large droplets spread over short distances by an infected friend coughing. It turns out, however, that fine aerosols of smaller droplets, carried simply on the breath, can travel further, hang in the air longer and are much more important as a factor in infectious spread.
Now there’s new evidence that our whole strategy for containing TB is also flawed by the same error.
Breathing is enough to spread the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, research presented at a major conference on Tuesday shows, potentially forcing the medical community to rethink decades of containment strategy focusing on coughing alone.
Using state-of-the-art equipment, at team at the University of Cape Town in South Africa measured the disease-causing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in 39 people with TB.
They looked at aerosols released during regular breathing, deep breathing and coughing and found that after five minutes all three produced particles containing the dangerous bacteria.
And while coughing produced three times more Mtb than breathing, the research notes that because people breathe all day long, simply exhaling may contribute more than 90 percent of airborne Mtb.
Time for us to rethink ventilation across all our infrastructure. Some countries have already started.
One of the important side-discoveries of the pandemic is how wrong we have been on the airborne spread of infectious disease. For years, the consensus has identified the main threat as large droplets expelled over short distances in sudden bursts: “coughs and sneezes spread diseases”. This was in part a reaction against the errors of miasma theory, which once blamed “bad air” for cholera – until it turned out to be water-borne.
This was the logic behind social distancing for Covid: stand back a couple of metres and you can avoid large droplets spread over short distances by an infected friend coughing. It turns out, however, that fine aerosols of smaller droplets, carried simply on the breath, can travel further, hang in the air longer and are much more important as a factor in infectious spread.
Now there’s new evidence that our whole strategy for containing TB is also flawed by the same error.
Breathing is enough to spread the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, research presented at a major conference on Tuesday shows, potentially forcing the medical community to rethink decades of containment strategy focusing on coughing alone.
Using state-of-the-art equipment, at team at the University of Cape Town in South Africa measured the disease-causing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in 39 people with TB.
They looked at aerosols released during regular breathing, deep breathing and coughing and found that after five minutes all three produced particles containing the dangerous bacteria.
And while coughing produced three times more Mtb than breathing, the research notes that because people breathe all day long, simply exhaling may contribute more than 90 percent of airborne Mtb.
Time for us to rethink ventilation across all our infrastructure. Some countries have already started.
A wonderful, magical animal
Researchers have long sought to grow organs in pigs suitable for transplantation into humans. A steady stream of organs — which could eventually include hearts, lungs and livers — would offer a lifeline to the more than 100,000 Americans currently on transplant waiting lists, including the 90,240 who need a kidney. Twelve people on the waiting lists die each day.
An even larger number of Americans with kidney failure — more than a half million — depend on grueling dialysis treatments to survive. In large part because of the scarcity of human organs, the vast majority of dialysis patients do not qualify for transplants, which are reserved for those most likely to thrive after the procedure.
That’ll do, pig.
Researchers have long sought to grow organs in pigs suitable for transplantation into humans. A steady stream of organs — which could eventually include hearts, lungs and livers — would offer a lifeline to the more than 100,000 Americans currently on transplant waiting lists, including the 90,240 who need a kidney. Twelve people on the waiting lists die each day.
An even larger number of Americans with kidney failure — more than a half million — depend on grueling dialysis treatments to survive. In large part because of the scarcity of human organs, the vast majority of dialysis patients do not qualify for transplants, which are reserved for those most likely to thrive after the procedure.
That’ll do, pig.
How to write like Paul McCartney
The story of how Eleanor Rigby got written:
The story of how Eleanor Rigby got written:
Friday cocktail: Last Word
Sip: on a Last Word
Weekend reading:
Faster, please: Scientists discover a potent new antibody to combat SARS-CoV-2
China’s Sputnik moment (courtesy of Washington); related flashback: Trade Wars are Hard to Win
Ave atque vale. RIP Brian Micklethwait, a passionate defender of liberty, a puckish yet thoughtful disputant, and a kind and generous friend.
Listen: Paul McCartney sings The End of The End.
“On the day that I die I'd like jokes to be told
And stories of old to be rolled out like carpets
That children have played on
And laid on while listening to stories of old…”
Sip: on a Last Word
Weekend reading:
Faster, please: Scientists discover a potent new antibody to combat SARS-CoV-2
China’s Sputnik moment (courtesy of Washington); related flashback: Trade Wars are Hard to Win
Ave atque vale. RIP Brian Micklethwait, a passionate defender of liberty, a puckish yet thoughtful disputant, and a kind and generous friend.
Listen: Paul McCartney sings The End of The End.
“On the day that I die I'd like jokes to be told
And stories of old to be rolled out like carpets
That children have played on
And laid on while listening to stories of old…”
How to beat the work queue
If customers take on average 10 minutes to serve and arrive randomly at a rate of 5.8 per hour, then with one bank teller working, expected wait is 5 hours. With two tellers, 3 minutes.
A fascinating Twitter thread that starts with this arrestingly counter-intuitive fact about queuing, before expanding it to consider how freelancers can manage their productivity.
TLDR: With irregular workloads, you need a lot of slack in the system to avoid huge backlogs.
If customers take on average 10 minutes to serve and arrive randomly at a rate of 5.8 per hour, then with one bank teller working, expected wait is 5 hours. With two tellers, 3 minutes.
A fascinating Twitter thread that starts with this arrestingly counter-intuitive fact about queuing, before expanding it to consider how freelancers can manage their productivity.
TLDR: With irregular workloads, you need a lot of slack in the system to avoid huge backlogs.
Great Books and Good Company
The Catherine Project has a website. It’s a terrific new project that aims to make reading the great books in like-minded groups more accessible, and the brainchild of Zena Hitz, author of Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life. The seed money comes from Tyler Cowen’s Emergent Ventures fund, from which I received a grant in 2020. If you’re interested in the great books, you might enjoy my history of liberal education, The School of Freedom.
The Catherine Project has a website. It’s a terrific new project that aims to make reading the great books in like-minded groups more accessible, and the brainchild of Zena Hitz, author of Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life. The seed money comes from Tyler Cowen’s Emergent Ventures fund, from which I received a grant in 2020. If you’re interested in the great books, you might enjoy my history of liberal education, The School of Freedom.
Can fusion keep the lights on?
Terrific piece from the New Yorker on the latest prospects for fusion power: a solution at the scale of our energy problems.
Let’s say that you’ve devoted your entire adult life to developing a carbon-free way to power a household for a year on the fuel of a single glass of water, and that you’ve had moments, even years, when you were pretty sure you would succeed. Let’s say also that you’re not crazy. This is a reasonable description of many of the physicists working in the field of nuclear fusion.
Terrific piece from the New Yorker on the latest prospects for fusion power: a solution at the scale of our energy problems.
Let’s say that you’ve devoted your entire adult life to developing a carbon-free way to power a household for a year on the fuel of a single glass of water, and that you’ve had moments, even years, when you were pretty sure you would succeed. Let’s say also that you’re not crazy. This is a reasonable description of many of the physicists working in the field of nuclear fusion.
High-speed follies
A very interesting Twitter thread talking, in part, about the Chinese experience of high-speed rail and how it has sucked talent out of regions rather than helping them thrive. Sobering reading for the UK planners hoping to level up the north by building the HS2 line.
A very interesting Twitter thread talking, in part, about the Chinese experience of high-speed rail and how it has sucked talent out of regions rather than helping them thrive. Sobering reading for the UK planners hoping to level up the north by building the HS2 line.
Friday cocktail: Autumn Leaves
Sip: on an Autumn Leaves
Weekend reading:
Listen: Dolly Parton sings Apple Jack
“Oh but he left me his banjo and it always takes me back…“
Sip: on an Autumn Leaves
Weekend reading:
Listen: Dolly Parton sings Apple Jack
“Oh but he left me his banjo and it always takes me back…“
Ideas for progress
Payment processor Stripe is now a publisher, with the launch of Stripe Press, offering what looks like an intriguing collection of largely reissued titles, included such worthwhile authors as Tyler Cowen and Martin Gurri.
The site has an innovative layout as well. Give it a scroll.
Payment processor Stripe is now a publisher, with the launch of Stripe Press, offering what looks like an intriguing collection of largely reissued titles, included such worthwhile authors as Tyler Cowen and Martin Gurri.
The site has an innovative layout as well. Give it a scroll.
The future of fresh air, Singapore-style
UV-C and improved air filtration could make our indoor spaces much safer, and not just from Covid. But when will we catch up with Singapore?
See my earlier post: Give us air.
UV-C and improved air filtration could make our indoor spaces much safer, and not just from Covid. But when will we catch up with Singapore?
See my earlier post: Give us air.
The lost genius who changed everything
The new biography of John von Neumann, The Man From The Future, sounds absolutely terrific:
The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann.
Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. His colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.
The new biography of John von Neumann, The Man From The Future, sounds absolutely terrific:
The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann.
Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. His colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.
The Helsinki bus station theory of creativity
I’ve been in Helsinki for the weekend – watching chessboxing and drinking beer. In honour of which, this theory from a Finnish-American photographer, based on Helsinki’s bus routes.
[T]he Helsinki theory suggests that if you pursue originality too vigorously, you'll never reach it. Sometimes it takes more guts to keep trudging down a pre-trodden path, to the originality beyond.
I’ve been in Helsinki for the weekend – watching chessboxing and drinking beer. In honour of which, this theory from a Finnish-American photographer, based on Helsinki’s bus routes.
[T]he Helsinki theory suggests that if you pursue originality too vigorously, you'll never reach it. Sometimes it takes more guts to keep trudging down a pre-trodden path, to the originality beyond.
Friday Cocktail: Fancy Free
Sip: on a Fancy Free
Weekend reading:
Listen: Booty Swing by Parov Stelar
Lying about living
Craig Brown on the art of biography.
[T]he artificiality of the genre is helped neither by the slippery nature of memory, nor, indeed, by the slippery nature of biographers. Everyone who has ever written non-fiction will know that, from paragraph to paragraph, perhaps even from sentence to sentence, one is always obliged to pick a version of the truth: every available source has a slightly different tale to tell. It would be tedious to present each different version of each event, or the finished book would be impossibly long, and impossibly boring. So which to choose? And how do you know if it is the right one?
Craig Brown on the art of biography.
[T]he artificiality of the genre is helped neither by the slippery nature of memory, nor, indeed, by the slippery nature of biographers. Everyone who has ever written non-fiction will know that, from paragraph to paragraph, perhaps even from sentence to sentence, one is always obliged to pick a version of the truth: every available source has a slightly different tale to tell. It would be tedious to present each different version of each event, or the finished book would be impossibly long, and impossibly boring. So which to choose? And how do you know if it is the right one?
Be Prepared
Via the newsletter of Dominic Cummings – a mischief-maker, but also a smart person who’s good at thinking ahead:
If you will live in the UK over the next 6 months take steps to ensure you and your family can cope with a ~4 week major disruption — e.g a cascade of logistics and energy failures. The only safe assumption is that the true situation is much worse than the media are telling you. This was true in spring 2020 and autumn 2020. It’s true now.
Via the newsletter of Dominic Cummings – a mischief-maker, but also a smart person who’s good at thinking ahead:
If you will live in the UK over the next 6 months take steps to ensure you and your family can cope with a ~4 week major disruption — e.g a cascade of logistics and energy failures. The only safe assumption is that the true situation is much worse than the media are telling you. This was true in spring 2020 and autumn 2020. It’s true now.
Our last, best hope for peace?
Babylon 5 is returning to TV, helmed by the original writer and all-round creative mastermind JM Straczynski. Babylon 5 was always ahead of its time: one of the first shows to make extensive use of CGI, and the originator of the multi-season story arc (sustained over five years!) paving the way for today’s golden age of longform TV. Despite the limits of the show’s budgets in its first iteration it had ambition, heart and prescience, with its rather darker take on spacefaring future that echoes a lot of contemporary themes. Straczynski also cut his teeth making The Real Ghostbusters far better than an animated kids show had any right to be. Prepare for something special.
Babylon 5 is returning to TV, helmed by the original writer and all-round creative mastermind JM Straczynski. Babylon 5 was always ahead of its time: one of the first shows to make extensive use of CGI, and the originator of the multi-season story arc (sustained over five years!) paving the way for today’s golden age of longform TV. Despite the limits of the show’s budgets in its first iteration it had ambition, heart and prescience, with its rather darker take on spacefaring future that echoes a lot of contemporary themes. Straczynski also cut his teeth making The Real Ghostbusters far better than an animated kids show had any right to be. Prepare for something special.