What I Am Reading February 2nd
I believe that we can learn a lot from nature; after all, it has had millions of years to perfect its ways; While not perfect, they work very well in today’s world.
“Defending is simply difficult, whether it’s developing responses to a public health pandemic, protecting a company from ransomware cyberattacks, or securing a border against enemy incursions.”
This Nautil.us article looks at what we could learn from the best defense system I know, our immune system. Mother Nature’s 7 Lessons for a Safer World
There’s of course the awards season that’s going on, the Globes, Emmys and the Academy Awards. But other, lesser-known awards ceremonies are held throughout the year.
“For several years, the Information Technology Industry Council — a lobby group for major software companies — has presented a series of glittering trophies to government officials at annual ceremonies. Award events like this attract a very basic human impulse – the ego – which in some ways is stronger than other basic human motivators like greed or love. Little kids love trophies. But awards also serve a social purpose. They are designed to help people in the industry understand who has prestige. Take the Oscars for example. Sure, the show has financial implications, but it’s really about a social ecosystem of who’s up and who’s down in Hollywood.”
Matt Stoller, who writes about monopolies, brings us the Deep State Awards. There’s no red carpet, but plenty of ego promotion nonetheless.
“Music,” wrote pioneering composer Julia Perry, “has a unifying effect on the peoples of the world because they all understand and love it… And when they find that they enjoy and love the same music, they find that they love one another.” love. But in this elemental truth there is something beyond humanistic ideology – something woven into the structure and sensorium of our bodies; as the great neurologist Oliver Sacks observed: “Music can penetrate the heart directly; it needs no mediation.”
From The Marginalian, The Neurophysiology of Enchantment: How Music Enchants Us
Any of you who follow ACSH on Facebook know our President’s obsession with his coffee.
“Having more types of coffee to choose from isn’t just nice — it could end up being an important way of preserving the livelihoods of people who grow coffee for a living.” For example, coffee accounts for a quarter of Ethiopia’s total exports, and between 39 and 59 percent of current acreage could become unsuitable for coffee growing with global warming. As other coffee-growing regions get hotter, the need for a crop that is more resilient to higher temperatures becomes even more urgent.”
This is for you, Thom, you secretive hipster. This true hipster bean from Wired is coffee’s best hope for survival
