Issues in Science and Technology: “Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome charitable foundation in the United Kingdom, discusses the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and what society must do to prepare for future global crises. As an infectious diseases specialist and director of Wellcome, Jeremy Farrar was among the first people in the world to learn about the emergence of COVID-19. Before helming Wellcome, one of the world’s largest philanthropic funders of science, he spent 18 years leading the clinical research unit at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Vietnam, where he contributed to pivotal advances in understanding tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid, dengue, and influenza. He is a member of the UK Vaccine Taskforce and the Principals Group of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and the WHO’s R&D Blueprint Advisory Group, and until November 2021, he served on the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies. His new book, Spike: The Virus vs. The People, written with Anjana Ahuja, provides a gripping account of how the pandemic unfolded. Issues in Science and Technology editor Molly Galvin recently spoke with him to get his thoughts on the future of the pandemic, the status of science in society, and the uniquely globalized challenges of COVID-19 and climate…”
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Daily Archives: January 3, 2022
100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying
The Guardian – “Ask questions, and listen to the answers; Ignore the algorithm – listen to music outside your usual taste; Join a local litter-picking group (or do it daily by yourself – works for me); Set up an affordable standing order to a charity; and well…here’s a century of ways to make life better,… Continue Reading
7 ways to improve your privacy in 2022
Mashable: “Maintaining your online and offline privacy can seem like a Herculean, or even Sisyphean, task. Never-before-heard-of companies with vaguely menacing names regularly brag about infringing upon it, and each day seems to bring with it new privacy scandals. But here’s the thing: There are small and relatively painless steps you can take, right now,… Continue Reading
Celebrate Public Domain Day With Works by Kafka, Hemingway, and Zora Neale Hurston
Hyperallergic: “There’s no better way to observe the dawn of a new year of the roaring 2020s than celebrating Public Domain Day. On January 1, 2022, cultural items in the archive dating from 1926 shed their copyright and made their proper full and proper entrance into society. In 2022, for the first time, a swath… Continue Reading
Five of world’s most powerful nations pledge to avoid nuclear war
The Guardian: “Five of the world’s most powerful nations have agreed that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” in a rare joint pledge to reduce the risk of such a conflict ever starting. The pledge was signed by the US, Russia, China, the UK and France, the five nuclear weapons… Continue Reading
2022 Banished Words List
Sault Ste. Marie, MI — Mass communication? Miscommunication! Lake Superior State University Banishes Those and Other Familiar but Problematic Words and Terms for 2022. If you’re going to turn to the vernacular to make yourself known, be sure you’re accurate and concise. Avoid error in and exploitation of everyday language. In short, do the opposite of… Continue Reading
What to Ask For When You’re Bumped From a Flight
Lifehacker – Tis the season (Covid) for flight delays, involuntary bumping and cancellations en mass. Here are the facts:If you’re standing at a gate and an attendant offers compensation, it’s important you know how much cash you’re entitled to. Technically, under regulations by the Department of Transportation, there is no limit to the amount of… Continue Reading
Your attention didn’t collapse. It was stolen
The Guardian – Johann Hari: “Social media and many other facets of modern life are destroying our ability to concentrate. We need to reclaim our minds while we still can… I travelled all over the world in the next three years, from Miami to Moscow to Melbourne, interviewing the leading experts in the world about… Continue Reading
Every productivity system stops working eventually and there’s nothing you can do about it
Alexey Guzey – “You’ve most likely tried the pomodoro technique. You set the timer for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break, then set the timer for 25 minutes again, then at some point you take a longer break and so on. I predict that pomodoro technique eventually broke down for the following reasons:… Continue Reading
Betty White Was Always on TV She’s owned the medium—in multiple ways—for its entire history.
Vulture: “Betty White, the most durable television star of all time and one of the most beloved and groundbreaking, died just short of her hundredth birthday. She was preceded in death by TV broadcasting as millions knew it, and then outlived it, adapting to a transformed entertainment landscape more gracefully than the medium that she… Continue Reading
Paralysed man sends tweet using only his mind after microchip installed in brain
Mirror UK: “A paralysed man has become the first person to tweet a message to the world using only direct thought. The feat was pulled off by Philip O’Keefe – a motor neurone disease patient – using a microchip implant that picks up his brain signals. It’s been described as the “first direct-thought tweet” after… Continue Reading
