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"I'm confused, I'm not sure where to go, but I know my door is blue"
"We had a traffic jam of wheelchairs and walkers because everyone was so excited to come and see how the doors were going to turn out." Trying to find their own room among identical beige doors can be confusing and stressful for care home residents with dementia. Some memory care facilities are trying a new approach: large decals that transform each featureless beige door into the distinctive front door of a real house. The decals are based on the final art school thesis of Marieke van Diepen, who worked with a social development organization to figure out how to use the door decals to help people with dementia. The Amsterdam-based company even offers custom decals based on the actual front door of a person's former home.
Why Are So Many People Suddenly Allergic to Meat?
More and more people are becoming allergic to mammal meat, and worryingly, mammal products such as cheese, wool, and even the gelatin in pill capsules “This increasingly common sensitivity seems to result from a certain type of tick bite. The fact that we’ve figured that out is the result of some amazing coincidences in scientific research.”
It’s called an Alpha-Gal allergy, and due to climate change, it’s becoming a problem worldwide.
PROJECT DRAWDOWN
Project Drawdown is a book edited by Paul Hawken, and a plan, that ranks the top 100 solutions to global climate change. "The list is comprised primarily of “no regrets” solutions—actions that make sense to take regardless of their climate impact since they have intrinsic benefits to communities and economies." [more inside]
Rejoice Greatly indeed
Trinidadian soprano Jeanine DeBique performs 'Rejoice greatly' from Messiah (SLYT) People are gagging over her ability to accurately and gorgeously render the challenging coloratura of this piece at near breakneck speed, with such warmth and expression. Her slow sections are equally beautiful. At the 2:25 mark, her use of straight tone is devastating. DeBique is in a class by herself. [more inside]
The Secret Origin of the Secret Society of Secret Santas
What to do when your children stop believing in Santa: teach them to become him. [slImgur] [more inside]
Of the 385,000 electric buses worldwide, 99% of them are in China
Bloomberg: Electric buses are hurting the oil industry. Buses consume 30x more fuel than cars, so 84% of the fuel displaced by electric vehicles so far has come from the usage of electric buses, compared to just 16% attributed to the use of electric passenger vehicles such as those produced by Tesla or Nissan. [more inside]
Humble Bachelor who is Prone to Conniptions
Quod me nutrit me destruit
What's the most dangerous food of all time? Experts give and explain their answers: Durian (physical accidents, sulfur content); lookalike mushrooms; domesticated livestock (zoonotic diseases); alcohol; food-spoiling fungi; beef (global warming); raw food; and sugar (x4). [more inside]
Architectural Drawing Of The Year 2018
The drawings are created by architecture students from around the world and the competition is held by Aarhus School of Architecture.
Celebrating Avril 14 four months early
As the darkness of December descends, why not celebrate April 14th four months early? Aphex Twin dropped a few new gifts recently, expanding his 2001 album Drukqs with two newly available versions of Avril 14 (a 3rd was briefly available, long enough that someone got it and posted it to Soundcloud). Richard D. James isn't one to talk about song titles or inspirations, but there's a theory that he's marking a rather dark day, or repeating date, in history. [more inside]
The biggest news in Australia that Australians don't know yet.
While the news is available to the rest of the world, the majority of Australians don't know that the most senior catholic in the country, Cardinal George Pell, is now a convicted paedophile. At the request of the prosecution, a suppression order forbids the media from reporting this, in an effort to preserve impartiality in further trials. The trial inspired a Tim Minchin song two years ago, it's popularity indicating the public interest.
The trident is superfluous at this point.
At the blue carpet premier of Aquaman last night, Jason Momoa joined Kiwi costar Temuera Morrison and some other cast members in a performance of the Haka dance (Youtube link). It should be noted that this is not Momoa's first foray into this traditional Maori performance.
Intersectional sustainable crop science, and GIFs
Dr. Sarah Taber is an aquaponics and agricultural consultant and food safety scientist, Doctor of Plant Medicine, Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management, and science communicator who's attracted a Twitter following and is writing a book. Following the jump, a collection of links. [more inside]
“The numbers don’t lie,”
Elizabeth Rowe has sued the BSO. Her case could change how orchestras pay men and women. [The Washington Post] The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the country's "big five" orchestras. There are 95 musicians in the orchestra — 63 men and 32 women. Principal flutist Elizabeth Rowe sits next to principal oboist John Ferrillo. She's paid $64,451 less than him a year.
“Money is the one thing that we can look to to measure people’s value in an organization,” Rowe says. “You look at the number of women that graduate from conservatories and then you look at the number of women in the top leadership positions in orchestras, and it’s not 50-50 still. Women need to see equality, and they need to see fairness in order to believe that that’s possible.”
I asked someone how they were and they actually told me.
Londoners troll New York Times with deluge of 'petty crimes'
An appeal for victims of petty crime in the UK’s capital has been met with sarcasm.
An appeal for victims of petty crime in the UK’s capital has been met with sarcasm.
Dense rings of dust
ALMA Campaign Provides Unprecedented Views of the Birth of Planets. ALMA‘s first large-scale, high-resolution survey of protoplanetary disks. Fantastic pictures. Because what is astronomy if not fantastic pictures?
Don't tell me it's raining
Insect pee: Ultrafast fluidic ejection from sharpshooters - Sharpshooters are agricultural pests that “suck” copious amounts of fluid from plants and spread Pierce’s disease which threatens California’s multi-billion agricultural industry. A single sharpshooter can ingest up to 300 times their body weight per day in xylem fluid making them extreme biological pumps. To prevent fluidic build-up, they constantly have to release droplet excrements before ejecting them in the form of “pee” at ultra-high speeds. These insects, nicknamed the "pissing fly," have left passersby wondering if it's raining. [more inside]
A Demon Underneath
Long before Elon Musk, a visionary automaker showed how ugly the American Dream could be. Long before the rise of utopian tech billionaires and Silicon Valley mountebanks, John DeLorean blazed the trail they would eventually follow. The Outline explores DeLorean's apocalyptic, quintessentially American life.
The Island the Left Neglected
Imagine a small, peaceful, progressive island in Asia about the size of Maryland. Ruled until the Cold War’s very end by a military dictatorship, it is now a robust democracy, although it endures incessant hostility from its giant neighbor. Its people treasure their hard-fought equality, free press, and vibrant civil society. [By Jeffrey C. H. Ngo in Dissent Magazine] [more inside]
Chicago's mass school closings
A Generation of School Closings. Since 2002, Chicago has closed or radically shaken up 200 public schools. Public radio station WBEZ takes a look at who the shakeup helped, who it hurt, and where the city’s schools stand now. [more inside]