April 2020 – Ken Schafer

April 30, 2020

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What the idea of civilisational ‘collapse’ says about history – Guy D Middleton | Aeon Essays

“There’s a common story of how the Maya civilisation was wiped out: they fell foul of unstoppable climate change. Several periods of extreme drought withered…”
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Death of the office

“In the spring of 1822 an employee in one of the world’s first offices – that of the East India Company in London – sat down to write a letter to a friend. If…”

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Why we can’t build

“The Capitol building in Washington, DC, on April 19. Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images In a viral essay , venture capitalist Marc Andreessen makes a simple…”

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It’s Not Too Late to Go on Offense Against the Coronavirus

“For weeks now, we’ve watched the COVID -19 pandemic spread across the United States. During much of that time, it’s seemed like the only thing to do is hunker…”
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Obesity Linked to Severe Coronavirus Disease, Especially for Younger Patients

“Young adults with obesity are more likely to be hospitalized, even if they have no other health problems, studies show. A patient arrived at Elmurst Hospital…”

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Basalts Turn Carbon into Stone for Permanent Storage – Eos

“In carbon storage experiments tied to geothermal power plants in Iceland, 90% of injected carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) transformed into minerals in just 2 years.…”
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Forecasting s-curves is hard

“S-curves (or sigmoid functions) are commonly used to model the evolution of social or biological systems over time [1]. These functions start with exponential…”
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IT’S TIME TO BUILD – Andreessen Horowitz

“Every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, despite many prior warnings. This monumental failure of institutional effectiveness will…”
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The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead

“A tent in an outdoor I.C.U. hospital in Central Park. Credit… Misha Friedman for The New York Times There will be no quick return to our previous lives,…”

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Clarkesworld Magazine – Science Fiction & Fantasy

“Carole’s Roast Chicken This is a food blog, not a disease blog, but of course the rumors all over about bird flu are making me nervous. I don’t know about you,…”
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Our Pandemic Summer

“Joan Wong W hat a difference a few months can make. In January, the United States watched as the new coronavirus blazed through China and reached American…”
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Why Epidemiologists Still Don’t Know the Death Rate for Covid-19

“Determining what percentage of those infected by the coronavirus will die is a key question for epidemiologists, but an elusive one during the pandemic. A…”
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Fiona Apple: Fetch the Bolt Cutters

“It happens to most of us at an early age: the realization that life will not follow a straight line on the path towards fulfillment. Instead, life spirals. The…”
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Covid-19 Does Not Discriminate by Body Weight

“The claim that those with higher BMIs are at special risk of dying from the coronavirus is grossly overstated. At this point it’s been made to seem like common…”

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Kate Bush: Hounds of Love

“When Kate Bush debuted in early 1978 with “ Wuthering Heights ,” arguably pop’s most uncanny ballad, she arrived as England’s first and perhaps only…”

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There Is No Hierarchy of Suffering | Common Reader

“(Photo by S.J. Pyrotechnic via Flickr) Posting on Facebook that her beloved dog was doing well after hip surgery, a friend prefaced the report with a strenuous…”
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Why we find it difficult to recognise a crisis

“The current pandemic has affected some countries more than others, partly because they have been slow to react to the crisis. That, it turns out, is a very…”

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Yuval Noah Harari’s History of Everyone, Ever

“In 2008, Yuval Noah Harari, a young historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, began to write a book derived from an undergraduate world-history class…”
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Meet the Xenobots, Virtual Creatures Brought to Life

“Cell aggregates undergo compaction as they re-adhere and are allowed to develop for two additional days at 14 degrees Celsius. The Great Read Computer…”
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Ted Chiang Explains the Disaster Novel We All Suddenly Live In – Electric Literature

“M ore than two weeks into self-isolation, I am starting to wonder whether I will ever be able to come out. I don’t mean whether I’ll be legally allowed to come…”
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The Prophylactic Life

“Here in the village of X, we remain hopeful. As inhabitants of an old Yankee town, we have always practiced social distance. Half of us still seem to live in…”

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For survivors of severe COVID-19, beating the virus is just the beginning

“Survivors of COVID-19 who spent time on a ventilator may be at risk of long-term disability and illness. Farhad Babaei/Magnus New/SIPA/Newscom Science ’s…”
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Immunity passports aren’t a good way out of the coronavirus crisis

“Ollie Millington/Getty Images On April 2, health secretary Matt Hancock offered a glimmer of hope for members of the public already beleaguered after weeks of…”
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Feeling Scatterbrained? Here’s Why

“In her words Stress, like a global pandemic, puts our brains into ‘fight or flight’ mode, disrupting attention, memory, breathing and sleep. But experts say…”
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This Super-Clean Smart Screen Puts a Newspaper on Your Wall

“Sometimes no user interface is the best user interface Max Braun Feb 10 · 5 min read Paper on Thanksgiving Day, 2019. Content: © 2019 The New York Times Company…”
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Dancing the flip-flop

“Dancing the flip-flop There’s a particular process that fascinates me, and I tell people about it all the time, but recently I realized I’d never actually…”

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Everyone Thinks They’re Right About Masks

“Victor J. Blue / Getty As the coronavirus pandemic continues, many people are now overthinking things they never used to think about at all. Can you go outside?…”
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What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage

“It isn’t really about hoarding. And there isn’t an easy fix. Will Oremus Apr 2 · 6 min read Stores have placed limits on purchases of toilet paper, yet they’re…”
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In Italy, Going Back to Work May Depend on Having the Right Antibodies

“Weighing an idea that might once have been relegated to science fiction, Italy once again finds itself in the unfortunate vanguard of Western democracies…”
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How society can overcome covid-19

“Apr 4th 2020 WHEN THE makers of the film “Contagion” in 2011 needed to vet the plausibility of the script, they turned to Larry Brilliant, one of the world’s…”