'Undiscovered Titian painting' found in Ledbury church
"An art historian claims to have found the Renaissance master's signature during restoration work." Fascinating story especially the then - plague - and now - pandemic angle. Enormous dedication from the historian and team who have been working on it - over 11,000 hours of work. Can't remember seeing...
Source: bbc.com
'How many dead bodies?' asked Myanmar protester killed on bloodiest day
Shocking news from Myanmar reported by Reuters. "The day before he was killed, internet network engineer Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing had posted on Facebook about the increasingly violent military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Myanmar." "“#How_Many_Dead_Bodies_UN_Need_To_Take_Action,” he wrote,...
Source: reuters.com
Cornish couple feel 'discriminated against' over wedding language
"Steph Norman and Aaron Willoughby cannot have their ceremony entirely in Cornish." Apparently they could conduct it English obviously but also in Welsh (which is close to Cornish) but it highlights the lack of legal formality to the Cornish language.
Source: bbc.com
Why Are COVID-19 Case Numbers Dropping?
"We don’t know. That part is easy. Also easy is that case numbers really are falling — it’s not just reduced testing — and it’s happening pretty much everywhere. Urban areas and rural. Red states and blue. Places with broad vaccine rollouts and those with hardly any. North and South America,...
Source: jwatch.org
Eeek! or E484K mutation and the coronavirus pandemic
Rupert Beale · Eeek! · LRB 19 February 2021: "Uncontrolled spread – as we knew it would – led to an even greater wave of infections, hospitalisations and deaths than last spring. Children were sent to school for one day before the necessary ‘lockdown’ was reimposed. The impulse to keep schools...
Source: lrb.co.uk
Dreadful user experience can be expensive.
"Citibank just got a $500 million lesson in the importance of UI design: Citibank was trying to make $7.8M in interest payments. It sent $900M instead." The screenshot is from court records where the judge ruled against Citibank who had wanted to get their money back. The lesson is to always include...
Source: arstechnica.com
Australian news app beats Facebook in App Store
"Take that Facebook. A homegrown app from Australia Broadcasting Company (ABC) topped iOS download charts in Australia, outpacing Facebook. That's important for one big reason: Facebook just banned news from appearing on Australian newsfeeds in response to a law that would require the social giant...
Source: mashable.com
IBM Explores Sale of IBM Watson Health
IBM is studying alternatives for the unit that could include a sale to a private-equity firm or industry player, or a merger with a blank-check company, as the technology giant moves to streamline and become more competitive in cloud computing.
Source: wsj.com
Abundant Rain Turns Namibia Green
The landscape has been transformed by the wettest rainy season since 2011. "January 2021 saw rainfall totals double to triple the norm in the northeastern, central, and southern parts of Namibia. According to a weather monitor in Windhoek, 228 millimeters (9 inches) of rain fell in January; the long-term...
Source: nasa.gov
Brain-Based Learning, Myth versus Reality: Testing Learning Styles and Dual Coding | Science-Based Medicine: Ed. Note: Today
Brain-Based Learning, Myth versus Reality: Testing Learning Styles and Dual Coding | Science-Based Medicine: Ed. Note: Today we present a guest post from Josh Cuevas, a cognitive psychologist and assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of North Georgia. Enjoy! "Since early on...
Source: sciencebasedmedicine.org
Using whale songs to image beneath the ocean
Using whale songs to image beneath the ocean’s floor: Seismic data generated by whale songs helps build a picture of the ocean's base. "The song of a fin whale is not exactly the sort of thing you'd typically describe as musical. It's generally in the area of 20Hz, which sounds more like a series of...
Source: arstechnica.com
Word of the day: deprecated
Geek talk. The tech behind this blog which takes any link that I find interesting and, instead of curating it for LinkedIn / Twitter / Facebook, curates it here on something I have control over broke. I accidentally upgraded the server to PHP8 and an old function in PHP each() no longer worked. Took...
France and Germany thrust into lockdown as second COVID-19 wave sweeps Europe: French President Emmanuel Macron and German
France and Germany thrust into lockdown as second COVID-19 wave sweeps Europe: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ordered their countries back into lockdown on Wednesday, as a massive second wave of coronavirus infections threatened to overwhelm Europe before the winter.
Source: reuters.com
The tyranny of merit.
The Insufferable Hubris of the Well-Credentialed: A four-year college degree has become necessary for dignified work. Michael Sandel says that’s a huge mistake. "The meritocratic hubris of elites is the conviction by those who land on top that their success is their own doing, that they have risen...
Source: chronicle.com
Oppose the educational technology algorithims and technosolutions?
Essay by Audrey Watters on schools and the technology industry ... basically f**k the algorithm. "Robot Teachers, Racist Algorithms, and Disaster Pedagogy: I have volunteered to be a guest speaker in classes this Fall. It's really the least I can do to help teachers and students through another tough...
Source: hackeducation.com
A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 — and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged "According to the team’s analysis,
A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 — and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged "According to the team’s analysis, when the virus tweaks the RAS, it causes the body’s mechanisms for regulating bradykinin to go haywire. Bradykinin receptors are resensitized, and the body also stops effectively...
Source: medium.com
Lions are less likely to attack cattle with eyes painted on their backsides: Many carnivores are ambush predators. Being
Lions are less likely to attack cattle with eyes painted on their backsides: Many carnivores are ambush predators. Being seen by their prey can lead to them abandoning the hunt.
Source: theconversation.com
How novice and expert anaesthetists understand expertise in anaesthesia: a qualitative study: The development of expertise
How novice and expert anaesthetists understand expertise in anaesthesia: a qualitative study: The development of expertise in anaesthesia requires personal contact between a mentor and a learner. Because mentors often are experienced clinicians, they may find it difficult to understand the challenges...
Source: biomedcentral.com
God Is Dead. So Is the Office. These People Want to Save Both: Divinity consultants are designing sacred rituals for corporations
God Is Dead. So Is the Office. These People Want to Save Both: Divinity consultants are designing sacred rituals for corporations and their spiritually depleted employees.
Source: nytimes.com
How I launched WHO's covid-19 response in the Central African Republic
How I launched WHO's covid-19 response in the Central African Republic: Marie-Roseline Darnycka Bélizaire of the WHO explains the challenges of responding to coronavirus in the Central African Republic in the face of limited resources.
Source: newscientist.com
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