"(There's currently) a wave of writers encouraging active resistance to the relentless 'goal-oriented' expectation that, 'in a world where our value is determined by our productivity', every hour and minute of our time should be put to good use." Note the spread of the word "niksen," the Dutch term for doing nothing. - BBC
"(There's a) trend in Asia seeing architects seek inspiration from the region's rice terraces and other agricultural heritages to help urban communities reduce waterlogging and flooding. Examples range from adapted wetland parks in Chinese cities to homes in Vietnam with rice paddy-inspired rooftops" — and one particularly innovative university building in Bangkok. - BBC
Assembly theory, as ASU professor Sara Walker and her colleagues call it, "looks at everything in the universe in terms of how it was assembled from smaller parts. Life, the scientists argue, emerges when the universe hits on a way to make exceptionally intricate things." - The New York Times
"Researchers analysed thousands of gestures made by wild chimps in east Africa and found striking similarities with the turn-taking seen in human conversations, in particular how swiftly the apes responded to one another." - The Guardian
"A neural code refers to particular patterns of brain activity associated with distinct words in their contexts. We found that the speakers’ brains are aligned on a shared neural code. Importantly, the brain’s neural code resembled the artificial neural code of large language models, or LLMs." - The Conversation
“When it comes to the health consequences of phones, so much depends on context. How someone uses an app matters, as well which app. One person might use Instagram to message with friends, whereas another could just scroll their feed aimlessly, feeling worse about themselves.” - The Atlantic (MSN)
The merchification of the movie-going experience was incomplete until Dune 2 kicked it off. Now? Viral merch may be helping save movie theatres. - Vulture
For instance, neither Deadpool nor Wolverine can die, and that makes them boring. “An entire generation has never known a time without the MCU and its reliable narrative architecture, with its wash, rinse, repeat of clever rejoinders, conflict resolution through fist fights and celebrity cameos.” - Salon
"By the end of the 20th century, our understanding of plant behaviour had expanded …, and it continues to expand. Plant behaviour is, as botanist Anthony Trewavas puts it, ‘what plants do’. It turns out that they do a lot. … The new plant philosophy has emerged partly in response to this work." - Aeon
“These are sandwiches that announced themselves, generating queues and crowds and noise, from hollers in the streets to streams of hyper-colourful Instagram photos. This is a potted history, not of London’s greatest sandwiches over the last two-and-a-half centuries, but of the most iconic ones.” - Vittles
American downtowns may have mattered before 2020, but the enormous growth of remote work (with the resulting rise in office vacancy rates) and the consistent preferences of home buyers show that suburbs and exurbs are where the action is — especially since much development there is along New Urbanism lines. - The New Atlantis
“It’s one of the most common low-stakes annoyances in modern life: you flop down on the couch, … to watch one of the dozens of incredible shows or movies you have access to” - and end up watching a rerun of a show you already know. Why? - The Verge
“Pull out the checklist: There’s music (and lots of it). There’s a cast of hundreds (or in this case, thousands) of performers. There’s grand spectacle (courtesy of director Thomas Jolly). There are fabulous costumes. There’s a narrative arc de triumph … They take, like, four hours.” - Washington Post
“Orwell would have been more disturbed by the mendacity of those claiming to have been canceled than he would have been by the decision of some media not to publish them.” - The Smart Set
