Health: Wear “Cloth Face Mask” In Public To Prevent Spread Of Coronavirus

New research suggests that face masks may offer more protection against coronavirus infection than previously thought. It suggests that coughs and sneezes may be projected much further than scientists had thought possible. The World Health Organisation is considering whether to update its guidance on face masks and the White House may recommend that Americans wear them. Meanwhile in the UK hospitality companies are turning their skills to help those in need. And for the second week in a row, applause has rung out from members of the public showing gratitude to NHS staff and other workers helping to keep the country going. Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten coverage from Science Editor David Shukman and Social Affairs Correspondent Alison Holt.

Obesity Study: “Late Night Snacking” Older Adults – Higher Fat Levels Than Early Eaters On Same Diet

From a PLOS Biology Journal study (Feb 20, 2020):

Snacking Before you sleep Keeps on the Fat PLOS Biology April 2020
Schematic: Late-evening snacking interacts with the circadian rhythm of metabolism to inhibit LO.

The major finding of this study is that the timing of feeding over the day leads to significant differences in the metabolism of an equivalent 24-h nutritional intake. Daily timing of nutrient availability coupled with daily/circadian control of metabolism drives a switch in substrate preference such that the late-evening Snack Session resulted in significantly lower LO compared to the Breakfast Session. 

Developed countries are experiencing an epidemic of obesity that leads to many serious health problems, foremost among which are increasing rates of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. While weight gain and obesity are primarily determined by diet and exercise, there is tremendous interest in the possibility that the daily timing of eating might have a significant impact upon weight management [13]. Many physiological processes display day/night rhythms, including feeding behavior, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, body temperature, and sleep.

PLOS Biology StudiesThese daily oscillations are controlled by the circadian clock, which is composed of an autoregulatory biochemical mechanism that is expressed in tissues throughout the body and is coordinated by a master pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the brain (aka the SCN [1,4]). The circadian system globally controls gene expression patterns so that metabolic pathways are differentially regulated over the day, including switching between carbohydrate and lipid catabolism [1,3,59]. Therefore, ingestion of the same food at different times of day could lead to differential metabolic outcomes, e.g., lipid oxidation (LO) versus accumulation; however, whether this is true or not is unclear.

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Top New Science Podcasts: Forecasting The Spread Of Coronavirus, Emotions Of Mice (ScienceMag.com)

science-magazine-podcastsOn this week’s show, Contributing Correspondent Kai Kupferschmidt talks with host Sarah Crespi about modeling coronavirus spread and the role of forecasts in national lockdowns and other pandemic policies. They also talk about the launch of a global trial of promising treatments. 

Also this week, Nadine Gogolla, research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, talks with Sarah about linking the facial expressions of mice to their emotional states using machine learning.

New Aerial Travel Video: “China & Vietnam” In 4K

Filmed and Edited by: Gaëtan Piolot

Right before the epidemic started, we had the chance to travel around western China and Vietnam. Discover some of the most beautiful spots we found from the Yunnan Province to Ha Long Bay: Puzhehei, Luoping, Sa Pa, Ha Giang, Hanoi, Ninh Binh…

Shot in 4K with a DJI Mavic Pro drone, and an iPhone X.

Future Of Mobile Living: “HAAKS Opperland Camper” Easily Detaches From Chasis – “Open Living Area”

At the push of a button, the HAAKS camper extends its support legs, so that the car can be driven out of it; it remains available for day trips. The module self-levels and the automatically extendable roof unfolds your sleeping area.

Haaks Campers inside view

HAAKS campers offers you the freedom and flexibility  for your adventures, with a new way of  camping. A way of camping with luxury and  comfort, but also more sustainable and with natural  materials. Closer to nature.

A motorhome should feel like a second home. Building a HAAKS motorhome is a  process that we go through together. Take us  on your journey. What does your ideal adventure look like? Where have  you been and what do you want to do? Together  we design the perfect camper for all your  travels. Do you want a specific type of upholstery,  a different layout, or a different toilet? We fully adapt the camper to  your wishes. So that you feel at home in it.

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Interviews: 66-Year Old American Author Erik Larson On Writing “The Splendid And The Vile”

Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author, shares his writing process.

In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless.” It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it’s also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchill’s prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London. 

Erik Larson Books

Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports—some released only recently—Larson provides a new lens on London’s darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents’ wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela’s illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the advisers in Churchill’s “Secret Circle,” to whom he turns in the hardest moments.

Erik Larson is the author of eight books, six of which became New York Times bestsellers. His latest books, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz and Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, both hit no. 1 on the list soon after launch. His saga of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, The Devil in the White City, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and won an Edgar Award for fact-crime writing; it lingered on various Times bestseller lists for the better part of a decade.

Travel & Architecture: Inside An Exotic Home In Tangier, Morocco (AD)

From an Architectural Digest online article (March 14, 2020):

Tangier Home Interior - Architectural Digest“Tangier is the crossroads of so many civilizations,” says AD100 talent Frank de Biasi of the evocative Moroccan port city that he and his partner, the multifaceted designer Gene Meyer, have made their home. “There’s a central energy here,” he explains, “where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, where Europe meets Africa. It’s a psychic point like no other place.”

Many of the traditional houses here, however, have a claustrophobic lack of light, so when the couple found a ruinous place on a little open square, with exposures on three sides, they knew they could make it their own. Their renovation ultimately took four years as they rebuilt paper-thin walls, replaced a life-threateningly vertiginous staircase with one inspired by the Old Fort Bay clubhouse in the Bahamas, and installed a light-well based on one de Biasi had seen in India and such mod cons as under-floor heating.

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Furniture Design: Profile Of Japan’s Famed “Maruni Wood Industry” (Video)

Monocle Films logoIn 1928 Maruni Wood Industry was born out of a fascination with the masterful carpentry in ancient shrines. Today its furniture is found in the Californian headquarters of Apple as well as airport lounges, galleries and restaurants around the world. We meet the company’s president to talk about the challenges of managing a family-run business.

Maruni Wood Industry Furniture

Pioneering the industrial application of craft skills following establishment of the company in 1928

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From building structures such as Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines through to private dwellings and the tools that we use in our everyday lives, Japan is a nation that has for many centuries cultivated traditions based on wood that occupy an important position in our daily lives. Takeo Yamanaka, the founder of Maruni Wood Industry, spent his childhood at Miyajima in Hiroshima Prefecture, a place that has a rich heritage of traditional crafts based on the use of wood.

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Top New Books: “The Art Of Earth Architecture – Past, Present, Future” (Mar 2020)

The Art of Earth Architecture Past, Present, Future Jean Dethier March 2020The Art of Earth Architecture demonstrates the wide-ranging applications and sustainability of this building material, while presenting a manifesto for its ecological significance. Featuring raw-earth masterpieces, monumental structures, and little known works, the book includes the temples and palaces of Mesopotamia, the Great Wall of China, large-scale urban developments in Tenochtitlan in Mexico, the medinas of Morocco, and housing in Marrakech and Bogota.

For almost ten thousand years, unbaked earth has been used to build remarkable structures, from simple dwellings to palaces, temples, and fortresses both grand and durable. Jean Dethier spent fifty years researching this landmark global survey, which spans five continents and 250 sites.

This definitive reference features many UNESCO World Heritage sites and contains essays on the historical, technical, and cultural aspects of raw-earth construction from twenty experts in the field, as well as hundreds of photographs, illustrations, and architectural drawings.

The Art of Earth Architecture Past, Present, Future Jean Dethier March 2020

Jean Dethier has dedicated his life to the research, safeguarding, and development of earth structures around the world. Dethier worked at the Centre Pompidou as a curator of influential architectural exhibits for thirty years. Winner of the prestigious Grand Prix national de l’architecture, he sat on the jury of the 2016 Terra Award, the first international prize for contemporary earthen structures.

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