Research Preview: Science Magazine – June 2, 2023

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Science Magazine – June 2, 2023 issue: The snub-nosed monkey genus Rhinopithecus comprises five allopatric and morphologically differentiated species, the black-white snub-nosed monkey, the black snub-nosed monkey , the golden snub-nosed monkey, the gray snub-nosed monkey, and the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey. 

Understanding our own order

Humans are primates. If we weren’t able to do things like write poetry and drive cars, we would likely be classified as another species of great ape, along with our closest cousins—chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. Thus, understanding the genomes, evolutionary history, sociality, and, some might argue, even ecology of modern primates greatly informs our understanding of ourselves.

A cool path for making glass

Brent Grocholski

Printing glass with additive manufacturing techniques could provide access to new materials and structures for many applications. However, one key limitation to this is the high temperature usually required to cure glass. Bauer et al. used a hybrid organic-inorganic polymer resin as a feedstock material that requires a much lower temperature for curing (see the Perspective by Colombo and Franchin).

A super Sonic circadian synchronizer

Sonic Hedgehog signaling and primary cilia control the core mammalian circadian clock

Virtually all mammalian physiological functions fall under the control of an internal circadian rhythm, or body clock. This circadian rhythm is governed by master neural networks in the hypothalamus that synchronize the activity of peripheral clocks in cells throughout the body.

Art: ‘Angel Otero – The Sea Remembers’ In Hong Kong

Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong (June 1, 2023) – Angel Otero is known for his signature approach to visual storytelling, synthesizing magical realism and abstraction, the observed and the imagined, and the past and the present.

ANGEL OTERO – THE SEA REMEMBERS

1 JUN – 29 JUL 2023

Beginning 1 June, Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong presents ‘The Sea Remembers,’ Otero’s first solo exhibition in Asia since he joined the gallery in 2022. Through a labor-intensive process of laying down, scrapping and collaging oil paint, Angel Otero’s works are rooted in abstract image making and engage with the idea of memory through addressing art history, as well as his own lived experience.

The New York Review Of Books – June 22, 2023

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The New York Review of Books – June 22, 2023 issue: Fara Dabhoiwala on the ingenious index, Ingrid D. Rowland on Guido Reni’s questing soul, Rachel Donadio on Nathalie Sarraute’s sensual eviscerations, Steve Coll on the Taliban’s second emirate, Jessica Riskin on the poisoning of Jane Stanford, Ruth Franklin on Ken Burns’s The US and the Holocaust, Gary Saul Morson on Tolstoy’s conversion, Ed Vulliamy on the Native Americans of California, Linda Greenhouse on judging the Rosenbergs, Gregory Hays on our feline friends, poems by Shane McCrae and Fernando Pessoa, and much more.

Life Is Short. Indexes Are Necessary.

By Fara Dabhoiwala

Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan

In his new history of the index, Dennis Duncan traces its evolution through the constantly changing character of reading itself.

In 1941 an ambitious Philadelphia pediatrician, the wonderfully named Waldo Emerson Nelson, became the editor of America’s leading textbook of pediatrics. For the next half-century the compilation of successive editions of this large volume advanced his career, consumed his weekends, and encroached heavily on his domestic life. 

Who Are the Taliban Now?

By Steve Coll

Taliban members walking past a mural on the former US embassy, Kabul

The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan After the Americans Left by Hassan Abbas

Hassan Abbas’s book surveys the second Islamic Emirate’s ideology and leading personalities and probes its internal tensions.

Nearly two years after the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul, the UN refers to the regime only as “the de facto authorities,” to avoid any hint of formal recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Taliban call their government. By any name, the Taliban today control Afghanistan’s territory, as well as federal ministries and local administrations. They also preside over a nation in severe crisis. Food insecurity haunts at least half of the population; a country shattered by more than four decades of war again faces the shadow of famine.

Wetlands: Wild Birds Of The Ganges River In India

BBC Earth (June 1, 2023) – The Ganges River fills to capacity during monsoon season, flooding the wetlands that surrounds its banks. Not only do these wetlands foster an ideal habitat for wild birds, but they also create perfect the conditions for cultivating rice with their mineral-rich soil.

Ganges River, Hindi Ganga, great river of the plains of the northern Indian subcontinent. Although officially as well as popularly called the Ganga in Hindi and in other Indian languages, internationally it is known by its conventional name, the Ganges. From time immemorial it has been the holy river of Hinduism. For most of its course it is a wide and sluggish stream, flowing through one of the most fertile and densely populated regions in the world.

Classical Music: Top New Releases For June 2023

Brilliant Classics (June 1, 2023): A release of new classical music variating from the greatest composers of all time to the lesser known but still excellent composers.

Research: The Scientist Magazine – Summer 2023

The Scientist Magazine (June 1, 2023) – The Summer Issue features bacteria cooperating to benefit the collective, but cheaters can rig the system and biofilms are home to millions of microbes, but disrupting their interactions could produce more effective antibiotics.

Cooperation and Cheating

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

Bacteria cooperate to benefit the collective, but cheaters can rig the system. How is the balance maintained?


People often recognize social behaviors in complex organisms such as insects, nonhuman primates, and humans. But Megan Frederickson, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Toronto, is interested in a different, microscopic social community: bacteria. “Cooperation is everywhere,” she said. “Cells cooperate in multicellular organisms; individuals cooperate in societies; and different species cooperate… Why would it not be the case that microbes cooperate with each other?” 

New Insight into Brain Inflammation Inspires New Hope for Epilepsy Treatment 

Clinicians and researchers teamed up to investigate how inappropriate proinflammatory mechanisms contribute to the pathogenesis of drug-refractory epilepsy.

3D image of a neuron cell network with a red glow representing inflammation.

Doctors treat epilepsy with anticonvulsants to control seizures, but some patients do not respond to these first-line therapies. For patients with drug-refractory epilepsy (DRE) whose seizures persist after treatment with two or more anticonvulsants, clinicians must surgically remove part of the brain tissue to cure the disease.

Travel: Walking Tour Of Sabbione, Switzerland

The Traveler Films (June 1, 2023) – Sabbione is a captivating village located in the Val Bavona, one of the wildest valleys in the Swiss Alps. Bordering Ticino, it has remained frozen in the 16th century. The valley is only inhabited in summertime and has opted to remain true to its rustic roots, even shunning electricity.

Renowned for its resemblance to a magical Hobbit village and surrounded by stunning natural landscapes, this hidden gem boasts charming rocky and stone houses, winding streets, an ancient church, cascading waterfalls, and towering mountains. Every corner exudes a whimsical atmosphere, enchanting visitors with its fairy-tale-like beauty.

News: Ron DeSantis 2024 Campaign Launch, Poland Democracy, Qatar-Taliban

The Globalist Podcast, Thursday, June 1, 2023: Veteran political strategist Norm Sterzenbach unpacks Ron DeSantis’s 2024 launch.

Plus: fears that Polish democracy is under threat, secret talks between Qatar and the Taliban, and award-winning author Leila Slimani talks about her latest novel. 

The New York Times – Thursday, June 1, 2023

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House Passes Debt Limit Bill in Bipartisan Vote to Avert Default

“Everybody has a right to their own opinion,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy said ahead of the vote. “But on history, I’d want to be here with this bill today.”

An overwhelming bipartisan coalition pushed through the compromise struck by Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden, even as lawmakers in both parties signaled displeasure with the plan.

A Poisonous Cold War Legacy That Defies a Solution

B Plant, the Hanford Site’s earliest plutonium processing facility in Washington State.

A $528 billion plan to clean up 54 million gallons of radioactive bomb-making waste may never be achieved. Government negotiators are looking for a compromise.

In Iowa, DeSantis Signals the Start of a Slugfest With Trump

After absorbing months of attacks from the former president, the Florida governor is beginning to fire back — but carefully.

After Erdogan’s Attacks, Fear Spreads Among L.G.B.T.Q. People in Turkey

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vilified gay people during his re-election campaign, calling them a threat to society and rallying conservatives against them. It has left people feeling threatened, and alone.

Documentary: ‘Your Brain – Who’s In Control’ (NOVA)

NOVA PBS Official (May 31, 2023) – Are you in control, or is your brain controlling you? Dive into the latest research on the subconscious with neuroscientist Heather Berlin. Sleepwalking, anesthesia, game theory, and more reveal surprising insights in this eye-opening journey to discover what’s really driving the decisions you make.

Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:22 Sleepwalking and the Brain 08:36 Anesthesia and the Brain 14:18 Results of Split Brain Surgery 22:23 Emotions and the Brain 30:01 How Does Trauma Affect the Brain? 35:39 How Much Control Do We Have of Our Brain? 45:44 Creativity and the Brain 50:17 Conclusion