Research Preview: Nature Magazine- February 1, 2024

/Minden Pictures

Volume 626 Issue 7997

Nature Magazine – January 31, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Significant Otters’ – How restored top predators helped slow down coastal damage; Hijacked neurons boost cancer’s ability to grow and spread; Mechanical process yields flexible fibers for wearable electronics…

How does chronic stress harm the gut? New clues emerge

A bacterium in the intestines of stressed mice interferes with cells that protect against pathogens.

How cancer hijacks the nervous system to grow and spread

A new wave of research is unpicking the relationship between cancer and neurons — and looking for ways to stop the crosstalk.

The clever system that gave Roman wines an amber colour and nutty aroma

Wine-fermentation jars used in Georgia today hint at the properties of ancient vintages.

Technology Quarterly: Where The Internet Lives

Technology Quarterly: Where the internet lives

The Economist (January 31, 2024): The latest issue of THE ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY is focused on:

Where the internet lives

Users of the internet can ignore its physical underpinnings. But for technologies like artificial intelligence and the metaverse to work, others need to pay attention, argues Abby Bertics

Travel: 23 Most Beautiful Mediterranean Islands

touropia (January 31, 2024) – One of the main places Europeans head on holiday, the Mediterranean is full of idyllic islands. Thought to number around 10,000 in total, their warm, sunny weather, sandy beaches and sumptuous food see many millions visit each summer.

Bordered by countless countries from Europe, Asia and Africa, the immense sea and all its islands have played a massive role in the history of Western civilization. Often boasting gorgeous scenery or crystal-clear waters, they’re the perfect place to relax and unwind in spellbinding settings. Here’s a look at the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean.

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – Feb 2, 2024

Times Literary Supplement (January 31 2024): The latest issue features ‘Back to Nature’ – The counterculture begins with Thoreau; Enlightenment dimmed; The secret state and the IRA; Homosexuality in early modern Europe and A family haunting….

News: Gaza War Hostage Talks, Argentina Debates Milei’s Economic Reforms

The Globalist Podcast (January 31, 2024) – We bring the latest on the Israel-Hamas hostage talks as Qatar’s prime minister meets US officials in Washington.

Plus: Javier Milei’s economic bill is debated in Argentina’s parliament, a round-up of art news, and is the future of the department store in danger?

The New York Times — Wednesday, Jan 31, 2024

How the Border Crisis Shattered Biden’s Immigration Hopes

An examination of President Biden’s record reveals how he failed to overcome a surge in new arrivals and political obstacles in both parties.

French Government Vows Rapid Aid for Farmers but Blockades Persist

Protesters blocking roads in and out of Paris, who say farms are squeezed by low prices and excessive regulation, seemed unmoved by promises from Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

The War the World Can’t See

From outside Gaza, the scale of death and destruction is impossible to grasp, shrouded by communications blackouts, restrictions barring international reporters and extreme challenges facing local journalists.

Mayor Adams Loses Showdown Over 2 Criminal Justice Bills

The New York City Council overrode the mayor’s veto of two bills that would expand documentation of police stops and end solitary confinement.

Canada History: Klondike Gold Town Dawson City

TRACKS – Travel Documentaries (January 30, 2024)50 kilometers east of the Alaska border in the heart of Canada’s Yukon Territory, the Klondike Highway leads to Dawson City.

Dawson City is located on the shores of the Klondike river, a northern gem surrounded by a soaring rugged landscape holding secrets of the past. While the region has been home to First nation’s people for centuries, the town site was built more recently, at the height of the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush.

#klondike#canada#goldrush

History Today Magazine – February 2024 Preview

History Today (January 30, 2024) – The latest issue features ‘The Search For The Buddha’; ‘Blood and Sand’ – The Cold War in North Africa; All In The MInd – A history of phantom pain, and more…

A History of Phantom Pain

A lecture on the nervous system, by C. Bethmont, c.1860. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain.

For centuries, scientists and philosophers used phantom limbs to unravel the secrets of the human mind. While we know phantom pain exists, we still don’t know why.

‘American Journey’ by Wes Davis review

Henry Ford fishing, with Harvey Firestone, George Christian and Thomas Edison, C. 1920. Library of Congress. Public Domain.

American Journey: On the Road with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and John Burroughs by Wes Davis falls short of examining the consequences that followed the wanderlust.

The Search for the Historical Buddha

The Buddha seated cross legged on a lotus throne, surrounded by scenes from his life. Tibet, 18th century. Photograph © 2023 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All rights reserved. / Denman Waldo Ross Collection / Bridgeman Images.

Arriving in the West in the 19th century, the Buddha of legend was stripped of supernatural myth and recast as a historical figure. What do we really know about him?

‘Judgement at Tokyo’ by Gary J. Bass review

International Military Tribunal for the Far East judges on the bench, 3 March 1947. UVA LAW Special Collections (CC BY 4.0).

Pacy and even-handed, Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J. Bass is unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the Tokyo trials.

Previews: Country Life Magazine-January 31, 2024

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Country Life Magazine – January 30, 2024: The latest issue features How British Rivers Got Their Name; Where to find a really wild man; Miniature collecting and more…

‘Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide’

From the Piddle and the Polly to the Yox and the Yeo, the meanings behind the namesof Britain’s rivers run deep, as Vicky Liddell discovers

Call of the wild

The protective, stick-wielding Wild Man that strides through much medieval art has taken on fresh meaning in recent times, reveals Susan Owens

Chainsaw gardening

Taking a blade to our gardens may seem drastic, but a severe pruning sometimes leaves plants and trees in better health, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson

There is wonder in the little things

Huon Mallalieu puts miniatures under the microscope and finds a world of small marvels celebrating power, loyalty and love

Allan Mallinson’s favourite painting

The military historian chooses a moving First World War scene

Murder most pitiful

John Goodall investigates the dramatic events that shaped the history of 18th-century Gilmerton House in Lothian

The devil makes work for idle hands

As dedicated craftspeople fashion a revival in the art of needlepoint, Matthew Dennison can see a pattern emerging

‘Full of a watchful intentness’

John Lewis-Stempel embraces the ‘faerie enchantment’ of the heath as he visits the inspiration for a classic Thomas Hardy novel

Interiors

Matthew Dennison celebrates the Soane chimneypiece that is still hot property after 200 years and Amelia Thorpe’s selections keep the home fires burning

Lord of the rings

Ben Lerwill meets Simon Turner, an arboreal artist who creates wonderful ceramics using the contours and curves of trees

Luxury

Hetty Lintell on high fashion in the Highlands, switching off the stress and astonishing rubies, plus some of McFly drummer Harry Judd’s favourite things

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson knows her onions, giving an understated kitchen staple a starring role

Ireland’s call

The well-oiled Ireland winning machine can repel France’s strength in depth to retain rugby’s Six Nations Championship, argues Owain Jones

And much more

Preview: Philosophy Now Magazine February 2024

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Philosophy Now Magazine (February/March 2024)The new issue features ‘Irish Philosophy’ – Pure Philosophy, No Blarney; Steven Pinker – On Violence and Metaphors…

Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and a popular writer on linguistics and evolutionary psychology. Angela Tan interviews him about politics, language, death, and reasons to be optimistic.

Thomas Duddy & Irish Philosophy

Tim Madigan travels through time to seek the essential nature of Irish thought.

Irish Philosophy & Me

Cathy Barry charts her journey through historical Irish thought.

Edmund Burke & the Politics of Reform

Jon Langford outlines conservative insights gained from revolutionary failures.

Philip Pettit & The Birth of Ethics

Peter Stone thinks about a thought experiment about how ethics evolved.