Category Archives: Reviews

Preview: New York Times Magazine – April 16, 2023

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The New York Times Magazine – April 16, 2023:

The R.T.O. Whisperers Have a Plan

A photo illustration of an empty chair surround by confetti.
Credit…Photo illustration by Derek Brahney

A niche group of consultants is trying to get you back to the office. It’s not going too well.

Being the boss doesn’t mean you get exactly what you wish for. That’s what Craig Knoblock discovered when he tried to get his employees to come back to the office in the fall of 2021.

You Call This ‘Flexible Work’?

Credit…Illustration by Brian Rea

Labor fought for a long time to draw a bright line between work and home. It took almost no time at all to erase it.

When Your Boss Is an App

A color illustration of a person working under an overhead lamp that is shaped like a large phone screen.
Credit…Illustration by Derek Abella

Gig work has been silently taking over new industries, but not in the way many expected.

For most Americans, the concept of “gig work” has been synonymous with a handful of Silicon Valley giants — companies like Uber and DoorDash, Instacart and TaskRabbit. There was a moment in the 2010s when pundits told us to expect the “Uberization of everything”: a future in which the typical worker would move from job to job or task to task, finding either independence and flexibility in freelancing or, more realistically, the precarity of working for platforms that may be light on benefits and aggressively exploitative of labor.

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

April 13, 2023: This week: Expo Chicago and the art scene in the Windy City. Ben Sutton, The Art Newspaper’s editor, Americas, and Carlie Porterfield, associate editor, art market, Americas, discuss the fair, and the wider market and gallery scene in Chicago. 

As the US president Joe Biden visits Northern Ireland to honour the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday or Belfast agreement, we talk to Hannah Crowdy, head of curatorial at National Museums Northern Ireland, a group of four museums. She tells us about how the museums are addressing the anniversary, representing Northern Ireland’s recent history and looking to the future.

And this episode’s Work of the Week is Georges Clairin’s 1876 portrait of the celebrated French actor Sarah Bernhardt, who died 100 years ago. The work is part of a huge new exhibition about Bernhardt opening this week at the Petit Palais in Paris. The museum’s director, Annick Lemoine, tells us about the painting and the extraordinary fame of the woman it depicts.

Principled and Revolutionary: Northern Ireland’s Peace Women by Hannah Starkey, Ulster Museum, Belfast, until 10 September; Array Collective: The Druthaib’s Ball, Ulster Museum, until 3 September.Sarah Bernhardt: and the woman created the star, Petit Palais, Paris, until 27 August. 

Research Preview: Science Magazine – April 14, 2023

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – April 7, 2023 issue: Anchoring radiocarbon dates to cosmic events, why hibernating bears don’t get blood clots, and kicking off a book series on sex, gender, and science.

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Reproductive medicine

Since ancient times, humans have been trying to exercise control over their reproductive decisions, whether to avoid undesired pregnancy or to improve their chances of conceiving. In addition, the risks of pregnancy and childbirth have always been a major challenge.

Droughts are coming on faster

Higher global temperatures are increasing the frequency of flash droughts

Previews: The Economist Magazine – April 15, 2023

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The Economist – April 15, 2023 issue:

The lessons from America’s astonishing economic record

The world’s biggest economy is leaving its peers ever further in the dust

Can the West win over the rest?

In a more transactional world the price of influence is going up

Emmanuel Macron’s blunder over Taiwan

The French leader has made a dangerous situation worse

Book Reviews: ‘On The Origin Of Time – Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory’

nature Magazine Science Book Reviews – April 2023

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On the Origin of Time

Like his mentor and colleague Stephen Hawking, Thomas Hertog has never shied away from being ambitious in theorizing about the universe. This sweeping book provides an accessible overview of both what we know about cosmology, and some audacious ideas for moving into the unknown. It is an introduction to Hawking’s final theory, but also a glimpse into even grander theories yet to come.

Professor Sean Carroll, author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – April 13, 2023

Volume 616 Issue 7956

nature Magazine – April 13, 2023 issue: Octopuses use chemotactile receptors (CRs) in the suckers on their arms to ‘taste by touch’ as they explore their sea-floor environment. These proteins evolved from neurotransmitter receptors to allow octopuses to detect poorly soluble natural products on contact.

World’s biggest butterfly is low on genetic diversity

Ornithoptera alexandrae, Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly.
Rare beauty: the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing can have a wingspan of more than 28 centimetres. Credit: Alamy

An endangered butterfly, found only in Papua New Guinea, has had a small population for a million years.

Three ways to solve the plastics pollution crisis

Man walks through a canal which is blocked by piles of plastic waste and food waste dumped, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
A canal blocked by waste, including discarded plastic, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit: Ahmed Salahuddin/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Researchers are studying how more-sophisticated policies, smarter recycling and new materials could stem the tide of waste.

Research: New Scientist Magazine – April 15, 2023

New Scientist | Science news, articles, and features

New Scientist Magazine April 15, 2023 issue:

How do we know that therapy works, and which kind is best for you?

How do we know that therapy works, and which kind is best for you?

Psychotherapy has never been more available and yet, with so many options, it can be hard to know where to start. Thankfully, researchers are getting to grips with what really works and why

The Power of Language review: What speaking many languages can do

Physicist David Wolpert on how to study concepts beyond imagination

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – April 14, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement @TheTLS (April 14, 2023) – This week’s issue features @TristramHuntVA on monuments; @nclarke14 on English caricature; @HettieJudah on Action, Gesture, Paint @_TheWhitechapel; @jntod on J. H. Prynne; @rinireg on the Trump indictment – and more.

Healthcare: The Digital Medicine Revolution

Scripps Research (April 11, 2023) – From smartwatches and fitness bands to glucose monitors and in-home ultrasounds, the proliferation of digital devices is igniting a revolution in healthcare and medical research.

Patients can now collect thousands of data points about themselves and share that information with their healthcare providers. At the Scripps Research Translational Institute, researchers are taking advantage of new technology to study disease in novel ways.

Their projects include a platform for early detection of disease outbreaks, a sleep quality study, and even a way to predict and individual’s risk of certain disease based on their genetics. In this video, hear directly from the team about this exciting new frontier.

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