Category Archives: Reviews

Research Preview: Science Magazine- January 27, 2023

Science Magazine (January 27, 2023) – The Amazon forest is changing rapidly as a result of human activities, including deforestation for agriculture, such as these soybean fields in Belterra, Pará, Brazil. Remaining areas of forest are experiencing an increased incidence of fires, drought, and the effects of neighboring land uses. These changes threaten local biodiversity and communities and alter the global climate.

Bird flu spread between mink is a ‘warning bell’

Big outbreak at a Spanish farm reignites fears of an H5N1 influenza pandemic

Can California’s floods help recharge depleted aquifers?

Plans to drown orchards and farm fields to boost groundwater supplies get off to a slow start

In Science Journals

Highlights from the Science family of journals

Previews: The Economist Magazine- January 28, 2023

The Economist Magazine- January 28, 2023 issue:

The humbling of Goldman Sachs

The struggle to reinvent a firm trapped by its own mythology

China is trying to win over Westerners and private firms

But Xi Jinping is unlikely to change

What makes Germany’s Leopard 2 tank the best fit for Ukraine?

It is easier to run than America’s Abrams—and in plentiful supply in Europe

Research Preview: Nature Magazine- January 26, 2023

Volume 613 Issue 7945

nature Magazine – January 26, 2023 issue:

The water crisis is worsening. Researchers must tackle it together

It’s unacceptable that millions living in poverty still lack access to safe water and basic sanitation. Nature Water will help researchers to find a way forward.

Dainty eater: black hole consumes a star bit by bit

Repeating bursts of X-rays lead scientists to a black hole that eats in spurts.

ChatGPT listed as author on research papers: many scientists disapprove

At least four articles credit the AI tool as a co-author, as publishers scramble to regulate its use.

Previews: The Guardian Weekly – January 27, 2023

Old world – Inside the 27 January Guardian Weekly | Population | The  Guardian

The Guardian Weekly – January 27, 2023 Issue:

It’s an age-old question: how should nations around the world adjust to their elderly societies? Japan has faced such realities for a while now, but the challenges are becoming increasingly common across the developed world where families are getting smaller, and people are living longer.

Even India – which will soon overtake China as the world’s most populous country – is now seeing an older demographic become more prevalent in some states. The countries of sub-Saharan Africa, meanwhile, look most likely to enjoy the benefits of a younger population as the century progresses. For the Guardian Weekly magazine’s big story this week, Emma Graham-Harrison and Justin McCurry assess what ageing populations hold in store for the world. And Verna Yu reports on the reasons why many young people in China seem reluctant to start families.

Books: TLS/Times Literary Supplement- Jan 27, 2023

Image

Times Literary Supplement (January 27, 2023) @TheTLS , featuring @TimParksauthor on Italo Calvino; @15thcgossipgirl on the Wife of Bath; @NshShulman on Prince Harry; Fredrik Logevall on Jefferson the writer; @lejhouston on queer poetry; @RSmythFreelance on Ronald Blythe – and more.

Architectural History: New York City Subways From 1904 To 2017 (AD)

Architectural Digest – Today Michael Wyetzner of Michielli + Wyetzner Architects returns to Architectural Digest to explore the history of New York City’s storied subway system, breaking down the architectural and design details found in some of its oldest and newest stations.

Design: Costume History Behind ‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ (V&A Museum)

Victoria and Albert Museum (January 24, 2023) – Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a spectacle of romance and cabaret, set in the heart of Paris’ bohemian scene during the Belle Époque era. Bringing Baz Luhrmann’s landmark film to life on stage, the production is a musical mash-up extravaganza, immersing you in a world of splendour and glory.

Video timeline: 00:00 Catherine Zuber’s design process 0:29 What is Moulin Rouge! The Musical? 00:49 Was the Moulin Rouge real? 01:05 Adapting Baz Luhrmann’s film 01:23 Creating a costume for Satine – design sketches 02:17 Researching the history of showgirls 02:49 How does the costume work? 03:53 Designing costumes for theatre 04:12 Mounting and installing the costume in the Re:Imagining Musicals display

Join Costume Designer Catherine Zuber and Curator Harriet Reed as they take us behind the scenes, introducing the real Moulin Rouge and showgirls of the time, showing the original design sketches for Satine’s dazzling diamond studded costume, and demonstrating how one vital mechanism is crucial for the piece’s quick change on stage.

The costume is now in the V&A’s collection of Theatre and Performance and can be seen as part of the Re:Imagining Musicals display until November 2023.

Books: London Review Of Books – February 2, 2023

Image

London Review of Books (LRB) – February 2, 2023:

‘Island nations tend to be complacent about border problems, seeing them as things that happen to someone else. But then you have Brexit and Northern Ireland, and it suddenly becomes clear that no one is safe.

Russia is fighting Ukraine about borders. This means that, as well as dodging bombs and getting used to living in the dark, residents of the border zone have to decide if they are “really” Russian or “really” Ukrainian.

Some will no doubt be keeping the non-chosen identity in a trunk in the attic, to be retrieved in case of future need. But the logic of war is stern: those who choose to be Ukrainians are also opting to hate Russians as the enemy invader, while those in Ukraine who choose to be Russians are contemplating the possibility of having to move east.

Wherever the border ultimately settles, there will be fortifications and troops stationed on either side and a series of tightly controlled crossing points. Villages and families will be divided and the normal commerce of economic and social life disrupted. Schools will teach in the language of the victor. Roads that used to lead somewhere will end abruptly.’


The Curtain and the Wall: A Modern Journey along Europe’s Cold War Border 
by Timothy Phillips

On the Edge: Life along the Russia-China Border by Franck Billé and Caroline Humphrey

Medicine: ‘Single Drop’ Blood Testing Advances

“Even more importantly, we’ve shown you can collect the blood drop at home and mail it into the lab,” said Michael Snyder, PhD, director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine and senior author on the research, which was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering on Jan. 19.

Stanford Medicine (January 19, 2023) – Researchers at Stanford Medicine have shown they can measure thousands of molecules — some of which are signals of health — from a single drop of blood.

Unlike finger-prick testing for diabetes, which measures a single type of molecule (glucose), multi-omics microsampling gives data about thousands of different molecules at once.

finger prick
A single drop of blood can yield measurements for thousands of proteins, fats and other biomarkers, researchers at Stanford Medicine found.

The new approach combines a microsampling device — a tool used to self-administer a finger prick — with “multi-omics” technologies, which simultaneously analyze a vast array of proteins, fats, by-products of metabolism and inflammatory markers.

Culture/Society: Monocle Magazine – February 2023

Issue 160 - Monocle - Print - Shop | Monocle

Monocle FilmsMonocle’s February 2023 issue is all about celebrating places that work, whether that’s a parliament, home or metro carriage. From a floating office to a school teaching children the rules of the road, we profile the locations that look good and work well for those who use them. Plus: Charleston’s hospitality boom and why you should learn Russian.