A SELECTION of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, Hong Kong is not the only part of China’s periphery to resent the heavy hand of the Communist party. [9:20] What happens when McKinsey, the high priesthood of management consultancy, is itself disrupted? [16:51] And, if disaster strikes, the Swiss want to be caffeinated. Runtime: 20 min
Future Of Homebuilding: “Makatita” By Liberté Tiny Houses “Maximizes Light”
From a Dwell.com online review:
Nature dictates the shape and materials of this Dutch cabin in the woods.
When Willeke Makatita approached Gijsbert Schutten and Gijs Coumou of Liberte Tiny Houses, she had one very specific request: a compact dwelling that would let her simplify her life and live as close to nature as possible. “Willeke loves walking, camping, and bushcraft,” Schutten says. “She asked for a home that would suit those passions.”
Website: https://libertetinyhouses.nl/nl_NL/tiny-house-makatita
To read more: https://www.dwell.com/article/makatita-liberte-tiny-houses-15bab0da?utm_medium=email&utm_source=postup&utm_campaign=&list=1
Collector’s Edition Books: “David Hockney – My Window” (Taschen)
In this artist’s book of 120 iPhone and iPad drawings, David Hockney follows the course of the seasons through the window of his Yorkshire home. Each image depicts a fleeting moment—from the colorful sunrise and lilac morning sky to nighttime impressions, snow-covered branches and the arrival of spring. Printed in large format, this is a highly perceptive and poetic body of work.
Collector’s Edition (No. 1,001–2,000), each signed by David Hockney
Political News: 2020 Democratic Debate Highlights (Video)
Democratic presidential contenders backed the Donald Trump impeachment inquiry during the fifth televised debate on Wednesday, saying his efforts to press Ukraine to investigate the former vice-president Joe Biden was an example of his administration’s corruption. The debate came hours after a senior US diplomat gave explosive testimony that directly implicated the president in a quid pro quo deal with Ukraine.
Health Care: VillageMD Opens First Primary Clinic Called Village Medical At Walgreens In Houston
From a Becker’s Hospital Review online release:
The VillageMD primary care clinic, called Village Medical at Walgreens, is the first of five sites to open in Houston. Four more clinics are slated to open by the end of the year. The Village Medical clinics are located next to Walgreens stores and offer services including annual preventive care, women’s health services, vaccinations, diagnostic testing, smoking cessation, chronic care management and some specialty care. The clinics offer same-day, walk-in appointments, as well as house calls and virtual visits. The clinics are staffed by primary care physicians, nurses, pharmacists and social workers.
Chicago-based primary care company VillageMD is celebrating the opening Nov. 20 of its first primary care clinic at a Walgreens store in Houston, the company announced on Twitter. The Village Medical at Walgreens opening comes just weeks after Walgreens announced plans in October to shutter nearly 160 in-store health clinics.
Engineering In Nature: “Honeybees Use Their Wings For Water Surface Locomotion” (Caltech)
From a Caltech online article:
When a bee lands on water, the water sticks to its wings, robbing it of the ability to fly. However, that stickiness allows the bee to drag water, creating waves that propel it forward. In the lab, Roh and Gharib noted that the generated wave pattern is symmetrical from left to right. A strong, large-amplitude wave with an interference pattern is generated in the water at the rear of the bee, while the surface in front of the bee lacks the large wave and interference. This asymmetry propels the bees forward with the slightest of force—about 20 millionths of a Newton.
Walking on Caltech’s campus, research engineer Chris Roh (MS ’13, PhD ’17) happened to see a bee stuck in the water of Millikan Pond. Although it was a common-enough sight, it led Roh and his advisor, Mory Gharib (PhD ’83), to a discovery about the potentially unique way that bees navigate the interface between water and air.
To read more: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/bees-surf-atop-water
New Spy Novel Audio: “Passport To Oblivion” Starring George Lazenby
An audio spy adventure based on a series of internationally bestselling books (published in 19 languages) by James Leasor, ‘Passport to Oblivion’ features an all-star cast that also includes Glynis Barber, Nickolas Grace, Michael Brandon and Terence Stamp as ‘C’ the Head of MI6.
‘Passport to Oblivion’ is the first of 10 planned audio recordings by award-winning Spiteful Puppet and based on books first published in the 1960s. The novels, which sold in their millions, have a worldwide fan base. This is the first time they have been adapted as audio dramas.
To order: https://spitefulpuppet.com/double-o-session-3/
To read more: https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/audio-book-passport-to-oblivion-preview
Art Videos: “Édouard Manet and the Illusion of Effortlessness” (The Frick Collection NYC)
Claude Monet once remarked that Manet “always wanted his painting to look as if done at the first attempt,” but the truth was more complicated. Manet went to great lengths to perfect his work and even greater lengths to conceal the effort involved. From his earliest oil paintings to his late watercolors, this lecture contrasts Manet’s cultivation of a reputation for effortlessness with the arduous reality of his practice.
Emily A. Beeny, Associate Curator of Drawings, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Top New Travel Videos: “Postcard From West Papua” By Kevin Sempe
Directed by Kevin SEMPE
A film by CINEMARINE / FOXROAD FILMS
Produced by AQUA LUNG
Starring Emilie JUMEAUX, Kevin SEMPE
Additional Images Steven MENDE, Abdurrahman COSAR
Special thanks to PAPUA EXPLORERS\
A quick recollection of a shoot in West Papu, through different places in Raja Ampat.
Website: http://www.foxroadfilms.com/
Aging: “Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge” Offers $30 Million For “Audacious Proposals”
From a Harvard Gazette online article:
The Grand Challenge Prize is looking for bold, audacious innovations, ideas that can really change aging. We’re looking in science, in technology and engineering, in policy, social sciences, behavioral sciences, economic policy, in traditional medical science and health care, and in work focused on specific diseases. It’s really very broad. We’re looking for innovative thinking that can have global impact. The prizes are going to roll out on three levels. There will be 450 Catalyst Prizes awarded over a three-year period. The first of the three yearly calls will be in January 2020. Once it’s announced, there will be six weeks to submit your idea — just the idea, it doesn’t require any pilot work — and a two-page application. They’ll be reviewed within four months and prizes announced by July. The Catalyst Award is intended as seed funding to get the idea into its earliest stages of development. They’re relatively small in dollar amount, about $50,000 each, but they will give access to an annual meeting bringing together world experts in these fields.
The world’s aging population means there will be an increasing number of older and sicker people at a time when declining fertility will saddle a smaller working population with the burden of supporting them. One solution is to keep people healthier longer, living independently, and contributing to society. In pursuit of that goal, the National Academy of Medicine is mounting a $30 million Grand Challenge contest to foster innovation in science, medicine, public policy, the workplace, and elsewhere. Sharon Inouye, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and head of the Aging Brain Center at Harvard-affiliated Hebrew Senior Life, is a National Academy member and a member of the planning committee for the Grand Challenge for Healthy Longevity. She spoke to the Gazette about the contest and how she hopes it changes the nature of aging in the decades to come.
To read more: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/11/grand-challenge-encourages-innovation-in-aging/
Boomers Daily 