Research Preview: Nature Magazine – August 17, 2023

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nature Magazine – August 17, 2023 issue: The cover shows an artist’s impression of Venetoraptor gassenae, a species of ancient reptile that lived some 230 million years ago. Dinosaurs and pterosaurs dominated land and air, respectively, around 70 million to 200 million years ago, but their evolutionary precursors are not that well known. 

Anti-obesity drug also protects against heart disease — what happens next?

Clinical-trial data suggest that semaglutide, sold under the name Wegovy, slashes risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular incidents.

Can oyster farming help save the planet?

Ecologist Elena Tamburini hopes to show that shellfish farming efficiently absorbs carbon.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – August 18, 2023

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The Guardian Weekly (August 18, 2023) – This issue features ‘Back to the office: Is the work from home revolution over?’; Bangladesh’s ‘lost children’; AI does architecture; Pathfinders – In Ukraine minefields and more…

‘Never again’: is Britain finally ready to return to the office?

Posed photo of a woman sitting alone in a large open plan office

With even the big internet firms warning staff they need to show up more often, is working from home over? Or have the attitudes and expectations of employees changed for ever?

‘My mother spent her life trying to find me’: the children who say they were wrongly taken for adoption

Portrait of Bibi Hasenaar

For years, Bibi Hasenaar felt rejected because she was adopted aged four. Then she saw a photo that described her as missing – and began to uncover an astonishing dark history

Design: Te Pae North Piha Surf Tower, New Zealand

ArchiPro Films (August 16, 2023) – The lifeguard tower is an essential facility that enables observation, patrolling and protection at North Piha – one of New Zealand’s most beautiful but dangerous surf beaches. The tower is to serve the club and the community providing a functional and durable building to replace the existing dated structure.

The brief was for a robust, low-maintenance building that would withstand the severe North Piha coastal environment. It needed to provide accommodation for four lifeguards with excellent visibility along the beach – a building that was functional and responded to its context.

Piha is a part of the rohe (territory) of Te Kawerau ā Maki (the indigenous Māori tribe) who gifted the name Te Pae, meaning ‘to perch’ – a place to sit, look, and observe. It was a privilege to be able to incorporate this narrative into the concept for the tower.

The form offers a softness and quiet presence in this powerful coastal location. The site is remote, and so prefabricated concrete sections were factory-made and assembled on site. This minimised dune and planting disturbance on this fragile beach. North Piha is unusual in that the sand is black. The black oxidised concrete references this and the curved form reflects the undulating dunes that the building sits amongst. The tower is modest in scale and recessive, respecting its setting. At the same time, as a beacon for visitors to the beach, it requires easy recognition, and the distinctive form sits in contrast to the beautiful, rugged backdrop. This is a piece of coastal sculpture with a nod to traditional maritime observation structures around the New Zealand coast.

The tower is sustainable, utilising operable windows for ventilation, with high levels of insulation, sun protection, thermal mass, and natural light. It provides shelter and protection for the lifeguards. The placement of the windows was carefully determined with the club to provide optimum beach surveillance and a connection back to the clubhouse.

The new tower is a vital addition to safety at North Piha. It delivers a facility that supports the extraordinary volunteers who run it and meets the needs of its community now and into the future.

Science Review: Scientific American – September 2023

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Scientific American – September 2023: The issue features ‘Dinosaur Giants – How the biggest animals ever to walk Earth got so huge; The Science of Narcissism; Deep-Sea Mining; How AI learns What No One Taught It, and more…

Rare ‘Pinwheel’ Stars Are a Beautiful Astronomical Puzzle

Rare 'Pinwheel' Stars Are a Beautiful Astronomical Puzzle

The doomed class of stars named Wolf-Rayets produce mysterious pinwheel shapes

By Peter Tuthill

Deep-Sea Mining Could Begin Soon, Regulated or Not

Deep-Sea Mining Could Begin Soon, Regulated or Not

Mining the seafloor could boost global production of clean energy technology—and destroy the ocean in the process

By Olive Heffernan

How Sauropod Dinosaurs Became the Biggest Land Animals Again and Again

How Sauropod Dinosaurs Became the Biggest Land Animals Again and Again

New research hints at how sauropod dinosaurs got to be so gargantuan

By Michael D. D’Emic

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – Aug 18, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement (August 18 & 25, 2023): Theatre of war – How Susan Sontag brought Beckett to Sarajevo; Mina Loy; Madmen in the White House; Grieving for a child; Through the looking-glass again; Women artists unleashed and more…

News: China Minister Visits Russia, Thailand Political Gridlock, Swiss Cantons

The Globalist Podcast, Wednesday, August 16: China’s foreign minister visits Russia and Belarus: we discuss what’s on the agenda.

Also, political gridlock in Thailand, the latest aviation news, a flick through the day’s papers and might Switzerland soon have a 27th canton?

The New York Times — Wednesday, AUG 16, 2023

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With Racketeering Charges, Georgia Prosecutor Aims to ‘Tell the Whole Story’

Donald J. Trump speaks behind a lectern at night.

Prosecutors have found racketeering laws to be powerful tools in targeting not only foot soldiers in a criminal enterprise, but also high-level decision makers.

‘Biased.’ ‘Corrupt.’ ‘Deranged.’ Trump’s Taunts Test Limits of Release.

Judge Tanya S. Chutkan has made clear that the boundaries of former President Donald J. Trump’s free speech rights would have to give way to the rules of the court.

Some lawyers have said that if the former president were an ordinary citizen issuing these attacks, he would be in jail by now. The question is whether he will face similar consequences.

Who Has Been Charged in the Election Inquiry in Georgia

The indictment Georgia prosecutors filed Monday in an election interference case targeting former President Donald J. Trump and his associates includes 41 criminal charges against 19 people who are accused of helping him seek to overturn his 2020 election loss.

How Fire Turned Lahaina Into a Death Trap

When a historic coastal town in Hawaii was overrun by fire, many residents fled for their lives — but there was nowhere to go.

Design: Enki Magazine – September/October 2023

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enki magazine (September/October 2023) – The cover features a luxury treehouse, one of series of treetop retreats at Nymetwood, a 20-acre site overlooking Dartmoor in the UK.

James Gorst Architects forms timber-framed temple | Fabric-first approach

James Gorst Architects has adopted a fabric-first and passive design approach to the build of a timber-framed temple complex in rural Hampshire. 

Review: Taiwan’s Strategy To Repel Chinese Invasion

Wall Street Journal (August 15, 2023) – For decades, Taiwan has looked to its east coast as a safe haven to survive a Chinese invasion until allies, particularly the U.S., can arrive to assist.

Video timeline: 0:00 Taiwan’s current strategy 1:38 The problem 4:15 Taiwan’s reliance on allies

In the east, Taiwan’s rugged mountain terrain also helps create a natural shield in the event of an attack. But China’s PLA activity on the island’s east has thrown that strategy into question. WSJ takes a look at how serious China’s threats to Taiwan’s east coast are and explores whether the island needs to change its defense strategy.

Australian Modernism: A ‘Wabi-Sabi’ Tiny Apartment

The Local Project (August 15, 2023) – Brad Swartz Architects has become an expert in blending small spaces with wabi-sabi aesthetics and Australian modernism.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Intro to the Wabi-Sabi Tiny Apartment 00:52 – The Location of the Apartment 01:16 – A Walkthrough of the Wabi-Sabi Apartment 02:20 – Behind the Renovation 03:09 – The Clients Brief and the Japanese Inspiration 03:48 – Uncovering Unexpected Gems 04:14 – Playful Aspects of the Apartment 04:30 – The Paired Back Material Palette

This focus has been continued in Elizabeth Bay, with this tiny apartment taking inspiration from the client’s cultured past and the architecture of a historical Sydney building that resembles an ocean liner. ‘Kyabin’ is the Japanese spelling of ‘cabin’, a likeness which reveals itself when looking at the client’s brief to convert an 80-square-metre, two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment into a one-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with a single guest space.

The living space is also made to be more spacious and opens up to the view of Rushcutters Bay. Form over function was a defining principle of the modernist design philosophy that informed the interiors and overall style of the tiny apartment. Discovering the entire building was built with precast concrete beams – which had been concealed beneath ceiling sheeting for more than 60 years – also informed a refined materiality, deepening the interior design’s wabi-sabi undertones.

A pared-back material palette imbues the tiny apartment with a sense of calm, despite its small size, and a muted textural selection of stone and oak means the focus remains on the views beyond. The home’s design also has longevity in mind, allowing the next occupant to treat Kyabin Apartment as a blank canvas for personal expression.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious