Tag Archives: Reviews

Culture: New York Times Magazine – March 12, 2023

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The New York Times Magazine – March 12, 2023:

The Daring Ruse That Exposed China’s Campaign to Steal American Secrets

How the downfall of one intelligence agent revealed the astonishing depth of Chinese industrial espionage.

Inside the ‘Blood Sport’ of Oscars Campaigns

Oscar campaigns are often run by professional strategists, essentially a specialized breed of publicist. Their job begins as early as a year before the awards, sometimes before a film is even shot. They advise on which festival a film should premiere at, shape a campaign platform and hope that the film gains enough momentum to propel it into awards season. 

The Quest to Restore Notre Dame’s Glorious Sound

Much of the cathedral’s restoration, projected to be completed in 2024, will address these large holes. They affect not just the structure of the building, but also something that cannot be seen: the acoustics. “Notre Dame has lost about 20 percent of its acoustics,” says Mylène Pardoen, who is the co-director of the acoustics team working on Notre Dame — under the aegis of the French Ministry of Culture and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.), a research organization from whose ranks specialists have been drawn for the restoration. The holes caused a measurable decline in the glorious resonances that gave the building its unique sound.

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

March 10, 2023: Is the Old Masters market struggling? As Tefaf opens its fair in Maastricht, we look at this major moment in the market calendar and what it tells us about the strength or otherwise of the market for historic art.

The Art Newspaper’s Acting Art Market editor, Anny Shaw, joins us from the fair. The Institut du Monde Arabe, or Arab World Institute, in Paris has just received a major gift of more than 1,600 modern and contemporary works from the French-Lebanese dealer and collector Claude Lemand and his wife, France—a collection that will transform the displays in the institute’s museum. We talk to the director of the museum,

Nathalie Bondil, about her future plans and the €6m project to transform the institute. And this episode’s Work of the Week is a self-portrait in red chalk by the Venetian Rococo artist Rosalba Carriera. Dagmar Kornbacher, the director of the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin, tells me about the drawing, which is a key work in Muse or Maestra?, the museum’s new exhibition of work by historic Italian women artists.Tefaf Maastricht, until 19 March.Muse or Maestra?: Women in the Italian Art World, 1400-1800, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, until 4 June. 

Research Preview: Science Magazine – March 10, 2023

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – March 10, 2023 issue: A honey bee (Apis mellifera) performs a complex dance to communicate resource location and value. Research now shows that novice bees dance better and communicate location more accurately if they were previously able to follow and socially learn from more experienced dancers. 

MRI for all: Cheap portable scanners aim to revolutionize medical imaging

A technician pushes a portable MRI scanner through a hospital hallway.

But will doctors embrace the grainier, lower-resolution images of the body’s insides?

Hidden hydrogen: Earth may hold vast stores of a renewable, carbon-free fuel

Overlooked by the oil industry, natural hydrogen could power society for thousands of years

Oceans away: Is raising salmon on land the next big thing in farming fish?

Giant tanks full of Atlantic salmon could help meet rising demand while lowering environmental impact

Future Of Camping: The Airstream Studio F. A. Porsche Travel Trailer

Airstream (March 9, 2023) – Created in partnership with the legendary Studio F. A. Porsche, this concept features a range of carefully considered innovations and improvements to enhance the RV ownership experience.

The concept is the first “garageable” Airstream design in the company’s 90-year history. An automatic suspension in the chassis allows the trailer’s body to lower, enabling storage in most home garages. This capability makes ownership much easier for a broader range of customers, including those faced with community regulations or a lack of convenient, secure off-site storage.

The concept design features advances in aerodynamics, including a new rear shape that sheds air while in motion and a flush underside without drag-creating projections. The concept’s automatic suspension (a first for Airstream) allows the trailer’s chassis height to be adjusted to reduce aerodynamic drag.  The use of carbon fiber in some components reduces the concept’s weight, making it ideal for smaller internal combustion engine (ICE) tow vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs).

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Previews: The Economist Magazine – March 11, 2023

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The Economist – March 11, 2023 issue

How to avoid war over Taiwan

A superpower conflict would shake the world

Europe is witnessing its bloodiest cross-border war since 1945, but Asia risks something even worse: conflict between America and China over Taiwan. Tensions are high, as American forces pivot to a new doctrine known as “distributed lethality” designed to blunt Chinese missile attacks. Last week dozens of Chinese jets breached Taiwan’s “air defence identification zone”. This week China’s foreign minister condemned what he called America’s strategy of “all-round containment and suppression, a zero-sum game of life and death”.

A stubbornly strong economy complicates the fight against inflation

Higher interest rates are not sufficiently slowing global growth

Emmanuel Macron’s vision of a more muscular Europe is coming true

But his allies disagree on its strategies and goals

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – March 9, 2023

Volume 615 Issue 7951

nature MagazineMarch 9, 2023 issue:

Sims-style ‘digital twin’ models can tell us if food systems will weather crises

From COVID-19 to the war in Ukraine, virtual models could inform global food policy before emergencies unfold.

Big bats fly towards extinction with hunters in pursuit

Human hunt at least 19% of bat species worldwide — especially flying foxes, which can have wingspans of 1.5 metres.

Close-up of a Mauritian flying fox resting upside-down on a banana plant.
The Mauritian flying fox (Pteroptus niger). As relatively large bats, flying foxes are hunted more heavily than other species. Credit: Fabrice Bettex Photography/Alamy

Large tropical bats with narrow home ranges are disproportionately likely to be hunted by humans, according to a global analysis of 1,320 bat species — nearly all of the 1,400 known to science1.

How to stop the bird flu outbreak becoming a pandemic

From tracking the disease’s spread in wild birds to updating human vaccines, there are measures that could help keep avian influenza in check.

A veterinarian injects avian flu vaccine into a goose in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province of China.
A goose being vaccinated against avian influenza in China.Credit: Wei Liang/China News Service/Getty

Fears are rising about bird flu’s potential to spark a human pandemic, as well as its destruction of wildlife and farmed birds. An 11-year-old girl tragically died in Cambodia last week after catching avian influenza. That followed reports earlier this year of the virus spreading from mammal to mammal through a mink farm, and causing mass mortality in Peruvian birds and sea lions. Since the beginning of 2022, more than 50 million poultry birds in the United States, and a similar number in Europe, have either died of the disease or been killed in efforts to stem its spread. Can bird flu be stopped, and if yes, how?

Previews: New Scientist Magazine – March 11, 2023

Issue 3429 | Magazine cover date: 11 March 2023 | New Scientist

New Scientist – March 11, 2023 issue:

Anaximander review: Did Anaximander create science, asks Carlo Rovelli

Ancient philosopher Anaximander’s discoveries about rain, wind and the cosmos may make him the true force behind modern science, argues physicist Carlo Rovelli in his newly republished first book

Restoring the brain’s mitochondria could slow ageing and end dementia

The surprisingly useful liquids that mop up gases like a sponge

The truth about cats’ domestication and why they really quite like us

Influenza viruses may have originated in fish 600 million years ago

Galaxies’ missing matter may be found – but now there’s too much of it

Changes to surrogacy laws must consider future reproductive technology

The UK’s official swimming rivers are too polluted to swim in

Previews: The Guardian Weekly – March 10, 2023

Methane leaks: inside the 10 March Guardian Weekly | Climate crisis | The  Guardian

The Guardian Weekly (March 10, 2023)

It’s no secret that methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, with scientists attributing 25% of global heating to its atmospheric release. A new Guardian analysis by environment editor Damian Carrington lays bare the extent of the problem, identifying more than 1,000 of the world’s worst emitters.

But methane is also a double-edged sword: while it traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide, it fades from the atmosphere in about a decade, far faster than the century or more taken by CO2, which is why urgent action to tackle leaks would be so effective in the push to limit global heating. Find out more in Damian’s Big Story report for us this week.

Travel & Culture: Romeing Magazine – March 2023

Romeing Magazine – March 2023:

The ultimate guide to Rome’s historic centre

Guide to Rome's Centro Storico Neighbourhood

Every city has its historic center, but none can compare to Rome’s. Walking through the beloved centro storico – the Second Unesco World Heritage Site in Italy – is unlike any other stroll.

An escape from the city to discover ancient Roman trails, majestic mountains and rustic villages

Trekking near Rome: discover Latium's natural beauty on foot

Latium is not only known for being the region hosting the eternal city of Rome, but also for its picturesque landscapes, beautiful mountain ranges, and stunning natural reserves. One of the best ways to explore its beauty is by trekking: here are five of the most impressive trails the region has to offer, just a stone’s throw from the centre of Rome!

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement-March 10, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement @TheTLS (March 10, 2023) –

This week’s @TheTLS, features Michele Pridmore-Brown on parenthood; @noosarowiwa on paradise; @TobyLichtig on documentaries; Carlos Fonseca on Pilar Quintana; @wendymoore99 on surgery; new poems by Karen Solie, @RomalynAnte and Steve Ely – and more.