The CDC says fully vaccinated Americans can resume many normal activities but should people have to prove they have gotten those shots? Brook Silva-Braga reports on the pros and cons of so-called “vaccine passports” and the medical and legal issues raised.
Tag Archives: Reviews
Shakespeare: ‘Hamnet’ Author Maggie O’Farrell
Maggie O’Farrell’s “Hamnet,” one of last year’s most widely acclaimed novels, imagines the life of William Shakespeare, his wife, Anne (or Agnes) Hathaway, and the couple’s son Hamnet, who died at 11 years old in 1596.
On this week’s podcast, O’Farrell says she always planned for the novel to have the ensemble cast it does, but that her deepest inspiration was to capture a sense of the young boy at its center.
“The engine behind the book for me was always the fact that I think Hamnet has been overlooked and underwritten by history,” she says. “I think he’s been consigned to a literary footnote. And I believe, quite strongly, that without him — without his tragically short life — we wouldn’t have the play ‘Hamlet.’ We probably wouldn’t have ‘Twelfth Night.’ As an audience, we are enormously in debt to him.”
Political Analysis: The U.S.-China Tussle Over Taiwan
Taiwan has long been a U.S.-China flashpoint, but its tech and military capabilities have come into sharper focus under the Biden administration. WSJ travels to three places on the island to explain how both superpowers could determine Taiwan’s future. Photo: Wally Santana/AP
Book Reviews: ‘The Self-Assembling Brain’ – The Future Benefits For AI
As Peter Robin Hiesinger argues, “the information problem” underlies both fields, motivating the questions driving forward the frontiers of research. How does genetic information unfold during the years-long process of human brain development―and is there a quicker path to creating human-level artificial intelligence? Is the biological brain just messy hardware, which scientists can improve upon by running learning algorithms on computers? Can AI bypass the evolutionary programming of “grown” networks? Through a series of fictional discussions between researchers across disciplines, complemented by in-depth seminars, Hiesinger explores these tightly linked questions, highlighting the challenges facing scientists, their different disciplinary perspectives and approaches, as well as the common ground shared by those interested in the development of biological brains and AI systems. In the end, Hiesinger contends that the information content of biological and artificial neural networks must unfold in an algorithmic process requiring time and energy. There is no genome and no blueprint that depicts the final product. The self-assembling brain knows no shortcuts.
Research: Importance Of Exercise & Movement For Brain Function & Health
But the connection between movement and the brain goes deeper than you might think. A revolutionary new understanding of the mind-body connection is revealing how our thoughts and emotions don’t just happen inside our heads, and that the way we move has a profound influence on how our minds operate. This opens up the possibility of using our bodies as tools to change the way we think and feel.
Evidence is starting to stack up that this is indeed the case, and it isn’t all about doing more exercise. In my new book, Move! The new science of body over mind, I explore emerging research in evolutionary biology, physiology, neuroscience and cell biology to find out which body movements affect the mind and why.
Whatever it is that you want from your mind – more creativity, improved resilience or higher self-esteem – the evidence shows that there is a way of moving the body that can help. Here is my pick of the best ways to use your body to achieve a healthier, better-functioning mind.
Science Podcast: Snow-Covered ‘Zombie Fires’, Flashy Plant Research
Smouldering fires lay dormant before bursting back into flame in spring.
In this episode:
00:56 The mysterious overwintering forest fires
Researchers have shown that fires can smoulder under snow in frozen northern forests before flaring up the following spring. Understanding how these so-called ‘zombie’ fires start and spread is vital in the fight against climate change.
Research Article: Scholten et al.
07:39 Research Highlights
Aesthetic bias means pretty plants receive the most research attention, and ancient tooth gunk reveals the evolution of the mouth microbiome.
Research Highlight: Flashy plants draw outsize share of scientists’ attention
Research Highlight: Microbes in Neanderthals’ mouths reveal their carb-laden diet
10:04 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, Voyager 1 detects a faint interstellar ‘hum’, and a trove of Neanderthal bones found in an Italian cave.
Reuters: Faraway NASA probe detects the eerie hum of interstellar space
The Guardian: Remains of nine Neanderthals found in cave south of Rome
Video: Hawaii’s surprise volcanic eruption: Lessons from Kilauea 2018
Science: Miocene Apes And Human Evolution (Video)
More than ten million years ago, the world was brimming with a wide variety of apes. Scientists studying the ones that are still alive today can learn a lot about human evolution—but they miss out on many clues that can only be found from the apes that went extinct. Watch to learn how fossil apes have strengthened ideas about how humans evolved, and what steps we can take to learn even more about our ancient ancestors. Read the review: https://scim.ag/3hw5PVx
Military Analysis: How Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ Works
Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and mortars. During the recent conflict, it has been used to destroy more than 200 rockets bound for Israeli cities. Here’s how it works. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images
Analysis: Vaccinating The World, Israel-Palestinian Clash, Musical Plagarism
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week: ten million reasons to vaccinate the world, Israel and the Palestinians (9:48) and musical plagiarism (15:35).
Analysis: How Coca-Cola Leads Beverage Market
With more than 1.9 billion drinks served every day Coca-Cola is one of the world’s largest beverage companies. From its humble beginnings selling a single product at a drugstore for 5 cents a glass, the company now has a roster of 200 brands that includes Coke, Fanta, and Sprite. But with health and wellness trends on the rise, the company has been forced to pivot. So after 135-years in business, can the soft drink giant stay on top? And what will the secular decline of sugar-sweetened beverages in the U.S. mean for the future of Coca-Cola?
Boomers Daily 