A weekly collection of links lovingly curated by Colin Wright.
The Collapse of Insects
“As a boy in the 1960s, David Wagner would run around his family’s Missouri farm with a glass jar clutched in his hand, scooping flickering fireflies out of the sky. “We could fill it up and put it by our bedside at night,” says Wagner, now an entomologist. That’s all gone, the family farm now paved over with new homes and manicured lawns. And Wagner’s beloved fireflies – like so many insects worldwide – have largely vanished in what scientists are calling the global Insect Apocalypse.”
The Epic Siberian Journey to Solve a Mass Extinction Mystery
“One long-standing hypothesis for the cause of the Permian-Triassic extinction, also known as the Great Dying, will sound worryingly familiar to us modern humans: the large-scale burning of coal. Only such a catastrophe, scientists reckoned, had the power to transform Earth so radically in such a short period of time; the fossil record indicates that species weren’t dying off en masse over millions of years, or hundreds of thousands of years, but tens of thousands of years. A carbon-spewing volcanic event alone—even the biggest of booms—couldn’t explain such a cataclysm. And there’s no evidence of an asteroid strike in this period, like the one that would kill off the dinosaurs 190 million years later.”
When Vertigo Melted My Brain
“The spinning started about ten minutes later—gentle at first, then increasingly turbulent. By the time George burst through the door, I felt like a stuffed animal tossed into violent ocean waves. The floor was folding and churning, and as he walked directly toward me, he seemed unflappably graceful, capable of performing ballet on a battleship.”
Olfactory Overload: Knowing the Neurodivergent Nose
“My first post-pandemic train journey. Apprehensive. Exhaling. Inhaling. Finding my way into the carriage’s smell-scape. Fragrances competing. Perfume? Fabric conditioner? Breathing deeper. Exploring the atmosphere. Whiff of stale bath-towel. Drifting taints of fishy crisps, garlic, fruity gum. Someone trailing a sillage of greasy dog. Across the aisle, a woman pouring soup from a flask. She sips and blows – diffusing stinking steam. Feeling the smell’s sledgehammer impact. Rank blue cheese and broccoli, synthetic chemical-based flavourings.”
The History of Paper Airplanes
“As early as 1864, kids were flying "paper darts" that looked like what we call "paper airplanes" today. During the Civil War — yes, kids flew paper airplanes during the Civil War — Every Little Boy's Book gave kids instructions for making a paper dart that "makes a graceful curve in passing through the air." In 1881, as instructed in Cassell's Book of Sports and Pastimes, kids were told how to make a paper dart using "a piece of good stout paper." The instructions reveal a design that looks exactly like the familiar paper airplane.”
In Praise of “Ain’t”
“I believe “ain’t” has myriad virtues. It’s one of the most versatile and vibrant words in the English language. Every time I hear it spoken, it confirms that. That’s a lot more than I can say for bankrupt, foreclosure, cancer, murder and betrayal, not to mention taxes and, God forbid, politics. I’d like right here and now to lobby for its rehabilitation. I think “ain’t” ought to become standard English. It actually is, de facto, when you think about it.”
Japan’s Sleepy Tech Scene is Ready for a Comeback
“Japan is the third-richest nation in the world, but has only managed to produce some 10 unicorns. (Compare that to over 600 unicorns in the U.S. and more than 300 in China.) Its tech startup scene has for years been held back by siloed and intransigent corporate leaders, and an aging, risk-averse populace whose fear of innovation turned a once-futuristic nation into a digital backwater.”
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