These events aren’t a bad dream that will fade into oblivion when we blissfully wake up, or as the climax of some ongoing story we’re reading or watching; instead, they’re the direct and understandable result of past and ongoing processes
Historian’s point of view are worthwhile reads. Let’s Say the Scary Parts Out Loud - Perspectives: Past, Present, and Future, by Patrick Wyman
St Johns Presbyterian. Fig tree planted circa 1879.
Helen’s Cycles.
Listening to The Berlin Phil Series: “Kirill Petrenko Live” Sat, 23 May 2020, 10:00 After the European Concert, which was moving for everyone involved, chief conductor Kirill Petrenko now appears once again with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker in an empty Philharmonie. On this occasion, works from the turn of the century to the 1920s are on the programme: Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, which is characterised by a late Romantic tone, Claude Debussy’s atmospheric Prélude à lʼaprès-midi dʼun faune as a beacon of French Modernism, and Paul Hindemith’s spirited and witty Kammermusik No. 1.
Debussy!!! www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concer…
“With lockdowns in place, businesses closed and transport at a standstill, air quality has been soaring. Delhi, the 5th most polluted city in the world, has seen a 60% decline in airborne pollutants.
It doesn’t solve the long term problem of toxic air. But it does show how city life could improve if environmental concerns were addressed more urgently. “ — @beautiful__news
Aspire Grant Program - Conservation Action Research Network We are pleased to announce the call for proposals has opened for the 2020 ASPIRE grants program.
The Aspire Grant Program provides competitive research grants of up to $5,000 USD for African graduate students and early career professionals working in the areas of biodiversity, conservation and environmental sustainability in the Congo Basin region.
The project uses open source technologies such as Arduino to enable ordinary citizens to gather information on their environment and make it available to the public on the Smart Citizen platform.
Smart citizen is a unique ecosystem of sensing devices, software platforms, and engagement tools that genuinely enable communities to make sense of their environment.
The Smart Citizen Kit allows people to easily measure and collect data such as air and noise pollution from their environment, and visualize it while sharing it with everyone on its dedicated platform. All of these, while being completely open source and customizable to your needs.
Sensors for
Foldscope is the ultra-affordable paper microscope. It was designed to be portable and durable, while performing on par with conventional research microscopes (140X magnification and 2 micron resolution). I bought a kit plus some prepared slides of microbes, plants and insects to see what it’s like. @TeamFoldscope #citizenscience
Went on a 48.28 km (30mile) road ride this morning. My🥇PR distance🦠😷🚴🏽 www.strava.com/activitie…
5 Simple Habits to Improve UX Research
🧠 Ensure actionable insights 👁️ Good presentation matters ⚠️ Anticipate things will go wrong 👥 Moderate the audience 🔎 Track the core questions
“Radiologists could suddenly use x-rays to see tumors, cysts, gray matter, white matter, and the fluid-filled cavities of the brain. Ironically, given that wave theory and Fourier analysis began with the study of music, at a key moment in the development of computerized tomography, music proved indispensable again. Hounsfield had his breakthrough ideas in the mid-1960s when he was working for a company called Electric and Musical Industries. He had first worked on EMI’s radar and guided weaponry, and then he turned his attention to developing Britain’s first all-transistor computer. After that smashing success, EMI decided to support Hounsfield and let him do whatever he wanted for his next project. At that time, EMI was flush with money and could afford to take risks. Their profits had doubled after they’d signed a band from Liverpool called the Beatles.”
— Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe by Steven Strogatz a.co/41tbPq6
Good read for web developers and ux designers Prioritizing users in a crisis: Building the California COVID-19 response site
I finished reading “Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic" by David Quammen published 2012. www.goodreads.com
“The difficulty of predicting precisely doesn’t oblige us to remain blind, unprepared, and fatalistic about emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases. No. The practical alternative to soothsaying is “improving the scientific basis to improve readiness.
The scientific basis” means the understanding of which virus groups to watch, the field capabilities to detect spillovers in remote places before they become regional outbreaks, the organizational capacities to control outbreaks before they become pandemics, plus the laboratory tools and skills to recognize known viruses speedily, to characterize new viruses almost as fast, and to create vaccines and therapies without much delay.
If we can’t predict a forthcoming influenza pandemic or any other newly emergent virus, we can at least be vigilant; we can be well-prepared and quick to respond; we can be ingenious and scientifically sophisticated in the forms of our response.”
— Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen a.co/aiWEQrb
“There’s not a hope in hell of predicting the nature and timing of the next influenza pandemic. Too many factors vary randomly, or almost randomly, in that system.” 🦠😷
— Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen a.co/gBQlgKO
Virtual Screening / Q&A – Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché - Annenberg Space for Photography The Jodi Foster-narrated documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché depicts the take of the female genius who made over 1,000 films at the turn of the century. Join us for a free virtual screening party of this powerful film, then join director Pamela B. Green and co-writer Joan Simon for a special Q&A session.
Reading No. 8 - Ancient Mariner Big Read
Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink
Reading No. 9 - Ancient Mariner Big Read
iggy pop recites today’s epic stanza
Beautiful day. I went for a 21.7 mile #SOLOdarity #strava road ride. www.strava.com/activitie…
Path from Sue’s magic garden home.
html energy If you’re into web design you’ll love the HTML Energy podcast—intimate conversations with folks exploring the creative potential of hand-made websites in our world of stock templates.
LOW←TECH MAGAZINE This is a solar-powered website, which means it sometimes goes offline. Feel the @htmlenergy
The Gene: An Intimate History weaves together science, history & personal stories for a historical biography of the human genome, while also exploring breakthroughs for diagnosis & treatment of genetic diseases & the complex ethical questions they raise. Mind raising science TV.
Fun fact — one in every four species of mammal is a bat.🦇
🤩🚴🏽♂️😷 🦠#SOLOdarity istrava.app.link
