All posts tagged: living

Bertrand Russell’s Message to People Living in the Year 2959: “Love is Wise, Hatred is Foolish”

Bertrand Russell’s Message to People Living in the Year 2959: “Love is Wise, Hatred is Foolish”

Published by José

Bertrand Rus­sell, the great British philoso­pher and social crit­ic, appeared on the BBC pro­gram Face-to-Face in 1959 and was asked a clos­ing ques­tion: What would you tell a gen­er­a­tion liv­ing 1,000 years from now about the life you’ve lived and the lessons you’ve learned? His answer is short, but pithy. You can read a tran­script below: I should like to say two things, one intel­lec­tu­al and one moral: The intel­lec­tu­al thing I should want to say to them is this: When you are study­ing any mat­ter or con­sid­er­ing any phi­los­o­phy, ask your­self only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Nev­er let your­self be divert­ed either by what you wish to believe or by what you think would have benef­i­cent social effects if it were believed, but look only and sole­ly at what are the facts. That is the intel­lec­tu­al thing that I should wish to say. The moral thing I should wish to say to them is very sim­ple. I should say: Love is wise, hatred is …

Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Kurt Vonnegut’s Letter of Advice to People Living in the Year 2088

Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Kurt Vonnegut’s Letter of Advice to People Living in the Year 2088

Published by José

There was a time when a com­pa­ny like Volk­swa­gen could com­mis­sion var­i­ous lumi­nar­ies to write let­ters to the future, then pub­lish them in Time mag­a­zine as part of an ad cam­paign. In fact, that time was­n’t so very long ago: it was the year 1988, to be pre­cise, when no less an opti­mistic (or opti­misti­cal­ly bleak?) nov­el­ist than Kurt Von­negut was still active. At some point between writ­ing Blue­beard and Hocus Pocus, he com­posed a mis­sive direct­ed toward human­i­ty a cen­tu­ry hence (in 2088), which you can read even in this rel­a­tive­ly ear­ly year of 2024 here. Von­negut begins with quo­ta­tions from Shake­speare and St. John the Divine, explain­ing that “our cen­tu­ry has­n’t been as free with words of wis­dom as some oth­ers, I think, because we were the first to get reli­able infor­ma­tion about the human sit­u­a­tion.” In his time, we knew full well “how many of us there were, how much food we could raise or gath­er, how fast we were repro­duc­ing, what made us sick, what made us die, how much dam­age …

The secret world of plants living in our limestone pavements

The secret world of plants living in our limestone pavements

Published by skeptic

Anyone out winter walking in the Yorkshire dales will probably be familiar with the dramatic scenery of limestone pavements. Distinctive and beautiful, they can also be found elsewhere in Britain, as well as in mainland Europe and Canada – not to mention in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where Harry and Hermione set up camp in a rocky clifftop. Limestone pavements were formed more than 300 million years ago in the Dinantian period, when the ice sheets scraped away soil, leaving limestone rock exposed. Over time, rainfall wore away the rock into the uneven patterns that we see today. Mountain avens. Sophia Granchinho Limestone pavements are made up of large slabs of rock called clints, interspersed with cracks called grikes that can be a few metres deep. Living in these grikes is a secret world of plant life, including rare species such as the pretty white mountain-avens, the poisonous baneberry and the rigid buckler fern, which only ever grows on limestone. Why these areas matter The habitats in these grikes are important for conservation, …

Chile’s giant ‘living fossil’ frog faces threat from climate change and humans

Chile’s giant ‘living fossil’ frog faces threat from climate change and humans

Published by Sam

SANTIAGO: A giant frog species that hopped alongside dinosaurs and is considered a “living fossil” is now losing ground in its native Chile as climate change and human intervention damage its habitat. The Calyptocephallela gayi, or Helmeted Water Toad, is one of the largest frogs in the world, growing up to over 30cm in length and weighing up to 1kg. The amphibian has seen little genetic variation for millions of years, but now its future is at risk, scientists say. “It’s sad that a species that managed to coexist with dinosaurs, that managed to resist a mass extinction, is now threatened by human beings,” said Melissa Cancino, a veterinarian and founder of Proyecto Anfibia, a group dedicated to amphibian research and education in Chile. Source link

Implant made with living neurons connects to mouse brains

Implant made with living neurons connects to mouse brains

Published by skeptic

This brain implant contains tens of thousands of lab-engineered neurons Science Corporation An experimental brain implant containing tens of thousands of living neurons can form cell connections with the brains of mice. Such a device could eventually enable sophisticated control over millions of neurons on the level of individual cells – but without relying on surgically implanted electrodes that penetrate and destroy brain tissue. The biohybrid implant, developed by California-based start-up Science Corporation, differs from many other brain-computer interface devices, which usually contain arrays of electrodes that penetrate the brain and sometimes damage cells. In comparison, Science Corporation’s implant is… Source link

There’s a shoe for everyone in Hoka’s December sale—I should know, I test them for a living

There’s a shoe for everyone in Hoka’s December sale—I should know, I test them for a living

Published by skeptic

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Hoka addict, having tested several pairs for Fit&Well’s guide to the best walking shoes. The Hoka Transport was the first I tested and is my favorite slip-on shoe. It’s designed for hiking and running and is stylish enough to pair with your favorite outfit. I also tested the Hoka Clifton 9 this year, which I rate as the best shoe for walking on concrete. It’s a great option if you work on your feet all day, thanks to its lightweight cushioning. My favorite Hoka of all time is the Hoka Bondi 8, which sat at the top of my walking shoe guide for a long time (it was replaced in November by my new favorite: the Brooks Glycerin Max, but it was a close run thing). My colleague, a keen runner, also tested the Hoka Mach 6 earlier this year and gave it a glowing review. He recommends it as an everyday running shoe, great for easy runs and longer sessions. You can find all these models …

Putin’s youngest daughter ‘living in Paris under a pseudonym’

Putin’s youngest daughter ‘living in Paris under a pseudonym’

Published by Sam

Vladimir Putin has an illegitimate daughter living under a pseudonym in Paris, where she works as a DJ, Ukrainian media has reported. The 21-year-old, who goes by the name of either Luiza Rozova or Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova, was tracked down by a Ukrainian TV channel using leaked airline manifests. She is said to be a love child from a brief affair between Putin and Svetlana Krivonogikh, a former cleaner who is now one of Russia’s richest women. Ms Krivonogikh has previously been referred to in the media as “Putin’s acquaintance”. Reporters said that they had tracked down the birth certificate of Ms Rozova, who was born on March 3 2003. The father’s name was not given on the birth certificate, but her patronymic name was indicated as Vladimirovna. Under Russian naming convention, Putin’s daughters would take this patronymic. Luiza Rozova also goes under the name Elizaveta Krivonogikh – East 2 West The journalists explained that her alleged false names are also linked to Putin. Oleg Rudnov, who died in 2015, had been a close friend …

Lebanon’s Year of Living Ambiguously | Charles Glass

Lebanon’s Year of Living Ambiguously | Charles Glass

Published by skeptic

Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities describes the imaginary Maurilia, whose inhabitants invite visitors “to examine some old postcards that show it as it used to be.” In return the visitors “must praise the postcard city and prefer it to the present one.” The “lost grace” of Maurilia approximates Beirut’s, which likewise “can be appreciated only…in the old postcards.” It is with nostalgic regret that from time to time I examine postcards in the decaying souvenir shops of Beirut’s once-fashionable Hamra district. They depict, in sepia and color-tint, Ottoman mansions, lush gardens, venerable covered souks, a seafront promenade, ancient mosques, churches and synagogues, Roman columns amid metropolitan chaos, and a magnificent central plaza originally named the Place des Canons. After World War I, it was renamed the Place des Martyrs to honor the nationalist partisans whom the Turkish military governor, General Ahmed Jamal Pasha, hanged there in 1916 for defying his crumbling empire. Beirut suffered little physical damage in World War I, which ushered in French rule, and in World War II, which brought independence. The Lebanese …

Smart homes for assisted living have huge potential, but here’s why they’re still mostly a pipe dream

Smart homes for assisted living have huge potential, but here’s why they’re still mostly a pipe dream

Published by skeptic

Smart homes have become increasingly popular in recent years. Where once they simply referred to automated systems for things like lighting and heating, nowadays the definition has expanded to include voice assistants and a wide variety of sensors and remotely programmable devices. In the UK, ownership of smart-home devices has doubled in the past five years. However, many experts believe that the true potential of smart homes lies in helping those with special needs, such as older people or those with dementia. The vision is that by helping with daily activities, detecting problems, providing assistance and calling for human backup when required, smart homes can help people to live independent lives who currently need alternative arrangements. The best homes of this kind are in the US, Germany and South Korea. Voice assistants help residents to manage their medication, while sensors can detect falls and summon emergency services as appropriate. Users also wear sensors to track vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure, whose data is transmitted to healthcare professionals. But there are relatively …

Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy

Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy

Published by José

Image by J. F. Horra­bin, via Wiki­me­dia Com­mons Bertrand Rus­sell saw the his­to­ry of civ­i­liza­tion as being shaped by an unfor­tu­nate oscil­la­tion between two oppos­ing evils: tyran­ny and anar­chy, each of which con­tains the seed of the oth­er. The best course for steer­ing clear of either one, Rus­sell main­tained, is lib­er­al­ism. “The doc­trine of lib­er­al­ism is an attempt to escape from this end­less oscil­la­tion,” writes Rus­sell in A His­to­ry of West­ern Phi­los­o­phy. “The essence of lib­er­al­ism is an attempt to secure a social order not based on irra­tional dog­ma [a fea­ture of tyran­ny], and insur­ing sta­bil­i­ty [which anar­chy under­mines] with­out involv­ing more restraints than are nec­es­sary for the preser­va­tion of the com­mu­ni­ty.” In 1951 Rus­sell pub­lished an arti­cle in The New York Times Mag­a­zine, “The Best Answer to Fanaticism–Liberalism,” with the sub­ti­tle: “Its calm search for truth, viewed as dan­ger­ous in many places, remains the hope of human­i­ty.” In the arti­cle, Rus­sell writes that “Lib­er­al­ism is not so much a creed as a dis­po­si­tion. It is, indeed, opposed to creeds.” He con­tin­ues: But the lib­er­al …