Kickoff For August 19, 2019
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
Environment
How Can We Stop the Air We Breathe from Slowly Poisoning Us?, wherein we learnhow our lungs work as a prelude to discovering what dirty air does to our lungs, and how we can fight back.
Nuclear power is not the answer in a time of climate change, wherein Heidi Hutner and Erica Cirino argue against replacing fossil fuels with atomic energy slow climate change.
Climate change: ‘We’ve created a civilisation hell bent on destroying itself – I’m terrified’, writes Earth scientist, wherein James Dyke contends that our inability to take steps to stop climate change is partly because of a global love affair with growth and with a system we can’t control.
History
Who really owns the past?, wherein we ponder what cultural heritage is, why people are so keen to preserve it, and who those preservation efforts actually benefit.
Ancient DNA is revealing the origins of livestock herding in Africa, wherein we learn about research that is piecing together the puzzle about when and how peoples in Africa transitioned to a more pastoral lifestyle, and what that can mean for the future.
We Could Have Had Electric Cars from the Very Beginning, wherein we get a history of the early automobile in America, and learn why petrol-powered vehicles beat out electric ones despite the early successes of EVs.
Odds and Ends
Dementia Stopped Peter Max From Painting. For Some, That Spelled a Lucrative Opportunity, wherein we read about how some of the people around the Pop Art icon have allegedly been taking advantage of his condition and exploiting him.
Tokyo dawn: is the impenetrable city finally opening up?, wherein we discover how Tokyo (and, by extension, the rest of Japan) is starting to become more open and welcoming to outsiders, in a large part because of necessity.
The Curse of the Ship of Gold, wherein we learn how engineer Tommy Thompson’s dream of pushing the boundaries of deep sea exploration turned into a living hell of lawsuits, life on the run, and prison time.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.