Kickoff For October 23, 2023
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:
When New Seat Belt Laws Drew Fire as a Violation of Personal Freedom, wherein we take a trip back to the America of the early 1980s and resistance to making driver and passenger safety devices in cars mandatory.
Why “anomie” is eroding the soul of our society, wherein Jonny Thompson examines the idea of social norms, how it seems that more and more people are rejecting them, and how that might not be the best approach for a healthy society.
A Living History of The Humble Paper Airplane, wherein we get a glimpse into the origins the ubiquitous homemade toy, and why they’re so important to experts studying flight.
Why We Need Hydrogen For A Successful Clean Energy Transition, wherein Holly Jean Buck examines the need for hydrogen as an energy source, and the challenges of making that source a widely-used reality.
Satellites Are Rife With Basic Security Flaws, wherein we’re introduced to research that points to many satellites orbiting our planet, which we all rely on daily, as having systems that lack some basic protections against cyber attacks.
The environmental disaster lurking beneath your neighborhood gas station, wherein we learn about some of the dangers of the places at which we fill up our vehicles, and how they’re hazardous waste sites.
The Paradoxes of Nostalgia, wherein Kenny Walden muses on the concept of nostalgia, why we indulge in it, and how (in the end) that indulgence is never satisfying.
An A.I. Utopia Is No Place For Humans, wherein Christopher Pearce ponders what the rise of generative artificial intelligence holds for artists and writers, and how those fields (and society as a whole) will suffer because of it.
A World of Networks and Vines, wherein John Barth explores the idea of sleep and how sleep (and lack of it) has shaped lives over the centuries.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.