Kickoff For February 24, 2020
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.
It’s hard to believe that February is coming to an end. Sure, it’s the shortest month but no one said it has to fly by the fastest.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
Science
The future that graphene built, wherein we’re (re)introduced to the miracle material graphene, to the similar materials it spawned, and the uses of those materials now and in the future.
What we get wrong about time, wherein we learn that our minds experience and interpret time differently than what physics tells us about time, and that no matter what the way in which time warps in certain situations will continue to surprise and unsettle us.
Mind the Gap Between Science and Religion, wherein Sabine Hossenfelder argues that some of her fellow scientists need to remember not to confuse postulates with conclusions and mathematics with reality.
Technology
The Crypto Family Farm, wherein we learn about an American family that makes its way by trading cryptocurrency, and at the same time learn a bit more about the history and volatility of those currencies.
The Perfect User, wherein we’re introduced to the humane tech movement and learn that if left to its own devices, that movement could result ina relatively small group of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, developers, and designers are reforming humanity according to a privileged set of values and ideals
The rise and fall of the PlayStation supercomputers, wherein Mary Beth Griggs looks back at a time not so long ago when intrepid researchers strung together tens of the gaming consoles to create cheap and fast supercomputers.
Writing
George Orwell on Writing and the Four Questions Great Writers Must Ask Themselves, wherein Maria Popova takes a closer look at the writing advice doled out by the English novelist/journalist/essayist, and show us that advice is relevant today. Perhaps more so than in Orwell’s time.
What Your Draft (and Its Problems) Says About You, wherein Helen Betya Rubinstein examines common problems writers of fiction run into, the reasons for those problem, and offers ways around them.
Seven Tips From Ernest Hemingway on How to Write Fiction, wherein we get some excellent advice for writing not just fiction but anything.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.