Kickoff For June 16, 2022
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:
Science
Cryptographers Achieve Perfect Secrecy With Imperfect Devices, wherein we learn how researchers have proven that so-called quantum devices, although impractical at the moment, can communicate with perfect secrecy.
Einstein wasn’t a “lone genius” after all, wherein Ethan Siegel argues that the legendary physicist didn’t come up with his ideas in isolation, but was influence by the work of, and his interactions with, others.
How Quantum Computers Will Correct Their Errors, wherein we learn how these once theoretical machines will be able to not just detect when errors occur but also fix them, without jumbling the data that they’re crunching.
History
When Police Clamped Down on Southern California’s Japanese-American Bicycling Craze wherein we learn how authorities in California used restrictive ordinances around cycling to enforce racial segregation and to further foster anti-Asian sentiment.
There’s more to Sparta than martial valour and austerity, wherein we learn that being a city of warriors is only one iteration of Sparta’s history, a history that has more depth and breadth than most of us realize.
The People Who Decide What Becomes History, wherein learn about the work of academic historians and how they mix fact with more than a liberal bit of storytelling, and always have.
Odds and Ends
Before Wordle, There Was Cross-Word Mania, wherein we dip into the what’s new is old again files and learn about the pre-digital word game that not only gripped America’s attention but also weaved its way into the fabric of its era’s pop culture.
The country that became a ‘micronation capital’, wherein we learn about the tiny country-wannabes that have been founded around the world in recent decades and why Australia leads the way (having a dozen or so of them within its borders).
A day in the life of (almost) every vending machine in the world, wherein Tom Lamont takes us on a global, 24-hour tour of what people are buying from those ubiquitous machines while giving us a bit of a history lesson and looking at how the industry continues to change.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.