Top 5 Workspace Tech Trends to Watch in 2023

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Huge eruption on Jupiter's moon sparks a volcanic mystery While Jupiter’s moon Europa is suspected to host a hidden ocean — boosting the possibility of alien lifeforms — its sibling Io has a reputation for being a lot more destructive. Hundreds of volcanoes continuously erupt over Io’s surface, thanks to the gravitational tug-of-war between Jupiter and its other moons. Continued here

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Tesla Just Did the Most Unexpected Thing: It Finally Brought Back the Steering Wheel You can now order Tesla's flagship electric vehicles with a steering wheel or yoke. Continued here

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Vasectomy: The US men embracing permanent birth control On a Friday in January, Lyon Lenk will go to his urologist’s office in Kansas City, Missouri, US. He’ll be given a local anaesthetic, and the doctor will cut a tiny incision in Lenk’s scrotum, locate his vas deferens – the tube that carries sperm through the penis – cut it, and seal the ends. The incision will be closed, and Lenk will go home, take some over-the-counter painkillers and as long as there are no complications, be free from discomfort within a week or so. Lenk, 35, and his partner have no children, and want to keep it that way. When the United States Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization that there is no constitutional right to an abortion – overturning Roe v Wade, the decision that protected abortion rights since 1973 – he scheduled a vasectomy. Continued here

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The Southwest Airlines I Knew Once, SWA was more than a great investment. Continued here

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The Razer Edge is clicky, sturdy, and satisfying to hold At CES 2023, I got to try Razer’s new game streaming handheld before it launches later this month. The Razer Edge, Razer’s handheld game streaming device, finally has a release date. The handheld is landing soon, on January 26, for a starting price of $399. Continued here

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One 'Marvel Snap' Limbo deck capitalizes on Magik's ultimate power In Marvel Snap, matches are comprised of six turns. However, the Limbo Location bumps it up to seven, giving players a bit more freedom and flexibility with their plays. This Location spawns randomly, but Magik, a pool 3 card, actually triggers Limbo to appear, offering more consistent 7-turn games. There are so many excellent Magik decks to run, but one, in particular, is leaps and bounds above the rest. Here’s the best deck to use alongside Magik in Marvel Snap. Having an extra turn works well for most decks, so feel free to experiment as you see fit. However, one deck that works ridiculously well with Magik is one that focuses on Black Panther. Continued here

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This 5-Minute Friday Ritual Is the Secret to a Stress-Free Weekend Invented by a Georgetown professor, it stops worries before they start. Continued here

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M3GAN review: This killer robot-girl horror is nasty fun One hot topic in science fiction at the moment is making new friends – by which I mean building those new friends from metal and plastic. Children have had robotic, artificially intelligent companions in dramas (After Yang), cartoons (Ron’s Gone Wrong) and novels (Klara and the Sun) recently, and now it's happened again in a fun little horror film produced by two of the genre's leading lights, James Wan and James Blum. M3GAN is hardly a classic, but you can bet that it will spawn several sequels and a thousand Halloween costumes: the title character's waxen face, long blonde hair, cream dress and stripey pussycat bow seem to have been designed not with plausibility in mind, but with how easily they can be recreated by fans at fancy-dress parties. More like this: – The horror that still terrifies, 100 years on – How true is Hollywood epic Babylon? – The greatest visual effects ever seen? Continued here

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Sports broadcasters have a duty to report injuries responsibly - in the case of NFL's Damar Hamlin, they passed the test Injuries are an unfortunate part of any sport – none more so than in the NFL, where players can be felled in front of a TV audience in the tens of millions. Typically, when a player suffers an injury, the media cuts to commercial and returns with replays of the injury – sometimes running it over and over, using every available camera angle, while analyzing what might have happened and the ramifications for the player and team. Continued here

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Hydreigon and Dragapult star in the next 'Pokémon Scarlet and Violet' Tera Raids Pokémon Scarlet and Violet already have plenty to do, with three separate storylines for playest to make their way through, hundreds of Pokémon to catch, and plenty of sandwiches to make. If you’re looking for even more content, however, Nintendo consistently introduces limited-time Tera Raid Battle Events, giving players the chance to battle and capture some particularly strong Pokémon. The first event of 2023 gives Scarlet players the opportunity to battle Hydreigon, while Violet players can take on Dragapult. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest Tera Raid Battle Event. Tera Raids are essentially similar to MMO raids, and they can be undertaken at any time in Scarlet and Violet, not just during the timed events. If you open your map you’ll see dozens of icons scattered around that represent different “types.” Each of these is a Tera Raid battle, and these battles can be fought solo with AI partners or online with other players. Continued here

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Lightyear’s affordable solar EV won’t be out until at least 2025 The Dutch solar EV company opened up the waitlist for its latest offering, the Lightyear 2, at CES 2023. We’re still a few years out from Lightyear releasing its affordable solar electric vehicle, but you can already virtually get in line. During CES 2023, the Dutch EV maker opened up its waitlist for the Lightyear 2, its mass-produced offering with an expected price point below $40,000. Continued here

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Razer’s 4K Kiyo Pro Ultra is a streamer’s dream webcam I know my webcams pretty well. So when I saw Razer’s new 4K Kiyo Pro Ultra webcam at CES 2023, its lens-sized dimensions clipped atop a laptop display definitely caught my attention. There are two schools of thought on webcams. In the first camp, there are people who believe it rose fast and then fell faster after 2020. And then there’s the second camp: streamers, content creators, and remote workers who prize a high-quality webcam without going full-on using a real camera as a webcam, and they’re willing to pay top dollar for it. Continued here

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The millennials in sexless marriages As 2022 comes to a close, we're bringing back our favourite pieces of the year. See the rest of our Best of Worklife 2022 collection for more great reads. “The first [several] years of our marriage we had an amazing sex life … and as he got older (he’s 30 now), he just doesn't seem interested in sex anymore.” Continued here

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The young workers flocking to 'career influencers' Standing in a towel in her bathroom, Emily Durham, a Toronto-based career coach, brushes her hair while doling out advice. “Your company will work you to the bone if you allow it ... There’s always going to be something, and it’s always going to be you doing it,” says Durham, brandishing the hairbrush, in an Instagram video. “Boundaries, baby.”  With a quarter of a million followers on the platform, 26-year-old Durham is one of many social-media influencers who have risen to prominence by sharing tips about work with a casual, accessible tone. Many of these influencers reside in the US, but others span the globe: ​​Mehar Sindhu Batra, with nearly 400,000 followers, is based in London, but says most of her audience is in India; another popular career coach with a quarter of a million followers, who goes by “Rosie”, is New Zealand-based. Continued here

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Ukraine war: despite Russian setbacks, an end to the conflict is not yet in sight For the past two months, Russia has systematically targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, devastating the country’s power grid and putting many basic services from healthcare to sanitation at risk. Apart from destruction, this campaign has achieved virtually nothing positive for Russia. Ukrainians are undeterred in their fighting spirit, and Kyiv’s international partners show no sign of weakening in their resolve of support. But this is unlikely to force Putin to change course. On the contrary, all the signs are that he will double down and continue to lay waste to a country whose very right to exist he denies. Continued here

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Nanomedicines for various diseases are in development - Nanomedicines, just like with all medications, are surrounded by proteins from the body once they come into contact with the bloodstream. This protein coating, known as a protein corona, gives nanoparticles a biological identity that determines how the body will recognize and interact with it, like how the immune system has specific reactions against certain pathogens and allergens. Knowing the precise type, amount and configuration of the proteins and other biomolecules attached to the surface of nanomedicines is critical to determine safe and effective dosages for treatments. However, one of the few available approaches to analyze the composition of protein coronas requires instruments that many nanomedicine laboratories lack. So these labs typically send their samples to separate proteomics facilities to do the analysis for them. Unfortunately, many facilities use different sample preparation methods and instruments, which can lead to differences in results. Continued here

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Shopify Is All Wrong About Meetings, Here's Why People hate meetings because everyone is so lousy at them. Effective meetings can yield beautiful results. Continued here

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The Real Reason You Struggle To Delegate It all comes down to emotional intelligence. Continued here

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Steal Rock Star David Byrne's 'Little Beginnings Everywhere' Trick for a Wildly Creative 2023  You're already more creative than you think. You just need to pay more attention to your ideas. Continued here

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A New Study Shows Improved Health and Increased Longevity Comes Down to the Rule of 72-104 Want to live a longer, healthier life? How much water you drink can be a major factor. Continued here

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Rishi Sunak is right about a lack of maths skills in England: here's how plans to extend teaching could work UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has proposed making the study of mathematics compulsory for all students in England up to the age of 18, to help young people “in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job”. Extending compulsory maths education past 16 is not a new idea. It has been suggested by other ministers and has failed to materialise. What is clear, though, is that the prime minister’s reasoning is grounded in fact. There is a mathematical skills shortage in the UK. Continued here

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Green jobs are booming, but too few employees have sustainability skills to fill them - here are 4 ways to close the gap To meet today’s global sustainability challenges, the corporate world needs more than a few chief sustainability officers – it needs an army of employees, in all areas of business, thinking about sustainability in their decisions every day. That means product designers, supply managers, economists, scientists, architects and many others with the knowledge to both recognize unsustainable practices and find ways to improve sustainability for the overall health of their companies and the planet. Continued here

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The bosses who silently nudge out workers When marketing manager Eliza returned from holiday, she received an email from her boss asking her to arrive at work early the next day. “I instantly feared the worst,” she explains. “I knew the job wasn’t the best fit. I’d had my probation previously extended; there was an expectation of weekend working and post-work drinking that didn’t suit me. I thought he’d used my time off as an opportunity to fire me.” However, when Eliza arrived at her boss’s office, she wasn’t immediately let go. Instead, she was informed of a company restructure – her job description was being completely rewritten. Someone else would take over her tasks, and she would be expected to work remotely in a new admin role.  Continued here

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Talking across the political aisle isn't a cure-all - but it does help reduce hostility Simmering tension in American politics came to a head two years ago, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election. The failed insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, resulted in several deaths and injuries to almost 150 police officers. But on the cusp of the November 2022 midterm elections, the majority of Republicans said they still believed the false claim asserted by the Capitol rioters – that President Joe Biden won in 2020 because of voter fraud. Continued here

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What exactly is 'neurodiversity?' Using accurate language about disability matters in schools The connection between language and meaning has been well established. The language we use is directly related to the way we view and treat others. Inclusive language is imperative to achieve equitable change, grounded in human rights and social justice. Many countries today have laws protecting against the use of any language that incites or wilfully promotes hatred against an identifiable group. Continued here

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Diversity of US workplaces is growing in terms of race, ethnicity and age - forcing more employers to be flexible Increased immigration, longer life expectancy and a decline in birth rates are transforming the U.S. workforce in two important ways. The people powering this nation’s economy include far more people of color and workers over 55 than was the case four decades ago. The share of U.S. workers who are nonwhite, Latino or both nearly doubled to about 40% in 2019 from roughly 23% in 1979, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With more older people staying economically active, over 37 million U.S. workers are 55 and up today. They account for nearly 1 in 4 of the 160 million Americans engaged in paid work. In 1979, fewer than 1 in 7 U.S. workers were in that age group. Continued here

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Long COVID stemmed from mild cases of COVID-19 in most people, according to a new multicountry study Even mild COVID-19 cases can have major and long-lasting effects on people’s health. That is one of the key findings from our recent multicountry study on long COVID-19 – or long COVID – recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Long COVID is defined as the continuation or development of symptoms three months after the initial infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. These symptoms last for at least two months after onset with no other explanation. Continued here

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DNA reveals large migration into Scandinavia during the Viking age We often think of the Vikings as ultimate explorers, taking their culture with them to far-off lands. But we may not typically think of Viking age Scandinavia as a hub for migration from all over Europe. In a study published in Cell, we show this is exactly what happened. The Viking period (late 8th century to mid 11th century) was the catalyst for an exceptional inflow of people into Scandinavia. These movements were greater than for any other period we analysed. Continued here

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The lack of RCMP protection officers is a risk to Canada's national security Near the end of 2022, it was reported that the RCMP faces a severe shortage of police officers to protect federal ministers, diplomats and other government officials. This staff shortage is occurring at a time when threats against Canadian politicians appear to be at an all-time high. During testimony at last fall’s Emergencies Act inquiry, it was revealed that Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland received an emailed death threat against her from a supporter of the so-called freedom convoy that descended upon Ottawa in February 2022. Continued here

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A classic Cold War monster movie is finally getting the remake it deserves Michael Giacchino, known best for scoring Pixar's greatest hits, is gearing up for a monstrous directorial feature debut. Before zombies, vampires, and werewolves became the hottest monsters in Hollywood, America went through a gargantuan creepy crawler phase that led to the likes of Tarantula (1955) and The Deadly Mantis (1957). The creature feature trend was kicked off by Warner’s Them! (1954), which centers on an unusual national threat: enormous irradiated ants desperate to establish new nests across the country. Continued here

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'Fire Emblem Engage' rejects 'Three Houses’ biggest lessons After the success of 2019’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses, it would be natural to assume developer Intelligent Systems would follow in its footsteps for Fire Emblem Engage. On top of being one of the most critically acclaimed games in the anime-inspired strategy series, Three Houses is the by far the most financially successful, with nearly 4 million sales by the end of 2021. But that’s less impressive if you count the mobile spin-off Fire Emblem Heroes, a juggernaut of a gacha game that’s made more than $1 billion since launching back in 2017. While it’s not nearly as beloved as Three Houses, Heroes is still a crowd-pleaser, and, well, a billion dollars is hard to ignore. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Engage seems to take more inspiration from Heroes than from Three Houses. Continued here

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Worker strikes and union elections surged in 2022 - could it mark a turning point for organized labor? Workers organized and took to the picket line in increased numbers in 2022 to demand better pay and working conditions, leading to optimism among labor leaders and advocates that they’re witnessing a turnaround in labor’s sagging fortunes. Teachers, journalists and baristas were among the tens of thousands of workers who went on strike – and it took an act of Congress to prevent 115,000 railroad employees from walking out as well. In total, there have been at least 20 major work stoppages involving at least 1,000 workers each in 2022, up from 16 in 2021, and hundreds more that were smaller. Continued here

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Quiet, please: human noise is interfering with the sex lives of grasshoppers University of Western Cape provides support as a hosting partner of The Conversation AFRICA. Grasshoppers have a bad reputation. They’re not popular with gardeners And locusts, a type of swarming grasshopper, can do huge damage to vegetation and crops when they’re in a feeding frenzy. Continued here

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Lenovo’s dual-screen Yoga Book 9i laptop can twist and bend to suit any task Lenovo announced quite a few new laptops at CES 2023, but the dual-screen Yoga Book 9i has some serious potential at influencing laptop design. The flexible laptop can be a traditional clamshell laptop, a flat tablet, or a multitasking machine in its many tent configurations. Most of us have already seen Lenovo’s Yoga laptops which let you easily convert a traditional laptop into a tablet. That flexibility separated them from other laptops, but the Yoga Book 9i takes that multifunctionality to the next level by adding another screen. Continued here

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'Renfield' trailer revives the vampire genre with a superhero twist Vampires have had a varied history in entertainment. From Bela Lugosi’s classic take on Dracula to Robert Pattinson in Twilight and Matt Berry in What We Do in the Shadows, it’s hard to imagine a fresh take on a genre that’s seemingly explored every element of the scary/sexy/goofy trinity. But maybe the fresh new idea doesn’t take place in the world of vampires, but among their assistants. Just as Guillermo is the breakout star of What We Do in the Shadows, it’s time for the OG vampire’s OG assistant to get his moment in the spotlight. Renfield, starring Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage, shines that spotlight, then throws a superhero twist onto the stage. Check out the trailer below. Continued here

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Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters reveal the secret of the series' best villains Final Fantasy is home to some of the most iconic villains in all of gaming. (Who doesn’t know the one-winged angel Sephiroth?) One of the series’ biggest strengths has always been its knack for developing complex and sympathetic villains. However, after several hours of playing through the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy V one thing really struck me — maybe what Final Fantasy needs in 2023 is just a villain who’s a real bad dude, nothing more. There’s something to be said about the simplicity of a villain simply being “evil.” Exdeath from Final Fantasy V is the perfect example of this. Continued here

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Global economy 2023: how countries around the world are tackling the cost of living crisis Maître de conférences en finance, IAE de Nice, IAE Nice - Université Côte d'Azur Director of the Center for Public Finance at the Baker Institute, Rice University Continued here

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The Conservative Who Wants to Bring Down the Supreme Court On the day that the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, the lawyer Jonathan Mitchell was at the National Association of Christian Lawmakers conference, where he was to receive an award for having enabled “the most successful pro-life legislation to date.” Mitchell was the author of the legislation that had effectively ended abortion access—first in Texas and then in Oklahoma—while Roe was still good law. As news broke at the conference that Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization had come down, “people were crying, men and women both,” Mitchell said. “I think they really thought there was divine intervention.” But Mitchell felt something different from the joy all around him about saving unborn babies. He was awash in relief that the Court as an institution might be able to redeem itself in a legal sense. He kept his feelings to himself. “I didn’t want to put a damper on things, because everybody else was just, ‘Praise Jesus.’ ” Unlike most lawyers and legal scholars who profess to be committed to the rule of law, Mitchell does not find it disturbing that several states, following his advice, managed to nullify a constitutional right long before the Supreme Court did. That is because his mission is to undermine the Court itself as the final authority on the meaning of the Constitution. He first laid out his arguments in several law-review articles, one of which proposed that legislatures could “overcome federal-court rulings” they oppose by drafting statutes that insulate them from judicial review. He then put his arguments into practice, using abortion as the perfect test case. Continued here

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Ukraine schools remain a key battlefront in fight for nation's future When Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv on New Year’s Eve, the damaged buildings included a university and at least two schools. Despite the attacks, at the start of the school year in September 2022, 51% of Ukrainian schools opened for in-person education, with an option for remote instruction if parents wanted it for their children. The fact that children are returning to school at all in the midst of this war is remarkable. Continued here

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The pandemic has shown Southern Africa can do staycations: could this momentum hold in the long run? The Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the tourism industry worldwide. International arrivals dropped by 74% globally in 2020 and tourist accommodations, businesses, borders and heritage sites had to close, resulting in a loss of income for those working in the tourism sectors. In Africa, the impact was deeply felt. In Kenya, tourist arrivals shrank from nearly 620,000 in April 2019 to 393,000 the following April. In South Africa, they fell from 10.2 million in 2019 to 2.8 million in 2020, and while almost 174,000 visited Tanzania in the third trimester of 2019, only 13,000 did so during the same period of 2020. Yet is this situation been such a bad thing? A number of studies have lamented that international tourism has often generated an unequal distribution of economic benefits, increased social disparities, marginalised local communities, and exploited local resources. This is particularly the case in Africa, where tourism has mainly benefited international and foreign companies and individuals, with the core tools of air travels and e-commerce concentrated in the Global North. Continued here

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No, you shouldn't wash raw chicken before cooking it. So why do people still do it? Food safety authorities and regulators around the world recommend you don’t wash raw poultry before cooking. That’s because washing chicken can splash dangerous bacteria around the kitchen. It’s best just to thoroughly cook the chicken without washing it, so it is safe to eat. Continued here

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Three London Productions Stretch the Boundaries of Reality Just after Christmas I spent a few greedy, giddy days attending London productions—running through the rain to the Garrick Theatre, in the West End, for “Orlando,” then getting baffled by the brutalist maze of the Barbican Center while trying to find “My Neighbour Totoro,” and finally zipping out to Punchdrunk’s Woolwich storehouses for “The Burnt City.” There was no logic to it—my planning was catch-as-catch-can. But the shows all turned out to be portraits of worlds grown suddenly, surprisingly larger, and of the rather lost feeling of the small humans at their center. (In one case, that lost human was me.) I had been particularly eager to see “Orlando,” which slots into the current gender discourse with a nearly audible click. In Neil Bartlett’s new adaptation, as in Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel, a poetic young aristocrat named Orlando catches the eye of Queen Elizabeth, embarks on various amorous adventures, falls into a coma, and wakes up changed into a woman. In the book, which is styled as a biography, Woolf’s narrator tracks Orlando’s transformation, and, for a single paragraph, the text’s “he” changes to “they,” before pivoting to “she.” (Woolf wrote, “The change of sex, though it altered their future, did nothing whatever to alter their identity.”) The show’s gleaming, nonbinary star, Emma Corrin—perhaps best known as the newlywed Princess Diana, from “The Crown”—uses they/them pronouns, the gender-fluid use of which Woolf may have pioneered a hundred years ago. This synchrony feels like fate. Continued here

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Foams used in car seats and mattresses are hard to recycle - we made a plant-based version that avoids polyurethane's health risks, too Polyurethane foams are all around you, anywhere a lightweight material is needed for cushioning or structural support. But they’re typically made using chemicals that are suspected carcinogens. Polyurethanes are typically produced in a very fast reaction between two chemicals made by the petrochemical industry: polyols and isocyanates. While much work has gone into finding replacements for the polyol component of polyurethane foams, the isocyanate component has largely remained, despite its consequences for human health. Bio-based foams can avoid that component. Continued here

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Thirty-four Movies That Celebrate the Movies The end of 2022 offered up a trio of movies by name-brand directors that are about the world of movies: precocious D.I.Y. filmmaking in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” behind-the-scenes classic Hollywood in Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” and even the work and lives of a movie theatre’s staff in Sam Mendes’s “Empire of Light.” In these films, the story of the greatness of cinema is the story of how the sausage is made and served, and even how the pig was raised. The history of cinema is rich in movies that depict the world of movies—which spotlight the personalities, celebrate the art, look frankly at the business, reveal the off-camera conflicts that fuel and hinder productions, and lay bare the ravenous force of filmmaking’s commercial and emotional demands. Several of these films are incontrovertible classics, such as “Singin’ in the Rain” and the first two versions of “A Star Is Born.” (The 1937 one is grittier; the 1954 one is Judy Garland’s greatest showcase.) It isn’t only Hollywood that portrays its own fault lines and idiosyncrasies; the world of movies is depicted with vast variety in international films and in independent ones, and what gets dramatized ranges from moviegoing to gatecrashing, from production to projection, from dreams and plans to fame or failure—from the rising passion of young cinephiles and the tenuous glory of professionals to the retrospective celebration of great achievements and the decrepitude of outcasts. They depict the making of fiction, documentary, and animated movies, reflexive films, student films, even imaginary films. Continued here

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Herschel Walker Offers Kevin McCarthy Seven Hundred Dollars to Abort His Speaker Bid WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a possible solution to the stalemate that has gripped the House of Representatives, Herschel Walker has offered Kevin McCarthy a check for seven hundred dollars to abort his bid for Speaker. Appearing at the Capitol, the N.F.L. great said that he had already written the check and hoped that it was sufficient to “take care of this.” Continued here

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Brekkies, barbies, mozzies: why do Aussies shorten so many words? We’re not talking about “actual” mozzies here. We’re defo (definitely) talking about words — and Aussies can’t seem to get enough of these shortened words. Some say we’re lazy for clipping them. Others claim it’s just Aussies knocking words down to size — ta, we’ll have a glass of cab sav or savvy b instead of whatever that is in French. Continued here

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Making sweat feel spiritual didn't start with SoulCycle - a religion scholar explains Each January, Americans collectively atone for yet another celebratory season of indulgence. Some proclaim sobriety for “Dry January.” Others use the dawn of a new year to focus on other forms of self-improvement, like taking up meditation or a new skin care routine. But adopting a new fitness plan is the most popular vow. Fitness experts insist that the best kind of exercise is the one you will do regularly – the one you can view as a joy, not a chore. And as more and more bespoke boutique fitness programs pop up, some devotees seem to take this advice even further. The notion that fitness is a religion – a place where people find community, ritual and ecstatic experience – has become a common refrain. Continued here

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The amazing system plants use to shape their roots and why it could help protect crops from climate change Plants have colonised the vast majority of the Earth’s surface. So what is the key to their success? People often think of plants as simple, senseless life forms. They may live rooted in one place, but the more scientists learn about plants, the more complex and responsive we realise they are. They are excellent at adapting to local conditions. Plants are specialists, making the most of what is close by to where they germinate. Continued here

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Not all insurrections are equal -- for enslaved Americans, it was the only option That changed in 2021 when millions of television viewers watched thousands of Trump supporters assault the U.S. Capitol in their violent attempt to stop Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Legislators fled for their lives as the mob shattered windows and vandalized congressional offices. Continued here

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Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody review - a fleeting glimpse of queer black joy I Wanna Dance with Somebody charts the life of global superstar Whitney Houston in an epic narrative of talent and struggle. The film lays bare the complexities of her rise and life in the spotlight, including toxic relationships with her parents, substance use and her husband Bobby Brown. It also depicts Houston’s intimate friendship – and romance – with her early girlfriend, assistant and creative director, Robyn Crawford. Continued here

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Amid tumultuous times, NORAD needs a consistent Canada-U.S. commitment The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has often struggled for political and military attention. This unique Canada-United States military command is in the spotlight right now because of growing tensions among the U.S., Russia and China. Both the U.S. National Defense Strategy of 2022 and Canada’s 2017 Strong, Secure, Engaged policy prioritize defending North America, NORAD’s reason for being. Continued here

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Lenovo's Project Chronos seems like Kinect for the metaverse The new mixed-reality solution lets you move virtual avatars without controllers or a mo-cap suit, all from the comfort of your living room. Remember Microsoft Kinect? The former Xbox accessory is now a plaything for developers and enterprise customers. But for a while, Microsoft was all in on controller-less motion controls, and at CES 2023, it seems like Lenovo is trying its hand at something similar for the metaverse. Continued here

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Here's how your cup of coffee contributes to climate change Doctorant en sciences de l'environnement, Département des sciences fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) Global coffee consumption has been increasing steadily for almost 30 years. With a daily average consumption of 2.7 cups of coffee per person, coffee is now Canada’s most popular drink. It is estimated that around two billion cups of coffee are consumed daily worldwide. Continued here

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Ancient Greece had extreme polarization and civil strife too -- how Thucydides can help us understand Jan. 6 and its aftermath The second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is upon us. And each new revelation about that brutal mob assault on our government raises a host of fresh questions about what transpired in the days prior to January 6, notably who was involved in planning the events of that day. Why, for instance, did former President Donald Trump reportedly consider a blanket pardon for all the insurrectionists? An answer to that question and others will surely raise more questions and ultimately reveal the scope of what we still do not, and may never, know. But maybe now, two years on, we finally have the perspective to see that the lie Trump told about the 2020 election – that he won and President Joe Biden lost – is still shredding the fabric of our democracy. Continued here

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What is income protection insurance - and how's it different to total and permanent disability insurance? This story is part of a series on financial and economic literacy funded by Ecstra Foundation. Many of us have car insurance, home insurance and health insurance. But what about income protection insurance? Continued here

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COVID: unvaccinated people may be seen as 'free riders' and face discrimination Associate Head (Students), School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth More than five billion people globally have now been vaccinated against COVID-19. Of course, many of the three billion or so who haven’t may not yet have been able to access a COVID vaccine, particularly in low-income countries. But a portion of those who are unvaccinated have chosen not to get a shot. Continued here

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Ukraine recap: Russian strikes failed to dampen Christmas spirit - but still no end in sight for the war Over the holiday period, a pedal-powered Christmas tree became the symbol of Ukraine’s defiant resistance against Russia’s relentless bombing campaign which Vladimir Putin hoped would spoil everyone’s Yuletide. Usually the Orthodox church would celebrate Christmas on January 7, but a decision was made by the Ukraine church to give its parishes the option to mark the festival on December 25, as a way of breaking from the Russian Orthodox church, which has been a vocal supporter of Putin’s war from the beginning. Russia has been trying, with some success, to target Ukraine’s power grid, putting many basic services from healthcare to sanitation at risk. But while this has resulted in blackouts across the country at the coldest time of the year, on the whole the country still appears as defiant as ever. Continued here

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From hapless parody to knight crusader - how far-right nationalism hijacked the real Don Quixote It’s said that Don Quixote and his faithful squire Sancho Panza were riding their horses in the dark night when they heard the sound of dogs barking. Trying to console the frightened Sancho, Don Quixote uttered what may be the most quoted line attributed to him: “Let the dogs bark, Sancho, it’s a sign that we are on track.” Today, the phrase is used to express the notion that if someone criticises (barks at) you, it’s a sign you are on the rise. Dogs bark at the moon, don’t they? Continued here

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My favourite fictional character: Queenie, a young Black woman living and dating in London, is 'complex, funny, broken, fun' Early in the pandemic, I looked after my niece because she had conjunctivitis and couldn’t go to daycare. Despite my best efforts, I caught it. My infection morphed into tonsillitis and I became very sick. I couldn’t read or watch TV properly – which everyone knows are the only pleasures of being sick. So I downloaded the audiobook of Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams and listened in bed with my eyes closed. Before long, I found myself pausing the book to leave myself croaky, semi-lucid voice notes as I fell in love with Queenie Jenkins. (I should have known, in the middle of my PhD on rom-com, I’ll never read commercial fiction solely for pleasure again.) Continued here

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Insects and spiders make up more than half NZ's animal biodiversity - time to celebrate these spineless creatures Jennifer Jandt is affiliated with the Entomological Society of New Zealand, a member of the Bug of the Year Committee, and is Editor-in-Chief of the New Zealand Entomologist. After almost two decades of championing native birds in an annual competition, Aotearoa is going to begin celebrating its spineless creatures this year. Continued here

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Human and Neanderthal brains have a surprising 'youthful' quality in common, new research finds Many believe our particularly large brain is what makes us human – but is there more to it? The brain’s shape, as well as the shapes of its component parts (lobes) may also be important. Results of a study we published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution show that the way the different parts of the human brain evolved separates us from our primate relatives. In a sense, our brains never grow up. We share this “Peter Pan syndrome” with only one other primate – the Neanderthals. Continued here

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The Profound Defiance of Daily Life in Kyiv It was just after 1 P.M. The weather in Kyiv was about fifteen degrees Fahrenheit but felt far colder. The writer Peter Godwin and I were walking through the university district. To get warm, we entered the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, its lower windows covered with sandbags and plywood. Inside, the lobby had been transformed into an exhibit of recent artifacts of the Russian invasion—street signs riddled with bullet holes, a child’s pillow pierced by a bullet. In the light-filled stairway just off the main floor, pieces of shrapnel and Russian bombs had been hung from the ceiling, making a grim installation of rusted steel. A guide approached. Her name was Svitlana. She wore skinny jeans and an orange faux-fur vest. We asked her if we could see the rest of the museum. She told us that much of the museum was empty, that the most precious of its eight hundred thousand artifacts were hidden, to avoid being looted by Russian forces. We asked if we could see the museum anyway. She called the museum’s press secretary and, after a few minutes of intense conversation, she got permission to give us a tour. Continued here

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Extinction Rebellion says 'we quit' - why radical eco-activism has a short shelf life Marc Hudson was a co-founder of Climate Emergency Manchester, but is no longer involved with the group. The protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR) has released a statement with the clickbait headline “We Quit”. Dashing the hopes of climate denialists everywhere, the group is not shutting up shop (yet), it is merely changing tactics. XR is keeping its options open, saying there is “a controversial resolution to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic”. Continued here

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Four ways Netanyahu's new far-right government threatens Israeli democracy Democracy is not just about holding elections. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies. The new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, is a coalition of the most extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts. Continued here

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Climate change is leaving African elephants desperate for water African elephant numbers have dropped from about 26 million in the 1800s to 415,000 today. While this is largely due to European colonisation, poaching and habitat loss, these majestic animals now face another grave challenge. Climate change is causing droughts in much of Africa to become longer and more severe. This damages elephant habitats and denies them the water they need. Due to their unique physiology, African elephants need hundreds of litres of water each day to survive. Continued here

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Kevin McCarthy Is Not the Only Loser in the House G.O.P.’s Speaker Mess Kevin McCarthy is not yet, and still may never be, the Speaker of the House. But there he was on the House floor again at noon on Thursday, in his third day of purgatory, smiling with the look of a man who has no other choice but to smile, even as he's dying inside. "We're having really good progress in conversations," he insisted to reporters. If there were any questions remaining about how badly McCarthy wanted power, they had been answered by Thursday morning, when it became clear that he was willing to give almost any concession to the twenty House Freedom Caucus Republicans blocking him from the Speakership. Progress, as McCarthy defined it, looked an awful lot like appeasement. Most damaging was the deal he offered on Wednesday night—after failing, over six ballots and two days, to persuade even one of the defectors to back off—to allow a single member to call for a vote to replace the Speaker. In a chamber with four hundred and thirty-five representatives, many of them far more willing than their predecessors to blow it up, such a provision would be a recipe for anarchy. The problem for McCarthy was that even that sop did not seem to be enough for his critics. The problem for the country was that, whoever ultimately gets the job, McCarthy's capitulation in the name of his own craven ambition will have made the House all but ungovernable. Continued here

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How Hockney's iPad paintings illuminate his enriching way of seeing the everyday My Window describes flowers and the sunrise in Bridlington, East Yorkshire. I started on the iPhone in 2009 … it was backlit and I could draw in the dark. I didn’t ever have to get out of bed. Everything I needed was on the iPhone. David Hockney is the great modern mark-maker. By mark I mean the merest stroke left by a brush or drawing instrument which, by itself, has little descriptive power. But skilfully placed alongside other rudimentary marks, they have the ability – in the hands of a real artist – to operate coherently, inducing the viewer to transform the ensemble of brushstrokes into a vibrant image. Continued here

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Lenovo adds audio recording to its E Ink notetaking device The notetaking device seems to have all of the skills of the reMarkable 2 or Kindle Scribe, but with the ability to record audio too. Lenovo is known to dabble outside its comfort zone of laptops, and this year it's taking Amazon to task with the Lenovo Smart Paper, a clear competitor to recent E Ink notetaking devices like the Kindle Scribe. Continued here

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Lenovo’s ThinkBook Twist laptop has a color E Ink display on its backside At CES 2023, Lenovo is announcing the ThinkBook Twist, a new laptop with a “twistable” dual-sided display — on one side is a 13.3-inch 2.8K-resolution OLED touchscreen and the backside is a 12-inch color E Ink touchscreen. It’s not Lenovo’s first experiment putting an E Ink display in a laptop. Several years ago, the company released the YogaBook C930 with an E Ink screen on the inside that replaced the keyboard. The ThinkBook Twist seems to be a better idea — a color E Ink screen on the outside that can be used like an e-reader just seems more practical than typing on a slow-response black-and-white keyboard. Continued here