Excerpts

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“There’s An ‘Interesting Opportunity To Make A Supersonic Vertical Takeoff Landing Jet'”

November 14, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Just to annoy George Clooney, Elon Musk believes he can build an electric supersonic jet. From Damon Lavrinc at Wired:

“At the New York Times DealBook conference, Musk said there’s an ‘interesting opportunity to make a supersonic vertical takeoff landing jet,’ something he began to envision after the Concorde service ended nearly a decade ago.

The physics of getting enough power on board an electric aircraft to not only carry passengers, but maintain a supersonic speed, is still decades away. Not that it matters to Musk. Like the Hyperloop, it’s something he doesn’t have time to commit to developing. At least, not yet.”

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In 1968, Braniff predicts the future of air travel:

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“It’s The Rapid Increase In Machines’ Ability To Substitute For Intelligent Human Labor That Presages The Greater Disruption”

November 14, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

“The Robots Are Here” is an excellent, thought-provoking article by Tyler Cowen at Politico Magazine which considers what our progress with data and automation has wrought. If you’re not familiar with the George Mason economist’s work, this piece is a wonderful entry point. He begins by looking at the prescience of an Isaac Asimov story which predicted the intersection of deep data and the democratic process. An excerpt:

“Nearly 60 years after Asimov anticipated a decidedly dramatic intrusion of machines into our politics, we may not (yet) be offloading our democratic responsibilities to computers, but we are empowering them to reshape our economy and society in ways that could be just as profound. The rise of smart machines—technologies that encompass everything from artificial intelligence to industrial robots to the smartphones in our pockets—is changing how we live, work and play. Less acknowledged, perhaps, is what all this technological change portends: nothing short of a new political order. The productivity gains, the medical advances, the workplace reorganizations and the myriad other upheavals that will define the coming automation age will create new economic winners and losers; it will reorient our demographics; and undoubtedly, it will transform what we demand from our government.

The rise of the machines builds on deeper economic trends that are already roiling American society, including stagnant growth since 2001 and a greater openness to trade and foreign outsourcing. But it’s the rapid increase in machines’ ability to substitute for intelligent human labor that presages the greater disruption. We’re on the verge of having computer systems that understand the entirety of human ‘natural language,’ a problem that was considered a very tough one only a few years ago. We’re close to the point when we can fit the (articulable) knowledge of the entire world into the palm of our hands. Self-driving cars are making their way onto streets in California and Nevada. Whether you are a factory worker or an accountant, a waitress or a doctor, this is the wave that will lift you or dump you.”

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“And Don’t Forget The 420,000 Gallons Of Horse Urine Flowing Through The Streets Each Week”

November 14, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Matt Novak’s Paleofuture blog, housed now at Gizmodo, is one of the very best things birthed on the Internet. In a recent post, Novak examines an unrealized “centralized street-vacuum system” that was proposed in 1922 to help New York City curb its pollution problem. The opening:

“New York City at the turn of the 20th century was a pretty pungent place. Piles of garbage, millions of people cooking food, and about 2.5 million pounds of horse manure emptied into the streets per day will do that to a city. And don’t forget the 420,000 gallons of horse urine flowing through the streets each week. But some forward-thinking New Yorkers had an idea to clean up the city: establish a citywide central vacuum system.

The August 1922 issue of Science and Invention magazine proposed this innovative vacuum system for the Big Apple and claimed that it would save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. The magazine claimed that the new system — which could be run privately, or preferably managed by the city — would also eliminate many diseases and drastically cut the mortality rate.

Science and Invention explained that the vacuum pipes needed for such a system wouldn’t be so different from the water and gas pipes that were already running through the streets.”

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“He Writes In English, For God’s Sake”

November 14, 2013 in Books, Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

From his Ask Me Anything at Reddit, Jerry Saltz, New York‘s smart art critic, reveals the book he most recommends for those who want to learn more about the field:

“Question:

I know next to nothing about art but I read you in New York mag all the time. My question is: What’s one book you’d recommend to someone interested in art and learning more but with next-to-no-knowledge of art history/the art world?

Jerry Saltz:

Off the Wall by Calvin Tompkins. It’s about how artists like Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, and Merce Cunningham made the train of American art history jump off the tracks, and land on a new track – the one we’re still huffing along on. And, it’s an easy read. He writes in English, for God’s sake.”

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“The Times Itself Will Likely Have To Eventually ‘Leave’ The Times”

November 13, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Things are cyclical in the media business as they are in every other business. But when print was king you would never have seen the type of mass exodus of high-profile talent from the New York Times that it’s experienced in recent weeks. Because the Times isn’t part of a gigantic multi-platform corporation or flush with new-media cash, it’s at a decided disadvantage in fending off challengers for its best writers, reporters and thinkers. Just compare the financials of the Sulzberger-run company to, say, ESPN, which poached Nate Silver because it could offer him any amount of money it felt like and all the outlets he desires for his numbers. That’s not to say the Times isn’t still excellent and can’t attract more talent, but it will be difficult to maintain morale and quality if the bleeding continues.

Reading news stories about the departures yesterday, I thought that the Times itself will likely have to eventually “leave” the Times. I mean that the company will ultimately have to abandon the independence it’s always enjoyed and become another piece in a multimedia behemoth. I don’t see any other answer, though I’d like to be wrong.•

“This Could Be One Of The Craziest Extensions Of That Philosophy To Date”

November 13, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

The Urbee is space-age car that is manufactured via 3D printer. It’s so highly fuel efficient that the makers are about to see if the second iteration of the auto can drive cross country on just ten gallons of gasoline. I would guess someday most cars will be manufactured this way, though they’ll be a market for “hand-crafted” cars the way there are for shoes and such. From Michael Kwan at Mobilemag:

“Even though we’ll keep getting talk about hydrogen fuel cells and fully electric vehicles, there is still a lot more to be said about just getting more fuel efficient vehicles at all. And this could be one of the craziest extensions of that philosophy to date.

For starters, the Urbee 2 is a car that was built using 3D printing, rather than more conventional manufacturing methods. They aim to drive the car clear across the United States on just ten gallons of fuel. To put this in perspective, the first Urbee was already able to achieve over 200mpg on the highway.”

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“I Wanted People To Feel The Passion And The Elation Of Being In The Revolution”

November 13, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Economist Tyler Cowen suggests that video games are the low-hanging fruit of education, and that’s probably true. There are financial hurdles to overcome, but it would be great if textbooks were interactive and engaging. Game isn’t bad because they’re games, and we should probably stop resisting their allure on an institutional level and make them work for us. Of course the limitation of history books applies to gaming as well: The education is only good as the veracity and objectivity of the story being told.

A small step into the educational camp is being attempted by Navid Khonsari, a Grand Theft Auto veteran who’s trying to raise money to create a video game about the Iranian Revolution of 1979. He acknowledges it’s still mostly about entertainment, but it is ambitious and aims to show people what Iran wasactually like in the 1970s before the veil was lowered.

Brief aside: I can’t help but think that Iran is worse for the Revolution, for all the smart people who fled, for the assault on cultural modernity, for the repression of women, for the way it’s become isolated from many corners of the world. Of course, the U.S. should never have been sabotaging any foreign government and installing leaders friendly to us, but it feels like Iran lost decades of progress to its uprising. Of course, my version of the video game might differ from yours.

From Amanda Holpuch’s Guardian article about Khonsari’s project:

“One of the people behind some of the most popular – and violent – video games has left the world of Grand Theft Auto and developed a game prototype based on the Iranian revolution.

Since Navid Khonsari began work on the game, called 1979 Revolution, it has been labeled Western propaganda by an Iran government-run newspaper and some members of his team still use aliases to protect themselves from the repercussions of creating a video game based on a controversial event that has persistent reverberations today. Khonsari launched a Kickstarter on Wednesday, hoping to take the game from a prototype to tablet-ready, episodic series.

‘I wanted people to feel the passion and the elation of being in the revolution – of feeling that you could possibly make a change,’ said Khonsari, who moved from Iran to Canada at age 10, just after the revolution. He remembers his grandfather walking him through the early protests in Tehran.”•

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Life in Tehran just before the revolution:

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“I Was One Of The First Cats With A Tesla”

November 13, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

New technologies take time to perfect, but it’s tough to be patient when you’re an A-Lister. In an Esquire profile by Tom Junod, George Clooney complains that his Tesla Roadster was overrated junk that took him nowhere. Coincidentally, that’s how I felt about Syriana. From the article:

“’Hey, where’s the Tesla?’ I said when I was leaving his house. I was just giving him shit; I didn’t know if he had a Tesla or not, and was trying to see if even George Clooney was susceptible to Hollywood cliché.

‘I had a Tesla. I was one of the first cats with a Tesla. I think I was, like, number five on the list. But I’m telling you, I’ve been on the side of the road a while in that thing. And I said to them, ‘Look, guys, why am I always stuck on the side of the fucking road? Make it work, one way or another.’ ”

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“‘Fiscal Cliff” Lay Largely Dormant For Decades”

November 13, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Language is a funny thing, and there’s no way that Walter H. Stern could have guessed that a phrase he came up with 56 years ago would be the lead of his obituary in 2013. From Margalit Fox in the New York Times:

“In fact, the first known print citation, the O.E.D. goes on to say, appeared more than half a century ago, on Oct. 20, 1957, on the front page of The Times.

‘To the prospective home owner wondering whether the purchase of a given house will push him over the fiscal cliff,’ the article begins, ‘probably the most difficult item to estimate is his future property tax.’

The man who wrote that article — and in so doing gave life to a phrase that has lately poured from the lips of pundits, politicians and the public worldwide — was Walter H. Stern, a former real estate writer for The Times who died last Saturday at 88.

Mr. Stern was associated with The Times from 1942 until 1961, when he left to pursue a career in public relations. What he could scarcely have known that day in 1957 was that in the course of writing an analytical article about taxation, he built a small but powerful lexicographic time bomb.

‘Fiscal cliff’ lay largely dormant for decades, cropping up in The Times on only seven more occasions through the end of 2011.

Then it exploded.”

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“[Google Is] Working On A Temporary Electronic Tattoo That Would Stick To The User’s Throat”

November 13, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

“Eventually you’ll have the implant,” promised Google’s Larry Page when asked about brain augmentation. And, sure, we could stand to be smarter, but Gogogle doesn’t just provide information–it also collects it. In that vein is this CNN story by Doug Gross about a strange, new Google patent:

“It looks like Google Glass was just the beginning. Google now appears to be aiming a few inches lower, working on a temporary electronic tattoo that would stick to the user’s throat.

Google-owned Motorola Mobility, published last week, for a system ‘that comprises an electronic skin tattoo capable of being applied to a throat region of a body.’

The patent says the tattoo would communicate with smartphones, gaming devices, tablets and wearable tech like Google Glass via a Bluetooth-style connection and would include a microphone and power source. The idea is that wearers could communicate with their devices via voice commands without having to wear an earpiece or the the Glass headset.

And how’s this for future tech? It could even be used as a lie detector.”

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“But I Need Your Help Now”

November 13, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Is zombie culture currently so popular in America because it’s actually a mirror rather than a fantasy?

People seem so strange now, and not in the same ways we’ve always been strange. It’s somewhat a reflection of the era we live in. Every generation thinks it’s going through extreme times–and they’re all right, of course–but I think we’re particularly doing so. It’s the disaster of the economy, the disquiet of the technological revolution and the way our new tools enable us to opt out mentally and emotionally into the white noise of personalization, even as we’re more connected than ever. Sometimes the streets in Manhattan seem like a necropolis, a sea of dead stares, heads pointed down at screens. You see a bright face for a moment, a flicker of recognition, and then it disappears. 

But it’s more than just a fractured form of capitalism and what our new tools have wrought: There’s quietly an epidemic of painkillers in the U.S. that’s made junkies of so many people you see across the space of a day. I’ve heard anecdotal evidence from people I’ve met who work in pharmaceuticals and hospitals, but the numbers back it up. We have a lot of people in our midst who are high and low–an army of zombies.

What and whom conspired to make OxyContin and the like so available, so prescribable? From Celine Gounder’s New Yorker blog post about the pain-pill epidemic:

“When I started working as a medical resident, in 2004, I heard from a patient I had inherited from a graduating resident. The patient had an appointment scheduled in a couple weeks. ‘But I need your help now,’ he said.

He was a former construction worker who had hurt himself on the job a couple of years earlier. He told me, ‘I also need some more OxyContin to tide me over until I can see you.’ The hospital computer system told me that he had been taking twenty milligrams of OxyContin, three times a day, for at least the last couple of years. I had rarely seen such high doses of narcotics prescribed for such long periods of time. I’d seen narcotics prescribed in the hospital to patients who had been injured, or to those with pain from an operation or from cancer. But I didn’t have much experience with narcotics for outpatients. I figured that if the previous resident—now a fully licensed doctor—was doing this, then it must be O.K.

What I didn’t know was that my time in medical school had coincided with a boom in the prescribing of narcotics by outpatient doctors, driven partly by the pharmaceutical companies that sold those drugs. Between 1999 and 2010, sales of these ‘opioid analgesics’—medications like Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin—quadrupled.”

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“Can These Lists Ever Age Well, Including The Lists We’re Making Today?”

November 12, 2013 in Books, Excerpts | Permalink

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Lists of so-called Top 100 Novels aren’t just judgments of books but of the moment the list is made, the era’s cultural prejudices, the fashions of the time–and of the people who read them in the future. Below is the Top 20 titles from such a list published in 1898 in the Illustrated London News, many of which are forgotten or not remembered fondly. Can these lists ever age well, including the lists we’re making today?

1. Don Quixote – 1604 – Miguel de Cervantes

2. The Holy War – 1682 – John Bunyan

3. Gil Blas – 1715 – Alain René le Sage

4. Robinson Crusoe – 1719 – Daniel Defoe

5. Gulliver’s Travels – 1726 – Jonathan Swift

6. Roderick Random – 1748 – Tobias Smollett

7. Clarissa – 1749 – Samuel Richardson

8. Tom Jones – 1749 – Henry Fielding

9. Candide – 1756 – Françoise de Voltaire

10. Rasselas – 1759 – Samuel Johnson

11. The Castle of Otranto – 1764 – Horace Walpole

12. The Vicar of Wakefield – 1766 – Oliver Goldsmith

13. The Old English Baron – 1777 – Clara Reeve

14. Evelina – 1778 – Fanny Burney

15. Vathek – 1787 – William Beckford

16. The Mysteries of Udolpho – 1794 – Ann Radcliffe

17. Caleb Williams – 1794 – William Godwin

18. The Wild Irish Girl – 1806 – Lady Morgan

19. Corinne – 1810 – Madame de Stael

20. The Scottish Chiefs – 1810 – Jane Porter

(Thanks Marginal Revolution.)

“Without A Functioning Store, It’s Hard To Get A Good Gauge Of Interest”

November 12, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

From an Ask Me Anything at Reddit that Sarah Kliff, Washington Post health reporter, just did about the Affordable Care Act:

“Question:

Does the success/failure of healthcare.gov necessarily guarantee the success/failure of the ACA?

Sarah Kliff:

Great question. I would say that the success/failure of healthcare.gov is tied to the success/failure of the ACA in that it’s a doorway to purchasing coverage under the new law. If people can’t get into the store, then there’s not much of a shot at expanding health insurance coverage.

The assumption is that, at some point, the site will be fixed (what point is another excellent question). And then we’ll get a sense of whether the products being sold on healthcare.gov are ones that Americans want to purchase. But without a functioning store, it’s hard to get a good gauge of interest.”

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“Current Guidelines Classify Players As Amateurs, Prohibiting Them From Earning Compensation”

November 12, 2013 in Excerpts, Sports | Permalink

There are few more puzzling entities in American life than the NCAA, the governing body of college athletics that is supposed to maintain the “integrity” of sports but instead uses every draconian measure imaginable to keep universities wealthy and players poor. Of course, you don’t want school boosters bribing linemen or shooting guards to attend their alma mater, but the NCAA spends great effort on enforcing the minutia of rules while ignoring the bigger picture: That college sports are a gigantic industry and that the players, who often sacrifice their bodies and brains, should be paid for their work. And, no, a scholarship isn’t fair compensation for those programs that have lucrative contracts for TV, radio and video games. 

The opening of a Frontline article about a legal decision that may or may not change this one-sided arrangement:

“In a case that could fundamentally shake the economic model of college athletics, a federal judge on Friday agreed to partially certify a lawsuit challenging restrictions on how student athletes may be compensated in exchange for playing sports.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken allows a group of about 20 current and former college players to press ahead with a class action against NCAA rules that prevent athletes from sharing in licensing deals or television revenue. Current guidelines classify players as amateurs, prohibiting them from earning compensation beyond the value of their athletic scholarships.

However, the ruling also came with one major caveat: While Judge Wilken cleared a pathway for players to share in future revenues, she rejected a separate bid that would have allowed them to collect damages for the past use of their images and likenesses both on television and in video games. Had that effort succeeded, the NCAA’s legal tab could have run into the billions.

The split decision left both sides claiming victory.”

“It Gave Them Both The Sense Of Righteousness They Needed To Lie”

November 11, 2013 in Excerpts, Film, Science/Tech, Sports, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

With Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Alex Gibney made one of the most heartbreaking films ever about the American Dream. In the most essential ways, it’s reminiscent of the Coen brothers’ film, Fargo, which lamented that streak of American competitiveness that says that doing well isn’t good enough–you have to dominate. As if we can somehow grow enough ego to shroud our unhappiness and fear. There are parallels in Gibney’s new film about Lance Armstrong, the cyclist who just had to be the best. From a new Economist interview with Gibney:

“Question:

The final film has a lot in common with Enron, in that it dispels a myth that people really wanted to believe in. Do you find it tough shaking people’s belief systems?

Alex Gibney:

Yes, that’s why I originally wanted to do a redemption story. He comes back clean in 2009 and wins? How awesome would that be? The problem with both Enron and Lance was that the myth they created became too big. Both Jeff Skilling [Enron’s CEO] and Lance were motivated by this strange purity of vision; Enron couldn’t just be a successful company, it had to be the future of capitalism. Lance wasn’t just a cyclist, he was campaigning for cancer survivors. It’s noble-cause corruption. It gave them both the sense of righteousness they needed to lie.

Question:

In your interviews with Lance after the Oprah show, he admits to doping and using blood transfusions up until 2005, but not during the 2009 tour, when you were filming. Was it disappointing not to get a further confession?

Alex Gibney:

Yes, very disappointing but also revealing. I find his body language in that interview interesting. Slumped in a chair, he’s not a towering figure anymore.

Question:

You don’t think that’s theatre?

Alex Gibney:

I think it was defeat mainly.•

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“Now If I Have Stage 4 Cancer Or Need A Sex-Change Operation, I’d Be Covered”

November 11, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

I’m perplexed by the opening paragraph of a New York Times Op-Ed piece about the Affordable Care Act by psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb. It rants about the small percentage of Americans who will have their policies changed so that tens of millions can gain coverage. That’s a fair discussion, but it’s conducted strangely in this piece because Gottlieb is upset that she’s paying more for coverage of “Stage 4 cancer” that can’t be terminated or a potential “sex-change operation.” I’m not going to venture into a mental-health professional being angered by others needing sexual-reassignment surgery, but how can Gottlieb possibly think it’s bad that no one can cancel her policy if someone in her family gets cancer? And how can she believe it’s as unlikely an outcome for her or her loved ones as wanting a sex-change operation? Odd. The opening:

“LOS ANGELES — THE Anthem Blue Cross representative who answered my call told me that there was a silver lining in the cancellation of my individual P.P.O. policy and the $5,400 annual increase that I would have to pay for the Affordable Care Act-compliant option: now if I have Stage 4 cancer or need a sex-change operation, I’d be covered regardless of pre-existing conditions. Never mind that the new provider network would eliminate coverage for my and my son’s long-term doctors and hospitals.”

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“The Food Will Be Prepared On Earth And Freeze-Dried Before Being Sent Up To The Hotel”

November 11, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech | Permalink

The Russian company Orbital Technologies says it’s sticking to its plans, first announced in 2011, to open a floating, boutique space hotel by 2016. Sounds very ambitious. From Wonderful Engineering:

“The rich and famous look for the most exotic places to spend their vacations. Orbital Technologies, a Russian company, has announced plans to make one of the most exotic hotel ever. Their idea to create a space hotel for commercial use is both metaphorically and literally out of this world.

The hotel, officially called Commercial Space Station, will be able to accommodate seven guests in four cabins. It will orbit the earth at a height of 350 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Guests will be able to relax in zero-gravity and can pass the time by watching TV, surfing the web, or sleeping (both horizontally and vertically). There will be no flowing water which means washing will be done using wet wipes and even the toilets will carry waste via flowing air. The waste water and air will all be filtered and recycled in the satellite and then reused by the occupants of the hotel. The food will be prepared on Earth and freeze-dried before being sent up to the hotel. Another drawback (for most customers) is the prohibition of the consumption of alcohol in the hotel.

The vacation has only one standard package costing close to a million dollars.”

“We Have Entered Into The Age Of Peak Child!”

November 10, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Hans Rosling, he of the famous TED Talk about washing machines, presents five reasons to be optimistic about the future of the world and its inhabitants, for the BBC Magazine. Here’s the opening entry, about population, a tricky subject that often makes fools of analysts:

“1. Fast population growth is coming to an end

It’s a largely untold story – gradually, steadily the demographic forces that drove the global population growth in the 20th Century have shifted. Fifty years ago the world average fertility rate – the number of babies born per woman – was five. Since then, this most important number in demography has dropped to 2.5 – something unprecedented in human history – and fertility is still trending downwards. It’s all thanks to a powerful combination of female education, access to contraceptives and abortion, and increased child survival.

The demographic consequences are amazing. In the last decade the global total number of children aged 0-14 has levelled off at around two billion, and UN population experts predict that it is going to stay that way throughout this century. That’s right: the amount of children in the world today is the most there will be! We have entered into the age of Peak Child! The population will continue to grow as the Peak Child generation grows up and grows old. So most probably three or four billion new adults will be added to the world population – but then in the second half of this century the fast growth of the world population will finally come to an end.”

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“Aides Quickly Set Up The Security Tent — Which Has Opaque Sides And Noise-Making Devices Inside”

November 10, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Abraham Lincoln, an early adopter of technology, didn’t have to worry about electronic surveillance intercepting his telegraphs, but President Obama has no such luxury. The U.S. has been pilloried recently for spying on our allies, but every nation is likely doing it. You know why? Because we can. From Michael S. Schmidt and Eric Schmitt in the New York Times:

“WASHINGTON — When President Obama travels abroad, his staff packs briefing books, gifts for foreign leaders and something more closely associated with camping than diplomacy: a tent.

Even when Mr. Obama travels to allied nations, aides quickly set up the security tent — which has opaque sides and noise-making devices inside — in a room near his hotel suite. When the president needs to read a classified document or have a sensitive conversation, he ducks into the tent to shield himself from secret video cameras and listening devices.

American security officials demand that their bosses — not just the president, but members of Congress, diplomats, policy makers and military officers — take such precautions when traveling abroad because it is widely acknowledged that their hosts often have no qualms about snooping on their guests.”

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“We Are Not Done Evolving”

November 10, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech | Permalink

Michigan State University evolutionary biologist Bjørn Østman just did an Ask Me Anything at Reddit on his field. A few exchanges follow.

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Question:

Will alien life be very similar to life on earth due to convergent evolution?

Bjørn Østman:

That is a viable hypothesis. Some people (e.g. Stephen J. Gould) think that nothing like humans would evolve if the we “replayed the tape of life.” However, I personally predict that if we find life on other planets, then it will resemble some species from Earth in some ways, perhaps even as much as there being creatures with 4 limbs (which I think is not coincidental, but because it is a highly versatile solution to locomotion). In other words, I think convergent evolution is a very likely outcome.

___________________________

Question:

Are different races in humans an example of slight speciation? What accounts for the differences between humans of different origins?

Bjørn Østman:

Yes, I do actually think that you could call different human races “slight” speciation. We might call it incipient speciation. Some biologists will disagree, but imagine Danish and Japanese people hadn’t interbred for the next 100,000 or one million years, then perhaps they would really have become different species. The biological differences between different ethnicities likely arose from random changes that became dominant through neutral processes (genetic drift), as well as though adaptation in some cases, like skin color, where dark skin protects against the sun, and pale skin is more efficient at producing vitamin D in the sun.

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Question:

I’m fascinated by the crazy, now extinct predators that very early humans had to contend with. I’m thinking Saber Cats, Hyenadon… and what else? What amazing and epic fauna did very early humans encounter and ‘overcome’?

Bjørn Østman:

Wolves, man! I think our notion of werewolves came from the ever present danger of being eaten by wolves int he areas where they lived together. But cats everywhere. Lions, leopards, mountain lions – those are so effective predators. Without tools, I think humans would not have become the top predator, but would have lived in fear of these today.

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Question:

Are humans done evolving? Have humans gotten to the point where we adapt our surroundings to us instead of the other way around? Do you think another homo species will arise on Earth?

Bjørn Østman:

We are not done evolving. We still evolve biologically, though there are some aspects of humans life that have been taken over by cultural evolution. Just to mention one prominent aspect: medicine has alleviated many selection pressures. For much of our history a large factor in how we evolved was diseases. Diseases is a very strong selection pressure for evolving resistance. We are now resistant to many diseases that previously killed us, and yet when new ones arise today, we can fight back with medicine. For example, we don’t need to succumb to HIV/AIDS, such that only the few that by chance are lucky to be resistant will survive, while everyone else dies (which incidentally is an excellent example of how selection works). As a result in part of medicine (particularly improvements in hygiene), the human population is now as large as it is. However, most people who argue that humans have stopped evolving seem to not have understood 1) that the increase in our population size leads to an increase in genetic diversity, which is the fuel for evolution, and 2) that evolution takes time, and there will come a time (perhaps in hundreds of thousands of years, but I am not so optimistic) when things will change, and the environment will again favor some human subpopulation over others. You can read more about this from my colleague Madhusudan Katti in reply to the sad claim from David Attenborough’s that humans are no longer evolving. 

If and when humans go extinct, it could be that eventually another intelligent species would evolve. However, they would not likely be identical, and would be a different species, so not Homo sapiens.•

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“I Don’t Know If I Can Pull This Off. I’m Exhausted.”

November 10, 2013 in Excerpts, Film | Permalink

My 4 favorite Robert Altman films:

  • 3 Women
  • California Split
  • Nashville
  • McCabe and Mrs. Miller

My least favorite Altman film:

  • Quintet

Somewhere in between these extremes is Short Cuts, which is certainly an accomplished work but bothered me because I thought it used Raymond Carver’s deeply humane stories in a cruel way. But I have almost infinite love and forgiveness for Altman, who risked all in the name of art, willing to take the bruises when he fell flat. He’s recognized as one of the greatest directors ever, yet he oddly feels underrated. I have no interest in comic-book movies and I miss his work dearly–films made by an adult for other adults.

It’s the twentieth anniversary of Short Cuts and Mike Kaplan, who was an Associate Producer on that film, has made a documentary about the experience, Luck,Trust and Ketchup. From an article Kaplan wrote about the movie for the Hollywood Reporter:

“Bob and I began walking down what seemed to be a mile of maroon corridors in the Red Lion Inn, heading towards his room. ‘How are the portraits coming?’ he asked. 

Don had already completed Andie McDowell, Bruce Davison, Lily Tomlin, Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher, Julianne Moore, Matthew Modine and Lyle Lovett and we’d have images to show him in a few days.

We talked in shorthand.

Then his voice changed — without skipping a beat in his gait. 

‘I have no idea what I’m going to shoot tomorrow,’ he announced. 

We were at his room.

He opened the door and began undressing. 

‘I don’t know if I can pull this off. I’m exhausted.’

He climbed into bed in his undershorts. 

I said something innocuous like I’m certain it will work out — worried at never hearing this tone before, Bob always the master of assurance when it came to filming.

He pulled up the covers, deep in a maze of thought, then closed his eyes.

‘Turn off the lights as you leave,’ he said.”•

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“The Future Of Work Even Gets Me Thinking, More Than Usual, About What We Can Expect Of The World In 30 Years”

November 10, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

From a lively Financial Times essay by Izabella Kaminska about the next three decades before us and the disruption and challenges we’re likely to experience:

“I am in New York to participate in a ‘future of work’ inquiry. Fittingly, among the movies I digest on my United flight from Geneva is the The Internship, about a couple of forty-something salesmen who, realising they have no skills for the modern digital workplace, decide to fling themselves headfirst into a Google internship programme.

The future of work event gets me thinking, more than usual, about what we can expect of the world in 30 years. One thing most of us agree upon is that technological disruption is already having a meaningful impact on our modern definition of employment. Whether it’s The Jetsons’ two-hour working week that will soon be upon us, or a divided dystopia made up of a working underclass serving the leisure elite, depends increasingly on the choices we make today. Will my goddaughter even have a career to look forward to, let alone anything remotely resembling a job? A like-minded futurist who has some authority in employment matters convinces me it’s best to be optimistic. As the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted, technology has the potential to free mankind from the drudgery of uncreative work – providing, of course, that society finds a way to ensure that technological power doesn’t end up being overly concentrated in too few hands.”

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“Bluetooth–This Just Blew My Mind”

November 10, 2013 in Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

A formerly Amish man, who quit his community at seventeen, joined the Air Force and married a non-Amish woman, just did an Ask Me Anything at Reddit about his unusual life path. A few exchanges follow.

___________________________

Question:

What is your first memory of thinking about leaving your community and what was the “final push” for you?

Answer:

I remember cutting firewood and just wishing I had a chainsaw to make it easier. I feel like I always knew I would leave but just waited until I grew older.

___________________________

Question:

When you left the Amish community what was the most shocking thing about non-Amish society?

Answer:

My family never really showed emotion or hugged, I was a little shocked by how emotional everyone is. Great question, i wasn’t sure how to answer.

___________________________

Question:

Was there a time period where you parents didn’t talk to because you left the Amish community?

Answer:

Yes almost 5yrs, I was told not to come back unless I planed to stay Amish. When my Mom was diagnosed with cancer I went to see them for the first time in years, with my wife.

Question:

Is your wife from an Amish background, too? How did your mother and wife get along when they met?

Answer:

My wife was never Amish. When she met my Mom it was in more of a group setting with my dad and uncle’s/aunts. It was very awkward, my wife feels like they might blame her even though I met her years after I left. The meeting was one where the silence was long and tense, I do believe both, Mom and my wife, were trying to just talk.

___________________________

Question:

When you say there was a lot that was unbelievable to you, what sorts of things stand out?

Answer:

Texting. Why would you type if you can call! lol, i text a lot more now and seldom call. Bluetooth–this just blew my mind.

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Question:

You said: “Amish don’t really acknowledge the existence of homosexuality.”

Could you go into that a little bit more? What do you mean they don’t acknowledge it?

What would happen if someone came out of the closet or was caught having a homosexual relationship?

Wasn’t there ever an oddly swishy and single Amish feller that you just knew was off?

Answer:

They don’t believe that you can be homosexual, or if you claimed to be homosexual they would probably say you choose to be that way, maybe you are mentally ill. If you were caught in a homosexual relationship (im guessing) you would shunned until you repented of your sins, maybe you would have to get some type of mental treatment. The Amish are usually very “manly men” and I never knew an Amish person that I would be sure was homosexual.

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Question:

Just wondering what was your location when you were Amish i have some friends whom escaped the life style in Berlin and Millersburg due to massive amounts of child molestation, they actually escaped the country to go to canada because of this. Did you ever hear of other horror stories?

Answer:

I’m from Ethridge Tennessee. I am truly saddened to hear a story like that and I hope they are ok. I only know of the one story I mentioned earlier, the person was arrested just like anyone else would be. It is hard to tell how often things like this happen that are never found out but don’t judge all Amish by the actions of one or even one community, almost every community has different rules.

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Question:

Hey! Thanks for doing this! Was there any mysterious/supernatural things that you saw go down when you were in the Amish community? If you have seen that X-Files episode, you might see why I’m asking hehehe.

Answer:

I don’t remember anything mysterious or supernatural. What was the X-Files about? Is it worth looking up and watching?•

“It’s Going To Be Priced The Same As Junk Food, Basically”

November 10, 2013 in Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

Former Trader Joe’s president Doug Rauch is realizing a tremendous idea: He’s opening a non-profit store in a working-class Boston neighborhood that will sell expired and overstock healthy food items at junk-food prices. He was featured recently on NPR, and here’s the opening of his New York Times Q&A which was conducted by Hope Reeves:

“Question:

You’re opening a store called Daily Table early next year. It’s going to sell food that’s past its sell-by date. Can you elaborate? 

Doug Rauch:

Yes, and food that’s cosmetically blemished or food that is excess — like fish that is perfectly wholesome, but not the fish they were going out to catch. We’re going to grab all of this stuff, bring it on-site, cook prepared meals with it and also offer milk, eggs, bread and produce. It’s going to be priced the same as junk food, basically.

Question:

And junk food is so cheap. 

Doug Rauch:

If you’re on food stamps, the average family has about $3 to spend on dinner. For that you can get about 3,700 calories’ worth of soda, crackers, cookies and snacks, or you can get 300 or 320 calories of fruits and vegetables. It’s economically rational to feed your kids junk.”

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“Mourning Them Is Like Mourning Some Big, Dumb Robot That Has Succumbed To Rust”

November 8, 2013 in Excerpts, Film, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Retail outlets have always vanished, but they were usually pushed out by others like them that were simply run better. Now they disappear into a computer screen, into a smartphone. It’s progress and it’s better, but there’s still something vertiginous about the speed of it all. From “Blockbuster Video: 1985-2013,” Alex Pappademas’ smart Grantland postmortem about a chain store we all hated and maybe secretly loved to hate:

“Even now, it’s hard to feel warm feelings for a Blockbuster. The company was a Borg-cube dedicated to pushing big-time Hollywood product. They frowned on NC-17 movies and foreign films and employees with long hair. If you wanted those things, you could go somewhere else, until you couldn’t, because Blockbuster also frowned on sharing any marketplace with a ‘somewhere else.’ They transformed the home-video business by plowing under the competition, then failed to adapt fast enough as that business continued to change. Mourning them is like mourning some big, dumb robot that has succumbed to rust after standing all night in the rain.

By the end of this year, 2,800 Blockbuster employees will lose their jobs. There is no other aspect of Blockbuster’s passing you could really call ‘sad,’ unless you’re like me and you feel a weird chill each time you live through the disappearance of that which was once ubiquitous, especially in the physical-media-retail sector.

Time only moves in one direction, and my daughter will never set foot in a Tower Records. Or a Waldenbooks, or a Coconuts, or even a Borders. All those chains were gone by 2011, victims of Amazon and Netflix and iTunes and our hunger for convenience, which is almost always the force that makes technology’s wrecking ball swing.”

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