👹👠 Goblin Mode and Men in High Heels
PLUS: Bionic Eyes, Reggae History, and Why You're A Jerk On Twitter
Welcome, dear reader! I’ve got a lot of links, images, and hot takes for you below. I hope you enjoy my selection, and as always, let me know if any pieces are particularly resonant with you.
Aesthetics
SpaceWalk: A Spectacular Rollercoaster-Esque Staircase Loops Through a South Korean Park
I appreciate the level of interactivity in this sculpture.
Sally West Art – Beach Studies
Something about the artist’s brushwork really hits the spot for me. Almost tangible.
Solarpunk
Rather than imagining another dystopia, solarpunk envisions futures where tech and the environment can co-exist.
Enough cyberpunk—it's solarpunk's time to shine
To fight climate change, a biotech firm has genetically engineered a very peppy poplar
Gene editing for the greater good may be the easiest way to capture carbon.
These robots are powered by algae balls living inside
Seems like a fairly symbiotic system, and an elegant solution.
Battery-electric "Infinity Train" will charge itself using gravity
At first I thought this was another perpetual-motion machine, but it works because it’s used in a mining context. Going downhill with a load generates power, and coming back empty can use the stored energy.
A’seedbot: tiny autonomous robot transforms desert into verdant landscape
Good bot. Great concept.
Moderna’s HIV Vaccine Has Officially Begun Human Trials, and also,
Moderna Will Develop mRNA Vaccines for 15 of the World's Worst Diseases
mRNA is revolutionizing vaccinations! What a milestone for HIV to have a vaccine in human trials!
Tech
It's Not Your Fault You're a Jerk on Twitter
A convincing argument that the User Interface of a tool directly informs how it’s used.
Ice Cream Machine Hackers Sue McDonald's for $900 Million
Regular readers will recall this saga. This is the next step for the underdog here… I’m rooting for them.
A New Video Game About Politics in the Age of Donald Trump
Think you could do better? Prove it!
Slightly paranoid, but probably prudent! I wish them luck 💪
Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported
What happens when medical device makers go bankrupt, get acquired, and change their priorities?
Culture
Okuda Hiroko: The Casio Employee Behind the “Sleng Teng” Riddim that Revolutionized Reggae
How did a “rock” preset on a Casio keyboard became a massive reggae hit?
Digital technologies and Covid have collapsed our identities into mush—a condition that's likely to outlast the pandemic.
Dallas Got Rick Rolled With a Giant QR Code on April Fools Day
Not exactly the usual type of “drone strike”
Slobbing out and giving up: why are so many people going ‘goblin mode’?
The image in the tweet above is sadly fake (altered), but it did bring this valuable term into widespread knowledge, so I think that’s great for all of us.
Kanye West’s Instagram Is a Good Place to Get Famous
Who, exactly, is Kanye’s most prominent “reply guy”?
The case against American truck bloat
A public safety argument—larger, taller trucks are 2-3x more likely to kill pedestrians and cyclists!
A few things to know before stealing my 914
Vintage car owner provides hilarious advice to would-be thieves.
Light Mode, Dark Mode, and Gen-Z Mode
Giving the Zoomers what they want, nay, what they deserve!
Salsa inglesa - A Mexican Sauce
Fascinating history of the Latin remix of the English original brown sauce.
The High Life: A History of Men in Heels
I’m always interested in learning about the histories of garments, and how the cycles of style have played out over time.