News from the world of science. “Reading Harry Potter books worsens Americans’ attitudes toward Donald Trump. Native Amazonians are indifferent to dissonance. The hedonically inclined have a larger left globus pallidus. Nanog reactivates stem cells in progeriacs. An Indian snake charmer attempted suicide by cobra. Scientists now know the reasons for concrete creep but do not know whether garlicky breast milk influences babies’ preferences later in life” (520 words)
Revisiting David Lynch’s Dune, a critical and commercial fiasco when released in 1984. “Lynch is an avant-garde filmmaker who has always been fairly accessible, and yet his one early attempt at a mainstream hit qualifies as one of his most esoteric films. The proverbial average viewer understands that movies like Eraserhead and Lost Highway are meant to evoke a state of nightmare. But what the hell is going on in Dune? It is grotesque and decadent, silly in spots, often hypnotic” (1,390 words)
Nineteenth-century Londoners, rich and poor, were united at least in the food that they ate. Almost half-a-million sandwiches were sold on the London streets in 1851, and “all of them were ham”. Billingsgate market sold ten million eels and eight million herrings per year. Bread was the same everywhere — a four-pound loaf made with boiled potatoes. “There were 2,500 bakers making and selling this quartern bread in London in 1853; a single flavour and texture uniting rich and poor” (2,100 words)
For the process of destruction, all false arguments are valid
J.W. von Goethe, on argument
