Laughter Chimes
The Strange Power Of Laughter
Kirsten Bell | Sapiens | 21st January 2025
Nobody knows why we laugh, pushing our repeated puffs of air to make a noise others register as amusement. Other primates laugh, but it is giving meaning to laughter that seems unique to the human condition. Disapproval of laughter also seems to be one of our defining characteristics, perhaps because it sometimes occurs outside our conscious control — "cracking up" is alarming (1,500 words)
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Chimes At Midnight
Alec Nevala-Lee | Asterisk | 21st January 2025
A visit to "The Clock of the Long Now", an underground timepiece designed to run for 10,000 years. The clock face is eight feet across and the mechanism stands 200 feet high. Designed by the inventor Danny Hillis with input from science fiction writer Neal Stephenson, it was funded by Jeff Bezos and built under a Texas mountain range he owns. Getting inside is "illegal but not difficult" (5,000 words)
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