December 17, 2022 - This Year's Most Thought-Provoking Brain Discoveries

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This Year's Most Thought-Provoking Brain Discoveries Neural circuits that label experiences as “good” or “bad” and the emotional meaninglessness of facial expressions are some standouts among 2022’s mind and brain breakthroughs Can the human brain ever really understand itself? The problem of gaining a deep knowledge of the subjective depths of the conscious mind is such a hard problem that it has in fact been named the hard problem. Continued here

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How wildlife in ponds has evolved to survive frozen water - and how you can help more animals stay alive When filled with ice-skaters or a clumsy Bambi on a Christmas card, a frozen pond is a merry sight. But spare a thought for the living things trapped below. The aerial wizardry of dragonflies and summer sculling of pond skaters are long gone. As the cold grips and shadows lengthen over the pond, its inhabitants face a terrible enemy: ice. But while the cold of winter is a threat to most wildlife, it can be endured. Many land-based creatures – particularly amphibians such as toads and newts, and other animals without spines known as invertebrates – have evolved the ability to cool their bodily fluids down to below zero. This allows them to sit out the lean months of winter without freezing. Continued here

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Trump Drops More Superhero Collectibles Follow @newyorkercartoons on Instagram and sign up for the Daily Humor newsletter for more funny stuff. © 2022 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices Continued here

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'Lemon Cake' Is the Perfect Recipe for Casual Gamers I can't remember the last time I finished a video game. I've had my Nintendo Switch Lite for two years now, and it's riddled with a number of titles I've abandoned for one reason or another. I often scroll through the Nintendo eShop, watching dozens of trailers in search of a game that might hook my ADHD brain, but nothing ever feels quite tantalizing. And now I feel guilty that my Switch sees most of its days tucked away in a drawer. As a kid, I was always into simulation-style games (The Sims, Mall Tycoon, and Nintendogs, to name a few) and that has carried over into my adulthood. I've long struggled to find a game that scratches this itch though—devoid of side quests, intense customization, multiple storylines, and tough levels. That is, until a couple of months ago, when a TikTok video about "cozy Nintendo Switch games" appeared on my For You page.  Continued here

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With 'Ragnarök,' 'God of War' Keeps Growing Up Before the long-running God of War series was reestablished with a 2018 entry that moved the story from a mythological ancient Greece to a mythological ancient Scandinavia, its protagonist, Kratos, was an unparalleled jerk. Mouth fixed in a permanent sneer, hell-bent on revenge against the pantheon of gods who tricked him into murdering his family, the earlier Kratos roared, growled, and ripped apart every deity in his way until he'd toppled an entire civilization's metaphysical framework. With God of War's Norse reimagining, though, Kratos started to grow up. In Santa Monica Studio's new vision, he was depicted as a sullen widower now left to forge a relationship with his son, Atreus, after heading north to escape his past. Its being an action game starring a living god means it isn't long, of course, before that past catches up to him and he's forced to reckon with his child, learning the family history and protecting him from the unwanted attention of the Norse gods. Over the course of the story—which tones down much of the previously over-the-top gore and does away with the goofy, rhythm game sex scenes of the Greek series—Kratos eventually learned how to talk to his son in more than monosyllables and grunts, becoming something like a functional parent over the course of their journey to scatter his late wife's ashes. Continued here

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Jerry Seinfeld's Editing Tip Will Make Your Presentations Shorter and More Concise Editing is an act of selection, not compression. Continued here

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Why indecision makes you smarter In the TV series The Good Place, the character Chidi Anagonye is defined by his inability to make even the simplest of decisions – from choosing what to eat, to proclaiming love for his soulmate. The very idea of making a choice often results in a serious stomach-ache. He is stuck in continued ‘analysis paralysis’.  We meet Chidi in the afterlife, and learn that his indecisiveness was the cause of his death. While standing in the street, endlessly equivocating on which bar to visit with his best friend, an air-conditioning unit from the apartment above falls on his head, killing him instantly.  Continued here

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How to Power Off and Start the New Year With New Energy Follow these tips to start 2023 with new energy. Continued here

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Suavecito: The love song that became an anthem On Cinco de Mayo, 1980, Latino-American singer and songwriter Richard Bean joined Jorge Santana, Carlos Santana's younger brother, on stage at an outdoor concert in Los Angeles. Years before, Bean had written a song called Suavecito, and he never realised how iconic it had become until the two began playing it. As its slow groove flowed over the loudspeakers, the 20,000-person crowd in the city's Lincoln Park erupted in a roar. "As I was singing to the crowd, four huge Chicano (Mexican-American) guys marched behind the band on stage and unfurled a giant green, white and red Mexican flag," Bean tells BBC Culture. The flag was so large it took all four men to hold it, he explains. "Get them off the stage," the roadies began shouting, according to Bean. "Get them off." But the four stood proud. "No, not until the song is over," they said. "Not until Suavecito is done." When he looked behind him at the huge flag, and looked out at the all-Latino audience, Bean began to tear up. It wasn't until that moment, he said, that he knew Suavecito, informally called the "Chicano National Anthem" by some, lived up to that name as a true symbol of America's Mexican-Americans and Latino people. Continued here

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The 20 best films of 2022 Delightfully bonkers on the surface, this inventive extravaganza from the directing team called Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) has a deep layer of family feeling and a well-earned emotional pull at the end. Michelle Yeoh is ideal and comically straight-faced as Evelyn, a harried laundromat owner with tax problems who enters a multiverse of alt-Evelyns. Exploding with colour, at times the film is a phantasmagoria of morphing identities and shifting universes – in one Evelyn does laundry, in another she's a movie star ­– yet it always remains true to its believably humane characters. It's the rare art film that can make audiences cry, and also rake in a ton of money, taking in more than $100 million at the box office worldwide. (CJ) A belated sequel to 1986's Top Gun seemed like a bad idea. But when Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) returned to the US Navy's elite fighter-pilot school, the resulting blockbuster wasn't just a thrilling showcase for some spectacular aerobatic displays, but a touching, bittersweet drama about getting older. It was also the year's most successful film. So... how did Cruise and co do it? Simple, really. They brought back all the elements from the original Top Gun, and then they improved every single one of them. Of course, it helps that Cruise looks better today than he did in 1986. (NB) Continued here

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What the FTX Collapse Means for the Cryptocurrency Market The rapid fall of FTX makes clear that better regulation is necessary to protect investors and reduce crime in the cryptocurrency market. Wharton’s Kevin Werbach, a longtime advocate of stronger oversight, explains why the path to regulation isn’t a straight line. Wharton’s Kevin Werbach speaks with Wharton Business Daily on SiriusXM about the fall of FTX and the need for better cryptocurrency regulation. Continued here

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Warren Buffett's Measure for Success in Life Comes Down to This One Number. It's a Lesson for Every Human Leader  Hint, hint: It doesn't have a dollar sign in front of it. Continued here

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No One Wants Your Cold Paul Sax is a Harvard infectious diseases specialist who likes to play poker. Every few weeks, he plays with friends in Boston. Recently, when it was Sax’s turn to host, one of the game’s regulars came down with a cold. The player, Sax told me, tested negative for COVID—but offered to stay home anyway. Sax took him up on it. “Why go through the hassle of getting a cold?” he told me, offering some practical advice: “If you’re going to the house of an infectious-disease doctor, don’t come with a cold.” Continued here

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The Childish Drama of Elon Musk This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. For the past few days, Elon Musk has been throwing a gigantic temper tantrum on his platform, Twitter. It is not usually a matter of public interest when a narcissist like Musk goes haywire, but just as Donald Trump’s anger warped our public life, Musk’s conniptions could affect our culture and how we get information. Continued here

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How Small Businesses Can Attract Holiday Shoppers in a Downturn The holiday season is a critical time for many small businesses. But as the threat of an economic downturn looms, what can business owners do to attract holiday shoppers, who may be increasingly price sensitive? To explore this question, the authors surveyed 550 U.S.-based consumers and interviewed nearly 50 small business owners. Based on their findings, they identified seven strategies that can help local businesses stay competitive and draw in customers this year — even as budgets grow tighter. Continued here

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7 Principles to Attract and Retain Older Frontline Workers Organizations are increasingly in need of frontline workers, and older workers want and need to work longer. How can smart leaders hire and retain these workers, particularly in a time of increased uncertainty? Survey analysis and interviews with older frontline workers suggests seven key strategies: designing purposeful roles, enabling flexible schedules, adapting pay policies, accommodating physical challenges, communicating clearly, building community, and tackling ageism. Continued here

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Keep Forgetting Things? Neuroscience Says These 8 Brain Habits Improve Memory and Leadership A brief introductoin to some of the most interesting studies from the last couple of years: Continued here

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Can't Overcome a Bad Habit? Neuroscience Says This Simple Habit-Breaking Strategy Works Best Best of all, no willpower required. Continued here

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Argentina fans gamble on Messi with the team's official crypto token As Lionel Messi tore through opposition defenses during the World Cup in Qatar, Argentine heart rates weren’t the only thing fluctuating. Every goal, yellow card, and penalty also led to spikes and dips in the price of the $ARG, the Argentine Football Association’s (AFA) fan crypto token.  Created as the association’s official fan crypto token in June 2021, the value of the $ARG has rocketed from $2 to $6.42 since then. Over the course of the World Cup, the coin fluctuated in value based, apparently, on sentiment about the Argentine national team’s overall performance. With a market cap currently valued at over $24 million, coin holders not only risk losing to France in the World Cup final, but potentially some money as well. Continued here

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Phosphorus supply is increasingly disrupted - we are sleepwalking into a global food crisis Without phosphorus food cannot be produced, since all plants and animals need it to grow. Put simply: if there is no phosphorus, there is no life. As such, phosphorus-based fertilisers – it is the “P” in “NPK” fertiliser – have become critical to the global food system. Most phosphorus comes from non-renewable phosphate rock and it cannot be synthesised artificially. All farmers therefore need access to it, but 85% of the world’s remaining high-grade phosphate rock is concentrated in just five countries (some of which are “geopolitically complex”): Morocco, China, Egypt, Algeria and South Africa. Continued here

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Ina Garten: Cooking Is Hard With the help of countless viral videos and her Food Network program “Barefoot Contessa,” Ina Garten has become a household name. An essential element of her success is her confiding warmth, and her encouragement for even the most novice home cook. She talks with David Remnick, a longtime friend, about her new book, and why her own childhood experiences at dinner were filled with dread. We take a look at the craft of narrating an audiobook with a master of the form, Robin Miles, who has lent her voice to hundreds of titles from “Charlotte’s Web” to Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste.” And Susan Orlean, in an installment of her column “Afterword,” remembers a Texas man with a passion for rattlesnakes. The food guru explains why she hated dinnertime growing up, and how she learned to love it. Garten takes questions from listeners on everything from bay leaves to her scarves. Continued here

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Work Speak: The Right Way to Network Networking used to make me cringe. It felt dirty and didn’t come naturally to me. I would enter a networking event and find a seat in the very last row, preferably the corner with the least amount of light. I would much rather spend lunch breaks cleaning up my inbox than meeting new people. I joined virtual group meetings a minute late so I didn’t have to indulge in small talk. Continued here

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Interest rates: why your mortgage payments are going up but your savings aren't - and how better monetary policy could help The Bank of England, the UK’s central bank, has raised its main interest rate by 0.5% to 3.5%. This is the ninth in a series of increases over the past year that have had a ripple effect across the economy. A central bank rate rise feeds into the rates that banks, businesses and people are charged to borrow, but it should also boost savings rates. These rates can – and are – being affected to different degrees, however. In central bank jargon, this is called the transmission of monetary policy varying across markets. For instance, while mortgage rates have rocketed in recent months, deposit rates for many savings accounts just haven’t kept up. Continued here

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How the Families of American Hostages Created Bipartisan Support for Prisoner Swaps Paula and Joey Reed had no idea what to do when their son Trevor was arrested in Moscow, on August 16, 2019. Trevor, who had been drinking heavily at a party with his girlfriend, said he felt nauseated and asked to step out of the car as he rode home with acquaintances. Trevor was badly intoxicated and began running around a busy street. His acquaintances called the police for help. Officers took him into custody and brought him to a nearby police station. When his girlfriend came back in a few hours to pick him up, Trevor, a twenty-eight-year-old former marine and an eighth-generation Texan, was questioned by officials from the F.S.B., the Russian equivalent of the F.B.I., without a translator or an attorney. She was informed that Trevor was being charged with intentionally endangering the lives and health of police officers, a charge that carries a sentence of up to ten years in prison, for allegedly grabbing the arm of the police officer who was driving and elbowing another. Trevor’s girlfriend called his parents in a panic. She told the Reeds that their son had bruises on his body and may have been badly beaten by the police. The Reeds immediately called the U.S. Embassy. The lackadaisical response of American diplomats intensified their fear. “This was on a Friday, midday, and we asked if they were going to check on him,” Joey Reed recalled. “And they said we’ll check on Monday. That gives you a pretty good sense of our relationship with the United States Embassy for the first year.” A month later, with Trevor still in a Russian pre-detention center, Joey Reed, a retired fire chief, moved to Moscow to be closer to his son and to monitor the legal proceedings. Paula, a health-care-office manager who left her job to focus on Trevor’s case, stayed in Texas and tried to pressure officials in Washington. Trevor’s lawyers maintained that surveillance video from street cameras never showed the police car dangerously swerving, as officers claimed occurred when Trevor allegedly grabbed the officer, but he was not released on bail, and his case dragged on for months. Joey pushed to get U.S. diplomats to engage in his son’s case, and the embassy sent a Russian-speaking consular officer to attend Trevor’s criminal trial, which concluded in July, 2020, nearly a year after his arrest. In Washington, meanwhile, the Reeds’ calls to White House officials went largely unanswered. Part of the problem, they assessed, was the desire of the Trump Administration to preserve its relationship with Russia. “President Trump never discussed hostages until they were freed, and then he claimed full responsibility,” Joey Reed told me. It was only after a Russian judge sentenced Trevor to nine years in prison, he said, that some U.S. officials began to take the case seriously. The punitive and unprecedented sentence made clear that Trevor was being used as a point of diplomatic leverage with the U.S. Continued here

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A Better Way to Map Brand Strategy Companies have long used perceptual mapping to understand how consumers feel about their brands relative to competitors’, to find gaps in the marketplace, and to develop brand positions. But the business value of these maps is limited because they fail to link a brand’s market position to business performance metrics such as pricing and sales. Other marketing tools measure brands on yardsticks such as market share, growth rate, and profitability but fail to take consumer perceptions into consideration. Continued here

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3 Limits to Artificial Intelligence's Creativity (and How to Solve Them) Here's what you need to know about harnessing A.I. technology to be more creative. Continued here

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How pink became fashion's colour of controversy: a brief history From the blush pink of royal mistresses to the hot pink of tabloid party girls, pink has gained a reputation for being a provocative colour for those who dare to wear it. Despite its various shades and the complexities of its cultural significance, it is a colour that is often branded with the same connotations of feminine frivolity and excess – whether girlish and innocent or womanly and erotic. Continued here

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No One Wins in Elon Musk’s Battle With Journalists Last night, several well-known journalists, including Ryan Mac of The New York Times and Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, were suspended from Twitter. The suspensions were ostensibly related to the journalists’ reporting on an account—@ElonJet, operated by the 20-year-old Jack Sweeney—which was dedicated to publishing the location of Elon Musk’s private jet based on public data. Musk had once promised that his commitment to free speech would prevent him from ever suspending or banning @ElonJet, but he pivoted this week after an apparently unrelated alleged stalking incident. Continued here

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Instagram Is a Site of Protest for the Chinese Diaspora As I made my way to the Chinese Consulate on New York's Upper West Side on a Tuesday evening, I was met with a crowd of Chinese youth, united in their grief over the apartment fire in Urumchi and their anger at the Chinese government's draconian zero-covid policy. The rally quickly became a condemnation of the authoritarian regime, with cries of "Down with Xi Jinping! Down with CCP!" filling the air. My friend and I held up a banner reading "Freedom or Death" and joined the march to Pier 84. As we crossed the street, he said to me, “A few hours later, we are gonna see ourselves on one of the meme pages. ” The “meme pages” are an array of Instagram accounts that have been considered central information hubs for the protest—most notably, @CitizensDailyCN and @Northern_Square. Six months ago, they posted a mix of historical photos, pandemic memes, and China news. Now, they crowdsource and make visible protest footage, political posters, and first-hand narratives from around the world; some of them also mobilize followers and publish mini think-pieces. All these are connected to the ongoing Chinese civil unrest, the largest wave since the 1989 pro-democracy movement. The protests have reverberated across the globe, at a scale that surprised even the most optimistic China pundits. Continued here

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Everything You Know About How to Sell Yourself Is Wrong, According to Wharton Psychologist Adam Grant Whether you're pitching a startup, making a speech, or applying for a job, don't follow this common advice. Continued here

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Holiday foods can be toxic to pets - a veterinarian explains which, and what to do if Rover or Kitty eats them During the holidays, it’s typical for people to indulge in special foods. Being a pet owner myself, I know that many pet parents want to give their fur babies special treats as well. Here are some of the most common food-related crises we veterinarians encounter in the animal ER during the holidays, and what to do if they happen. Continued here

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Spectacular Anglo-Saxon burial uncovered - here's what it tells us about women in seventh-century England A village with the Old English name “Filthy Pool” wasn’t an auspicious location to discover one of the most spectacular burials of the Anglo Saxon period. Nevertheless, excavations by the Museum of London Archaeology at Harpole, Northamptonshire, in England’s Midlands, have uncovered an astonishing Christian burial of the seventh century, a period when the religion was relatively new in England. Continued here

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The Pressure Increases on Sam Bankman-Fried Just after 6 P.M. on Monday, Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested, in response to a request from U.S. law enforcement, at his home at the Albany, a luxurious Bahamas beach resort. Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency platform FTX, had been staying there since his company collapsed, in November, issuing public statements along the lines of “fuck regulators” and “I’m sorry. That’s the biggest thing.” He appeared at a Bahamian magistrate’s court on Tuesday in a blue suit. There, according to the local press, an attorney for Bankman-Fried argued that he should be released on bail, stating that Bankman-Fried is a vegan, and has suffered from depression, insomnia, and A.D.D. The attorney also said that his client is prepared to fight any effort to extradite him to the United States. He has deep ties in the Bahamas, owns property there, and would be willing, the attorney reportedly added, to pay two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash bail. The judge expressed concern that Bankman-Fried could be a flight risk, given the amount of money he is believed to still have access to. At the end of the hearing, the judge denied the bail request. It was a day of competing FTX-related spectacles. As the Bahamian bail hearing wound down, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, held a press conference in lower Manhattan, where he said that the allegations represented one of the largest financial-fraud cases in history, and he issued an ominous warning about what was to come. “To anyone who participated in wrongdoing at FTX or Alameda Research”—a hedge fund also controlled by Bankman-Fried—“and who has not yet come forward, I would strongly encourage you to come see us before we come see you,” Williams said. “We are not done.” That same day, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the FTX collapse, at which Bankman-Fried had been expected to testify. Continued here

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What is the lowest-carbon protein? When it comes to reducing our individual carbon emissions, one of the most impactful steps we can take is to eat more sustainably. Global food production is responsible for 35% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. While animal products account for the bulk of our dietary emissions, they provide only 20% of the world's calories. Animal products, such as dairy, eggs, fish and meat, are known to be good sources of protein, and getting the right amount of protein is essential for our bodies to grow and repair (Read more about how much protein we really need to consume). Continued here

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Iran: dissent by public figures has amplified the protest across the country - and the world Iran’s Islamic Republic continues to violently suppress ongoing pro-democracy protests, which broke out in September in response to the killing of a young woman who had been arrested for not wearing a proper head covering. According to the NGO Iran Human Rights at least 458 protesters have been killed, including 63 children. Death sentences have been issued to at least 11 people. Mohsen Shekari, a 22 year old Tehran café worker, was executed on December 8 after being found guilty of charges of using a weapon with intent to kill and “enmity against God”. Amnesty International called it “a grossly unfair sham trial” with no due process. Continued here

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Why Wellcome closed its Medicine Man exhibition - and others should follow suit In November the Wellcome Collection closed their Medicine Man gallery. In a Twitter thread, they acknowledged that “the display still perpetuates a version of medical history that is based on racist, sexist and ableist theories and language.” Medicine Man told history from a narrow, eurocentric perspective. As such, the Wellcome’s decision to rethink its gallery is not a matter of erasing history, but of deepening it. Continued here

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Brittney Griner and the Role of Race in Diplomacy Thirty-nine years ago this month, an African American Navy bombardier-navigator named Robert Goodman was taking part in a mission to destroy Syrian munitions in Lebanon when his plane was shot down. The pilot, Mark Lange, died, and Goodman, who was twenty-seven, suffered fractured ribs and other injuries. Syrian soldiers found him and took him to a military compound in Damascus. His capture immediately provoked a complex international standoff. The Syrian government viewed him as a prisoner of war and said that he would not be released until the United States withdrew its forces from Lebanon. (Hundreds of Americans were stationed there, as part of a multinational force deployed to stabilize the region.) The incident presented a dilemma for the Reagan Administration, which had come to power in part by attacking President Jimmy Carter’s failed efforts to release fifty-two American hostages held in Iran. The White House’s inability to negotiate Goodman’s release also fostered an impression that Ronald Reagan, who had a long record of antipathy toward civil-rights causes, was unconcerned about a Black P.O.W. As the civil-rights leader Jesse Jackson saw it, according to his biographer, Marshall Frady, Reagan’s policy was in effect “just to leave Goodman there to rot.” Later that December, in an effort to secure Goodman’s freedom, Jackson himself left for Syria with a sprawling retinue that included his personal physician, a number of reporters, and the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. After three days of negotiations, the Syrian President, Hafez al-Assad, agreed to release Goodman, as an act of good will. But, despite that triumph, Frady wrote, Jackson returned home to a cascade of criticism. Reagan invited Goodman, Jackson, and their families to the White House, but an Administration official reportedly said that Assad had released Goodman to Jackson mostly to embarrass Reagan—a possibility that likely did not escape Jackson, who made his first Presidential run the next year. Continued here

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Musk suspends NYT and WaPo reporters from Twitter, claims they doxxed him Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk is now suspending some journalists who write about him, including reporters from The New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN. The journalist suspensions seem to be part of Musk's quest to erase references or links to the now-suspended ElonJet account that used publicly available data from ADS-B Exchange to track Musk's private jet. Continued here

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How to Intervene When Your Team Has Too Much Work Fortunately, there are ways to get the most important items done and stay sane in the process. First, be honest with yourself; an overloaded department won’t get everything done. Second, prioritize consciously about what you’ll do — and what you won’t. Third, communicate your plan with your boss, including data, if necessary. Fourth, delegate projects to other teams or to external contractors. Fifth, reset expectations with stakeholders. Finally, request more staff. Even if it’s not in the cards right now, making the case early might put you at the top of the list when budget allows. Continued here

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Space Exploration Could Always Use a Little Serendipity The Mars rover was out and about, doing its normal rover things inside one of the red planet’s craters, when there was a sudden shift in the atmosphere. A vortex of air and dust had swirled into shape, and it was fast approaching. The rover, named Perseverance, didn’t move from its spot. The whirlwind slammed into the robot, tiny particles pinging its exterior. Within seconds, the bombardment was over, and the vortex was gone. Perseverance was fine. Although the dusty column of air was nearly 10 times wider than the rover and about 55 times as tall, the whirlwind wasn’t strong or dense enough to tip a spacecraft over. In fact, Perseverance was more than fine, because its microphone was on. In the midst of the windy commotion, Percy managed to do something historic: capture the sound of a Martian dust devil for the first time. You hear the usual calm of Mars, the low hum of wind, a flurry of fine grains hissing and crackling upon impact, and then quiet again as the plume twirls away. Continued here

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1918 flu pandemic upended long-standing social inequalities - at least for a time, new study finds Racial disparities in influenza deaths shrunk by 74% in U.S. cities during the 1918 flu pandemic due to an odd coincidence of virus and history. That’s the key finding of our recently published study in the journal Demography. This conclusion contradicts the common claim that crises like pandemics make social inequalities worse. The 1918 influenza pandemic was a surprising exception. Continued here

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Wealthy individuals are giving billions to solve the climate crisis - is it working? One of the best parts about being The Conversation is when we actually have a conversation in real life. And finally, we did just that recently with a fascinating event, co-sponsored by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Associated Press and GBH. Here is a recap from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Major philanthropists have poured billions into fighting the climate crisis in recent years amid a growing sense of urgency. Their investments have sparked broader questions over philanthropy’s approach to confronting the crisis, which activists say will require trillions of dollars yearly to solve. Continued here

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Research: What Effective Allies Do Differently Many people strive to be an ally to their historically marginalized colleagues. But too often, they also fear that their allyship efforts could expose their co-workers to backlash, could be unwelcome by the people they strive to support, or could fall into the social traps of “performativeness.” Instead of doing nothing as a result of these fears, research suggests that, by rooting allyship in their virtues, potential allies can better understand why they seek to support others — and to maintain this support over the long-term. Specifically, there are four stages to follow, comprised of nine key virtues. Continued here

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Medieval great halls were at the heart of the festive season - here the community kept warm by staying together The great hall is one of the most enduring images from the middle ages – and with good reason. Surviving written sources as well as archaeological and architectural analysis all attest to the importance of the hall within manor houses, castles and palaces during festive periods. Taking mostly English examples, it’s clear that the social dynamics of a great hall were all-important to its role. But the warmth of the hall is also mentioned frequently. Continued here

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What Will the Global Economy Look Like in 2023? Three experts explore how the global economy will look in 2023. Though they agree there’s a chance inflation eases, there are major risks and it will take a long while before inflation gets down to central banks’ target levels. And there are other risks lurking too, from sovereign debt defaults to geopolitical rifts. Continued here

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RSV treatments for young children are lacking, but the record 2022 cold and flu season highlights the urgency for vaccines and other preventive strategies For many parents, respiratory syncytial virus – or RSV – which has been causing record numbers of hospitalizations of children during the fall of 2022, may sound like a relatively new and unheard-of threat. But in fact, RSV is a common respiratory virus that circulates every fall and winter and is a common cause of lung infections in young children. RSV can be difficult to distinguish from other respiratory infections since the symptoms are common to other illnesses – runny nose, sneezing, congestion, coughing, fever, decreased appetite and wheezing. In most cases, RSV is mild and will improve at home. However, in certain cases, it can cause severe illness and require hospital treatment. Continued here

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Common Anatomies of Disappointing Men Unlucky in love? Don’t despair. Here’s an illustrated taxonomy of deeply disappointing men to help you identify some anatomies common to a few subspecies of Homo sapiens so that you can spot the signs that someone is about to waste your time before it actually happens. Homo sapiens immaturis is a creature of habit: he loves the status quo. In fact, he would prefer to keep things the way that they are between you two, if that’s cool. Though research indicates that he may one day evolve to become able to commit to someone, it will not be to you. The part of this man’s brain that would normally feel bad about this is biologically reserved for more pressing issues, like the cancellation of his favorite HBO Max series. Continued here

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United Airlines Just Made a Big Announcement. Here's the Part You Should Definitely Copy How do you grow your operation, without risking core competence of the sake of scale? Continued here

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5 Questions for Business Leaders to Ask in Uncertain Times In today’s economic headwinds, companies that aggressively prioritize and focus on what is within their own control can retain and earn the confidence and trust of their people, customers, investors, and other stakeholders. Leading companies are keeping it simple and focusing on what they can control, setting strategy by asking five key questions: 1) Am I differentiated? 2) Am I fit for growth? 3) Is my IT spend effective and at the right levels? 4) Is my portfolio of businesses too complex? and 5) How do I reduce risk? Continued here

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The Republican Party Is in a Strange Place The GOP is in a strange place. After falling short of expectations in the midterms, some Republicans blame Donald Trump, and some want to anoint a challenger for 2024. But with Trump already announced and a GOP-controlled House set to spend two years investigating Joe Biden, is the party at all likely to move on from Trump? The Atlantic staff writers Mark Leibovich and Elaina Plott consider that question, as well as the ascent of Marjorie Taylor Greene as Congress prepares for its 2023 session, on this week’s episode of Radio Atlantic. Continued here

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Asylum claim rejections show the UK government has little understanding of what people are fleeing - and it's costing lives After yet another tragedy in the Channel, there is no doubt that something needs to be done to improve the processes overseeing asylum seekers coming to the UK, through whatever route. The UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has outlined a five-point plan to fix Britain’s broken immigration system. New laws will criminalise those who enter the country “illegally”, allowing people to be more rapidly deported. Newly arrived migrants will find it more difficult to open bank accounts, and definitions of modern slavery will be changed to make it harder to claim asylum on this basis. More case workers will be drafted in to help remove people more rapidly and deal with the backlog of asylum claims. Continued here

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UN biodiversity conference: what does living in harmony with nature look like? Alexandra Zimmermann is the chair of the IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence Specialist Group. The 196 countries meeting for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, are negotiating a new set of targets for reversing the loss of Earth’s biodiversity. They have set themselves a formidable challenge: ensuring humanity is “living in harmony with nature” by 2050. Continued here

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Children born today will see literally thousands of animals disappear in their lifetime, as global food webs collapse Climate change is one of the main drivers of species loss globally. We know more plants and animals will die as heatwaves, bushfires, droughts and other natural disasters worsen. But to date, science has vastly underestimated the true toll climate change and habitat destruction will have on biodiversity. That’s because it has largely neglected to consider the extent of “co-extinctions”: when species go extinct because other species on which they depend die out. Continued here

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3 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting My First Job Almost two decades ago, I entered the workforce with what I was taught was the recipe for success: a college degree, hard work, and relentless focus. What I wasn’t taught was the fact that there is so much more to success than these ingredients. Like any exceptional dish, I had to add spices, herbs, and condiments to make my contributions to stand out. Continued here S54 How to Get Through the Holidays Without Going Broke While your friends and families may not all be dealing with the same pressures you face — finding a job, making rent, and generally, figuring out your life and career — everyone knows that it’s been a tough 12 months. Your loved ones likely won’t be disappointed if you can’t give them lavish gifts (and if they are, they might not be the best people to have in your circle). Continued here S68 The next big bet for global streaming services: live sports In 2021, Viacom18, a media conglomerate jointly owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, spent an estimated $50 million to secure the digital rights to stream the FIFA World Cup in India on his service, JioCinema. But, on November 20, as the tournament’s first match started, the JioCinema app stumbled. The stream lagged and buffered, frustrating fans. Within hours, #JioCinema began trending on Twitter, with thousands of users tweeting about the platform’s choppy stream. JioCinema is just one of over a dozen streaming platforms around the world exploring and investing in streaming live sports. In Indonesia, local streamer Vidio outpaced Netflix in subscription growth in the second quarter of this year due, in part, to the platform acquiring streaming rights for the English Premier League. In Latin America, the relative newcomer Vix+, owned by television network TelevisaUnivision, has secured streaming rights in Mexico to football events like the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as part of a bid to pull subscribers from Disney+ and Netflix. In Japan, live TV service Abema broke its audience records this month thanks to its licensing rights for the FIFA World Cup. Continued here S11 The Rise and Rise and Rise of the Supertall Skyscraper The first sign of trouble was the crane. Its thin finger appeared over the old brick building outside my window, scratching at the sliver of sky I could just make out above the rooftops. My sky. In a city where you can sprain your neck searching for sky, I relished this shard of blue, so tiny that I could cover it with my thumb. I consoled myself about the crane with the flimsy logic I once used after discovering a bedbug: It’ll go away! Continued here S19 The Muppet Christmas Carol: A festive classic's dark backdrop "I didn't want to do it," Henson admits to BBC Culture. He had good reason, too. Not only was this his feature film debut as a director, but he was stepping into the shoes of his father Jim Henson, the puppeteer and filmmaker who had created the Muppets and turned them into pop culture icons, before tragically dying at the age of 53 in May 1990. "We'd lost Jim. We were all really still mourning," says Steve Whitmire, who, like Brian, was tasked with replacing Jim Henson in The Muppet Christmas Carol, this time by voicing and puppeteering Kermit the Frog. "We were also just trying to move forward. We were not completely sure whether we would. That's one of the most interesting things about the film on the inside, it was really a bit of a test. Could we continue without Jim?" Continued here S34 GPs don't give useful weight-loss advice - new study The advice general practitioners give to patients with obesity in the UK was found to be “highly varied, superficial and often lacked an apparent evidence base”, according to a new study from the University of Oxford. GPs in the UK are in a trusted position as guides and managers of health in their communities. Expectations of them are often high: they are the personal advisers, taking stock of their patients’ physical and mental health, and delivering tailored advice and treatments. Continued here S65 Why More International Life Sciences Companies Are Locating in Austria - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM ABA American biotech, pharmaceutical, and life sciences companies face myriad challenges today. Organizations are struggling with a shortage of skilled workers, rising costs, supply chain disruptions, and data security. Other difficulties include a growing scrutiny of regulations and sustainability. And the pressure is always mounting to drive growth and international expansion, develop domestic manufacturing and research capacities abroad, and improve access to new drugs and technologies. Continued here S44 Poll: Most People Want to Know Elon Musk’s Location so They Can Avoid Him SAN FRANCISCO (The Borowitz Report)—Shortly after Twitter suspended accounts that were tracking billionaires' private planes, including Elon Musk's, a new poll shows that most people who seek Musk's precise location are doing so to avoid him. The poll, from the University of Minnesota's Opinion Research Institute, reveals that a visceral fear of encountering Elon Musk is what drives eighty-nine per cent of those who follow his movements. Continued here S28 Muslim Brotherhood at the crossroads: Where now for Egypt's once-powerful group following leader's death in exile, repression at home? Ibrahim Munir, the leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, died on Nov. 4, 2022, in exile in London. While the news generated few headlines around the world, Munir’s death marks a critical moment in the evolution of a group founded nearly 100 years ago, as a social and religious movement. Over the years, the Brotherhood grew into the most significant social movement and political opposition in Egypt. Its Islamist ideology – which calls for public policies in line with its interpretation of Islam – became widely influential around the world. Continued here S39 'Untraditional' Hanukkah celebrations are often full of traditions for Jews of color Hanukkah, the Jewish “festival of lights,” commemorates a story of a miracle, when oil meant to last for one day lasted for eight. Today, Jews light the menorah, a candelabra with eight candles – and one “helper” candle, called a shamas – to remember the Hanukkah oil, which kept the Jerusalem temple’s everlasting lamp burning brightly. Each year, the holiday starts with just the shamas and one of the eight candles and ends, on the last night, with the entire menorah lit up. But because the reason for the light is oil, Jews also celebrate by eating food cooked in oil. In the United States, most people think of those oil-soaked foods as latkes, or potato pancakes, and jelly doughnuts called sufganiyot. For most American Jews, these are indeed important holiday foods, replete with memories – both of their heavy, greasy deliciousness and of the smells that permeate the house for days after a latke fry. Continued here S52 The Good-Better-Best Approach to Pricing Companies often crimp profits by using discounts to attract price-sensitive customers and by failing to give high-end customers reasons to spend more. A multitiered offering can use a stripped-down product (the “Good” option) to attract new customers, the existing product (“Better”) to keep current customers happy, and a feature-laden premium version (“Best”) to increase spending by customers who want more. Continued here S50 Long COVID Isn't the Only Post-Viral Illness In the 1980s, many people in the medical community treated chronic fatigue syndrome as a punchline. Some doctors dismissed patients’ debilitating symptoms, including crushing fatigue and crashes after exercise, as figments of their imaginations. Media outlets even dismissively nicknamed the condition “yuppie flu,” since many cases were reported among affluent white women. In the infectious-disease clinic where Dr. Lucinda Bateman was at the time finishing her medical training, some doctors didn’t want to bother treating chronic-fatigue patients. When Bateman left to go into private practice, she remembers her old colleagues recording a message on their clinic’s answering machine, directing anyone with chronic fatigue syndrome to call Bateman so they wouldn’t have to get involved. Continued here S40 'Vaccinating' frogs may or may not protect them against a pandemic - Scientists have found this pathogen on every continent that amphibians inhabit, and the extensive global amphibian trade has likely spread highly lethal strains around the world. The amphibian chytrid fungus is widespread in some geographic regions, and, like the virus that causes COVID-19, it can mutate rapidly and take new forms that cause varying disease severity. Conservation translocation is an increasingly popular way to recover species that have experienced extensive population declines. It involves moving organisms to reestablish populations that have gone extinct, supplement existing ones or establish new ones in areas where the species was not previously present. However, when the amphibian chytrid fungus is prevalent in the landscape, frogs are likely to get sick again, hampering the success of translocation. Continued here S55 Why Am I So Obsessed with Giving People Gifts? In the fall of 2018, I spent the majority of December cooped up inside my apartment, hand-painting Bitmojis of my coworkers onto wine glasses. I baked them in the oven to ensure they would be dishwasher safe and wrapped them in glossy gold paper. A few days before people left for vacation, I snuck into the office around 6 am, and like an elf, I placed the gifts on their desks and waited. Continued here S36 Antibiotics shortages: what's causing them and how countries can minimise the impact A variety of antibiotics are currently in short supply across Europe. In the UK, for example, the availability of amoxicillin and penicillin, which are used to treat infections such as strep A, is low. Medicine shortages are a significant problem around the world, affecting patient welfare and costs of care. A 2021 survey of community pharmacists in 27 European countries confirmed that shortages are a persisting issue. Continued here S32 Over the holidays, try talking to your relatives like an anthropologist How is it possible to spend so much time with your parents and grandparents and not really know them? This question has puzzled me as an anthropologist. It’s especially relevant for the holiday season, when millions of people travel to spend time with their families. Continued here S31 Video of college student arrest raises questions about use of police on campus When a video emerged of a 20-year-old Black student being arrested at Winston-Salem State University on Dec. 14, 2022, after she got into a verbal argument with her professor, it brought renewed attention to the often controversial role of campus police. Here, Jarell Skinner-Roy, a University of Michigan doctoral student who is examining how students of color view police and surveillance on college and university campuses, breaks down the significance of the episode at the historically Black college in North Carolina. For me, this is additional evidence of how colleges and universities often function as an extension of what some scholars refer to as the “carceral state.” That includes penal institutions, but it also involves people’s views on when law enforcement should get involved in disputes and altercations. 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