1. This is heavy and worthwhile. An anthropologist argues that one reason Ebola has spread is that public health spending now focuses on individual diseases and projects, not building cohesive, adaptive infrastructure.

"Well-functioning infrastructures are flexible and adaptive, able to change gear and respond to shifting disease landscapes. Just like the harvesting of rubber and the production of gloves, they are rooted in history and configured in specific political economies. The predominant logic in global health is based on and has led to an impoverished understanding of health and wellbeing. We assume we know which diseases and ailments are relevant and crucial to address. Ebola teaches us that we are well advised not work from this bold assumption. A humble version of Socrates’ classic 'I know that I know nothing' seems to be a better guide to navigating complex and rapidly shifting disease landscapes. The lack of gloves, personal protective equipment and skilled personnel in West Africa’s health facilities is not only a result of war or weak states, but also of the spatio-temporal logic of global health, and it presents us with an urgent call for change in global health approaches and logics." (somatosphere.net)

2. Soon, Google and a consortium of other investors may pour half a billion dollars into this VR company.

"'Those are old terms — virtual reality, augmented reality. They have legacy behind them. They are associated with things that didn’t necessarily deliver on a promise or live up to expectations,' Abovitz told the South Florida Business Journal earlier this year. 'We have the term ‘cinematic reality’ because we are disassociated with those things. … When you see this, you will see that this is computing for the next 30 or 40 years. To go farther and deeper than we’re going, you would be changing what it means to be human.'" (recode.net)

3. Detect some cosmic rays with your phone, help science.

"It has been previously shown that smartphones can detect ionizing radiation. In this paper, we demonstrate that a dense network of such devices has power sufficient to detect air showers from the highest energy cosmic rays. We measure the particle-detection efficiency of several popular smartphone models, which is necessary for the reconstruction of the energy and direction of the particle initiating the shower. With sufficient user adoption, such a distributed network of devices can observe UHECRs at rates at least comparable to conventional cosmic ray observatories. Finally, we describe the operating principles, technical design and expected sensitivity of the CRAYFIS (Cosmic RAYs Found In Smartphones) detector array." (uci.edu)

4. A pretty good pocket history of Japanese hip hop produced by... Red Bull.

"But who was the first person to bring hip hop to Japan? Toshio Nakanishi probably experienced it first when he saw an Afrika Bambaataa concert in May of 1982 while in New York City to record an album together with producer Moichi Kuwahara. Soon after, he cast the Rock Steady Crew in a video shot in the Bronx for his band, Melon. The same year, Hiroshi Fujiwara discovered hip hop in New York, and after returning to Japan began DJing in an eclectic style." (redbullmusicacademy.com)

5. How one co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory found his partner, the artist Cameron.

"According to George Pendle's comprehensive 2005 biography of Parsons, Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons, the rocketeer had been trying to conjure an 'elemental mate' with Hubbard's assistance. Inspired by 'an old magical system' devised by Queen Elizabeth I's astrologer, Hubbard and Parsons went to the Mojave Desert and positioned themselves at the crossing of a pair of huge power lines. After two weeks of prolonged experiment, Parsons said, 'I turned to [Hubbard] and said 'It is done,' in absolute certainty that the operation was accomplished. I returned home, and found a young woman answering the requirements waiting for me.' It was Cameron." (laweekly.com)

+ This excerpt was too amazing not to include—but really the (excellent) article is about Cameron and her art, which is finally getting proper attention.

Today's 1957 American English Language Tip

comprise means include, embrace, NOT compose or constitute: WRONG: The committee is comprised of one delegate from each major country (should read composed).

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Cosmic RAYs Found In Smartphones