The Ed's Up #167
How a Pandemic Might Play Out Under Trump
"Infectious diseases are emerging faster than ever before. By encroaching into the territories of wild animals, we provide the sparks for new epidemics. By living in increasingly crowded urban areas, we provide the tinder. And by criss-crossing the skies in countless planes, we transform small fires into global conflagrations. As Donald Trump prepares to become America’s 45th President in January 2017, the question isn’t whether he’ll face a deadly outbreak during his presidency, but when? And more importantly, how will he cope?" (Image: Andrew Kelly)
A Brainless Slime That Shares Memories by Fusing
"They are slime molds —yellow, oozing, amoeba-like organisms found on decaying logs and other moist areas. They have no brains. They have no neurons. Each consists of just a single, giant cell. And yet, they’re capable of surprisingly complicated and almost intelligent behaviors. It can make effective decisions, comparing different options and selecting the best one. It can balance its diet, solve mazes, and escape from traps. It can be integrated into microchips and machines and used to drive robots—not quite a driverless car, but certainly a vehicle with no brain behind the wheel. It can learn, and two slime molds can transfer what they’ve learned by merging with each other." (Image: Audrey Dussutour)
Book news
Earlier this week, Mark Zuckerberg uploaded a video about Jarvis, his new house AI. It begins with him waking up in his bedroom. And at 00:15, look at what's on the top of the stack of books on his bedside table! I Contain Multitudes also made it onto Best of 2016 lists from Forbes, AV Club, Buzzfeed, Times Higher Education, Popular Science, and the NYT again--these join the ranks of Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, Guardian, Times, Smithsonian, ScienceFriday, Mother Jones, Economist, NPR, and more. I was not expecting this, and I'm really proud. More good reads on science and technology
- Two of my pieces were chosen for by Longform and Longreads for their respective lists of best science stories of the year!
- The Atlantic's Sci/Tech/Health squad have picked some of our stories that we wish more people had read in 2016.
- What’s up with this crazy, pulsating spider? By Nadia Drake
- Arctic ice melt 'already affecting weather patterns where you live right now'. By Damian Carrington
- Nature’s Top 10 people who mattered in science this year, including Sci-Hub creator Alexandra Elbakyan and Zika detective Celina Turchi.
- "If male physicians were as adept as females, some 32,000 fewer Americans would die every year.” By James Hamblin
- Sign up for Alice Bell’s newsletter on historical tales of climate change science.
- 58 animals, artefacts, and really weird things that were found in 2016, by the wonderful Atlas Obscura crew.
- Conservation successes in 2016, by John Platt.
More good reads on politics and society
- “Analyze Trump as a politician and you’ll only end up confused. Study him like a celebrity, however, and every baffling action makes sense.” Really insightful piece by Anne Hellen Petersen
- “It’s not that everything in the world is more complex than it seems; it’s that nuclear plants are more complex, and dangerous. So too in dealings with China.” An essential James Fallows piece on why Trump’s diplomatic snafus with China are really bad, rather than a sign of strength.
- “In America, we learn that Hitler and the Nazis committed the Holocaust; in Germany, German children learn that they all participated in it.” Megan Carpentier on how America’s “Great Man” philosophy drives it to miss the point of fascism.
- What Their Reactions to Monday's Attacks Reveal About Trump and Obama. Must-read from Peter Beinart, partly because it portends what’s to come in future crises.
- A chilling look at Poland, a year after a populist party came into power. By Anthony Faiola. Perhaps a harbinger of things to come for other Western countries.
- My amazing colleague Olga Khazan drove to rural Pennsylvania to ask what Trump voters want instead of Obamacare. Their answers were… confused.
- Kaveh Waddell writes about the dormant Muslim registry that already exists in America, and how Obama just shut it down.
- How the alt-right’s sexism is a gateway drug for white supremacy. By Aja Romano.
- Why the shooting in Turkey won’t start World War III. By David Frum
- “My college students aren’t “snowflakes” — they’re tougher than their critics could imagine”. By David Masciotra
- How Paul Kalanithi’s widow helped turn his memoir, ‘When Breath Becomes Air,’ into a best seller
- Trump Voters Think African Americans Are Much Less Deserving Than ‘Average Americans’, by Michael Tesler. The key graph.
- Brad Plumer writes about Obama’s attempt to preempt Trump by banning oil drilling in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic. Robinson Meyer writes about how his ruling won’t be easily overturned.
- Fuck you 2016: on the psychology of anthropomorphising a year, by Julie Beck
- Trump’s pick for budget director isn’t sure that the government should fund scientific research. By Pema Levy.
- On Planned Parenthood: “I’m astounded. I guess I’ve been living in a bubble. He sounds like a tyrant.” On Obamacare: “Um, no, I guess we really didn't think about that, that he was going to cancel that or change that or take it away. I guess I always just thought that it would be there.”
- And finally… a guy wakes up after sleeping through 2016
And that's it. Thanks for reading.
- Ed