Kickoff For June 16, 2025
Recently, a subscriber wrote to thank me for curating such interesting content. While I appreciate the praise, I don't consider what I share with you in these letters to be content. In my mind, content is something made quickly and cheaply, which is of low quality and is ephemeral. What I share ain't that!
With that out of the way, let's get Monday started with these links:
The physical toll of nine months on the ISS — Wherein we learn about the effects on the human body of spending extended periods in an environment with no gravity, and how learning more about those effects may be able to help those of us who are earthbound.
From the article:
It is widely known that astronauts suffer from dizziness, difficulty walking and puffy faces in the early days after returning to Earth, and more serious, long term health problems.
The Cult Of The American Lawn — Wherein we learn why and how so many people have become obsessed with the perfect patch of green in front of their houses, why lawns are contentious in some neighbourhoods, and about how some people are trying to rewild their front yards.
From the article:
Resistance to the imposition of lawns has gathered steam in recent years. They are increasingly viewed as a crucible of environmental breakdown. A growing number of homeowners, alarmed by a loss of nature that imperils birds and bees, have started to question whether their lawns need to be closely cut and strafed with chemicals. The National Wildlife Federation has reported a surge in the number of homes they’ve certified as wildlife gardens.
A Brief and Amazing History of Our Search for Life in the Clouds — Wherein we learn about the efforts researchers make to find life at high altitudes, and why that's important to understand how life propagates and may exist on other worlds.
From the article:
It’s possible that clouds and life are linked in an intimate cycle. It turns out that one of the best rainmakers is a type of bacteria called Pseudomonas. Scientists are not sure why those bacteria in particular are so good at forming ice in clouds, but it could have to do with the way they grow on leaves.
The Anti-Capitalist Case for Standards — Wherein Jeffrey Pomerantz & Jason Griffey argue that technical standards provide a counterbalance to closed systems and requirements, and are actually beneficial not only for business and commerce but society as a whole.
From the article:
Anti-capitalism does not mean anti-technology or anti-trade; it means building a society based on an economic basis other than capitalism. Non-capitalist societies in the modern world also possess technology, conduct trade, and experience material progress — mechanisms that are built into the standards development system. It’s just that how decisions get made about that progress and who owns and benefits from the fruits of that progress is different than in a capitalist society.
The Unbearable Loudness of Chewing — Wherein Jake Eaton explores why some noises have an adverse effect on some people, why it took so long for research in that area to gain traction, and how scientists are now trying to tackle that.
From the article:
Part of the problem is that, in the early years, it was hard to find an unbiased and large sample to say anything confident about comorbidities in misophonia. So many of the early papers were drawn from some form of psychiatric clinic or private practice that it’s impossible to say much about misophonia in the general population.
The Great Barefoot Running Hysteria of 2010 — Wherein we learn how running unshod went from fad to cult earlier in this century, and why it inevitably declined and petered out.
From the article:
The idea even transcended the sport of running itself. To many, the barefoot running movement was not merely about the act of running without shoes; it represented a broader philosophy seeking to embrace simplicity, natural form, and mindfulness in the pursuit of physical fitness and well-being. The fervor around barefoot running bordered on religious.