Kickoff For September 29, 2025
A slightly different mix of links to articles this week. Or maybe it isn't. Either way, I hope you enjoy all (or just some) of what you're about to read.
With that out of the way, let's get Monday started with these links:
Ama: Women of the Sea) — We're taken into the, sadly fading, world of the legendary divers in Japan who eschew modern equipment to ply their trade, and learn a bit about not only how that trade has been changing but how they're adapting to those changes.
From the article:
Until recently, divers used to go out to sea about 100 days a year, but Hayashi says she has been out to sea far less lately. “The marine environment has deteriorated, and there are fewer abalone, the main catch for ama. The sea is in a state known as isoyake, where seaweed on which abalone feeds is rapidly declining.”
Science could enable a fascist future. Especially if we don’t learn from the past — Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer argue that it's impossible for scientists to separate what they do from politics, and that more of them need to resist the pull towards the dark and negative for science to thrive and benefit all of us.
From the article:
In this historical moment scientists must embrace, rather than avoid, the political underpinnings and implications of scientific inquiry. As Science’s editor-in-chief Holden Thorp put it in 2020, “science thrives when its advocates are shrewd politicians but suffers when its opponents are better at politics.”
The god of small things: celebrating Arvo Pärt at 90 — A look at the work of one of my favourite classical composers and why his works not only stand in contrast to other modern composers but also will stand the test of time.
From the article:
In an age of distraction and crisis, Pärt’s work invites listeners into an intimate encounter with stillness. It is not escapism, but focused attention – music that opens the soul to something beyond itself. In an age increasingly defined by noise, he offers us silence not as absence, but as invitation.
Still booting after all these years: The people stuck using ancient Windows computers — Yes, people still use decades-old versions of Microsoft's operating systems, and this article looks at where that's happening and why people do that (even if they might not want to).
From the article:
When it comes to decrepit computer systems that inhabit larger companies and organisations, the main culprit is generally "deferred maintenance", says M Scott Ford, a software developer who specialises in updating legacy systems. "Organisations put all their attention on adding new features instead of investing those resources into making improvements on [the basics of] what already exists," Ford says, which allows reliance on older technology to build up over time.