Issue #15 · April 18th, 2016 · View in your browser

You are 23 but feel like you're 17? Well, at least that's how I feel. Time passes too quickly. Why? Many reasons but a couple stuck to mind. First, ratios: when you're 5, one year of your life represents 20% of your life. As you age, each year is less time-valuable. But also the idea of open loops. All these things that you know you have to do, fix, change. The things that always come back to your mind. Write them down. Solve them. And time'll pass more slowly. [Psychology Today]

If you fast a couple of times a year, you might protect yourself from many diseases. And generally feel better. The idea is to mimic a full-fledged fast by reducing your intake for 5 days a month for three months. This regime was discovered by analysing an Ecuadorian population affected by dwarfism. No really, it's quite interesting. [Quartz]

There is a problem in the way undergraduate education is designed. The “package” (amenities, advising, the commoditisation of courses) universities offer focuses on getting the student a job instead of teaching them resilience and how to navigate the definitively chaotic nature of adult life. Where is education's (digital) revolution? [NYTimes]

Did you know that sans-serif type made its first appearance in print in an 1816 specimen book by William Caslon IV? Get your fix of design facts with this beautifully curated collection of... 137 design facts. Trust me, you're going to read them all. [Design Facts]

How's Earth's climate doing? While we're busy talking about inconsequential news, the real deal is upon us. Three recently published papers give us insight. First, there might be a looming, dramatic climate shift because of the amount of fossil fuel we're burning. Secondly, 40% of the Great Barrier Reef has been damaged by coral bleaching—it contains a quarter of all marine species. Finally, the West Antarctica ice sheet (larger than Mexico) melting might cause sea levels to rise 1 meter in less than 90 years, possibly erasing the Miami we know off the map. Have a nice day! [Kottke]

There is a man who has been rigging elections in Latin America for 10 years. Including the one that got Mexico's current president, Peña Nieto elected. Fascinating stuff that sounds like fiction. [Bloomberg]

Do you think that winning the lottery will make you happy? Or that being handicapped after a terrible accident will make you sad? Well, you're right. But, apparently, not for very long. After a couple of months, you will return to your previous level of happiness. Happiness is a bit like a rocking chair. [Nautilus]

*Thanks and have a nice week, 

Ulysse*