Big Calculator, Artificial Trees, and Pharma: Lux Recommends #212

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Jan 17 · 2 min read

By Sam Arbesman, PhD

Welcome to Lux Recommends #212, this week’s edition of what we at Lux are reading and thinking about (want to receive this by email? Sign up here).

Articles

Big Calculator: How Texas Instruments Monopolized Math Class: “These $100 calculators have been required in classrooms for more than 20 years, as students and teachers still struggle to afford them” — Adam K

Artificial trees are popping up in London to suck up the city’s pollutionAdam G

Having a Home by a Star Architect Is Amazing, Until You Try to Sell It: “Across the country, architectural masterpieces are sitting on the market.” — Adam K

n-Lorem Foundation launches to develop individualized therapies for ultra-rare diseasesAdam G

The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees: “Bristlecone pines have survived various catastrophes over the millennia, and they may survive humanity.” — Sam

Why Michelin chefs are handing back their stars — Lux friend Tom Kane

Political Fights At Work Are Actually Good for Your Stock Bets: “Portfolio management teams with similar political views trail those with different ideologies by 0.4% in benchmark-adjusted returns per year, according to new academic research based on U.S. political contributions data.” — Alex

Pharma Needs to Stop Chasing Shiny Objects and Start Embracing Practical TechnologyAdam G

“Learn to Code” is Strictly Better Than “Tech Bros Should Learn Humanities”: ‘So the tech/humanities culture gap is a sort of yin-yang of mutual incomprehension: any humanities PhD dropout can argue that a programmer naming her new software library “Anabasis” or “parthian_shot.py” is just LARPing as an educated person. Meanwhile, anyone in tech can compare the top salary at Wired to entry-level comp at Facebook or Google and say “You’re just jealous.”’ — Alex

Virus used in gene therapies may pose cancer risk, dog study hints Adam G

Books

Watchmen by Alan Moore: If you’ve enjoyed the television show but haven’t yet read the graphic novel set over thirty years earlier, go read it immediately. It is fantastic. — Sam

Normal People by Sally Rooney: This book has made a lot of top lists, including Obama’s, and currently has the highest aggregate rating of all 2019 fiction on Bookmarks. Author Sally Rooney has been heralded as the “first great millennial author,” due to the fact that she is so attuned to the implicit and unsaid social hierarchies, class differences, and power dynamics between young adults.” — Alex

Videos

Frost formingAdam K

A volcano in the PhilippinesAdam K

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