Interesting Links for 24-04-2019

[andrewducker]

Tolkien estate disavows forthcoming film starring Nicholas Hoult

(tags:Tolkien movies biography )

US threatens to veto UN resolution on rape as weapon of war

(tags:rape usa war )

Capricorns need not apply: is it legal to pick a roommate by astrological sign?

(tags:astrology housing wtf usa )

Google Wing drones approved for US home deliveries

(tags:usa delivery drone )

The Antique Toaster that's Better than Yours

(tags:food electricity design history video bread viaSwampers )

Saudi Arabia executes 37 people, crucifying one, for terror-related crimes

(tags:terrorism death_penalty saudiarabia torture )

When Workers Control the Code

(tags:cooperation business apps )

Blind reviews of research proposals still produce gendered results, because men use broader language than women, and reviewers prefer that - even though women get better results.

(tags:diversity discrimination research gender language )

How not to be a Useful Idiot

(tags:UK europe politics Russia )

Comments

[dewline]

The rest of the UN caved to the Reich-wingers in Washington, much to my dismay.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/23/un-resolution-passes-trump-us-veto-threat-abortion-language-removed

[andrewducker]

I am sadly unsurprised.

[calimac]

I'm not allowed to say anything about the Tolkien film before its official release. When it is, I will say something, to be sure.

I once had a long discussion with a serious astrologer, who told me that the importance of sun signs is vastly overrated by amateurs, because they're so easy to calculate. An astrological chart is an interplay of many influences, and the most important, she said, is the rising sign, which takes a lot more work to determine.

I'm not endorsing astrology, but I do know the difference between it and the sun-sign forecasts in newspapers, and I will say this: that I identify with the personality traits of my rising sign a lot more than I do with those of my sun sign.

[andrewducker]

I shall look forward to seeing how often you use the word "travesty".

[nancylebov]

In re blind reviews and gender: I wonder whether it's exactly that women who are more likely to follow up on an accepted grant (not quite the same thing as getting better results, it's getting results at all) or whether it's people who make narrower claims who are more likely to do their experiments, and those people are more likely to be women.

There's something in The Longevity Project (the Terman research) about people with more female personalities living longer regardless of sex.