Interesting Links for 29-05-2024

[andrewducker]

1. 'Absolute miracle' breakthrough provides recipe for zero-carbon cement

(tags:cement co2 globalwarming )

2. New male contraceptive is safe, effective and reversible (in mice so far, but looks hopeful)

(tags:contraception men mice )

3. Sophia is thoroughly enjoying me reading her "Harriet the Invincible", which inverts fairy tales in a fun way

(tags:children fairytale stories )

4. Labour's treatment of Diane Abbott is a great example of why I just don't trust the current leadership

(tags:labour politics uk )

5. The danger of convicting with statistics

(tags:statistics law crime viaDanielDWilliam )

Comments

[rmc28]

Harriet the Invincible and sequels are firm favourites in this house, and also the Danny Dragonbreath series (written earlier, imo good but not as strong). Both children insisted on repeated readthroughs, although I have, finally, got out of bedtime reading now that N is nearly 12.

[andrewducker]

The rest of the series arrived in a boxed set today. I'm looking forward to them!

1.

[channelpenguin]

nice simple idea. Science is great when clever people think "I wonder if/why ..." and get to try it out.

Re: 1.

[andrewducker]

Absolutely. I hope this pans out.

Re: 1.

[fanf]

The spinout company has a neat name: Cambridge Electric Cement https://cambridgeelectriccement.com/

[calimac]

3) B. is a big fan of this author and I've enjoyed some of her work too. I do wonder, when small children are exposed to work that undercuts or revamps standard tropes, how familiar they are with the standard tropes in the first place.

4) It's always seemed to me that Diane Abbott is guilty of nothing worse than extremely bad insensitivity to tone.

5) I've read the famously banned-in-the-UK Lucy Letby article, and as this site is not hosted in the UK, I will boldly venture to say that Letby's guilt was assumed on the basis of a statistical chart showing her to be the only nurse who was present at a large number of the deaths, with no consideration given to her being a highly skilled and well-regarded nurse who was likely to be called in when a patient was in trouble. That wasn't the only reason she was convicted, but it was the basis for the charge.

[andrewducker]

3) Sophia first watched Sleeping Beauty aged 3 (I think. Maybe 2.) And I've read her the story on several occasions too.

4) Agreed. She said a stupid thing, but she's not a terrible person.

5) That's my understanding. It bothers me deeply.

[calimac]

4) What's worse about the punishment is that Abbott's point was not really wrong: it was just ineptly and insultingly phrased. A professional politician ought to do better than that, and a slap on the wrist was deserved, but not a thunderbolt from Zeus.

[bens_dad]

I do wonder, when small children are exposed to work that undercuts or revamps standard tropes, how familiar they are with the standard tropes in the first place.

Especially important for boys. While they do need to learn that girls can be active, powerful and successful, we must not forget that they also need to see that boys can be, and are allowed to be, those things too.

[bearshorty]

My oldest daughter loved reading the Harriet hamster books (she was reading them outloud to me a few years ago). My favorite was Ratpunzel. She also enjoyed reading all the Dragonbreath ones. I am always in favor of books that can entertain the parent as much as a kid especially since I'm probably getting more jokes than the kid. I'm looking forward to my youngest getting into those books.

Grocery Store Polling?

[lsanderson]

From The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/may/29/waitrose-only-major-supermarket-with-majority-tory-customers-polls-show

Re: Grocery Store Polling?

[andrewducker]

That does not surprise me.

[symbioid]

That Diane Abbott thing is ... interesting.

It's very much "Oppression Olympics" instead of intersectionality and solidarity, and it feels very toxic. I don't know enough about how she operates on a professional level, maybe she isn't sitting there holding grudges against other minority groups, but it doesn't feel like a good ally to me.

But I don't even know what a good politics is or what it takes to run things, so my opinion is pretty useless (esp. since I'm in the US LOL) and race here is even more fucked up than in the UK (unless I guess you're from Poland or Pakistan or something)

[haggis]

I started following Ursula Vernon when she was mostly a fantasy/anthromorphic artist who wrote amazing little vignettes in the descriptions of her paintings. I haven't read much of her children's books yet (looking forward to introducing them to Zoe) or her horror but I love everything else I have read.

[andrewducker]

Only thing of hers I'd read before was Digger, which I rather enjoyed.

[melchar]

I'd trust the male mice to take measures to limit their reproduction far more than a lot of male humans, at least in the U.S.

[andrewducker]

I don't think this is for women to trust random men with.

It's for men who really don't want to have children. And for people in long term relationships where they do trust each other, or want to have multiple kinds of defence in case one goes wrong.