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☆ For Simone Brewster, It’s Hands-On
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Rachel Garrahan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As part of the preparations for her first solo exhibition, held this past summer at the NOW Gallery in South London, Simone Brewster designed “Crown,” a set of wooden combs inspired by traditional African hairstyles. Six weeks later, unable to find anyone who could execute the small but complex designs, Ms. Brewster was about to give up. Then Max Lamb, a friend and fellow designer, offered his workshop, which had the band saw, pillar drills and sanding machines she needed to make them herself. “It went from being this really stressful thing, because no one would make them for me, to something really fun,” said the designer, 40, who has picked up a variety of craft skills since she studied woodworking at school. “Once I know I’m going to make something, it’s not stressful for me because I know I can do it.”

Persons: Simone Brewster, ”, Omar, —, Brewster, Max Lamb, “ Organizations: NOW, “ Locations: South London

A scientist who studies the airborne transmission of diseases, a master hula dancer and cultural preservationist, and the sitting U.S. poet laureate were among the 20 new recipients of the prestigious fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, known as “genius grants,” announced on Wednesday. MacArthur fellows receive a grant of $800,000 over five years to spend however they want. Fellows are nominated and endorsed by their peers and communities through an often yearslong process that the foundation oversees. Many past fellows like Octavia Butler, Paul Farmer and Twyla Tharp are luminaries in their fields and Marlies Carruth, who directs the MacArthur Fellows program, emphasized that they hope fellows will support and inspire each other. "To think that I’ve actually been selected as one is really mind-blowing,” she said, of the MacArthur fellows.

Persons: John D, Catherine T, ”, MacArthur, it’s, Ada Limón, Allamay Barker, “, Limón, ” Limón, Octavia Butler, Paul Farmer, Twyla Tharp, Carruth, Andrea Armstrong, Patrick Makuakāne, Imani Perry, Linsey Marr, Marr, Ian Bassin, Bassin, Tendayi, Rina Foygel Barber, Courtney Bryan, Jason D, María Magdalena Campos, Pons, Raven Chacon, Diana Greene Foster, Lucy Hutyra, Carolyn Lazard, Lester Mackey, Manuel Muñoz, Williams, Amber Wutich Organizations: MacArthur Foundation, University of Montevallo, NASA, Marlies Carruth, MacArthur Fellows, Loyola University New Orleans, College of Law, Black, Virginia Tech, Protect Democracy, MacArthur, Mexican American, Associated, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Lexington , Kentucky, Alabama, Louisiana, Caribbean, Americas, Mexican, Central

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the 2023 class of fellows, often known as recipients of the “genius grant,” on Wednesday. The foundation reviews nominations for fellows over a yearslong process that solicits input from their communities and peers. Fellows do not apply and are never officially informed that they've been nominated unless they are selected for the award. The 2023 fellows are:E. Tendayi Achiume, 41, Los Angeles, a legal scholar who examines the history of global migration to argue for a reimagining of the rules governing the movement of people. Lester Mackey, 38, Cambridge, Massachusetts, a computer scientist and statistician whose research has helped improve the efficiency and predictions of machine learning techniques.

Persons: John D, Catherine T, ”, Carruth, they've, Tendayi Achiume, Andrea Armstrong, Rina Foygel Barber, Ian Bassin, Courtney Bryan, Jason D, María Magdalena Campos, Pons, Raven Chacon, Red, Diana Greene Foster, Lucy Hutyra, Carolyn Lazard, Ada Limón, Lester Mackey, Patrick Makuakāne, Linsey Marr, Manuel Muñoz, Imani Perry, Dyani, Williams, Amber Wutich Organizations: MacArthur Foundation, MacArthur Fellows, Mexican American, Black, Associated, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, Washington, Cambridge , Massachusetts, Nashville , Tennessee, Cuba, Red Hook , New York, United States, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Lexington , Kentucky, Blacksburg , Virginia, Tucson , Arizona, Mexican, Central Valley, Shakopee, Minneapolis, Tempe , Arizona

☆ Mysterious ‘fairy circles’ of Namibia and Australia aren’t so rare after all, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Round discs of barren dirt known as “fairy circles” look like rows of polka dots that can spread for miles over the ground. Fairy circles were previously spotted only in the arid lands of Southern Africa’s Namib Desert and the outback of Western Australia. The results showed 263 dryland locations where there were circular patterns similar to fairy circles in Namibia and Australia. Fairy circles’ mysterious originsThe study authors also compiled environmental data where circles were spotted, collecting evidence that might hint at what causes them to form. But the question “What shapes fairy circles?” is complex, and factors that create fairy circles may differ from site to site, the study authors reported.

Persons: ”, Emilio Guirado, Guirado, “, Stephan Getzin, Getzin, Fiona Walsh, Walsh, ” Walsh, ” Guirado, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences, Multidisciplinary Institute, Environmental Studies, University of Alicante, University of Göttingen, University of Western, “, Scientific Locations: Southern, Western Australia, Spain, Namibia, Australia, Africa, Western Sahara, of Africa, Madagascar, Midwestern Asia, Southwest Australia, Germany, University of Western Australia, Northern Territory

☆ Maker of MDMA-assisted PTSD treatment to seek US regulatory nod
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A woman retrieves items from the rubble of her destroyed home after a wildfire came through the area in Talent, Oregon, Oregon, U.S. September 21, 2020. PTSD is a disorder caused by very stressful events and can significantly disrupt patients' lives. While PTSD is commonly associated with combat, civilians are not immune to it. Psychoactive ingredients, whether derived from cannabis, LSD or magic mushrooms, have long captivated mental health researchers in their quest for treatments. MAPS, founded in 1986, said it hopes the MDMA-assisted therapy will be approved next year and inspire other researchers studying therapeutic psychedelics.

Persons: Jim Urquhart, Manas Mishra, Pooja Desai Organizations: REUTERS, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Thomson Locations: Talent , Oregon , Oregon, U.S, United States, Bengaluru

The psychedelic drug MDMA can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers reported in a new study published Thursday. “It’s the first innovation in PTSD treatment in more than two decades. Political Cartoons View All 1160 ImagesCommon side effects in the MDMA group were muscle tightness, nausea, decreased appetite and sweating. But only one person in the MDMA group dropped out of the study. After treatment, 86% of the MDMA group improved on a standard PTSD assessment compared to 69% of the placebo group.

Persons: ”, Amy Emerson, Barbara Rothbaum, ” Rothbaum Organizations: Corporation, Multidisciplinary, for Psychedelic Studies, Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, Nature, Food and Drug Administration, Drug, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Australia, U.S, Atlanta

☆ In an English Village, a Home Where the 1430s and the 1970s Peacefully Coexist
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Carolyn Asome | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It isn’t unusual for a passer-by to mistake the home of the British artist Sarah Kaye Rodden for a shop. “I have to tell them that this is my home, and then they back away sheepishly,” says Kaye Rodden, 48. Kaye Rodden bought the three-story 2,200-square-foot home nine years ago with her husband, John Rodden, 47, an executive at the film production company Studio Canal UK. Kaye Rodden, who comes from several long lines of makers — her paternal great-great-grandfather was a tanner and harness maker; her maternal grandfather was a carpenter — also wanted to set up a studio. In 2012, after working for years alongside acclaimed British designers including Thomas Heatherwick, Ilse Crawford and Faye Toogood, she began focusing on her own multidisciplinary art practice.

Persons: Sarah Kaye Rodden, Grete Jalk, ”, Kaye Rodden, John Rodden, —, Thomas Heatherwick, Ilse Crawford, Faye Toogood Organizations: Canal Locations: British, Brasted, Kent, Belgian, Danish, London’s Battersea

☆ Carrie Mae Weems and George C. Wolfe on Defiance and Claiming Space
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Jenny Comita | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

George C. Wolfe can pinpoint the exact moment that sparked his career as a director and dramatist. “We were supposed to sing this song,” recalls Wolfe, 68. “Here was this monumental human being who changed history, and then history forgot him,” says Wolfe, himself a gay man, who has lived in New York City since 1979. Though contemporaries in adjacent disciplines, Wolfe and Weems had never had a real conversation before meeting on a steamy July day in a downtown Manhattan studio. Here, the two discuss their childhoods, art as activism and what they feel is still left to accomplish.

Persons: George C, Wolfe, “, ”, Tony Kushner’s, —, ’, he’s, Henrietta, Ma, “ Rustin, Barack, Michelle Obama’s, Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr, Rustin, Carrie Mae Weems, Julie Mehretu, Lyle Ashton Harris, Weems Organizations: Broadway, Public Theater, York Shakespeare, Netflix, Manhattan’s Guggenheim Museum, Tate Locations: Kentucky, America, York, Washington, New York City, Portland, Brooklyn, Syracuse, N.Y, London, Pergamon, Berlin —, Manhattan

☆ VC Ford Smith used psychedelics and biohacking to pull himself out of a deep depression. Here's why he's backing more startups in the space.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

His experience inspired him to focus his investment firm on backing psychedelic startups. But VCs, including Smith, are still betting big on startups in the space that seem especially promising. It wasn't until he tried psychedelics — including Ayahuasca, a plant-derived hallucinogenic drink, and iboga, an African root bark — that his mental health finally improved. Energized by his own experience, Smith reworked his cannabis-focused VC firm Ultranative into a one-stop-shop for psychedelic startups. Smith and Ultranative are far from the only investors pumping money into psychedelic startups.

Persons: Ford Smith, wean, South America —, Ayahuasca, Ultranative, Smith, didn't, Lyme, psychedelics, Rick Doblin, he's Organizations: innovating, Venture, Anonymous, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, pharma, FDA, PsyMed Ventures, Lionheart Ventures, Iter Investments, Neo Kuma Ventures, Therapeutics Locations: Austin, South America, U.S, Oregon, Colorado, psychedelics, Texas, Los Angeles, Massachusetts

☆ Dance Performances, Festivals and More Coming This Fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Margaret Fuhrer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Anniversary celebrations abound this year, in a dance season that seems conspicuously preoccupied with the past. September2023 CROSSING THE LINE FESTIVAL The dance offerings at the French Institute Alliance Française’s annual festival range from celebratory to contemplative. The choreographer Tatiana Desardouin’s “Les 5 Sens,” a collaboration with the artist Nubian Néné, offers an all-night hip-hop dance party at the Standard Hotel’s Boom Boom Room (Sept. 14). And Olivier Tarpaga’s “Once the dust settles, flowers bloom” considers the plight of refugees from Burkina Faso (Oct. 3-8, the Joyce Theater). The multidisciplinary artist Matthew Lutz-Kinoy’s “Filling Station,” a world premiere presented by The Kitchen, reimagines that work for a different America.

Persons: Agnes de Mille, Tatiana Desardouin’s “, ”, “, FIAF Florence Gould, Olivier Tarpaga’s “, MATTHEW LUTZ, KINOY, Lincoln, Lew Christensen’s, Matthew Lutz, serpentwithfeet, Raja Feather Kelly, Wu Tsang Organizations: Russes, French Institute Alliance, FIAF Florence Gould Hall, Ballet, Horatio, Gas, Dia Locations: U.S, Burkina Faso, ”, America

☆ Artist-Designed Party Hats, and How to Recreate Them
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Coco Romack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In the United States, party hats — those ubiquitous, cone-shaped signifiers of children’s birthdays and summer picnics — have their roots in a less celebratory phenomenon: the pointed dunce caps used as disciplinary tools in schools throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s a reminder that even the most unassuming objects can have complex meanings — something that artists, several of whom have turned to party attire for inspiration, have long known. The students of the Bauhaus, the influential German design academy founded in 1919, took their costume parties as seriously as their studies, dressing up as monstrous creatures and mechanical humanoids. And in 1972, the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí designed several fantastical ensembles for the infamous Surrealist Ball, a lavish gathering held at the French estate of the baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild. From there, imaginations ran free, yielding headdresses that resemble, among other things, a rainbow-colored palm tree, a coral reef and an otherworldly drinking helmet.

Persons: Salvador Dalí, baroness Marie, Hélène de Rothschild, Audrey Hepburn peered, Faye Toogood, Jolie Ngo, Piotrek, Rakeem Cunningham, Alexia Hentsch, Adam Charlap Hyman, Andre Herrero, Charlap Hyman, Herrero — Organizations: Bauhaus Locations: United States, —, Spanish

☆ In Mexico, tale of iconic king dazzles in Aztec opera
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Alberto Fajardo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We're reclaiming many things," said Samuel Zyman, the composer of the opera titled "Cuitlahuatzin," which uses a more formal version of the king's name. "This is a Mexican story, so why shouldn't it be in the Aztec language?" The opera featured actors in native costumes, face paint and feather headdresses. While it's not clear if the opera's organizers will offer more showings, some in attendance who likely saw their first-ever Nahuatl opera were clearly moved by Cuitlahuac's story. Reporting by Alberto Fajardo; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: King Cuitlahuac, Samuel Zyman, Zyman, King Moctezuma, it's, Nina Alvarez, Alberto Fajardo, David Alire Garcia, Sonali Paul Organizations: Mexicans, Bellas Artes, Read, MEXICO CITY, Aztecs, Arts, Thomson Locations: Bellas, Mexico City, Mexico, MEXICO, Mexican

Lower court judges are bound by Supreme Court precedent, but they have some tools at their disposal. They can also give the historically permissive “rational basis” standard of review from the Dobbs opinion some teeth by more closely assessing abortion restrictions and the state’s purported rationales. Lawyers will need to bring cases raising novel issues so that judges can protect abortion rights in new ways. Even if cases and briefs in federal courts lose in the short term, having abortion cases in the pipeline is essential. The Supreme Court will not always look as it does today.

Persons: Biden, Dobbs, Roe Organizations: eventual Locations: Dobbs

☆ Meet the 17-year-old wonder kid who started coding at 7 and presented her app to Tim Cook last year. Now she's headed to NASA.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Amanda Breen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Last year she was a winner in Apple's Swift Student Challenge and ended up presenting to Tim Cook. In the future she's looking towards aerospace cybersecurity and will be working for NASA. But at WWDC almost everybody is familiar with Apple software and products." "We see Tim Cook walking down the trail of Apple Park, heading towards us," Tsuboi says. Tsuboi is also building cybersecurity programs to ensure the cybersecurity of avionics (electronics as applied to aviation) on airplanes.

Persons: Angelina Tsuboi, Apple's, Tim Cook, —, She's, What's, Tsuboi, I'm, I've, she's, it's, Amanda Breen Organizations: NASA, Service, Developers, astronautics, Apple, MIT Locations: mechatronics, Japan, Los Angeles, Apple

☆ Her Symptoms Suggested Long Covid. But Was That Too Obvious?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Lisa Sanders | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

She was referred to a neurologist, a cardiologist and Yale’s Long Covid Multidisciplinary Care Center. She was seen first at the Long Covid Center, where I am the medical director. Certainly, POTS was something I saw regularly in patients with long Covid. In this test, the patient’s heart rate and blood pressure are monitored when they are supine and then as they stand in place for 10 minutes. Her heart rate had increased — to 140 from 101.

Persons: Yale’s, I’d Organizations: Care, Long Locations: Covid

☆ The Venice Architecture Biennale puts Africa center stage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Marianna Cerini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Venice, Italy CNN —Until recently, the Venice Architecture Biennale — arguably the world’s largest architecture exhibition — has drawn crowds for its (mainly Western) star appeal. In a May 20 Facebook post titled “Venice Biennale Blues,” Zaha Hadid Architects’ principal, Patrik Schumacher, wrote that “the ‘Architecture’ Biennale is mislabeled and should stop laying claim to the title of architecture. The German pavilion, which is displaying construction waste produced by 2022’s Venice Art Biennale is a case in point. The German Pavilion at the 18th Architecture Biennale is displaying and repurposing constuction waste from the city's Art Biennale last year. The British Pavilion curators Meneesha Kellay, Joseph Henry, Jayden Ali and Sumitra Upham, with commissioner Sevra Davis, photographed in London.

☆ Brooklyn’s Batcave Reborn as Gotham’s Art Factory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Hilarie M. Sheets | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rising at the edge of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal — a rezoned superfund site with developers racing to build — the colossal industrial relic known locally as the Batcave has found its own Bruce Wayne. Consider it his gift to Gotham. On May 19, the nonprofit organization celebrates its grand opening, inviting a broad swath of the art world, city government and local residents to tour its state-of-the-art facilities designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in partnership with PBDW Architects. The conceptual artist Lorna Simpson, who’s collaborated with Powerhouse’s print shop, sees all kinds of opportunities for cross-pollination between media in the new building. “I really had ceramic envy walking through Powerhouse,” Simpson said, imagining that artists will have ideas that “can branch into something else that happens within the building because you can easily look at samples or have a conversation about technique.”

☆ Regular internet use may be linked to lower dementia risk in older adults, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggested that older people who regularly used the internet were less likely to develop dementia. Scientists still don’t know what causes dementia, so the new research can’t pinpoint the exact connection between internet usage and brain health. A 2020 study found an association between cognitively stimulating jobs and a lower risk of dementia, for example. Research also suggests that most older adults most frequently use the internet for basic tasks like email, news or online banking. And learning new skills may be protective against dementia, studies suggest.

☆ Here's what MDMA does to your brain and body
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

One organization has been testing MDMA for decades to see if it could be helpful for patients with post traumatic stress disorder. As MDMA inches closer to becoming an approved medicine, Insider put together a step-by-step look at how MDMA affects the body and brain. In MAPS' trials, participants take MDMA during a supervised experience. This is typically when they tend to talk more about the insight they've gained throughout their experience. At around the eight hour mark, they're typically done with the session and ready to relax.

☆ At least 20 torture centers in Kherson were directly financed by the Kremlin, international lawyers say in a new report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A photo of a hallway in a building where Russian forces established a torture center in Kherson. In November, Ukrainian forces liberated the southeastern city, once home to more than 280,000 people. A photo of a cell used by Russian forces to detain Ukrainian civilians in the southeastern city of Kherson, Ukraine. A U.N. report previously outlined grisly accusations of war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Pierre Crom | Getty ImagesSurvivors also said in interviews with lawyers that electric shock torture and waterboarding were common tactics used by Russian forces at the torture centers.

Hundreds of experiments are in progress worldwide, examining psychedelics' potential as medicines. Insider identified 22 key trials that could make or break the psychedelics industry's future. If they succeed, these trials could pave the way for psychedelics to be used as medical treatments. Hundreds of clinical trials are underway worldwide, examining the potential of psychedelics as treatments for health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression, and anorexia. The total market for psychedelics-related medicines could eventually reach $100 billion, according to a 2020 report from Tania Gonsalves at Canaccord Genuity.

☆ How a family's struggle to help their son gave rise to controversial $400 million psychedelics giant Compass Pathways
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Today, Compass Pathways, the for-profit company they launched in 2016, is a Nasdaq-listed firm worth about $400 million. Compass Pathways Show lessIt could also boost the dozens of psychedelics companies inspired by Compass that have been formed in recent years. Insider spoke with more than a dozen industry participants to chart the rise of Compass Pathways and its role in the psychedelics boom. He recalled the 2018 Quartz article that detailed the growing alarm around Compass Pathways' "magic mushroom monopoly." Were it not for his decision to take a break from college, and his parents' efforts to find a treatment, Compass Pathways might not exist.

☆ I used to work on Mars rovers and now I develop self-driving cars. Here's how I made the pivot from NASA's JPL to Amazon's Zoox.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The former supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab now works at AV startup Zoox. I figured after all the startups, why not work for a big company, and what better big company than NASA? ZooxThe AV space is the next frontier of robotics. What we're trying to do here in the AV space, it's extremely multidisciplinary. You're doing perception, you're doing planning, you're doing prediction, doing simulation.

☆ Can an AI 'angel' help find thousands in Mexico who were forcibly disappeared?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Marina E. Franco | Noticias Telemundo | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

The software is able to process thousands of documents and databases and find connections and patterns that elude the human eye. Relatives of people who were forcibly disappeared during the counterinsurgency period in Mexico between 1964 and 1985, at a march in 2001. Jorge Uzon/AFP via Getty ImagesAngelus is currently focused on reviewing facts about people who were forcibly disappeared between 1964 and 1985. He noted that when it comes to cases of missing persons as part of government repression, it's never about just one person missing. Angelus' reach is widening now that prosecutors are beginning to show interest in it to help them solve their cases, Yankelevich said, visibly frustrated for the delay.

Austin Johnson in August 2019 when his eyes and skin had turned yellow from liver disease caused by years of heavy drinking. Courtesy Austin JohnsonCirrhosis or severe liver disease used to be something that mostly struck people in middle age, or older. “We’re definitely seeing younger and younger patients coming in with what we previously thought was advanced liver disease seen in patients only in their middle age, 50s and 60s,” said Mellinger. Since 2018, Mellinger, and doctors at the Michigan Alcohol Improvement program provide psychiatrists and addiction specialists to patients with liver disease. The yellow color in his skin and eyes — a symptom of severe liver disease — has disappeared.

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