As if the UK wasn’t grey enough (seriously, ask your friends in England how they’re doing right now) the government has announced plans to ‘dim the sun’ to fight climate change. This is just one of several proposed ‘climate cooling projects,’ which involve reflecting sunlight back into space by brightening clouds and creating a ‘giant sunshade’ in space. Errrrrrr ok. It shouldn’t be any surprise that the British public – when polled on climate solutions – said that they did not believe geo-engineering is a wise one. A whopping 92 percent of respondents said natural solutions like reforestation efforts need more focus. Though these geo-engineering projects are still in their research phase, they could be considered as options in the near future.
Scientists kill 192 million lab mice each year. Is there a better way? – big think
Every year, scientists around the world expose lab mice to stress, starvation, pain, and physical harm with the ultimate goal of developing new human medicines and ensuring that consumer products and environmental chemicals are safe. In some cases, these mice help uncover new biological knowledge that lead to useful advances down the road. Despite this, animal-loving scientists have found themselves operating in an ethical grey zone. With non-animal alternatives on the come up – human cells and tissues grown outside the body or technical alternatives like computer simulations – is it time laboratories became more humane?
An Israeli-backed logistics group said it had begun supplying aid to Gaza on Monday, breaking a near 3-month blockade on the Strip. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said its distribution points will be guarded by private security firms and that the aid would reach a million Palestinians (under half of Gaza’s population) by the end of the week. However, it remains unclear how much aid has been reached civilians inside Gaza. UN agencies and several other major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, stating that Israel is using it to further weaponise food. They also say the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
Kurdish PKK ends 40-year insurgency, brings hope of regional stability – reuters
On Monday, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced it will disband and end its bloody armed struggle in Turkey, which has been ongoing for more than 40 years. Reuters reports that the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, exerted a huge economic burden, and fuelled social tensions in the region. In a statement, the PKK said that its armed struggle had “brought the Kurdish issue to a point of solving it through democratic politics”. The announcement brings hope for greater stability in Turkey, Syria, and northern Iraq, where the militant group is based.
Is the spirit of youth lost on Gen Z? – the gen zer (via substack)
Young people aren’t drinking, smoking, or having casual sex quite like they used to. Many adults are dumbfounded, wondering whatever happened to being young, wild, and free? Gen Z’s more cautious approach to growing up involves forgoing the kinds of behaviours typically associated with teenagers who have yet to fully develop their prefrontal cortex. While an aversion to recklessness isn’t exactly a bad thing, should we be worried about a generation that is consumed by the optics of all their actions? And what’s causing this radical shift?
The age of cultural stagnation – the new republic
Ever feel like everything these day just seems… the same? You’re not alone. The internet erupts in a collective groan anytime Disney announces another live action remake, or the trailer for 7th Ice Age movie is released on YouTube. Writing for the New Republic Magazine, Aaron Timms blames technology – more specifically, algorithms – for the deterioration of newness in our modern society. “Culture today is uninteresting because that’s what the [algorithms] are optimized to produce. The brilliant and restless civilization that rampaged through the second half of the twentieth century has come to a standstill. Culture today is an endless repackaging of tested tropes into the technological equivalent of chaff, mere filler to keep the grazing consumer content.” Ooooof. This long read is a hard pill to swallow, but a worthy one nonetheless.
As lame as this sounds, I’m proud that my IG algorithm shows me stuff like this instead of toxic weirdness. Have a laugh too <3
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