2022-09-10
Readings
Certain proteins in the cells of tardigrades largely explain the organism’s resistance against dehydration, partly solving an angle of a set of mysteries in their general durability: https://www.sciencealert.com/tardigrades-can-survive-decades-without-water-and-we-finally-know-how
A possible need to add some new traits (that probably do not constitute hair) to black holes: https://phys.org/news/2022-09-theoretical-physicists-black-holes-vortex.html
Engineering towards modified T-cells to fight cancer: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-immune-cells-cancer.html
Interesting to think that DNA remnants of people on ships lost at sea might be used to identify them: https://www.science.org/content/article/can-floating-dna-help-recover-troops-lost-long-ago-sea
Thoughts
I wonder if it’s a necessary feature, that something like selection refines species to the level where group ties form, and then those group ties reduce selective pressure across the board (if unevenly) including useful traits for those group ties, leaving societies built on inadequate soil. Alternatives are tempting to explore, except they’re naturally immoral, which reminds of the reason we evolved morality, and the purposes it solves.
Current Events
Ukraine continues its early attempts to push Russia back in the Russian invasion, recapturing some land and a few cities. It’s not enough and should happen faster with more aid from the West; meanwhile some planning is underway for how to help Ukraine rebuild (and ideally recover some of its captured citizens) if and when it recovers its borders
Liz Truss replaced Boris as the leader of the Tories and the PM of the UK, with an initial policy package aimed at energy security, and a purge of Boris’s associates.
After 70 years as a largely figurehead leader of the UK and various other countries, Queen Elizabeth died - I have no particuarly strong feelings for her and I don’t have special respect for monarchs (empowered or not). I understand that some people have affection for her (similarly to another figure I have no particular feelings about, the Dalai Lama). To me, hereditary positions preclude giving people in them particular respect. These are things society shouldn’t do, whether it’s living in a gilded cage (for figureheads) or working through family politics and national power (for others, where I think it would be good to remove those entire families one way or another). The one argument for the British Royal system that I almost (but do not quite) respect is the idea of a relatively apolitical person, living permanently in public life, acting as a kind of dignified center of the nation. Not enough to justify the institution, but I can see why that argument appeals
Argentine assassination attempt - recently there was a failed assassination attempt on de Kirchner, the VP of Argentina; she survived through random luck because the gun of her would-be assassin malfunctioned
South Korea flooding - South Korea has been suffering moderate flooding over August-September; relatively mild compared to Pakistan’s recent floods, but still damaging thousands of buildings
Reviewlets
La Pucelle Ragnarok (PC Game) - Playing this after NISA’s recent PC port of Rhapsody, I’m enjoying it a lot better; this has early exploration of ideas that made their way into later Disgaea games, and in some ways it does a better job at them. The characters are also adorable, and I’m having a good time grinding through the systems and learning them. Great for people who like grindy JRPGs, moreso than Rhapsody (which felt like a kids game). It is missing some quality-of-life things from later games, but that’s livable.
Persona 4 Golden (PC Game) - This is a very weird, style-first JRPG, and I have very little idea what’s going on. The gap between the plot and the game mechanics is wide and easy to get lost in; it’s also on the difficult side. I hope I’ll stick with it, but there’s a chance the hassle of what it takes to survive will come to grate on me. Plus a lot of the game is on a timer and I don’t tend to like that kind of thing
Neil Gaiman’s Lucifer comic series - I started on this again; I reread it every few years and consider it very well-written. There’s a lot of analysis one could do on it, from the themes of family and growing up to the difficulties in leadership and intentionality; on Substack I’ll mostly give it praise and a recommendation; it’s very good reading.
Amusements
This hits almost dead center in a cluster of humour preferences - failure, ridiculousness, low production value, and some overtones of jabbing at what they’re parodying:
A nice summary of a particular Star Trek TNG episode that makes me want to rewatch it for its larger meaning: https://collider.com/star-trek-the-next-generation-lower-decks-episode-less-idealized-future/
Recent Music
Ain’t That a Kick in the Head - Dean Martin - There are many roads that lead from esoteria back to mainstream culture; this was once a jazz standard, but I first heard it in a remake of the old British urban fantasy series Randall and Hopkirk (the 2000s remake), itself a show I discovered long after it had stopped broadcasting. Great song, fun series. Amused to be left with the association
Steam - Peter Gabriel - This had a great music video for its time, maybe even for now. Good song too, despite being fairly long for its variance.
Love Shack - B-52s - Fred Schneider’s vocals are pretty polarising; I like them (Rock Lobster is another favourite) and find them unforgettable. I’ve known some people who find them infuriating