Up, Up, Up and Away!
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Sanity Break #1
SANITY BREAK Watch this —with hand-drawn animation—of Neil Gaiman’s poem ‘Mushroom Hunters’, which may well be the single most lyrical celebration of women in science.
Headlines that matter
HEADLINES THAT MATTER RIOTS OVER RACISM: AN UPDATE Pandemic worries: As protests continue to rage across the nation, experts are warning of a ‘second wave’ due to the collapse of social distancing. One leading doctor : “There's going to be a lot of issues coming out of what's happened in the last week, but one of them is going to be that chains of transmission will have become lit from these gatherings." Point to note: African Americans and other minorities are at an increased risk for complications. Protester shot dead: A man in Louisville and killed by police. The reason: someone fired a shot at the police, and they fired back—at an entire crowd of protesters?! More companies speak up: Apple CEO Tim Cook sent an to his employees. Amazon out a strongly worded message of support for protestors while Twitter changed its to black to honour Black Lives matter. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella society to “do more.” And Nike released . INDIA UNLOCKED: AN UPDATE Airline authorities have issued their latest guidelines. Airlines have to keep the middle seat empty when possible. If the flight is full, then passengers can be stuffed into middle seats—as long as they are provided "additional protective equipment like a wraparound gown of the Textile Ministry-approved standards.” The good news for fam: you can huddle together with zero social distancing at any time. There are also new guidelines for film and TV show producers. > “[T]he Maharashtra government asked filmmakers to minimise crew strength (not including the main cast) to 33% of pre-covid days, > identify activities that can be carried out remotely via email or video conferencing, ensure temperature checks before people > enter sets, and have medical personnel present on each set. > > > > No audience participation will be allowed, and for non-fiction shows only online auditions would be conducted, only one person > will be allowed as an acquaintance with children and in no case, would children below the age of 10 be allowed to participate. > Also, there is a bar on extravagant or elaborate wedding or fight sequences till the covid threat subsides.” More than 200,000 parents are asking the government to keep schools closed. They have signed a petition that declares: “Opening of schools in July will be the worst decision by the Govt. It’s insane. It’s like playing with fire when we ought to douse it with full force. The parents should fight against this stupidity with tooth n nail, not a single child to be sent to the schools for their own safety (sic).” Related reads: reports on adolescent girls in India who are at huge risk of being forced out of school, and into sexual slavery. takes a global view of the same. reports on data from Europe—where schools have been open for months—which suggests that children aren’t significant spreaders of the virus. AN UPDATE ON THE LATEST COVID GYAAN Treatment: Remdesivir has to show significant benefits in a large trial involving moderately ill patients. More mystifyingly, it worked better when administered for five days, as opposed to ten. This is not good news. The reason: it is the most promising drug available—and appeared to help in severe cases. In fact, India just its use in adults and children. Meanwhile, Russia is to use a different antiviral: Avifavir. Vaccines: AstraZeneca is conduct challenge trials—where subjects are deliberately exposed to Covid-19 after being dosed with the trial vaccine. explains the up- and downside of human challenge trials—and the ethics of using humans as lab rats for the sake of speed. Also coming next for AstraZeneca: testing their vaccine on . Detection: German scientists are on wastewater—which contains human feces—in the sewage system for spikes that indicate an outbreak. NO HELP FOR HOUSEHOLD HELP Indians did not pay of their household help. And many were shut out of their workplaces due to jittery employees and autocratic resident welfare associations. And those who were allowed in were treated . In Noida, many have resorted to . Now that we are unlocking the nation, the RWAs in Kolkata have : No help-sharing among households which must now hire their help for 12-hour shifts—and likely underpay them for the privilege. MOTHER NATURE HAS PLANS FOR US… are here, and meteorologists predict it will be a normal one. But it has brought along an unwanted gift: Cyclone Nisarga. It’s headed for Maharashtra and Gujarat—and it looks mean. explains why Mumbai is very worried it will share Kolkata’s fate. has more on the cyclone and its predicted ferocity. Also round the corner: a in Delhi. Scientists say that the ten low to moderate intensity tremors that shook the region in the past 1.5 months are omens of a big one: > "We cannot predict time, place or exact scale, but do believe that there is a consistent seismic activity going around in the > NCR region and can trigger in a major earthquake in Delhi." And very unsurprisingly, we aren’t at all prepared for that kind of calamity. COVID EFFECT: * Global sales of smartphones witnessed the sharpest decline on record—plunging 20% in the first quarter of this year. () * MakeMyTrip is 350 employees because, well, people have drastically stopped making trips. * Very unsurprisingly, car sales in India have to the lowest in decades. * in the UK ban two or more persons from meeting indoors “to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other.” In other words, ‘Netflix and chill’ is now illegal. WHAT DOES NETFLIX CENSOR? In India, nudity and meat—as per from the series ‘Vikings’ that went viral yesterday. Those are two cooked pigs that were not deemed fit for desi consumption. Netflix’s response: They complied with a “written legal demand by the local authority.” (h/t )
Sanity Break #2
SANITY BREAK When ‘Made in Heaven’ meets pandemic, the result is of seven gorgeous—and socially distanced—shaadis. Love knows no obstacles, including the virus.
Smart & Curious
SMART & CURIOUS INTRIGUING SOCIAL DISTANCING THINGS Glam dolls as diners: The Inn at Little Washington, a three Michelin-star restaurant near Washington, D.C. has with a new social distancing feature: glamorous mannequins dressed in 1940s-era attire just chilling with each other. Designer face masks: Here’s of 20 fashion brands that offer seriously chic accessories for your face. Cartoon masks in India: Bangalore artist Priya Kuriyan is making waves thanks to her quirky and colourful of Indians doing very Indian things… in face masks. A LIST OF GOOD READS * Iconic director Shyam Benegal revisits his iconic films in . And they hold up very well—but only because little has changed in the India his often grim films captured. * offers a must-read on how the pandemic has changed our perception of time. * What’s the difference between climate change to pandemic—both seemingly apocalyptic disasters staring us in the face. offers an insightful compare-and-contrast analysis. * explains why planting trees won’t stop climate change. * But that doesn’t mean we don’t mourn their loss. Sandip Roy in pens a lovely ode to the gorgeous old trees lost to Amphan in Kolkata. * Ameya Nagarajan’s thought-provoking essay is titled ‘Fat is a word. Use it.’—and it will make you see the word in a completely new light. * has a stunning must-see gallery of Chivan Gill’s photos of migrants—accompanied by an eloquent personal essay. Below is a sample.
Weekend advisory
LIFE ADVISORY THE LOST ART OF BREATHING Do you breathe through your nose at all times? Are you breathing too fast or too shallow? has an illuminating piece on breathing the right way—and the enormous impact it has on your physical and mental wellness. THE LOCKDOWN NO-READING LIST Many of us made big plans to read loads of books during the lockdown—get cracking on that tsundoku list of unread books lying by the bedside table. explains why so many of us failed. And it offers a very handy guide to help you start reading again! YOUR DOG WANTS TO RESCUE YOU We know dogs can be trained to rescue humans, but does your paratha-begging pooch have any interest in helping out when you are in distress? A tested 60 pets by putting their humans in a box. The happy result: > “What’s fascinating about this study is that it shows that dogs really care about their people. Even without training, many dogs > will try and rescue people who appear to be in distress — and when they fail, we can still see how upset they are. The results > from the control tests indicate that dogs who fail to rescue their people are unable to understand what to do — it’s not that > they don’t care about their people.” SO YOU WANNA WATCH SOMETHING… * put together a list of 17 amazing and free documentaries on YouTube. Given the current state of America, we recommend starting with Ava DuVernay’s ‘13th’. * The entire cast of The Lord of the Rings gathered on Zoom for a reunion—and it makes for 50 minutes of excellent viewing. Also excellent, the event title: ‘’ * Highly recommended by our founding member Shadab Arab: Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby’s new Netflix special ‘Douglas’. Watch the below!
Feel Good Place
THE FEEL GOOD PLACE —the Hainan Gibbons—may be saved from extinction. Scientists have discovered a new pair of breeding apes. As per the last head count in 2013, there were only 13 gibbons—all living on one Chinese island named Hainan, of course. way to prove your phone is waterproof. up and down his street to complete a marathon. He has raised £60,000 for charity. Tobias is nine years old, has cerebral palsy and autism—and uses a walker to get around. recently discovered that Indians have talent—who have now become a standard part of his shows. The latest to earn kudos: This salsa-dancing pair from Kolkata.
