smart & curious
A list of intriguing things
A Japanese company has found a way to turn scraps of paper into notepads that you eat! Kamihime pads come with a special marker that tastes of coffee. And since coffee makes everything better, be sure to doodle away!
Deep-speare is an AI program which has learned to write sonnets like the immortal bard. Its poetry is both total rubbish and kinda compelling—as you can see below.
This essay by Arati Kumar-Rao in National Geographic tells a happier story about Ladakh: how its residents are fighting a different kind of enemy, climate change. And they are doing so by creating ‘ice stupas’ of immense value and beauty. We highly recommend laptop reading to enjoy the stunning photos!
A list of good reads
- Forbes has a lovely little piece on the day in the life of a gynecologist in Kerala—at the time of a pandemic.
- We were delighted to stumble upon this older Scroll piece by Maria Thomas on how Indians fell in love with Chinese food. (h/t Shoaib Daniyal)
- This may be the golden age of streaming content in India, but—as Quartz points out—that we may run out of stuff to binge-watch very soon.
- The Guardian profiles Noor Inayat Khan—daughter of an Indian Sufi mystic—who became a British spy during World War II. Her codename was Madeleine, and she loved the colour blue—which proved to be her downfall. This is a most excellent story.
- Indian Express profiles the very unconventional Jahanara Begum—daughter of Shah Jahan—who designed Chandni Chowk.
- The Bastion has a well-researched report on why we need to start teaching science in regional languages—and why it is a huge challenge.
