smart & curious
A list of intriguing things
The first digital Indian model is called Nila—and she recently debuted on Instagram. Here’s how her creators describe her: “Her primary characteristic is kindness and her favourite emotion is love. Otherwise, she’s shy and private and detests anything fake"—other than herself, that is.
A NASA scientist simulated what the sunset would look like on other planets—like Venus, Uranus or even the more distant Trappist-1e. This is very cool!
A new art restoration scandal involves a stunning painting of the Virgin Mary—which the owner turned over to a furniture restorer. The result is below. Art aficionados are furious: “Can you imagine just anyone being allowed to operate on other people? Or someone being allowed to sell medicine without a pharmacist’s license?”
What is happening in this clip? We were intrigued by this visual trick of perspective. We hope you will be too.
A list of good weekend reads
- Mint has a lovely piece on Olympic hopefuls whose dreams are threatened by the pandemic. It is heartbreaking to lose, but far more devastating to never compete.
- Aeon explores an intriguing question: Where do your earliest childhood memories go? The really nice bit: there’s an audio version of the essay right at the top.
- Ars Technica looks at the increasingly common practice of ‘doomscrolling’—bingeing on pandemic news at bedtime—and why it is terrible for your mental health.
- Lithub offers an engaging personal essay that describes the fragmented, distracted experience of a writer unable to write under lockdown.
- The Economist offers the perfect distraction from Covid news: a behind-the-scenes report on VVIP parties.
- National Geographic explains why some people can’t resist crowds—i.e. the psychology of what looks like grossly irresponsible behaviour to the rest of us.
- A must-read from Slate: A first-person account of a waiter working at a reopened restaurant.