it really shows that it was written by an academic. felt like a research paper. I had high hopes but sadly the writing style didn't meet them.it really shows that it was written by an academic. felt like a research paper. I had high hopes but sadly the writing style didn't meet them....more
to sim it up in ver yfew words: enlightening, frightening, hopeful.
A collection mainly written in 2021 and combiles in this book in 2022 and I'm readito sim it up in ver yfew words: enlightening, frightening, hopeful.
A collection mainly written in 2021 and combiles in this book in 2022 and I'm reading it in 2023, so it's interesting to see what still resonates today, even to someone like me, who doesn't really read a lot of science or nature writing if it's not sci-fi or fantasy.
1. The Body's most Embarrassing Organ is an Evolutionary Marvel by Katherine J. Wu: not all creatures poop, but it's interesting studying the creatures that do and that mysterious organ. I mean what other organ could do all of these functions at once, also it allows female birds to eject any subpar sperm after mating with unsatisfactory males to start anew. excuse me? wow.
2. What Slime Knows by Lacy M. Johnson: interesting article about a creature I didn't know anything about. slime mold... "has no brain, no sense of sight or smell, but can solve mazes, learn patterns, keep time and pass down the wisdom of generations. how do you classify a creature like that?" how indeed? I like her connecting the history of studying this slime mold and the hierarchy of evolution "science".
3. Too Big for the Universe by Arianna S. Long: very straigtforward and a little bit terrifying, about galaxies and their life cycle, telescopes and detecting different types of galaxies,
4. Heads Up! The Cardiovascular Secrets of Giraffes byb Bob Holmes: about giraffes and how thie bodies solved their problem with high blood pressure. It's always a wonder when you delve deeper into the bodies of any animals and see how it operates. felt like a fun little lesson.
5. How Far does Wildlife Roam? Ask the "Internet of Animals" by Sonia Shah: about a new project called ICARUS, that will help scientists study animals' mobility and movement in ways that haven't been done before, changing the way scientists used to think about wildlife mobility. I also love it when humans realize how superior other creatures are.
6. Our Summer from Hell by Jeff Goodell: a US centric story about what it would take for Americans to wake up to the effects of climate change. and really it's sad that the whole planet needs a bigger wake up call than the ones we've been hit with repeatedly. Humans (most of them) are greedy and selfish, that's it.
7: How Rising Groundwater caused by Climate Change could Devastate Coastal Communities by Kendra Pierre Louis: Thank you for the nightmares. It's not enough that people are ignoring the obvious dangers like rising seas, it's terrifying to know what the rise in groundwater is causing and that it's being ignored even more because it's not as obvious as the seas.
8. How we Drained California Dry by Mark Arax: Poetic and sad. about the different ways humans drained california.
9. The Climate Solution actually adding millions of Tons of CO2 into the Atmosphere by Lisa Song & James Temple: so humans found a way to even abuse trees and forests, and use them to make the problem of pollution worse? just wow.
10. In the Oceans, the Volume is rising as Never before by Sabrina Imbler: I love clown fish, and it's always nice to know more about them. It's unnerving to know that the ocean which I always though to be the quitest place, has become noisybecause of us and how that affects all of its creatures.
11. The Nature of Plastics by Meera Subramanian: when you think of pollution, the first thing that comes to mind is plastic, especially in water. so it's no wonder that this article hits really bad, and makes me wonder, why ddo we do this? and how can our puny efforts make any difference when most of the world, aka factories and ships and manufacturers, don't care at all.
12. Black Bears, Black Liberation by Rae Wynn Grant: about black bears between folk tales, bedtime stories, collective culture, and hunting culture, tying it to native americans and african americans. I would've loved for this one to be longer.
13. Finding Freedom in the Natural World by Cynthia R. Greenlee: about foragers/naturalists or living from the wild/nature, and it being a trend that people follow by choice, while others have to depend on it not by choice. very interesting, and the intersection with black people and their culture is very insightful. you really can'tseparate racism from any activity today, whether it's done for leisure or necessity.
14. Humanity is Flushing Away One of Life's Essential Elements by Julia Rosen: phosphurus and feces and fertilizers and everything that depends on them in our everyday life.
15. Poisoned - part 1: The Factory by Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington, and Eli Murray: The start of a horror story, and not the first of its kind. it reminds me of the story of radium women, who worked in factories making watches and died because of all the radium their bodies were exposed to. here is a morde modern investogation of a lead factory and the lead in the air that got into the bodies of all the workers. a very straight to the point piece, because you don't really need any imbellishments when writing about this. I don't know if I have it in me to read the rest of the series.
16. Future Moves by Yeesenia Funes: a short piece about climate migration and the dillemma of choosing where to settle, especially in the US but also all around the world, because every year, everywhere is getting more affected by climate change. no place is safe.
17. There's a Clear Fix to Helping Black Communities Fight Pollution by Rachel Ramirez: the link between pollution and racism or environmental injustice (which is aloaffected by social classes not just races) is often ignored, but this article did a good job of highlighting that.
18. To be a Field of Poppoies by Lisa Wells: loved this! makes you really think about what happens to you body after death and how you can help the environment.
19. To Hell with Drowning by Julian Aguon: it starts with seeing how wayfinding was affected by climate change, then moves to talking about island nations and their climate-induced-relocations. It's filled with sadness yet hope.
20. To Speak of the Sea in Irish by Claudia Geib: about the importance of preserving language, as it is important to preserve creatures and plants.
21. A Tight-Knit Island Nation hopes to Rebuild while Preserving "The Barbudan Way" by Mikki K. Harris: The greed of humans, and taking over island and homes for nations to "develop" their projects.
22. Thriving Together: Salmon, Berries, and People by Cuagilakv Jess Hausti: shows the importance of adhering to the natural order of things and the teachings of ancestors when it comes to plants and fish, when to fish and when to look for other resources. if only everyone adhered to these simple rules, we wouldn't be here.
23. Your Face is not Your Own by Kashmir Hill: most (if not all so far?) of the articles and writings in this book were about nature and extinction, that I forgot this collection should also include science writing, and here I am, reading this terrifying piece about AI, technology, and knowing more about the way we are losing any piece of privacy we had. this article is intriguing because you can't fully say that this company is in the wrong (it helps cats criminals and child abusers, after all), but if tis is allowed, where do we draw the line?
24. Quantum Enlightenment by Ruth Robertson: intriguing and interesting about mixing science with spirituality, even though some of it flew over my head.
25. Why Combining Farms and Solar Panels could transform how we Produce both food and energy by Chris Malloy: you don't need to tell me twice about the benefits of solar panels. liked the ideas here about integrating it with farms and crops
26. A recipe for Fighting Climate Change and Feeding the World by Sarah Kaplan: is it too late to change our farming practices to save the earth? I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but most of humanity are set in their own ways, and they'd rather die and let others die than change their ways.
27. Power Shift by Justine Calma: all big companies everywhere are just the same, and we'll keep paying the price for their greed until we all collapse together. bravo for them, hope they line their coffins with all the money they're earning while burning the planet and killing off other people. this just made me so angry
28. Beavers are Firefighters who work for free by Lucy Sherriff: I'm impressed with the number of articles about/by natives in this collection. it should be more, but it's a start, because if there's anyone who really cares for the environment with no agendas, it's these native tribes. also the US is a frustrating place where it's so easy to kil anything (humans or animals) than it is to pass laws that benefit everyone. I mean, it's about time people suddenly realize thath there was a reason for why the climate and earth were better before human involvement.
29. New Wind Projects Power Local Budgets in Wyoming by Jane C. Hu: clean energy to the rescue as always.
30. Work from Home, save the Planet? Ehh by Emily Atkin: this was what I thought as well, when more people work from home, the emissions are less thus helping in saving the planet. but it seems like people don't change their habits? as it says in the article "we're not going to save the planet by accident."
31. In Amsterdam, a Community of Floating Homes shows the World how to live alongside Nature by Shira Rubin: an excellant example of sustainable living projects that don't add to the pollution of the planet
32. A River Reawakened by Jessica Plumb: will this be the era we listen to indegineous tribes and let nature take its course finally, so maybe, we could recover some of what was lost?
33. There's a Global Plan to Conserve Nature. Indigenous People could lead the way by Somini Sengupta, Catrin Einhorn, and Manuela Andreoni: before even starting, I fully agree with this title, as it truly seems to sum up on of the main ideas in this collection. It's outrageous that indigenous people are left out of discussions to save the planet....more
This was a disappointing book that I had to DNF it halfway through, because it's marketed as one thing according to that synopsis, and the actual bookThis was a disappointing book that I had to DNF it halfway through, because it's marketed as one thing according to that synopsis, and the actual book is something else that wasn't as interesting, and I might've kept reading it anyway if the writing style was approachable or comprehensible, and less of "talking-in-circles". ...more
كتاب آخر لا يعجبني بسبب أسلوبه رغم اهتمامي بالفكرة العامة. في هذا الكتاب ، يحاول راشكوف شرح الحاضر الدائم، وهو الوضع الذي نشهد فيEnglish review below.
كتاب آخر لا يعجبني بسبب أسلوبه رغم اهتمامي بالفكرة العامة. في هذا الكتاب ، يحاول راشكوف شرح الحاضر الدائم، وهو الوضع الذي نشهد فيه البث المباشر لكل تفاصل حياتنا والتي لا يمكن لأجسادنا وعقولنا البشرية أن تستوعبها حقًا وآثارها واسعة النطاق على كل جانب من جوانب حياتنا. لا أعتقد أنه تمكن من تقديم الفكرة بشك جيد بصراحة، لأن أسلوبه محموم ومشتت كما لو كان هو نفسه في قبضة الصدمة الحالية التي يحاول تحذيرنا منها.
يحاول كل فصل توضيح آثار الصدمة الحالية على جانب مختلف من حياتنا، مع قصص وبيانات لمساعدته على توضيخ الفكرة والآثار، لكن الانتقال من فكرة إلى أخرى كان مزعجًا، ووجدت أنني فقدت معظم الوقت الفكرة الرئيسية التي يحاول نقلها.
أرى أنها فكرة جديرة بالاهتمام ، ويمكنني أن أرى آثارها على حياتي الخاصة والطريقة التي أستهلك بها مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي وأنشطتي اليومية لكن للأسف الكتاب ليس الأسهل في القراءة أو نقل هذه الأفكار بطريقة بسيطة أو متماسكة.
Another book that loses me because of the style rather than the ideas. In this book, Rushkoff tries to dissect "the frozen, overwhelmed by an always-on, live-streamed reality that our human bodies and minds can never truly inhabit. And our failure to do so has had wide-ranging effects on every aspect of our lives", bu I don't think he does a very good job, because his style is frantic and all over the place, as if he himself is in the grips of the Present Shock.
Each chapter tries to see to illustrate the effects of Present Shock on a different aspect of our lives, with stories and data to aid him him, but the jump from an idea to another was jarring, and I found myself lost most of the time of the main idea he's trying to convey.
I can see that it's a worthwhile idea, and I can see its effects on my own life and the way I consume media and my everyday activities, I just found the book not the easiest to read or to convey these ideas in a simple or coherent way, sadly....more
أنا أحب أي شيء سوداوي، وهذا الكتاب وهذه المؤلفة يلبي ذوقي حقًا. أشعر أنني يجب أن أقرأ بقية كتبها في أسرع وقت ممكن. من العنوان ، هEnglish Review below.
أنا أحب أي شيء سوداوي، وهذا الكتاب وهذه المؤلفة يلبي ذوقي حقًا. أشعر أنني يجب أن أقرأ بقية كتبها في أسرع وقت ممكن. من العنوان ، هذه أسئلة طرحها الأطفال عليها عن الموت ، وكيتلين هي أفضل شخص يجيب عليها ، لأنها متعدة دفن الموتى أو حانوتية.
الكتاب يتضمن رسوم رائعة ولطيفة ، والإجابات مضحكة وشيقة واكتشفت الكثير من الأشياء التي لم أكن أعرفها عن الموت وما يحدث لأجسادنا. كانت بعض الإجابات متكررة إلى حد ما ، لكنني أعتقد أنها تغطي مجموعة واسعة من الموضوعات ، من الإجابات المحددة للولايات المتحدة حول الدفن وحرق الجثث إلى الأسئلة العالمية الأخرى مثل ماذا سيحدث إذا متنا في الفضاء ، أو بالطبع السؤال الأساسي من عنوان الكتاب، هل ستأكل قطتي مقلتي بعد أن أموت؟
I like anything macabe, and this book and this author really caters to my taste. I feel like I really should read the rest of her books ASAP. From the title, these are questions asked by children, all about death, and Caitlin is the best person to answer them, because she's a mortician.
The book includes wonderful and cute art, and the answers are funny and interesting and I discovered a lot of things I didn't know about death and what happens to our bodies. Some answers were a tad repetitive, but I think it covers a wide array of topics, from US specific answers about burials and cremation to other universal questions like what would happen if I died in space, or of course the titular question, will my cat eat my eyeballs after I die?
Highly recommend for a light and darkly funny read....more
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