This and that

A wonderful piece in the New Yorker on the complete lack of medical facilities in Syria, and the improvisation this has encouraged among the surviving doctors, many of them who are still students. The Syrian regime continues to target medical personnel and facilities, with an aim to annihilate the opposition. These doctors, both within Syria and those beyond, are undoubtedly the bravest of our heroes. http://nyer.cm/RtmpXp9

A fun piece on treadmill desks.

Why isn’t this headlines everywhere? Have there been many other discoveries, promising the same, that have failed to deliver?

I have developed a latent curiosity in Physics, and consequently, in astronomy. The sheer scale of our universe never fails to move me, and it astounds me that we have been able to take these high resolution images of a planet far far away. 

A fun piece on frequent flier perks.

The creator of Wilbur, the Pig, writes about the experience of losing livestock (a pig).

Deconstructing Gravitational Waves. We live in exciting times!

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/supreme-being

The regular Wodehouse reader will expect Bertie Wooster to paint himself into a corner and await Jeeves's master plan to extricate him from the 'posish' before long. This book recounts Bertie's run-ins with his most formidable opponents yet, in my reckoning, - that of Sir Watkyn Bassett, and his close friend, Sir Roderick Spode. Throw in Aunt Dahlia, the most spirited of aunts, Gussie Fink Nottle of the newt and Market Snodsbury Grammar School award ceremony fame, and God-help-us Madeline Bassett into the fray, and it doesn't get better. The 'cow creamer', which Aunt Dahlia first wants Bertie to sneer at, and later purloin for Uncle Tom's collection, is easily the most memorable inanimate Wodehouse creation, for me. I always look forward to Bertie's takes on the many women he constantly is in company with, and his repartee and description of Stephanie Byng are, true to form, eminently enjoyable. 5 stars and no less, for this masterpiece, which has kept me going through many a rough day.

Some interesting observations here, which include the obvious tax rates, level of service, proximity to city center, and the indifference of business travellers who often don’t pay out of pocket for the comfort. 

An innocuous phrase this, one that just doesn’t measure up, but is commonly offered in the most testing of times. A very well written piece on confronting our own mortality - which I can’t get out of my head. I wish somebody would write a piece on what it feels like to constantly confront fears on the mortality of loved ones, because I just cannot describe what it feels like to worry about this all day. 

It’s come to this now - unemployment rates for elephants. 

The beginning was promising and the book seemed 'accessible science fiction', albeit sparse in details of the science involved. The protagonist in the book chooses to become a botanist, which seemed exciting when I read it. However, the book soon deteriorated to a period romance, and with about 50% of the book left, I have decided to abandon it. It doesn't evoke in me any curiosity and has had almost no "science" beyond the cursory time travel and immortality thrown in, all details of which, one can gather from the blurb itself. I have since read a short story by Kage Baker in a Best Science Fiction of the Year compilation, and that story, while similarly scant on the science part, held me tightly in its grip, in a way this book just doesn't.

Bryan Caplan writes forcefully about 'strangers’ and we owe no less to strangers from other countries as we do to strangers from our country (basically leave them alone)

This is just so uplifting - such perseverance in the face of misfortune, and so much intelligence, from a ‘citizen scientist’

Interesting article on how drones don’t have the last mile delivery sorted out - though with the caveat that Google and Amazon have chosen to not comment on this - so maybe they have a solution up their sleeve? Would love to find out!