If god doesn’t exist, we would have to create him

Source: Anarchism & Revolution: Who was Mikhail Bakunin?

I can only suppose it was intentional that Simon Jenkins chose to dedicate his Easter weekend column in the Guardian to the decline of organized Christian religion in these isles — and if so, fair shout, I guess. What’s curious, though, is that he devotes most of his space to exploring what is surely one of the less ob

Source: From Churches to Lifehouses – Verso

I can’t look you in the voice.

Thanks to Mason Currey’s Substack — Subtle Maneuvers for this.

archived 7 Apr 2019 21:46:26 UTC

Source: In Praise of Public Libraries | by Sue Halpern | The New York Review of Books

Klinenberg is interested in the ways that common spaces can repair our fractious and polarized civic life. And though he argues in his new book, Palaces for the People, that playgrounds, sporting clubs, diners, parks, farmer’s markets, and churches—anything, really, that puts people in close contact with one another—have the capacity to strengthen what Tocqueville called the cross-cutting ties that bind us to those who in many ways are different from us, he suggests that libraries may be the most effective. “Libraries are the kinds of places where ordinary people with different backgrounds, passions, and interests can take part in a living democratic culture,” he writes. Yet as Susan Orlean observes in her loving encomium to libraries everywhere, aptly titled The Library Book, “The publicness of the public library is an increasingly rare commodity. It becomes harder all the time to think of places that welcome everyone and don’t charge any money for that warm embrace.”

Scientists have created a new material derived from seaweed that can store heat for re-use. It could be used to capture summer sun for use in winter, or to store heat from industry that currently goes up the chimney, potentially slashing carbon emissions. The material is in the form of small beads made from alginate, which is cheap, abundant and non-toxic. It stores heat four times more efficiently than a previous material the team had developed.

Source: Scientists use seaweed to create new material that can store heat for reuse — ScienceDaily

It wasn’t just people, animals and trees that were affected by radiation exposure at Chernobyl, but also the decomposers: insects, microbes, and fungi

Source: Forests Around Chernobyl Aren’t Decaying Properly | Science| Smithsonian Magazine

According to a new study published in Oecologia, decomposers—organisms such as microbes, fungi and some types of insects that drive the process of decay—have also suffered from the contamination. These creatures are responsible for an essential component of any ecosystem: recycling organic matter back into the soil. Issues with such a basic-level process, the authors of the study think, could have compounding effects for the entire ecosystem.

Source: Robot centipedes go for a walk – ResOU

Researchers at Osaka University develop a new centipede-like robot and show how its motion can be switched from straight and curved walking, which may assist with search and rescue operations or planetary exploration.

A rosy start to the day. Good morning. Chemo in a hour and then waiting for Stanley steemer to come clear out their stuff.

Early morning.