apis and bombus

Via Slashdot, we learn that the same Australian-French collaborative team of researchers that determined that honeybees understand the concept of zero, can recognise human faces and perform basic arithmetic also can understand numerals as stand-ins to symbolise numerical values.
Separate studies suggest that bumblebees (which also live in nests and hives as colonies with a queen and division of labour—albeit on a much smaller scale) are capable of a similar level of communication and learning, they just don’t dance like their more agile cousins, a fact that sounds funny given that they’ve garnered the reputation of being too heavy to fly, which they manage quite well on the contrary. Insights into how smaller brains process such abstractions are not only humbling and point to the eusocial insects and their cohesion as drivers of culture but could moreover led to new and innovative ways to mimic Nature with artificial intelligence.

i am the operator with my pocket calculator

Via Open Culture, we are reminded that when the pioneering electronic band Kraftwerk (previously here, here, here, here and here) released their eighth studio album in May of 1981, Computerwelt / Computer World, which presciently dealt with themes of the rise of computers in society at a time when they were hardly ubiquitous, they recorded several different language versions of the single Taschenrechner / Pocket Calculator—also Mini Calculateur, Mini Calcolatore and Dentaku (電卓)—and even commissioned a custom synthesizer from Casio as a promotional give away. Sheet music was included with the album to instruct fans how to recreating the melodies, and not just for the new material but their early synthpop hits as well. Much more to explore at the links above.

urban renewal

Never failing to deliver on the interesting and engaging, Coudal Partners’ Fresh Signals refer us to the pioneering Hull House maps of civil and labour rights activist Florence Kelley (*1859 – †1932), whose survey of wages in Chicago neighbourhoods was ground-breaking in terms of data visualisation and making compelling, accessible arguments by this early fusion of sociology and cartography.
Aside from influencing legislation that led to better working conditions and the eight-hour workday (see also) and living wages, ending child labour and beginning regular inspections of factories to ensure compliance, Kelley was also a founding member of the NAACP and used her considerable sway in the state government to block the passage of discriminatory policies. Learn more about this social justice warrior, her compatriots and predecessors at the links above.

nationaldag

Though not a regular observance until the 1916 Stockholm Olympics and not an official holiday until 2005, Sweden’s National Day (prior to 1983, Flag Day, Svenska flaggans dag) is a day set aside for country-wide celebrations and cultural exhibitions and marks several historic occurrences that happened on this day, beginning with elevation of King Gustav Vasa—marking the end of the Kalmar Union of the Nordic countries under a single dynastic ruler. The sixth of June 1809 saw the governmental reform that established the kingdom as a parliamentary (Riksdag) constitutional democracy. In 1974, further legislation took away the monarch’s political and military leadership roles, vesting all power in the peoples’ duly-appointed representatives.

the longest day

The retreat and evacuation of British forces at Dunkirk having taken place and commemorated on the eve of the Normandy landings that would take place five years later, D-Day, codenamed Operation Neptune, was a long time in development and planning. Though failing to achieve immediate gains for the Allies battling Nazi Germany with only two beachheads linked and sustaining heavy casualties, the manoeuvre that took place on this day seventy-five years ago established a Western Front in Europe, a wedge to divide German efforts since it began its march towards Moscow with the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, and began the liberation of occupied France. 

Recognising that troop strength and materiel had not yet built itself up to the level to counter the German forces (mindful of the aforementioned withdrawal), the plan was delayed for months and focus was strategically shifted to North Africa, with the Allies eventually winning that theatre in 1943. With Nazi forces weakened and demoralised, commanding generals looked again to the French coast—planning with great secrecy and deception so defences could not be marshalled and the Allies could retain an element of surprise.  The carpenters that built the wooden planning map for General Eisenhower’s headquarters in Southwick House near Portsmouth were detained from April to September to prevent accidental disclosure of the location of the landings while a local medium was imprisoned for witchcraft lest she divine the plans.   

The date was chosen due to the best possible tidal conditions and phase of the moon and any postponement would see the situation degrade quickly. May we never forget the sacrifices of that day and may they never be in vain.

de-orbit

Researchers in the United Kingdom have successfully and safely brought down a demonstration satellite, unfurling an “Icarus” sail to drag the craft into the atmosphere and burning up on re-entry, mindful of how we’ve junked up low Earth orbit and if we continue on the present trajectory, yet to come launches and exploration might be imperilled or even rendered impossible.  Planned obsolescence to include a self-destruct feature is a bit sad—especially considering how our over-engineered, hardy pioneers have many times far exceeded our expectations, but we also don’t need unnecessary and derelict obstacles to future flights.

glowing, glowing, gone

We are all for any gesture—however notional—that highlights the plight of the planet and causes us to reflect on how rubbish we are as stewards of the oceans, so appreciated Pantone and Adobe owing up to its slightly tone-deaf irony in nominating Living Coral as the colour of the year, considering that over half of the vital ecosystems have died off over the past three decades with the rest endangered and on the decline, by introducing a palette that reflects the death-rattle of coral.
Called coral fluorescence, the vibrant colour change from purple to yellow to blue is the reef’s final response to heated, acidified water, heralding succumbing to the phenomena of coral bleaching and demise. Signalling overall health but still not fully understood (like most tings, it seems to be far more nuanced and a way of filtering sunlight, protecting from ultra-violet rays and regulating its symbiotic relationship with algæ and other denizens), going through these chromatic transformations is a distress message that we can’t ignore.

↖ boulder brook trail

Via the always brilliant Kottke, we are introduced to a family of typefaces from the Design Outside studio inspired by the US National Park Service signs (see also here and here)—the sort of classic guide posts and way-pointers that are carved with a router bit, very evocative of the sense of space and time to wonder and wander. Much more to explore at the links above.