A Fraction Immortal
How much of you is truly you? What amount of us can be stripped away before we no longer exist? What would it take to preserve us for eternity? We may never know, but, for some, immortality comes in the way of maintained narrative. We may not be everlasting, but perhaps our story can.
+ A team of historians is capturing the testimonies of Holocaust survivors in an effort to preserve their experiences for future generations. Dubbed “New Dimensions in Testimony”, an array of cameras captures its subjects in intimate detail as they recall their personal histories.
+ The team imagines a future where students in a classroom, or people in a museum, can ask questions of and interact with holographic recordings of the few individuals still able to share their experiences. “New Dimensions in Testimony will incorporate interview content recorded with advanced filming techniques, next-generation natural language processing, and specialized display technologies to deliver a learning environment where a survivor will answer questions as if he or she were in the room.”
+ If you click one link in this email, I implore you to make it this one: “The Remembering Machine”. In the video, Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss gives her thoughts and testimony. It’s both heartbreaking and beautifully touching to hear her revisit her memories of the Holocaust and knowing that her commemoration will add to the narrative well beyond her years.
+ This method of preservation, capturing personality and personal history for future recall, could revolutionize how we all remember our loved ones. One man is creating what he calls “Dadbot”, an interactive catalog of his father’s memories and mannerisms, immortalized in audio recordings. Like the New Dimensions in Testimony project, but without the video aspect, he’s programming Dadbot to converse as if his actual father was on the other end. From Wired: “A Son’s Race to Give His Dying Father Artificial Immortality”
|
|
“Chirp, chirp” - Crickets
Let’s face it, we ate some weird stuff when we were kids. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, because you or someone you know was certainly ‘that kid’. I personally grew up with a kid who ate sand. I also remember a kid who developed a palette for glue. Figuring that cows were onto something, I even grazed a bit myself, back in the day. One thing, though, was too taboo to eat: bugs. As it turns out, there’s a company in Colorado trying to flip that on its head.
+ Lithic Nutrition, based in Aurora, is trying to “foster the inclusion of insects in our diet as a supremely sustainable, nutritious protein source.” They’re pioneering cricket-based protein bars and powders, as well as a pure cricket flour, to help people incorporate the insects into their diets. Fortunately, using powder form eliminates the embarrassment of finding out you had a cricket leg between your teeth all day.
+ Why on earth would they want us to eat crickets? Apparently, they’re highly nutritious, sustainable and digestible. “‘People have been eating insects for thousands of years . . . Our bodies know exactly what to do with them.’” You know, provided you get past the gag reflex.
+ All joking aside, there’s actually something to this movement. Back in 2013, the United Nations released a report urging people to consider adding insects to their diet, citing the world's growing population and the availability, sustainability and nutrition of insects. Insects take up less land to cultivate and need less food and water, compared to traditional western livestock.
+ From Nat Geo: “U.N. Urges Eating Insects; 8 Popular Bugs to Try”
+ “In fact, some two billion people eat a wide variety of insects regularly, both cooked and raw; only in Western countries does the practice retain an ‘ick’ factor among the masses.”
+ Some pooh-pooh the potential benefits, though. One study on crickets determined that, when fed grain-based diets, they don’t show significant improvements over chickens in terms of protein yield. “The potential for crickets to supplement the global supply of dietary protein appears to be more limited than has been recently suggested.” That being said, the same study notes that crickets are but one of many insects with potential, and that more work is needed to determine what is possible.
+ Meanwhile, Lithic Nutrition isn’t peerless in the drive to bring bugs to the menu. There’s a company that specializes in cricket-flour “tortilla” chips that got its start on Shark Tank. Plus, Safeco Field, home of Seattle's Mariners, sold roughly 18,000 fried grasshoppers (legs and all) during their first three home games this year. Long lines and fourth-inning shortages reported.
|
|
We Can Do It!
The military has long been a masculine institution. Between 1994 and 2013, there was even an official ban on women in combat in the US military. This week, however, the first ever female graduate of the notorious Marine Infantry Officer Course (IOC) is making waves with her historic accomplishment.
+ Only one out of the 36 women to ever attempt the IOC is about to graduate and join the ranks of Marine Infantry. “The course requires both proficiency in the field, and the strength and stamina to carry equipment weighing up to 152 pounds. The school begins with a day-long combat endurance” . . . “Historically, about 10 percent of students fail the first day.”
+ Beyond overcoming the IOC itself, the lieutenant (who is electing to remain anonymous) is up against a fair bit of disdain from within the Marine Corp. A 2012 survey of over 50,000 marines “found that two out of three male Marines and one out of three female Marines were opposed to opening all combat jobs to women.”
+ “The Marines’ first female infantry officer will deal with two major challenges once she is assigned to her battalion. One will be winning over those under her command, Hunter said, and the second will be coping with outside attention and critics who want her to fail.”
+ Despite prior bans to women in combat roles, however, women facing combat is nothing new. “‘Women are serving and have been serving in uniform alongside their male counterparts in Afghanistan and did so in Iraq for much of the past decade, even as their theoretical fitness to serve was debated back home. Although officially in support roles, the distinction ultimately made little difference to the 152 female U.S. troops who have died while deployed in those two wars.’" From NPR: “Combat? Reaction Of Many Women In Military Is 'Been There, Done That'”. The ban lifted in 2013 opened up 250,000 jobs, many infantry positions, to women.
+ It may even be the case that we're behind the curve, as we tail countries like Israel, Germany and Canada that already allow women on the front line. "And most experts say the integration of women into such roles elsewhere has gone smoothly, despite concerns as to whether they would be up to the physical demands and about the question of fraternization between male and female troops." It's good to be catching up.
|
|
|
This week's good news, brought to you by:
|
|
|
In a linear stampede, you charge northward as your steed spits steam and coal. The rails below rumble, accompanied by the acoustic twang of a guitar and the croon of the cowboy strumming it. In the next coach down, a duo plucks a ditty while spinning tales of campfires, grit and cattle drives.
On The Iron Horse, You’ll Ride
This October, board the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad for the Cowboy Poetry Train with your favorite cowboys and cowgirls to experience the storytelling traditions of the West. Music, poetry, stories and tall tales promise to delight as the historic steam engine chugs along towards Cascade Canyon.
Disembark the train for noontime lunch, replete with beautiful views among the turning aspens and glistening Animas River. Enjoy Western-style barbeque while the entertainment continues, before taking the journey back to Durango at 1:30 p.m.
Choose from three tiers: First-Class Nomad, First-Class Prospector or Standard-Class, each of which offering a truly special experience aboard the D&SNGRR. Book your journey to the Old West online today.
|
|
|
|
|
