Nonpolitical news of Aug 2019

911 photos
Someone discovered photos of the 9-11 cleanup on a CD that they bought at a yard sale.  They’re pretty incredible.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/textfiles/albums/72157708997281912

The Sri Chinmoy self-transcendence race
I think this must be getting very close to the limit of what humans can achieve; I think the mental part of it makes it one of the most difficult races I’ve heard of.  I don’t want to try it; I think I lack the patience.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/48702452

Climate change
This is a scary story; the permafrost is melting much faster than anticipated and will probably release vast amounts of CO2, methane (which is more potent than CO2 in terms of global warming), plus assorted ancient diseases and vast amounts of poisonous mercury, which accumulates at the poles.  The most shocking part is this sentence: “Melting permafrost effectively introduces a new country at number two on the highest emitters list, and one that isn’t accounted for in current IPCC models.”  If that’s true, it is bad news.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190612-the-poisons-released-by-melting-arctic-ice

Kenyan art
A wonderful group of artists in Kenya – I think their art is interesting and the community seems to have that air of excitement that something different is really happening.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48906331

Being productive
A great story about being productive or getting really good at something.  The short version is that it requires deliberate practice/concentrated work for no more than about 4-5 hours a day, separated into two or more short (90-minute-ish) sessions, with a deliberate nap midday and plenty of sleep.
http://nautil.us//issue/46/balance/darwin-was-a-slacker-and-you-should-be-too

Our killer pets
Dogs as the number 3 on the list of the world’s most destructive animals
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/the-dog-is-one-of-the-worlds-most-destructive-mammals-brazil-proves-it/2019/08/19/c37a1250-a8da-11e9-8733-48c87235f396_story.html

Deep learning
A 20-minute TED talk by Jeremy Howard.  His hair is not purple.  Remember when you’re watching that the talk is 4 years old, which makes it more shocking.  The field of AI is moving so fast that it’s very hard to stay abreast of.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_howard_the_wonderful_and_terrifying_implications_of_computers_that_can_learn