Research has drawn on principles of fluid dynamics to improve traffic predictions, sped up simulations of turbulence to enhance our understanding of hurricanes and devised tools that helped predict the spread of Covid-19. - Quanta
Since the founding of the tiny corner of academia known as science fiction studies in the 1970s, there has been a sense that science fiction is of the left, while fantasy is of the right. - Dissent
“A comedic actress with a high-beam smile who often played sidekicks both wisecracking and wise, (she) scowled her way to pop-culture fame on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In playing a matron who wields her purse like a cudgel.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
We wanted to make clear that in many respects, trans and queer have always been with us. You can’t talk about same-sex desire without interrogating what sex you are talking about. - The Gay & Lesbian Review
The most memorable offerings didn’t care a whit about product-testing strategies. What marketing genius, for instance, could have predicted that “Maybe Happy Ending,” a jazz-infused rom-com about robots and mortality that originated in South Korea. - Los Angeles Times
“The auction of the Piprahwa gems will take place in Hong Kong next week. Sotheby’s listing describes them as being ‘of unparalleled religious, archaeological and historical importance’ and many Buddhists considered them to be corporeal remains, which had been desecrated by a British colonial landowner.” - The Guardian
The show was staffed with early-career, non-unionized theatermakers, and they received no severance pay or other compensation when producers abruptly ended the run. When that news reached social media, some “angel investors” came together to help the suddenly jobless cast and crew. - Playbill
“As of Feb. 14, the city has a real, big city-style department, the Office of Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment. After years of performers, administrators, boards, and venues having to bounce between offices for everything from grants to permits, there’s finally a one-stop shop whose sole concern is the arts.” - The Austin Chronicle
“Beverly Hills sports and entertainment company Endeavor is selling contemporary art organization Frieze to a new events and experiences company launched by superagent and Endeavor founder Ari Emanuel. … The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, was valued at roughly $200 million.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies ‘to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS’ and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations.” This is funding already approved by the U.S. Congress. - AP
Just days after musicians leafleted the audience at Michael Tilson Thomas’s last-ever concerts, management released an open letter pointing out that the orchestra is facing down years of large deficits and charging that musicians’ attitude during negotiations has been “counterproductive and even immature at times.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
“British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has firmly rejected proposals for a levy on streaming platforms operating in the U.K., despite recent recommendations from a parliamentary committee suggesting such a measure could help support the country’s television drama sector.” - Variety
The roots of May Day, or International Workers Day, stretch back over a century to a turbulent and pivotal time in U.S. labor history — labor unions’ struggle for an eight-hour workday during the 1880s. Unions later recommended that workers be honored every May 1. - AP
