The students at Keio University have been mailing leaves of Ilex latifolia, a species of holly native to Japan and China, since April as part of a class project that spans science and history. https://www.vice.com/en/article/k787w3/japan-leaf-letters

In 1974, when the Columbo episodes for that season ran out, the populace protested, and the Romanian government reached out to Falk himself to try to stem the uprising.
https://www.avclub.com/romania-asked-peter-falk-to-help-prevent-an-uprising-af-1847093587

Exploring the furniture, interior design and objects found on Star Trek in creating its 24th century aesthetic. https://star-trek.design/

What is known about the role of serotonin in brain chemistry comes from the work of Wayne Woolley, a blind biochemist https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/wayne-woolleys-marvelously-equipped-mind

My review of _Mallmann on fire_. Sometimes, I'm happy to treat a cookbook as a coffee-table book. What pretty photos! https://amzn.to/35wfQuy

This is truly, truly worth the 1.5 hours of time to watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHfGuYiKlF4

"More than anything, having heard her grandmother’s story, Hall wanted to learn about female resistance to slavery – because so little was ever taught about it at school."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/16/secret-history-the-warrior-women-who-fought-their-enslavers

Unlike a lot of discontinued medical practices, frog tests were no quackery, in fact, they were almost impeccably accurate. https://historyofyesterday.com/when-frogs-were-used-as-pregnancy-test-kits-fb865183982c

More than a third of states have already approved measures that will allow bars and restaurants to keep selling takeout cocktails and other alcoholic drinks long after bars and restaurants reopen. https://modernfarmer.com/2021/06/the-state-of-takeout-cocktails/

Joan Rivers and Treva Silverman on comedy... and lifelong friendship

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/can-we-talk/id1078665131

How Egyptian papyrus is made: watch artisans keep a 5,000-year-old art alive.
https://www.openculture.com/2021/06/how-egyptian-papyrus-is-made-watch-artisans-keep-a-5000-year-old-art-alive.html

In his new book HOW THE WORD IS PASSED, Clint Smith III examines how America's history of slavery is reckoned with — or not — in different corners of the country. In this excerpt, he visits a Virginia cemetery where Confederate soldiers are buried. #longread #juneteenth https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/06/confederate-lost-cause-myth/618711/

No, these microchips can't be used to track you; they can only communicate outside the body with an ultrasound machine.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a36503099/worlds-smallest-implantable-chip/

"This National Science Foundation supported project brings together expertise in entomology, learning sciences, software engineering, water quality biomonitoring, and design." https://www.macroinvertebrates.org/

Need an explainer?

Ranked Choice voting is about to get a lot more attention when NYC voters pull rank in the city's mayoral election. And it's "the reform of wonky activists' dreams." https://www.vox.com/22443775/ranked-choice-voting-explained-new-york-strategy

Off a tiny lane in the depths of mid Wales lie hundreds of small Italian model buildings. Jonathan Fell is now conserving it, with the location kept secret to prevent an invasion of visitors. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-57358722

"This modernist worldview failed to account for women, as well as children, elderly and disabled people – anyone, in fact, who fell outside the statuesque ideal." https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/may/19/why-are-our-cities-built-for-6ft-tall-men-the-female-architects-who-fought-back

"Americans are quitting their jobs at record rates as employers poach workers with raises, bonuses and perks. The payroll processor Gusto found that service-sector employers gave out as many bonuses in May as they do in a typical December." https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/15/industries-with-worker-shortages/

Citymeals on Wheels is partnering with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to deliver art-making kits to over 1,000 NYC seniors. https://hyperallergic.com/652001/citymeals-on-wheels-delivers-metropolitan-museum-art-making-kits-to-nyc-seniors

As Sheehy wrote: “You get a very strong feeling of two lives with the train a bridge.” The distance between those two lives is explored in a body of research loosely known as “boundary theory,” and this, perhaps, is where we see the commute’s more important job. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/admit-it-you-miss-your-commute/619007/