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New Orleans Without Live Music Is A Weird, And Economically Devastated, Place

New Orleans has more than 130 live music venues, most of them smaller (some far smaller) than the average size venue in the country. The city’s restaurants and tourist industry rely on the live music, of course. And “until there’s a vaccine, an entire musical ecosystem is in suspended animation—and with it, the rest of the city.” – Slate

Modern Construction Is Threatening The Prehistoric Traces Of Human Migration

Rapid development in India is threatening knowledge of how humanity came to be. Sites are crumbling into rivers, being turned into rice fields, and being destroyed for buildings. “With sites holding the evidence of India’s past rapidly disappearing, reearchers worry about whether complex questions about humankind’s distant past can be answered.” – Wired

As The Tate Modern Reopens, Its Disturbing Art Is Almost Comforting As A Reflection Of Our Times

You can take one of two paths through the 20-year-old museum as it reopens, and nothing is comforting – not that that’s new. “Tate Modern has never been a relaxing place to visit. But we’ve never needed its clear eye for the restless more than we do now, as we learn the true meaning of modern times.” – The Guardian (UK)

Scientists: Earth’s Seismic Activity Plummeted During Lockdown

Writing today in the journal Science, dozens of researchers from around the world show that the seismic activity from our civilization plummeted as lockdowns went into effect. This “anthropogenic seismic noise,” as seismologists call it, comes from all manner of human activities, whether that’s running factories, operating cars or trains, or even holding concerts. So starting in China originally, then in different places in Italy, and then going through Europe. And whenever lockdowns happened in different countries, we see the effect that’s up to an 80 percent reduction in the amplitude of the seismic noise in some places.” The average was about 50 percent. – Wired

You Can’t Social Distance Dance. So…

Dancers, unlike baseball players, may not be known for virus-spreading habits like spitting, but their job poses multiple risks. They work in studio spaces with varying degrees of ventilation, they share dressing rooms, they touch, they are prone to heavy breathing. Under what conditions should dance companies consider getting back into the studio during the pandemic? The protocols to be put in place are dizzying. – The New York Times