Blog

How Should Notre Dame Be Rebuilt? Why, As Though The Fire Had Never Happened

“The idea that an old building becomes inauthentic if it is seamlessly restored is a credo that has been repeated so often it’s easy to forget that this was not the way that buildings were repaired in the past. It was the custom among the ancient Chinese, when an important building was damaged or destroyed by earthquake or fire, to simply rebuild as if nothing had happened.” – The American Interest

This Biophysicist’s Study Of Ballet Movement Could Help Both Neurology Patients And Robots

“[Dagmar Sternad] began working with dance artists … to discover the scientific roots of human balance and coordination. But over the years, she realized that her research could have broader applications, like helping stroke victims relearn and recover skills they might have lost. And, increasingly, she’s been investigating her work’s connection to robotics.” (includes video) – Dance Spirit

Who Gets To Participate In Designing The Future?

“Almost all of the major advances in AI development are currently being made in silos, disparate laboratories, secret government facilities, elite academic institutions, and the offices of very large companies working independently throughout the world. Few private companies (as of this writing) are actively sharing their work with competitors, despite the efforts of such organizations as OpenAI, the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, and the Future of Life Institute to bring awareness to the importance of transparency in building AI.” – Nautilus

Was John Steinbeck A CIA Spy?

The summer of 1954, which the author and his family spent in Paris, was when Steinbeck wrote the just-rediscovered short story “The Amiable Fleas” for his column in Le Figaro. But that wasn’t all he was up to, writes Christopher Dickey: there’s documentary evidence that he was gathering intelligence for the CIA. (Whether he found anything useful is another matter.) – The Daily Beast

Tanglewood Moves Into The Thriving Lecture Business (But Yes, It’s Mostly Lectures About Music)

“With the opening this summer of the Linde Center for Music and Learning, the campus’s first major construction project in a quarter of a century, [the Boston Symphony’s summer home] is dramatically expanding its programming of lectures, talks and master classes.” Reporter Michael Cooper pays a visit. – The New York Times