Monday Cup Of Links #14 - Reading Survey, Stealing DNA, Ancient Rest Stops, and Leaving NYC.
Happy Monday!
It’s been a busy week, what with Harry and Meghan announcing they are ‘stepping back’ from the royal family, and my novel not making an iota of progress. The holidays always take me out of it, and I end up needing a couple of weeks to get back on track.
Anyway, onto our links!
I’m surveying people’s reading habits! Please take 10 seconds to answer this completely anonymous, 4-question survey about how you’re reading! My Thursday post will be an analysis of the survey responses.
23AndMe created a drug that can reduce inflammation, using DNA from their users, and what’s more, they’ve sold the rights to make the drug to a Spanish pharma company. I don’t really know how to feel about this, except a bit wrong. I mean, it was opt-in that you could allow your DNA to be used for research, but it feels a bit more like a violation than Facebook selling my preferences to ad companies.
They discovered and excavated a 2000-year old settlement in Andhra Pradesh. It’s dated to the 1st century because of the style of the bricks, and because of the presence of Roman style amphorae, and its proximity to the sea, they think it might be a trading post. But, among the findings were a life-size idol of Vishnu, from the 8th century, and it was in the Pallava style of architecture. So, in India, a lot of the ancient sites have been continuously inhabited since prehistory, and excavations can’t be done in the big cities. So one trick archaeologists use is to look for sites one day’s journey (40 km) away from a big city. When I look 40 km around this site, I see there’s Srikalahasti, whose (still in use) temple was apparently built in the Pallava era. Isn’t that interesting? (Caveat: the temple is a Shiva temple, so it might not be strictly related).
ICYMI: My post last week collating research about long hours and workaholism. I really enjoyed writing it, and found the exercise enlightening. I hope you do too.
GIF of the week: Departing from NYC on a ship.