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2020.01.01
From cashier to world’s youngest PM. Finland’s new leader breaks the mold
When leaders from the European Council gathered for a group photo in Brussels last week, it was hard to miss the class newbie. Standing front and center among the neat rows of middle-aged men was Finland’s new prime minister — 34-year-old Sanna Marin.
The young woman had a huge smile on her face. And why not, given her trailblazing new status as the world’s youngest sitting prime minister.
She now heads Finland’s governing coalition of five parties — all of which have female leaders, and almost all under the age of 35. It’s a remarkable line-up, given the country’s leaders have traditionally been older men.
Marin and her fellow coalition leaders don’t look like your average senior politicians. The new prime minister is a big Rage Against the Machine fan, and a photo of Marin and her all-female line-up was proudly shared on Instagram by the band’s guitarist, Tom Morello.
Marin’s modest background doesn’t read like your average world leader’s either. She grew up in a “rainbow family, “ her mother in a same-sex relationship. They lived in a rented apartment and despite not having much money, Marin wrote that they had an “abundance” of love.
After graduating from high school, she worked as a cashier — a role Estonia’s interior minister this week mocked, calling her a “sales girl” and questioning her ability to run the country.
Marin used the comments to her political advantage, tweeting: “I’m extremely proud of Finland. Here a poor family’s child can educate themselves and achieve their goals in life. A cashier can become even a Prime Minister.”
—— CNN：From cashier to world’s youngest PM. Finland’s new leader breaks the mold
2020.01.02
The Timothee Chalamet and Hollywood heartthrobs through the ages
Over the decades, the actors who have become heartthrobs have had much to tell us about straight women’s desires both sexual and romantic; the popularity of their personas has reflected how we have viewed masculinity at any particular time.
1990s:
- Type: The Sensitive Pretty Boy
- The Heartthrob: Leonardo DiCaprio
Though it seems faintly entertaining now to imagine the debauched, supermodel-dating DiCaprio as the sensitive, pretty-faced boy he once was, in the 90s he fit perfectly into the role. His contemporaries — Johnny Depp, River Phoenix, Brad Pitt, and the like — would share the same snake-hipped, boyish charms.
But it was DiCaprio who landed at the top of the pile with his starring role as Jack Dawson in megahit Titanic (1997) and as the titular doomed lover in cult favourite Romeo & Juliet (1996). The two combined to make Leo the tragic romantic angel of the decade, feeding into a culture where movies, music, and literature were all more interested in deconstructing traditional manhood than they were in upholding it.
2010s:
- The Type: The Internet’s Boyfriend
- The Heartthrob: Timothée Chalamet
These days, with the help of memes and twitter fan accounts, stanning the heartthrob du jour (and they are always du jour) is easier and more popular than ever. The internet’s boyfriend doesn’t always have a particular look or type, but one thing he does seem to have is a rabid online fandom and a propensity for real-life charm to add to his overall reputation. It could be Keanu Reeves’ renowned kindness, Chris Evans’ hatred of Donald Trump and love of dogs, or Timothée Chalamet and his nonplussed ‘who, me?’ nervousness that sends their devotees wild, but there’s something loveable about these guys that goes beyond their screen acting.
—— BBC：Culture - Timothée Chalamet and Hollywood heartthrobs through the ages
2020.01.03
Explosion of U.S. tech jobs concentrated in just five metro areas, study finds
The explosion of top-tier tech jobs has clustered in a handful of coastal hubs, expanding the wealth and innovation differential that’s draining talent from the rest of the nation, new research shows.
Just five metro areas — Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle — snapped up 90% of the 256, 063 tech jobs created from 2005 to 2017, according to a study released Monday from The Brookings Institution. The remaining 10% was divvied up among 377 urban areas.
The research looked at employment in 13 “innovation industries, “ which they defined as fields where at least 45% of the workforce has STEM degrees and where research and development investment per worker is $20, 000 or higher.
The industries range from aerospace to chemical engineering to software and data processing.
“These places enjoy the benefits of what economists call cumulative causation, “ the report says, “through which their earlier knowledge and firm advantages now attract even more talented workers, start-ups, and investment, creating a gravitational pull toward the nation’s critical innovation sectors while simultaneously draining key talent and business activity from other places.”
The trend creates its own set of problems for the tech hubs, the authors note, including skyrocketing housing costs, worsening traffic, and wage expectations that can freeze out smaller companies.
But the economic prosperity is significant: in the 20 cities with the most employment in innovation industries, the average output per worker is $109, 443, according to the report. That’s one-third more than the other 363 metropolitan areas nationwide.
—— Washington Post：Explosion of U.S. tech jobs concentrated in just five metro areas, study finds
2020.01.04
Satellites are changing the night sky as we know it
Expect the night sky to start changing fast. One day soon, the stars we can see from Earth could be outnumbered by a vast swarm of satellites.
Some professional astronomers raised alarms last spring, and again in November, after SpaceX launched batches of 60 Starlink satellites. These don’t present a big problem yet, but when thousands more shine down on us, they could interfere with our ability to detect the farthest, faintest objects in the universe — the ones that give us a portal into the distant past.
SpaceX has plans to launch 30, 000 more satellites, in addition to the 12, 000 already approved by the FCC and FAA. Jonathan MacDowell, space historian and astrophysicist of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, predicts that other companies are likely to launch “mega constellations” of their own satellites. The result could be cheap or free high speed Internet access for everyone on the planet, at the price of our view of timeless constellations.
Is it selfish to want to keep our night sky, knowing some people still don’t have Internet access? Maybe. But many of the disconnected surely feel a connection to the night sky, too.
MacDowell says one good compromise solution would be an international agreement, similar to a space junk pact negotiated through the Interagency Space Debris Coordination Committee. Through that agreement, companies with plans to launch satellites now design them so they fall to Earth after 25 years. A similar agreement might encourage people to design satellites with minimal impact on our view.
While the satellites themselves can help connect people to one another, the stars can also help us feel a connection — to others around the world and to people throughout history who have gazed upwards and been inspired.
—— Satellites Are Changing the Night Sky as We Know It - Bloomberg
2020.01.05
You see Pepsi, I see Coke: a new trick for product placement
First came product placement. In exchange for a payment, a TV show or a film would prominently display a brand-name product.
Then there was virtual product placement. Products or logos would be inserted into a show during editing, thanks to computer-generated imagery.
Now, with the rise of Netflix and other streaming platforms, the practice of working brands into shows and films is likely to get more sophisticated. In the near future, the products that appear on screen may depend on who is watching.
Streaming services could also drop in brand-name products based on when a show is being watched. Someone who watches a streaming show in the morning could see a carton of orange juice within a character’s reach, while a different viewer watching the same thing in the afternoon could see a can of soda.
It could start within a year, said Stephan Beringer, chief executive of Mirriad, a virtual product placement company that has worked brands including Pepsi, Geico and Sherwin-Williams into ABC’s “Modern Family” and CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother.”
This supercharged version of digital product placement is being developed at a time when the marketing business — which bet big on TV commercials for decades — needs new tricks to grab the attention of ad-hating cord-cutters.
Beringer, the head of Mirriad, said the current digital product placement technology has been successful enough to suggest that a bespoke version is a logical next step.
“Viewers have been educated to look away from advertising, ” he said. “But we’re putting something in that contextually makes sense. If you do it well, and it’s not annoying, it can work.”
—— The New York Times：You See Pepsi, I See Coke: New Tricks for Product Placement
2020.01.06
A holiday gift that no one wants: More weight
These cold, dark winter days make me want to curl up with a book, perhaps while munching on holiday cookies.
One could describe my conduct this way: sedentary behavior combined with snacking on sugary treats. A regular practice of these things may well lead to weight gain.
Is winter weight gain a thing? Yes, says Larry Cheskin, who chairs the nutrition department at George Mason University. “There is good evidence that it is a thing.”
Research shows that people gain one to two pounds over the winter months. There is evidence that American adults gain one to two pounds each year. Winter weight gain may be a major culprit, so perhaps we should view the season as a particularly risky time for adding excess padding.
Some researchers have narrowed the time window to look at weight gain over the weeks spanning Thanksgiving through New Year’s. In a study of 195 people at the National Institutes of Health, people gained 0.8 pounds, on average, during that period.
“The holidays are not insignificant, “ Cheskin says. There are more social events, an increase in the variety of foods and more drinking. Alcohol adds calories and undermines self-control.
But it’s not just overeating at holiday parties that’s to blame. When it’s cold and snowy — or slushy or icy — outside, people spend more time indoors, which in turn can mean getting less physical activity.
So if wintertime in general, and the holidays in particular, are a precarious time for gaining weight, then what can be done? Be aware that winter weight gain can happen. Pay attention to your diet and try to keep your activity level up.
—— WashingtonPost：A holiday gift that no one wants: More weight
2020.01.07
How the heel got its height
Marilyn Monroe in high heels is the embodiment of a certain version of femininity — dainty, sexualised and uncomfortable, with limited mobility, and pandering to the male gaze.
High heels were, in fact, originally designed for men — and had an immensely practical purpose. Soldiers on horseback wore them in tenth-century Persia. The heel helped keep them stable as they stood up in their stirrups and took aim at enemies with bows and arrows. Yet from the mid-17th century, heels became associated with supposedly “feminine” qualities, and so became women’s wear.
Until the mid-20th century heels were chunky, clunky things. After the Second World War, techniques and materials used in aircraft engineering were applied to shoes, creating the stiletto.
Shoemakers and wearers have searched doggedly for a heel that is both high and comfortable. Joan Oloff, a podiatrist-turned-shoe-designer, makes footwear lined with memory foam to absorb the shock of each painful step. Sandra Gault has developed an app to create 3D images of your feet, which can be used to create perfectly fitting shoes. And growing numbers of companies make shoes with adjustable heels: two inches for the boardroom, four for the nightclub, none for the schlep home.
For those looking for cheaper options, myriad hacks exist. Taping your third and fourth toes together gets good reviews. The wisest are stepping down altogether: in 2016, for the first time, more British women bought trainers than heels.
—— The Economist：How the heel got its height | 1843
2020.01.08
Boeing will halt 737 MAX production in January as FAA reviews software fix
Boeing said Monday it will halt production on its signature 737 Max airplanes indefinitely, beginning next month, a stoppage that could send ripples across the economy and put tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in jeopardy.
The decision comes nine months after aviation authorities grounded the planes following two crashes that killed 346 people. Since then, the company has been unable to convince regulators in the United States and abroad that the airplane is safe to fly.
As one of the country’s top manufacturers and the single biggest component of the Dow Jones industrial average, Boeing plays a significant role in the U.S. economy, and the effects of its decision on employment and stock prices could be swift.
Since aviation authorities in the United States and abroad grounded the planes in March, Boeing has continued producing the jets at a cost of $1.5 billion a month in the hope that the Federal Aviation Administration would quickly approve their return to use.
That optimism now appears to have been badly misplaced, as the timeline for approval has been repeatedly pushed back.
2020.01.09
Moscow resorts to fake snow in warmest December since 1886
Moscow has been so warm this December that the government has resorted to sending trucks filled with artificial snow to decorate a new year display in the city centre.
The Moscow region is in the throes of one of its warmest winters since temperatures began to be systematically recorded 140 years ago. The temperature in the Russian capital rose to 5.4°C on 18 December, topping the previous record for the month set in 1886.
Concerns are growing about the effects of global heating on Russia. Permafrost under the country’s northern towns is slowly melting, and the balmy December weather has interrupted hibernation at Moscow zoo.
The most visible impact, however, has been the lack of snow, which usually begins blanketing Russia in October or November.
City officials said the artificial snow had been brought in for a snowboarding demonstration that will begin on New Year’s Day. The snow was produced by cutting ice for a local skating rink, said Alexei Nemeryuk, the head of Moscow’s trade and services department.
Russia is a signatory to the Paris Agreement to combat global heating, and Vladimir Putin said during a televised press conference last week that the crisis was a direct threat to Russia.
At the same time, Russia recently abandoned plans to set greenhouse-gas emissions targets for business after lobbying by a powerful Russian industry association. In his remarks, Putin cast doubt on the science, however, and omitted any discussion of greenhouse gases.
“Nobody really knows the causes of climate change, at least global climate change, “ he said, adding that people should nevertheless make their “best efforts to prevent dramatic changes in the climate”.
—— The Guardian：Moscow resorts to fake snow in warmest December since 1886
2020.01.10
The six-pack can wait: how to set fitness goals you will actually keep
Most of us have, at some point in our lives, looked in the mirror and decided we need a radical image overhaul – especially in January. Then, when we don’t achieve the desired six-pack within a month, we tumble off the fitness bandwagon. But is there a way to set realistic, useful fitness goals that will keep you motivated as the nights draw in and the prospect of an extra hour in bed trumps a workout?
First of all, think about the goals not to make — keep in mind that exercise alone won’t change your body shape. If you are looking for major fat loss, you will have to look at diet, too. “People underestimate the amount of effort physical transformations take, ” says Hannah Lewin, a personal trainer. She advises clients to focus on positive fitness goals instead — running 5km or deadlifting 30kg — rather than aesthetic goals that will require drastic lifestyle overhauls.
Next, the personal trainer Ruby Tuttlebee advises starting small and building up. Something straightforward, such as a press-up, is a better bet than aiming for a triathlon right off the bat. She also suggests having a series of goals. When you have mastered a perfect press-up, set a new goal of five press-ups in a row, then 10, then 20.
Always reward yourself for achieving your goals, however small. “Even if just walking through the door of your gym is your first goal, you’ve achieved it — so well done, ” says Tuttlebee. Above all, remember that your goals are yours alone, she says. “Make it your own. Tailor it to you.”
——The Guardian：The six-pack can wait: how to set fitness goals you will actually keep
