OpinionPoverty This article is more than 1 year oldBetter than Bulgaria but not as nice as Cuba: how did the US become such an awful place to live?This article is more than 1 year oldArwa MahdawiThe land of the free is heading for ‘developing country’ status, based on a UN index that ranks quality of life. The UK’s not doing much better
What do you call a country where nearly one in 10 adults have medical debts and a broken bone can boot you into bankruptcy?
ShortcutsInsectsDarwin's name for the bee was replaced in the 20th centuryWhatever happened to the humblebee, the old name for the bumblebee, asked Angus Doulton of Oxfordshire in a letter to the Guardian last week.
When Darwin, or indeed any of his contemporaries, wrote of the animated bundles of fluff, he would have called them humblebees. But they weren't humble in the sense of lowly beings doing the drudge work of nectar and pollen collecting; rather they would have been celebrated for the powerful evolutionary interaction with the flowers they had visited for millions of years.
BereavementAfter her husband’s suicide, Kate Harding was overwhelmed by guilt and shame I have been a widow for 11 weeks. It seems surreal to be writing that sentence and yet it is true. I was there; I know. Richard killed himself at home while I was walking the dog with my daughter, while my son was lying metres away in his bedroom. As a consultant anaesthetist and intensivist (a specialist in the care of critically ill patients), Richard knew exactly what to do.
Travel writingWest’s vast, complex book Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is more than a timeless guide to Yugoslavia - it is a portrait of the author’s soul and of Europe on the brink of war. Geoff Dyer explores one of the neglected masterpieces of 20th-century travel writing
The author of guide-books should have no artistic personality. Entirely at the mercy of the place being written about, he or she is ideally an anonymous conduit of reliable information about bus times, places to stay and museum opening hours.
California This article is more than 2 months oldMuslim Stanford student hospitalized in suspected hate crime hit-and-run This article is more than 2 months oldUniversity says incident being investigated as possible hate crime after Abdulwahab Omira suffered non-life-threatening injuries
An Arab Muslim student at Stanford University was hospitalized after being struck in a hit-and-run that authorities are investigating as a hate crime, amid rising threats against Arab and Muslim people across the US.
Evolution This article is more than 4 months oldPopulation collapse almost wiped out human ancestors, say scientistsThis article is more than 4 months oldGenomics analysis indicates that at least 800,000 years ago breeding individuals sank to as few as 1,300
Early human ancestors came close to eradication in a severe evolutionary bottleneck between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, according to scientists.
A genomics analysis of more than 3,000 living people suggested that our ancestors’ total population plummeted to about 1,280 breeding individuals for about 117,000 years.
ShortcutsBeautyA new exhibition charts the afro comb from its inception in ancient Egypt through to its ascendency as a political emblemThe afro comb has long been associated with the 1970s, the accessory of a hairstyle that represented counter culture and civil rights during an important era for both. These days it makes a regular appearance on mainstream TV in America – the Roots drummer Questlove is fond of wearing one while performing as part of the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
18 Oct 202321.16 BSTScott BryanNext time it is Pastry Week! With two bakers leaving too (thoughts and prayers to Saku and Rowan.) And remember we’re back on Tuesday too.
Thanks for your lovely comments and feedback on this liveblog, as always. At a dark time, this place is a 75 minute ray of sunshine.
See you on Tuesday babes.
18 Oct 202321.12 BSTAnd nobody is leaving the tent this week.Scott BryanThis is because Tasha is ill, so they decided to roll over to week, with two bakers leaving.
The ObserverProgrammingThe hard truth about AI? It might produce some better softwareJohn NaughtonIf there’s one area in which artificial intelligence could actually be useful, it’s in the writing of computer code
As you have doubtless noticed, we are in the middle of a feeding frenzy about something called generative AI. Legions of hitherto normal people – and economists – are surfing a wave of irrational exuberance about its transformative potential. It’s the newest new thing.
Pop and rockObituaryAlan White obituaryDrummer of the progressive rock group Yes who also played on John Lennon’s Imagine and George Harrison’s All Things Must PassAlan White, who has died aged 72 after a short illness, was one of rock’s most versatile and highly regarded drummers. He will be chiefly remembered for his career with the British progressive rockers Yes, whom he joined in 1972 after the departure of their original drummer, Bill Bruford.