2025.04.12

[lsanderson]

Is Minnesota about to finally launch its legal marijuana market? New regulations are set to be published on Monday, according to Office of Cannabis Management spokesperson Josh Collins. Via the Minnesota Star Tribune. Via MinnPost

Tuberculosis could end if there’s more US public health funding, experts say
Resurgence could be on horizon as outbreaks pick up speed in US and abroad amid public health program cuts
Melody Schreiber
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/12/tuberculosis-public-health-funding-us

How climate change is supercharging pollen allergies
Amanda Ruggeri
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250410-how-climate-driven-thunderstorms-supercharge-pollen-allergies

The mystery of why some people develop ALS
Sarah Pitt
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230825-the-mystery-of-why-some-people-develop-als

Boarding passes and check-in could be scrapped in air travel shake-up
Facial recognition and a ‘journey pass’ stored on passengers’ phones are part of UN-backed plans to digitise air transport
Sammy Gecsoyler
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/11/boarding-passes-and-check-in-to-be-scrapped-in-air-travel-shake-up-plans

‘Fika has become more expensive’: rising coffee prices affect a Swedish tradition
Swedes are stockpiling supplies of the drink amid cost hikes, with some saying the coffee culture is changing
Miranda Bryant in Stockholm
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/12/fika-sweden-coffee-prices

The science behind the perfect cup of coffee: everything you need to know, from grind size to roast
New research on the optimal pour height this week adds another layer to the quest for caffeinated perfection
Esther Addley
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/12/the-science-behind-the-perfect-cup-of-coffee-everything-you-need-to-know-from-grind-size-to-roast

'Really important stories': What nine rare 1800s photos reveal about US history
Deborah Nicholls-Lee
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250411-what-nine-rare-1800s-photos-reveal-about-us-history

Why Icelanders are happier than ever
Lindsey Galloway
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250411-why-icelanders-are-happier-than-ever

Epic win: why the Odyssey is having a moment
With new translations, a film starring Ralph Fiennes and a Christopher Nolan blockbuster on the way, Homer’s saga about a soldier’s return from battle speaks to our times in unexpected ways
Charlotte Higgins
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/12/epic-win-why-the-odyssey-is-having-a-moment

Comments

[petrea_mitchell]

The Atlantic ran a fascinating story recently about an ALS cluster that may be related to toxic mushrooms.

WoW!

[lsanderson]

Thanks! The BBC article is a it time lagged -- they apparently update it anytime a famous person comes down with ALS and republish it.

[kevin_standlee]

Boarding passes and check-in could be scrapped in air travel shake-up

This sounds depressingly like a move toward unpersoning anyone who doesn't carry a smartphone. I'm already seeing this with SF conventions, some of which are making it impossible to deal with them unless you have a smartphone, email address, and credit cards. Yes, the number of people who don't have these things is declining rapidly (one two paper Hugo Award nominating ballots were cast this year, and both of them arrived too late to count), but it's not zero, and it includes at least one person who has been honored by Worldcon on stage with the Big Heart Award. Another one is my wife, who only attends now via my participation because it's nearly impossible for her to do so any other way. I suspect that there are going to be convention that will soon stop selling membership for cash at the door if they haven't already done so.

Oh my yes

[lsanderson]

It's like the Social Security powers that be deciding to publish their releases in that most used by the elderly medium, Twitter, err, X! (Not to mention crappy airport WiFi and foreign carrier issues that I'm sure no one has thought through.)