Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Star Trek turns 50, hospitals of the future, art collaborations and more in our look at the web
1. Star Trek Was More Than it Seemed
The original Star Trek series might have only lasted three years, but it explored significant political and cultural issues—despite it oftentimes being looked over as purely playful and kitsch. The cult TV show is celebrating its 50th birthday, and NPR explores how the show was “much more than a five-year mission.” From an episode showing the absurdity of racism through an alien war, to Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura’s interracial kiss, creator Gene Roddenberry managed to weave essential social commentary into a show about space exploration in the ’60s. Live long and prosper—and read more at NPR.
2. Photographs of Rarely Seen Amish Communities
Since photography isn’t always welcome in Amish communities, photojournalist Michael Hanson’s series wasn’t easy to create, but his curiosity and the challenge it presented motivated him. First, Hanson attended the predominantly Amish Mount Hope Horse Auction in Ohio—where farming equipment and animals are sold. He then traveled to Unity, Maine where he met a man who had denounced the religion. The man was shunned by much of the community and a rift was birthed with his family. Both sets carry beauty and respect. Read and see more at the Washington Post.
3. The Hospital of the Future Will Sound Different
The hospitals of the future are going to sound different. At the moment, they are full of beeping and buzzing, footsteps and chit-chat—all noise that’s perceived differently by different patients. Some find the sounds very disruptive, which is understandable considering some hospitals have registered sound at 42+ decibels (the WHO suggests 30 decibels for sleeping, and anywhere over 55 can cause heart disease). Ultimately, a lack of rest means patients recover more slowly. Interestingly, Susan Mazer (president and CEO of Healing HealthCare Systems) says it’s not about creating silence, “We don’t want to “merely mask other sounds, [but] add positive, therapeutic sounds where there are none.” Read more at Quartz.
4. David Shrigley for Flying Tiger
Super-colorful and playful, the new collaboration between Flying Tiger Copenhagen and David Shrigley—called “Strong Messages”—includes everything for heading back to school or work. From pencils and totes, to tablet sleeves, notebooks, and iPad and iPhone cases, the products are useful for any office. Beyond desk work, the line offers up a few bonuses: a towel, shower curtain, and even bathroom scales. Our favorite, however, is the guitar pick that simply says “Don’t be rubbish.”
5. Films and Spiritual Healing with the Unarius Academy of Science
Whether you call it science, a religion or a cult (members consider their teaching and beliefs to be a science), there’s no doubt that Unarius Academy of Science produced incredible films and costumes—all in the name of spiritual healing. Co-founder and former leader, the late Ruth E Norman, instructed followers to create incredible psychodramas in order to learn more about their past lives. “We Are Not Alone” is a doc about the organization—specifically when it was led by Norman—and was made by female-led media company The Front. Watch the 11-minute film on their site.
6. The Unappropriated Recipes
A tome celebrating Hong Kong, “The Unappropriated Recipes” by Para Site (the city’s impressive art center) features artist-imagined recipes uniting for a unique concept cookbook. From fortune-telling with spaghetti sticks, to “power socio-political movements with activist ingredients” and more, it’s part food, part art, and altogether a love letter to the vibrant city of Hong Kong. Find out more, or get involved, at Kickstarter.
7. Zine Highlights How Often The Simpsons Predicted the Future
Guillaume Pavia and Emma Chapuis’ zine “Secret Museum of Mankind” has just released an issue dedicated to The Simpsons—specifically the ways in which the show managed to predict the future correctly. Focusing on nine episodes, the publication shines a light on “the demise of Siegfried & Roy, corruption at Fifa and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.” The zine is appropriately printed on yellow paper, with lots of retro computer graphics. Read more at It’s Nice That.
8. Super-Rare Identical Twin Puppies
In an incredibly rare event, a vet in South Africa has delivered identical twin puppies. When performing a caesarean on an Irish wolfhound, Kurt de Cramer noticed two of the litter were “both attached with umbilical cords to the same placenta.” Seeing then that they were both the same gender and with very similar markings, de Cramer believed that they were twins—and he was right. This cute pair of pooches is the first “confirmed instance of genetically-identical twins.” Read more at the BBC.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
