Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Vale Ray Tomlinson, a 3D-printed bike and what it’s like to be a woman in 2016
1. Meet Loongkoonan, One of Australia’s Oldest Artists
At the age of 105, Aboriginal artist Loongkoonan is believed to be one of Australia’s oldest painters. Using acrylic paints on canvas and linen, she creates award-winning works depicting her century-long connection to the land and her heritage. She’s produced around 380 works so far (with no sign of slowing down), and she’s currently exhibiting at the Biennial of Adelaide and the Australian Embassy in Washington DC. Head to Mashable to see some of her stunningly intricate artworks.
2. How Denmark’s “Expired” Supermarket is Reducing Food Waste
A new supermarket in Denmark called WeFood is taking a surprising approach to reducing food waste: it only stocks groceries that are past their “sell by” date. The market sources its products from other supermarket chains that throw out perfectly edible goods. WeFood then sells it to customers at steeply discounted prices, with profits going to DanChurchAid, an organization alleviating global poverty.
3. The 3D-Printed Arc Bicycle
With help from Amsterdam-based company MX3D, five students from the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands have produced a stunning bicycle built from 3D-printed stainless steel. Called the Arc Bicycle, the experimental, mesh frame is designed to minimize weight while maximizing strength—though it’s not flimsy, and weighs in at a solid 26.5 pounds.
4. Ray Tomlinson, Inventor of Email, Has Died
Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email, has died at the age of 74. NY-born Tomlinson was the first to develop a way to send messages between two different computers back in 1971, forever changing the way we communicate. He is also responsible for using the @ symbol to distinguish a user from its host—a practice adopted by DARPA’s ARPANET, the earliest form of the internet.
5. Fascinating Images of Dried Teardrops
For his ongoing project “The Imaginarium of Tears,” Dutch artist Maurice Mikkers photographs microscopic prints created by dried teardrops collected from friends, family members and even complete strangers. Like fingerprints, each tear forms a completely unique crystalline pattern—subtle differences that Mikkers hopes to research further. His works will be on display in Kuwait City beginning 29 March.
6. Inside Jeff Bezos’ Secretive Space Company Blue Origin
For the first time ever, Jeff Bezos—the billionaire CEO of Amazon—allowed journalists into the headquarters of his secretive aerospace company Blue Origin. There, he revealed the program’s ambitious plans for the future—including taking paying tourists to space as early as 2018 with a fleet of reusable rockets. The company is currently working on the rocket to fulfill that promise, with a test launch date set for later this year.
7. Research Debunks the Myth of HIV’s Patient Zero
One man has been blamed for the spread of HIV across the US: Gaetan Dugas. Often referred to as “Patient Zero,” he was characterized as a flight attendant whose promiscuity sparked the epidemic nationwide. Finally, research surrounding the origins of the virus have shown that Dugas, in fact, could not be responsible. According to Dr Richard Elion, the myth of Patient Zero was likely created because “it was too scary to think HIV was a general risk due to the vagaries of biology rather than a callous ‘bad guy.’”
8. Five Illustrators Answer “What Does it Means to Be a Woman?”
Earlier this week, International Women’s Day was celebrated around the world, but what exactly does it mean to be a woman in 2016? Dazed Digital posed this question to a few of their favorite women illustrators—including Polly Nor, Celeste Mountjoy, Frances Cannon and others—to see and hear their thoughts. Though they didn’t speak to each other, one theme emerged from each artists’ works: women should stick together and support one another. See their illustrations at Dazed.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
