Link About It: This Week’s Picks

The importance of doodles, the smell of old books, the power of Prince and more in our look around the web

1. Scent Detectives Define the Smell of Old Books You know the sensation of pressing your nose into an antique book or walking through a historic library. But we’ve long struggled with the exact adjectives to describe these scents. Thankfully, two University of London researchers have developed guidelines for describing these characteristics through chemical analysis of volatile organic compounds. To translate this academic approach to …

The Forgotten History of Women Pirates

The author of “Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas,” Laura Sook Duncombe came up with the concept of this new book quite simply. A fan of the movie “Hook,” Duncombe simply wondered where all the female pirates were. Her book explores the history of several women—including Moroccan pirate queen Sayyida al-Hurra and ancient Norse princess Alfhild. “But Duncombe’s book …

Japan’s Very Expensive Luxury Fruit

Japan’s Sembikiya stores are anything but regular fruit shops. Full of fruit displayed like luxury handbags or high-end jewelry, these shops sell strawberries, watermelons and more—for up to around $27k. Established in 1834, Sembikiya is famous for its fancy fruit and the reason it’s so expensive is because of the incredible sizes and shapes. From tennis ball-sized strawberries (which sell for about $4.5k) to square …