Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Paint made from bacteria, ping pong at the New York Philharmonic, art fairs, rockets and more

1. “Black Panther” Pays Homage to Several African Cultures Marvel’s “Black Panther” costume designers Ruth Carter and Hannah Beachler pay homage to several African cultures through their work in the film. It was a process aided by extensive research. The film’s primary (and fictional) location, Wakanda is a kingdom of different tribes and Carter drew inspiration from contemporary designers, from the “wool collection of South …

Iridescent Paint Made from Bacteria

In nature, color occurs in two ways, as Artsy explains: “through pigmentation, where color appears the same from every angle, or structural color, where color changes according to interactions with light.” However, a new study exploring which genes are responsible for coloration has led to the discovery that flavobacterium (a bacteria found in soil and water) can be tinkered with to alter its color. Chemist …

Researchers Pen Severe Report About AI’s Threat to Humanity

Assembling in Oxford, 26 researchers from 14 organizations have drafted a 100-page report on the dangers artificial intelligence poses the future of humanity. As VICE notes, AI is already all around us, operating background processes in everything from medicine to finance. The two-day conference declared that superhuman artificial intelligence can be turned on humanity and those working in the field must take the potential misuse …