An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together … Omnium Gatherum for April 6, 2020

Here’s some things I’ve found that you may be interested in checking out:

• “Meet the Xenobots, Virtual Creatures Brought to Life. Computer scientists and biologists have teamed up to make a new class of living robotics that challenge the boundary between digital and biological.”—”Strictly speaking, these life-forms do not have sex organs — or stomachs, brains or nervous systems. […] These are all programmable organisms called xenobots” See also
• Sometimes We Get Lucky: ProjectN95.org—”We spend billions as a culture trying to build digital versions of such webs of trust, but sometimes it is better to do it the old fashion way.”
• “CNN Host To Pastor: How Is It ‘Pro-Life’ To Pack People Into Church Amid Pandemic?. Tony Spell said he has a “command from God” to hold in-person services despite warnings from medical experts and state officials.”
• “Analysis: It’s still religion even if you’re not congregating in person. To help keep the new coronavirus at bay, Gov. Greg Abbott wants us to stay away from each other, but he made an exception for church services. That was a critical mistake during the 1918 flu pandemic. It still is.”
• How the Catholic Church adapted during the Black Plague
• The Coronavirus is not the Black Death
• Tweet—”Since the seventh century, a Sunni Muslim family has held the keys of the Church. And this remains the case even today, in the hope of avoiding clashes among rival Christian sects for control over the church.”
• COVID-19 Lotería designs by Pinche Raf
• “Plague Waters: Seeking a Cocktail Cure for an Epidemic. From the bubonic plague to cholera to tuberculosis, people have sought spirited remedies for a range of serious conditions. But did any of these concoctions work?”
• Tweet—”I would attend this sermon.”
• “The Other Occupy Oakland: Lessons From Depression-Era Mutual Aid. A Look Back At Mutual Aid Driven, Autonomous, And Cooperative Responses In The Bay Area Of California And Beyond During The Great Depression.”
• “‘We can’t go back to normal’: how will coronavirus change the world? Times of upheaval are always times of radical change. Some believe the pandemic is a once-in-a-generation chance to remake society and build a better future. Others fear it may only make existing injustices worse.”
• How technology will change us after the COVID-19 pandemic is over
• “The Pandemic Is Turning the Natural World Upside Down. Widespread social-distancing measures have produced some jarring effects across land, air, and sea.”
• “Finnegas by Paul Kingsnorth. In the time of this great, strange plague, Paul Kingsnorth returns to the Celtic tale of Finnegas, the woodland hermit who devoted his life to catching and eating the salmon that contained the wisdom of the world.”
• Tweet—”Announcement! Cheering megaphone Our Coping Companion is now available in digital format, we want as many people as possible to have access to these proven mental health coping techniques. Grab your copy here: https://checkpointorg.com/coping-companion/ Orange heart”
• Always Narrating: The Making and Unmaking of Umberto Eco
• Gratuitous Crowley cameo: “Top 9 Mind-Blowing Music-Related Conspiracy Theories. CIA doesn’t want you to know about these…”
• Tweet—”No matter who someone is, what species they are, what they look like or where they’re from, the Moomins think that everyone deserves to be treated with respect. This is the main message of Tove Jansson’s work, and should guide the way we live.❤️”

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