Each week, we share the top five articles that caught our attention. Here are your must-reads, published here and abroad, for the week of February 11, 2019.
The genetic genie is out of the bottle
By the start of 2019, more than 26 million consumers had added their DNA to four leading commercial ancestry and health databases. What triggered this surging public interest in our genetic stories?
→ Read it on MIT Technology Review
Emoji don’t mean what they used to
Everyone’s favourite pictorial language has moved away from ideography and towards illustration. But it’s lost some expressive power in the process.
→ Read it on The Atlantic
A day in the life
How do we spend our days? Statistician Nathan Yau has illustrated the typical day of an American, from wake-up to sun-down, through data.
→ Read it on Flowing Data
The hottest new streetwear is a restaurant
It’s been cool to wear restaurant merchandise since the Hard Rock Cafe’s heyday, but this marriage of streetwear and food is new. So, how did we get here?
→ Read it on Bon Appetit
Your brain on laughter
A psychological relief valve and a guard against despotism, laughter is a uniquely human – and collective – activity.
→ Read it on Aeon
In your earbuds: Breakaway
Conversations around racism, violence and hate speech are still front and centre in Quebec society. Rapper Webster joins guest host Allison Van Rassel in studio to talk about Black History Month in Quebec.
→ Listen to it on CBC
Instagram fave
Mona Chalabi is a journalist who really loves numbers. She takes data and turns it into poetry, illustrations, audio and film.
Photo: Olena Shmahalo/Quanta Magazine
