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 July 10th 2017.
And God Created the (French) Woman
She is Brigitte Bardot, Françoise Hardy and the embodiment of Chanel. The epitome of effortless elegance with an alluring je-ne-sais-quoi, the French Woman trope is one of the most effective marketing ploys in modern fashion and beauty industries. Who is this femme fatale, really? And why are we so obsessed with her?
→ Read it on Racked Pocket
To skip or not to skip intros
With better tech comes better movie and television effects, including title sequences. It all began with The Sopranos, which graced the small screen with a journey-like opening sequence in 1999, setting the stage for increasingly creative intros like those for Game of Thrones, Mad Men and Six Feet Under. In the Netflix era, why do shows still have openers?
→ Read it on The Verge Pocket
Building Eclipseville
What happens when a small Kentucky town is identified as the point of Greatest Eclipse for a hotly anticipated upcoming event? Its citizens spends years preparing to welcome tens of thousands of amateurs and eclipse chasers for a one-time-only historical experience.
→ Read it on Mental Floss Pocket
I, Robot + You, Human
The future is programmed and ready to go. There’s no turning back: robots and AI supercomputers will only become more and more present in our daily lives. In fact, they’ll eventually be as ubiquitous as smartphones. The question remains, beyond utility, what will our emotional relationships with robots look/feel like?
→ Read it on Numerama (In French) Pocket
The electric car revolution
Although self-driving cars have been monopolizing car-related news, another vehicular innovation is making unnoticed, but impressive strides… Electric cars are expected to outsell regular models within 20 years and are much closer to becoming a pervasive reality than their driverless counterpart.
→ Read it on Bloomberg Pocket
In your earbuds: Rocket Science for Babies
Things your baby should learn about: walking, talking, playing with others and…quantum physics? In this edition of NPR’s Morning Edition, host Lynn Neary shares a new discovery: rocket science books for babies. The kids will have to learn about technology eventually, so why not start young?
→ Listen to it on NPR
This week’s favourite thing
Close your eyes and picture this: a small hill covered with lavish green grass and a bright blue sky with scattered white clouds. Seems ordinary. Now picture it as a Windows desktop background. Ring a bell, anyone? How did this simple landscape become the world’s most famous computer background?
Image from Pinterest
