1. The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei. A sign of extraordinary science fiction is that time makes it more relevant, rather than less so. This Taiwanese novel was written in 1995, but the themes of climate change and cyborg lifeforms make it an excellent read.
  2. Is the post-COVID-19 syndrome a severe impairment of acetylcholine-orchestrated neuromodulation that responds to nicotine administration? by Marco Leitzke (2023). The pathogenesis and clinical expression of post-COVID-19 syndrome can be well explained by a cholinergic neuromodulation disorder due to a partial or complete blockade of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These case studies indicate that the intensive use of nicotine patches can lead to symptom improvements.
  3. The World’s Population May Peak in Your Lifetime. What Happens Next? at The New York Times. If the world’s fertility rate would continue the same as in the US today, the global population would fall from a peak of around 10 billion to less than 2 billion about 300 years later, over perhaps 10 generations. While I don’t agree with the fear-mongering surrounding population decline, we do need to think about adaptation strategies for an aging and declining global population.
  4. Should we charge for patient messaging? by Nikhil Krishnan from OutOfPocket. Patient messaging has seen a large surge since Covid, with people using solutions like Epic’s MyChart to get treatment advice from their doctors. This leaves the question what the best billing practice for this new(ish) form of patient-doctor interaction is.
  5. How much does every country like every other’s country’s food? via YouGov. It appears Italian, Chinese, and Japanese are the most widely appreciated cuisines.
  6. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. The book is written in the first person perspective of a teenage killer’s mother and documents her attempt to come to terms with her son  and the murders he committed.