(Roughly) Daily...

www.roughlydaily.com

[nonetheless]

Thinking-- and preparing for-- the unthinkable: "What to Do As the World Falls Apart: A Framework for Action" @natehagens.bsky.social @inevernu.bsky.social

(Plus- the Academy of the Distrustful)

Facing up to it: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/06/03/by-failing-to-prepare-you-are-preparing-to-fail/

[nonetheless]

The history of city planning and how urban design intertwines with a society’s prognostications and projections: "Where Did the Future Go?" @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social

(Plus- Rome, sacked)

Understanding the urban: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/06/02/all-the-cities-of-the-world-are-going-to-expand-we-need-to-have-a-better-understanding-of-what-makes-good-urban-habitat-for-home-sapiens/

[nonetheless]

Fooling around with figures of speech- the simile: "Comparisons as Predictable as the Sunrise" @pudding.cool

(Plus- Kirwan, phlogiston, and bugs)

Analyze the analogical: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/06/01/a-simile-is-just-a-metaphor-with-the-scaffolding-still-up/

[nonetheless]

The Enlightenment is under attack by both the Right and the Left. If it can be "saved" it's through its greatest legacy- permanent critique: "Flickering Enlightenment" @elianeglaser.bsky.social @aeon.co

(Plus- Haydn) Reclaiming reason: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/31/common-sense-is-not-so-common/

[nonetheless]

Colin McGinn on why we ask "what if things had been different?": "Counterfactuals"

(Plus- Krypton)

Dive into differences and the differences they might make: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/30/counterfactual-reasoning-which-deals-with-what-ifs-might-strike-some-readers-as-unscientific-indeed-empirical-observation-can-never-confirm-or-refute-the-answers-to-such-questions/

[nonetheless]

Climate change is here. While we must continue to mitigate, we must also adapt: "The near-term future of climate adaptation: emerging trends" (Plus- White Christmas")

Preparing and responding: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/29/adaptation-and-mitigation-are-two-sides-of-the-same-coin-if-mitigation-is-about-preventing-the-unmanageable-adaptation-is-about-managing-the-unavoidable/

[nonetheless]

Revered in the world of math; outside of it, known for his unusual life, if at all: "How Alexander Grothendieck Revolutionized 20th-Century Mathematics," @kkakaes.bsky.social @quantamagazine.bsky.social

(Plus- Frank Drake)

Studying shape: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/28/pure-mathematics-is-in-its-way-the-poetry-of-logical-ideas/

[nonetheless]

On the (maybe surprisingly) quick-- and quickening-- pace of progress: "How Long Do We Wait for New Inventions?" @constructionphysics.skystack.xyz

(Plus- W. W. Hansen)

Analyzing advance: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/27/great-inventions-are-never-and-great-discoveries-are-seldom-the-work-of-any-one-mind-every-great-invention-is-really-an-aggregation-of-minor-inventions-or-the-final-step-of-a-progression-it-i/

[nonetheless]

For a century, they were crucial to computing-- and a regular part of everyday life: "Punch Cards for Data Processing"

(Plus- Gerald Hawkins and Stonehenge)

Contemplate chads: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/26/do-not-fold-spindle-or-mutilate/

[nonetheless]

A physicist argues that our universe is more than the sum of its particles: "Reality Emerges" @aeon.co

(Plus- Jack Steinberger)

Musing on materialization: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/25/reality-is-that-which-when-you-stop-believing-in-it-doesnt-go-away-3/

[nonetheless]

Amidst the flimflam of early drug markets, Shakers stood for purity- a brand others were eager to exploit: "A Trusted Name in a Dubious Drug Market" from @jstordaily.bsky.social

(Plus- Manhattan)

Heating history rhyme: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/24/it-is-a-most-extraordinary-thing-but-i-never-read-a-patent-medicine-advertisement-without-being-impelled-to-the-conclusion-that-i-am-suffering-from-the-particular-disease-therein-dealt-with-in-its/

[nonetheless]

On the quintessentially-American fowl: "Turkey" @swordsjew.bsky.social

(Plus- the actual first Thanksgiving)

Gobble: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/13/turkey-a-large-bird-whose-flesh-when-eaten-on-certain-religious-anniversaries-has-the-peculiar-property-of-attesting-piety-and-gratitude/

[nonetheless]

A classic "mirror of princes" and what it offers us today: "The Epic of the Fear of Death" @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social

(Plus- the world's oldest seat of learning)

Reach back: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/12/sex-and-death-are-the-only-things-that-can-interest-a-serious-mind/

[nonetheless]

The future of Western forests depends on professionals slowly being starved out of existence: "The plight of the pinecone cowboy" @highcountrynews.org

(Plus- Glacier National Park)

Treasure trees: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/11/the-clearest-way-into-the-universe-is-through-a-forest/

[nonetheless]

Fewer and fewer winners take more and more of the pot. The new mechanics of concentration: "AI is Eating Markets" @paulkedrosky.com

(Plus- Mother's Day: the rest of the story)

Contemplating concentration: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/10/gambling-is-a-tax-on-ignorance/

[nonetheless]

On gray literature, Webster’s Timeline History books, and computerized curation: "The First Tomato to Know Everything" @sosallyo.bsky.social @cabinetmagazine.bsky.social

(Plus- Mother's Day proclaimed)

Hold on to the human: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/09/everything-is-ephemeral-both-that-which-remembers-and-that-which-is-remembered/

[nonetheless]

A significant part of the earth's climate infrastructure is under threat: "A complete guide to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)"

(Plus- Andrew Sharrett)

Put on your sailin' shoes: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/05/08/it-is-by-the-deep-hidden-currents-that-the-oceans-are-made-one/