This week saw the announcement of several of the 2013 Nobel Laureates: François Englert and Peter W. Higgs for Physics; Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel for Chemistry; James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof for medicine, and Alice Munro for literature. Munro’s win is particularly significant: she is the first Canadian author to win the prize. Here is The New York Times on Munro’s award. Also, over at Salon, Daniel D’Addario has given us “8 things to know about Nobel Laureate Alice Munro.”
While the outgoing President of the University of Michigan herself has not recieved a prize(yet), she left a fine gift for current and future Michigan students. The Chronicle reported earlier this week that Mary Sue Coleman and her husband Kenneth M. Cleman were gifting $1 million to support study abroad scholarships.
Earlier this week, Michele Filgate explained on Salon why “Dave Eggers Made [her] quit Twitter” and not only reviewed Eggers’s latest novel, The Circle but also gave us food for thought about the increasing prominence of social media in our day to day lives.
Before we leave the topic of social media, The New York Times Magazine ran a story titled “All is Fair in Love and Twitter” recounting the origins of one of our favorite Social Media networks. This piece focuses on Jack Dorsey, one of the company’s founders and current executive chairperson.
In “Viva la Bookstore!,” The New Yorker details strategies that the French are employing to protect that sacred space of the independent bookstore, of which France has 2500. Taking aim at online bookstores like Amazon.com, the French legislation has proposed an amendment to the 1981 Lang Law that would “prevent online retailers from engaging in unfair competition by offering free shipping.”
I’m sure I’m not the only one who had hoped for an end to the federal government shutdown before now. Alas. Our own Chronicle of Higher Education has published a (unfortunately pay-walled) dispiriting article exploring the continuing effect on higher education. Nate Silver has also shared “The Six Big Takeaways from The Government Shutdown.”
Finally, as many of you are likely aware, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Not only are there all kinds of pink items for sale in stores across the United States You can buy everything from a Breast Cancer Awareness KitchenAid Mixer to various t-shirts, socks, and jewelry. Not only has the NFL gotten in on the pink-ness of it all, but now, apparently, so has the NCAA. This blogpost from a breast cancer survivor addresses the phenomenon now called “pink-washing” as well as the call for a National No-Bra Day. To wit: "[T]he thought of seeing bra-less women flaunting two body parts that I have lost to cancer — more than I already see this on a regular day — does not feel all that supportive. In fact, it feels quite the opposite.”
On a lighter note, the Swedish Chef attempts pumpkin carving: “Cårven Der Pümpkîn.” Have a great weekend!
[Creative Commons licensed image by Flickr user Solis Invicti.]