By Andy MukherjeeAll upheavals leave their marks. Some fade away, some linger. Following the Black Death, the plague that’s believed to have killed 60% of Europe’s population in the second half of the 14th century, the realization that life is short, played a big role in shaping interest rates in late medieval Europe, stretching all the way to the Enlightenment. Could we witness very long-term effects from the present contagion? The coronavirus pathogen isn’t as deadly as bubonic plague, and our toolkit for dealing with pandemics is far better stacked than when the pestilence reached the harbor of Messina on the northeastern coast of Sicily in late 1347. But while the dislocation caused by the respiratory disease has had a catastrophic impact on commodity and asset prices, a recovery may not close the chapter. The coronavirus, too, could leave a durable imprint.Economic historians quibble over the exact consequences of the Black Death, though they agree that the … [Read more...] about Economic life after Covid-19: Lessons from the Black Death
English through the news
Why we should be watching the sun, not the clock
This all goes to highlight a central point: our biology is tethered to the sun, yet the clocks society uses to keep time are influenced by a tangled web of political and historical factors. Take Germany as an example. At its widest point, the country extends across nine degrees of longitude, and the sun takes four minutes to pass over each of them, which means that the sun rises 36 minutes earlier at its eastern border than at its western one. In a country with the same time zone – and the same TV and radio shows, school start times, and work culture – you might expect that everyone would rise at more or less the same time, but Roenneberg has demonstrated that people’s chronotype – their innate propensity to sleep at a particular time – is shackled to sunrise. On average, Germans wake up four minutes later for every degree of longitude you travel west, meaning that those in the extreme east rise 36 minutes earlier, on average, than those living in the … [Read more...] about Why we should be watching the sun, not the clock
Madonna, 61, to make first hip-hop track alongside wannabe rapper boyfriend, 25
The 61-year-old has been dating dancer Ahlamalik Williams for a number of months now, and the 25-year-old is set to release his very first rap track in the very near future. … [Read more...] about Madonna, 61, to make first hip-hop track alongside wannabe rapper boyfriend, 25
Newborn endangered sea turtles throng Brazil’s deserted beaches
Speaking to the Guardian last week, Câmara said such measures – which are being actively undermined by president, Jair Bolsonaro – were crucial if Brazil was to avoid a crisis like the one gripping Europe. “Only isolation will stop the curve growing at the speed it is growing in other places.” … [Read more...] about Newborn endangered sea turtles throng Brazil’s deserted beaches
The Kremlin is terrified that Putin will catch Covid-19, and the whole regime will collapse
With “unusually high” activity levels of the Russian navy in the North Sea and the English Channel, it might be tempting to picture a menacing Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin directing operations from a position of total control. But that would be wrong. This show of strength comes at a time of Russian anxiety in the face of the coronavirus pandemic – and Putin’s own succession problem. … [Read more...] about The Kremlin is terrified that Putin will catch Covid-19, and the whole regime will collapse
