100 Ways, Audio Logos, How to Enjoy Running and Masala Lab

#39 of 10+1 Things| 📍Kerala |☔️25° C

Source:Katerina Kamprani

⚡ Welcome to #39 of 10+1 Things!

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Here are 10+1 Things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

👴 100 Ways

Our genetics play only up to 7% of our longevity and the rest is dependent on our lifestyle and decisions. Living long means we have more time to travel, exercise, spend time with family and engage in creative pursuits. In an interesting guide, the Inside hook has jotted down 100 ways to live to the age of 100 by optimizing our lives through diet, fitness, better decisions and some wild cards. This is an exhaustive list, but two interesting tips I found from the list are:

• Settle down near a body of water to reduce your stress levels.

• Don't eat more protein than you need as it accelerates ageing.

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🍺 Fibre Beer Bottles

Many companies around the world are focusing on bio-based products that are fully recyclable and Carlsberg has piloted a fibre beer bottle in Europe for testing. The bottle has a plant-based PEF polymer lining and is made entirely from raw materials. The outer shell of the bottle is made out of sustainable wood fibre that is bio-based. Carlsberg claims that the new design makes the beer taste better and can retain its cold more than the conventional cans or glass bottles. Apart from the cap, everything in this packaging is bio-based and the company along with its partners are exploring sustainable alternatives for this.

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🏃 How to Enjoy Running

Running is an excruciating sport and beginners often can get demotivated easily during their early days. This interesting article has listed several tips that will help you to enjoy running while increasing stamina, without getting hurt. In a nutshell, the secret to enjoying running is to read books about running, running on trails, tying your laces less tight, experimenting with your stride and more. I wish I had read this article when I started running and is a great collection for anyone who is interested in running.

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🐶 The Old Dog

I was quite touched after reading this essay by Keshia about the story of growing up with a dog sitter. When Keshia came to know that her sister Shandi had cancer, she flew back immediately from South Africa to Singapore to meet her. Growing up without a father, Shandi was the only safe thing Keshia knew about. They belonged with each other and grew up together forming a great bond. Shandi and her then-boyfriend sold everything and relocated to Singapore to spend time with her sister during her last few days. The essay further follows the author's life as a child with Shandi and her life with Shandi at present. This is a beautiful piece of writing and I wish I could write atleast a single piece like this in my lifetime.

Thanks to Refind for delivering gems like these to my inbox!

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🧵 Shifting Baseline Syndrome

professional hog groomer @bidetmarxman

There is a curious phenomenon that results from the relatively brief window of time a single human lifetime provides: we perceive the current state of the natural world as “normal”. This is known as the Shifting Baseline Syndrome. 🧵

This week I've enjoyed reading an interesting Twitter thread explaining the concept of Shifting Baseline Syndrome(SBS). SBS is a psychological and social phenomenon where each generation accepts the situation they were raised in as normal or natural. One way to understand this is by looking at forest cover across the world. Since the European settlers arrived in the US, 90% of the forest cover that existed has vanished. For a person living in the present world, this would appear normal. But in reality, there has been a dramatic change in the environment. This is an interesting thread and I was shocked to realize that the reduced insect/bug splatter that I've observed while driving in the last couple of years is due to the global decline in the insect population.

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🦜️ Bird Collecting to Bird Watching

Smithsonian in an interesting article has shared the history and evolution of bird watching from bird collecting. In the 1800s, birds were shot, skinned, prepared and preserved to study as specimens. Throughout the 19th century, everybody who was interested in birds killed them and collected the specimens. A dramatic shift in this happened when ornithologist Edmund Selous suddenly had a realization while watching a pair of European nightjars. He wrote his feeling in his diary and eventually, this empathy by a single person eventually led to the practice and hobby of birdwatching. This notion was further accelerated by the appearance of decent binoculars in the 1900s.

”But now that I have watched birds closely, the killing of them seems to me as something monstrous and horrible.”

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📻 Audio Logos

Audio logs are sneaky earworms that trick our brains such that we associate a particular sound with a brand. Webflow blog in an interesting article has shared the importance of audio logos and how we can use them as a great marketing tool. Picture the Netflix loading screen. Don't you recall the drum beats and swelling sound? The same goes with McDonald's and many other brands irrespective of whether we like it or not. When we hear a sound, the brain stores it as an echoic memory, a short-term memory to remember the sound. Audio logos make use of this memory and create a lasting imprint of the brand in our minds.

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📚 Masala Lab

I'm currently reading the book titled 'Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking' by Krish Ashok. While researching the history and science behind some Indian dishes, I accidentally stumbled upon this book. As the back cover of the book says, this book exactly is "a science nerd's exploration of Indian cooking with the ultimate aim of making the reader a better cook and turning the kitchen into a joyful, creative playground for culinary experimentation". I've enjoyed reading it and loved the way how the author brings science into the picture and gives cheat codes to optimize cooking. If you love Indian food or if you are fascinated by the complexity of Indian cuisine, this is an interesting read.

An interesting quote from the book:

"Cooking is essentially chemical engineering in a home laboratory, known as a kitchen, with an optional lab coat, known as an apron. Unfortunately, pseudoscience, amplified by WhatsApp, has given the word ‘chemical’ a negative connotation. People regularly say, ‘I don’t want to eat anything that has chemicals in it.’ In that case, I’d advise them to fast indefinitely."
//Resurfaced using Readwise(Try it out!)

Last Week's Read: Elephant in the Brain

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🎨 The Uncomfortable

Source:Katerina Kamprani

This week I'm exploring an art project titled 'The Uncomfortable' by Athens-based architect Katerina Kamprani. The project is a collection of inconvenient everyday objects that are designed deliberately by the artist. Everyday objects that we use are the result of endless design iterations and tweaks over generations to ensure maximum comfort to the end user. This small tweak by the artist has made simple objects super annoying and reminds us of the complexity of simple things around us. From concrete umbrellas to inflatable doorhandle, the project is quite interesting to explore.

"My goal is to deconstruct the invisible design language of simple everyday objects and tweak their fundamental properties in order to surprise you and make you laugh. But also to help you appreciate the complexity and depth of interactions with the simplest of objects around us."

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🎬 The North Korean Assassin

This week I've enjoyed watching the video by Vice that explores the story of a North Korean assassin called Kim Shin-jo. In 1968, 31 North Korean assassins crossed the border and entered South Korea to kill the president. Kim was one among the only two survivors and was captured by the South Korean forces. He was interrogated by the authorities and was later released for his cooperation. Eventually, he became a South Korean citizen and ended up becoming a pastor. The is an excellent story and shows how rehabilitation instead of punishment can change a person.

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📦 Tip N Tell

This last section of the newsletter explores a thought I had, an idea I'm exploring, a dream I experienced or something interesting that I observed:

I was watching the latest Linus Tech Tips video and came to know about a shipment damage indicator called Tip N Tell. These are shipment damage indicators that tell you exactly if your package was handled correctly and was not tilted during transit. I'm not sure whether these are common in North America or Europe, but I've never seen this in India. I had some bad experiences in the past with shipment companies while shipping electric panels and this would've helped at that time. These indicators are tamperproof and can be installed easily with the self-adhesive back. An interesting item to consider if you're shipping expensive items that are sensitive to tilting!

Let me know if you have used this or seen it anywhere!

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📣 Shoutouts

• A weekly newsletter of things that will help us all be smarter, stronger, and more super.

• Grow your audience and build your business with IdeaEconomy.

• A mighty fine resource with posts on creativity, reading and writing, and managing it all, with a dash of current events and pop culture.

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week.

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See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

A rare and useful skill is understanding that people you find to be deluded likely suffer from the same shortcomings you do.”
// Morgan Housel