Peak beef. The demand for rocket motors. New Delhi smog & ethical crystals.
Peak beef. The demand for rocket motors. New Delhi smog & ethical crystals.
Great links, images and reading from Chartbook Newsletter by Adam Tooze
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Mary Delany (English, 1700-1788). “Lilium Canadense,” (1779). Source: The British Museum
Mary Delany and Decoupage
This post is not about the history of decoupage, but just some words about a remarkable woman. Mary Delany (Delaney) was a noble woman of 18th century who at the age of 73 started to create a new form of floral art - “paper mosaics”, as she called it. The tiniest details of flower images were cut from coloured paper, glued on the black or coloured background and embellished with watercolour to achieve the stunning result. Now her works are in collections of British Museum
I am very fortunate to have a possibility to see them as a part of the exhibition
Gilding the Lily , which is held in Fairfax House, beautiful Georgian house in York.
Source: Garden of Decoupage
Passing peak beef
The world is rapidly closing in on peak beef.
With the cattle herd 10 percent smaller than in 2008, the land use for grazing is actually shrinking.
Source: David Fickling in Bloomberg
The bias against girls is painfully evident in China’s demographic statistics.
Source: Shen Lu in The WSJ
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Nvidia to replace Intel in the Dow
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Rocket motors in demand
L3Harris Technologies' business unit Aerojet Rocketdyne has doubled its monthly production of motors for GMLRS rockets that are heavily used in Ukraine, a company executive said on Tuesday, as global demand surges to supply Kyiv and to rebuild shrinking U.S. stockpiles. Demand for rocket motors is soaring worldwide because of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Other militaries are also realizing that future conflicts will likely require many more rockets and missiles - as a part of a new warfighting doctrine dubbed "affordable mass" to describe the sheer volume of firepower involved…. This is good news for L3Harris. In December 2022 the U.S. defense contractor offered to purchase Aerojet, which produces about half of all the rocket motors propelling U.S. military missiles, rockets and other projectiles. But at that time no one knew how long the Ukraine war would last and the Pentagon had signed few contracts to restock its shelves. Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets, also known as GMLRS, travel about 45 miles (72 km). Their widespread use and success in Ukraine has driven demand from new customers.
Source: Mike Stone in Reuters
Mary Delany (English, 1700-1788). “Pancratium Maritinum,” (1779). Source: The British Museum
How New Delhi’s smog builds up
Source: Soumya Pillai in The Print
The world as it looked at the end of the 1960s suggested trends very different from those apparent a generation later.
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The real size of Africa.
Source: @tradingMaxiSL
Ethical crystals
Who doesn’t like a beautiful geode sitting on a windowsill? For some people, crystals round out the vibe of their home decor. For others, crystals like amethyst and rose quartz carry special meaning, even powerful energy that can calm, inspire, and protect.
But the crystal supply chain can be even murkier than that of diamonds. There are no federal regulations in place in the United States for the crystal industry (though Canada, Finland, Argentina, Botswana, Spain, and the Philippines have the strongest sustainable mining regulations for other resources). That lack of federal oversight means that it’s up to the seller to uphold ethical standards in how they source the stones in their shops. Some crystals are mined in ways that violate human and labor rights. Others might not be mined in ways that are unjust but may be sprayed with toxic chemicals like Teflon to boost their sparkle.
Source: Jessian Choy in Sierra Magazine
Mary Delany (English, 1700-1788). “Passiflora Laurifolia,” (1777). Source: The British Museu
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