Danny's Pathologically Polymathic: April 2021

first-cousin marriages have been illegal in China since 1980; the taboo on marriage between the children of brothers is older - LOC

this is horrible: an Israeli crush disaster reminiscent of Hillsborough - Guardian

two exceptional medieval manuscripts were found by chance in 1934 - Medieval Manuscripts

two books on viruses and viral diseases - Viruses, Plagues and History + A Very Short Introduction [my review]

property taxes, dissenting opinions and the German Constitutional Court - Verfassungsblog

"Man's Greatest Enemy is the Motor Car" - a sadly prescient voice from 60 years ago - @rudo_botha

UK to EU investment up 17%, EU to UK investment down 9% - European Economic Review

"eing a smaller economy than the EU leaves the UK more exposed to the costs of economic disintegration"

possible an even more important vaccine: a malaria vaccine trial shows 77% efficacy! - Guardian

malaria parasites once photosynthesised - Aust Acad Science

the bizarre genome of Rafflesiaceae "corpse flowers" - Quanta

Understanding the Origin of the Vertebrates - Across the Bridge [my review]

a Covid catastrophe in India - Guardian

typical UK: if we don't test for fecal bacteria in rivers, we won't need to regulate sewage dumps - Guardian

public spaces of Barcelona: a photo tour - Pedestrian Space

ongoing shrinking of British children's freedom to play - Guardian

Inga Moore talks about illustrating The Wind in the Willows - Guardian

why cycling is important for infants, toddlers and caregivers - BYCS

classic Boeing paper on the pitfalls of outsourcing - Boeing

why are the RSPB, the Woodland Trust, and BBOWT now backing an Oxford-Cambridge expressway? (rebranded as "Nature's Arc") - Guardian

France to allow old cars to be traded in for e-bikes - Reuters

£100 million a year would ensure every UK primary school has a proper library - BookTrust

cycling injury risk in Britain: a case-crossover study - Accident Analysis & Prevention - Environ. Res. Public Health - Vimeo

France bans domestic flights that are under 2.5 hours by train - Reuters

doesn't cover that many routes (5-10%), but it's a start

cycling infrastructure empowers women - Guardian

"In the Netherlands and Copenhagen, 55% of journeys by bike are made by women"

a proof of the Erdős-Faber-Lovász hypergraph colouring conjecture - Quanta

England infection rate down to 0.2% (March 11-30), but 0.4% in primary-age children... - REACT/Imperial

there are 300 million e-bikes in China - and 50,000 manufacturers - Bloomberg

restraining car dominance is key to sustainable transport post-Covid - LabourList

the biggest threat to the EU is the rule of law crisis in Poland and Hungary - Encompass

"The electoral autocracies that have emerged in Budapest and Warsaw have not only dismantled judicial independence and fundamental rule of law principles at home, they have also taken to brazenly defying EU law and to attacking central pillars of the EU legal order."

death in the time of covid - Guardian

"These days, all they really want is to avoid hospital. They hope to die at home."

Johnson fits into a long history of prime ministers who are lazy charlatans - Unherd

the UK government's "racism report" is historically illiterate - Guardian

independent schools in the US seem even more out of touch with reality than UK ones - Atlantic