Glass Wings Blog

The Glass Wings mailing list and blog is for general idle chit-chat about things we find interesting, especially humor, animation or other subjects relevant to the Glass Wings web site at glasswings.com.au. Subscribe at https://glasswings.com.au/subscribe.html

Private space tourism is taking off – but laws on outer space are from another era

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:36:10 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://theconversation.com/private-space-tourism-is-taking-off-but-laws-on-outer-space-are-from-another-era-283761>

"Private commercial operators are launching more rockets into space, carrying
more people and pursuing more ambitious missions than ever before.

Cars burn in Belfast, bricks fly in Southampton – and the ubiquitous cry of ‘civil war’ goes up again

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:35:29 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/10/belfast-southampton-civil-war-anti-immigrant-online>

"It was the summer of 2024 when it all decisively started, with the horrific
murders in Southport, countrywide violence and Elon Musk’s observation that a
British civil war was somehow “inevitable”. A year later came a hot season of

Good news for renewables: southern Australia’s offshore winds will stay strong even as the climate changes

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:34:13 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://theconversation.com/good-news-for-renewables-southern-australias-offshore-winds-will-stay-strong-even-as-the-climate-changes-276400>

"If you’ve ever stood on a Victorian beach and felt the wind from the Southern
Ocean, you’ll know this is not a gentle force. Whipped up across thousands of
kilometres of cold ocean, these winds are relentless and powerful.

Being a woman in China is getting harder. But in Chengdu, female-only spaces are flourishing

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:33:28 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/10/chengdu-female-only-spaces-china-women-feminist-revival>

"In a small, unassuming bookstore in south-west China, a discreet community of
women dream of a more equal future. Here in Chengdu, 42-year-old Shen Shen runs
one of the country’s leading feminist bookstores.

The 5 simple tweaks to make social media less addictive

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:32:07 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://stories.theconversation.com/the-5-simple-tweaks-to-make-social-media-less-addictive/>

"We’ve all been there: lying on the sofa at an awkward angle, phone in hand,
scrolling through reels. It’s so easy to lose track of time, and so hard to
disconnect.

Slums are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis — and devising solutions

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:31:01 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2026/slums-bear-brunt-climate-crisis-solutions-are-emerging>

"Since moving into a public housing project in Mumbai nearly 20 years ago,
Parveen Shaikh has grown familiar with the ravages of extreme heat. She has
acquired a new vocabulary, adding terms like “low blood pressure” — which she

The SpaceX IPO made Musk a trillionaire. The old rules of capitalism no longer apply

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 19:19:33 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/12/spacex-ipo-elon-musk-trillionaire>

"Elon Musk is now the world’s first trillionaire, after his SpaceX exploration
and satellite company went public on the Nasdaq on Friday.

Making History: Indiana Jones and the birth of a new classic with Raiders of the Lost Ark

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 19:18:41 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://letterboxd.com/journal/indiana-jones-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-retrospective-anniversary/>

"Hollywood’s ability to make a new cinematic hero rather than diving into IP
may as well be buried in an anonymous warehouse among nondescript crates. Even
the great Indiana Jones almost never happened. The character, stepping onto the

Consciousness likely not unique to earthlings, paper says

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 19:14:21 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-consciousness-unique-earthlings-paper.html

“Does consciousness depend on flesh and blood? The answer is almost certainly
no, according to Eric Schwitzgebel, a distinguished professor of philosophy at
the University of California, Riverside. In a new working paper, Schwitzgebel

Plots, love letters and remedies: The medieval secrets being revealed by AI

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 19:11:49 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260527-plots-love-letters-and-diplomacy-the-medieval-secrets-being-revealed-by-ai>

“Deep in the archives of the Vatican library, a mysterious hand-written book,
scrawled with strange symbols, had lain unread for more than 400 years. Its
cryptic pages apparently concealed secret remedies "for afflictions of the