1. I’ve mentioned NESTA, the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, before. Not sure they use their full, long name anymore https://www.nesta.org.uk/

Here’s their annual round-up “of the innovations and ideas that could have implications for the next year and beyond” for 2023, ‘Future Signals – what we’re watching for in 2023’, this time including robots in the kitchen and energy so cheap it’s free https://www.nesta.org.uk/feature/future-signals-2023/

and here’s a short introductory video if you’re not familiar with NESTA’s work https://vimeo.com/738414462

2. Here’s a TikTok about a recent discovery to do with the origins of writing by a furniture restorer and amateur archaeologist from London, Ben Bacon https://www.tiktok.com/@viceau/video/7186516820839468289?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7186516820839468289

I nearly showed my age by saying ‘Here’s a TikTok video …’ – don’t think there’s anything else, is there? – and I am showing my age by wondering why the presenter keeps hopping from side to side of the screen.

Here’s a less jerky article from The Guardian on the same story https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/05/amateur-archaeologist-uncovers-ice-age-writing-system

TikTok courtesy of Mark Henebury, who’s clearly a slightly funkier dude than I’d appreciated.

3. Numbers 3 and 4 in the NYT happiness series:

Day 3: Small Talk Has Big Benefits https://tinyurl.com/3sh8uskj

Day 4: Why You Should Write a ‘Living Eulogy’ https://tinyurl.com/2py6k4jy

4. And, finally, a short story from Assam, ‘A Wagtail’s Song’, written by Bikash Dihingia and translated from Assamese by Harsita Hiya https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2022-12/a-wagtails-song-bikash-dihingia-harsita-hiya/

Includes a short reading in the original Assamese by the author: see if you can spot the Assamese for ‘social media’!