> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ivarhagendoorn.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Further Reading
- URL: https://www.ivarhagendoorn.com/blog/2026/06/19/further-reading-115/
- Published: 2026-06-19T19:13:17.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-21T08:08:24.000Z
- Description: Curiosity is the new edge. How the brain builds sentences. How academic age influences creativity. A human history of the Sahara. New forms of ice. Marcel Duchamp. Agnes Varda. Marilyn Monroe. Thomas Mann. And more.
- Author: Ivar Hagendoorn
- Tags: Blog, Further Reading

Tired of being left off maps of the US, [Alaska and Hawaii begin producing maps with other states missing](https://xkcd.com/2394/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com), too.

The best way to start your day? [The science](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01822-z?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) backs naked cartwheels in the sun.

The life and work of [Agnès Varda](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n10/lili-owen-rowlands/againstness?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

How the brain builds sentences, [neuron by neuron](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01922-w?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

Inside [the ludicrous, deadly serious plan](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/06/22/inside-the-ludicrous-deadly-serious-plan-to-take-over-greenland?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) to take over Greenland.

[How does academic age influence creativity](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady8732?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com)? The authors find that "novelty—the linking of previously unconnected ideas—increases with academic age, whereas disruption—the replacement of established ideas with new ones—declines."

[Anticipating the future in an algorithmic age](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aee0976?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com). Misleading predictions shape outcomes and facilitate abuses of power, but resistance is not futile.

A dose of [Duchamp](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n10/hal-foster/at-moma?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com). I was tempted to travel to New York to see the exhibition, but it will travel to the Grand Palais in Spring 2027.

The hole in the ice [at the end of the Earth](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/climate/antarctica-expedition-thwaites-glacier.html?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

A [human history of the Sahara](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n10/rahmane-idrissa/ak-47-and-guitar?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

[Portraits of Marilyn](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n11/andrew-o-hagan/at-the-npg?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

Scientists keep detecting [new forms of ice](https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-discover-the-most-complex-forms-of-ice-yet-20260427/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com). Yes, you read that correctly. According to simulations, there could be many more left to find. 

If it were an industry, [money laundering](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/john-lanchester/squillions?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) would be the third biggest business in the world, behind commercial property and ahead of pensions.

The human body’s [hidden pathways](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/11/magazine/interstitium-anatomy-acupuncture-medicine.html?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

In writing *The Magic Mountain*, Thomas Mann [struggled](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2026/06/25/the-siren-song-of-illness-master-of-contradictions-jensen/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) to free himself from his artistic preoccupation with sickness and death.

A [481-meter-high landslide-tsunami](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec3187?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) in a cruise ship–frequented Alaska fjord. [Animation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCRM4ETPHkQ&ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

The dream of reason. On [Jürgen Habermas](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/06/22/jurgen-habermas-desperate-fight-for-democracy?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com). 

[What Russians want](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n10/greg-afinogenov/slavdom?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

[Slavery in the Islamic world](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/youssef-ben-ismail/his-favourite-camel?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

Humans outperform AI at [this highly rigorous mathematics test](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01888-9?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

[Is AI ruining our skills?](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01947-1?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) Early results are in — and they’re not good.

[Think for yourself](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2026/06/25/think-for-yourself-ai-dan-chiasson/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com). One of the most dehumanizing effects of AI is the short cuts it offers through the gaps and impasses intrinsic to the act of writing. 

An OpenAI model has disproved [a central conjecture in discrete geometry](https://openai.com/index/model-disproves-discrete-geometry-conjecture/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

Knowledge is a commodity now. Curiosity is the new edge. [Ken Ono on the future of math](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGZOi-7haCw&ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).