Global Comment

Worldwide voices on arts and culture

The web’s top three #15

Architecture

The news may be fraying your nerves, and there is new information flashed in front of us every few minutes. So much so that we can find ourselves missing the slow, thoughtful, considerate words that our brains – and souls – need. This weekly update can provide that for you. We do this by distilling the best of the web and recommending just three links every week that you absolutely must see.

No fluff, no fuss, just three exceptional reads. Here are this week’s recommendations:

The couples taking relationship ‘gap years’ (Katie Bishop / BBC)

Viva isn’t the only one looking for a way out of her marriage, at least temporarily. Some counsellors and relationship therapists report coming across couples that don’t see a desire to sample a new life without their partner as a sign that a relationship is over. Instead, some are choosing to take a so-called relationship ‘gap-year’, to give them the space to explore different interests, travel experiences and – in some cases – sexual partners.

But can a gap-year really strengthen a relationship, or is it a sign that couples are on course for a split?

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Made to measure: why we can’t stop quantifying our lives (James Vincent / The Guardian)

If anything exemplifies the power of measurement in contemporary life, it is Standard Reference Peanut Butter. It’s the creation of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and sold to industry at a price of $1,069 for three 170g jars. The exorbitant cost is not due to rare ingredients or a complex production process. Instead, it is because of the rigour with which the contents of each jar have been analysed. This peanut butter has been frozen, heated, evaporated and saponified, all so it might be quantified and measured across multiple dimensions. When buyers purchase a jar, they can be certain not only of the exact proportion of carbohydrates, proteins, sugars and fibre in every spoonful, but of the prevalence – down to the milligram – of dozens of different organic molecules and trace elements, from copper and magnesium to docosanoic and tetradecanoic acid. Hardly an atom in these jars has avoided scrutiny and, as a result, they contain the most categorically known peanut butter in existence. It’s also smooth, not crunchy.

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To understand how much climate change is warming our oceans, you need to understand what a zettajoule is. Here’s the breakdown (Sheldon Whitehouse)

Image: Parrish Freeman