Welcome back after my break to the weekly collection of the provocative, intriguing, or curious, in a world where the house is falling down. A mix of the contextual, the cultural, and other things that catch my eye.

Maybe self-driving cars aren’t going to happen soon, after all. The car companies have found that the cars get confused by human behaviour–like a cyclist riding the wrong way down a one way street. (NYT, free, may need registration)

Cities will have to lead the way on climate innovation. Nowhere else has the right scale and enough resources and connections. A new manifesto argues that cities and communities can create better futures. Related: 25 books on cities written by women.

The future of buildings is biotech. The next generation of buildings will grow, breathe, eat, and heal themselves.

A vastly entertaining list of ‘laws’ about how the world works. From Littlewood’s Law to Goodhart’s Law to Parkinson’s Law, with quite a lot more in between. Sadly, Stein’s Law–which definitely deserves a place here–is missing. Via The Browser.

Leonard DiCaprio is Hollywood’s last star. His name sells tickets and gets films green-lighted.

One of the best things from the Apollo 11 anniversary: a swarm of 300 luminous drones (video, 40″) and a Duran Duran concert. Well, maybe not the Duran Duran concert. Related: a long essay also re-surfaced about poets, poetry and the Moon.

The Simpsons titles, as Soviet art-house cinema. Homer could have been working at Chernobyl. Suddenly it all makes sense. (Video 1’10”)

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Image courtesy of Road.cc, and used with thanks.

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 “The whole world’s at sixes and sevens, and why the house hasn’t fallen down about our ears long ago is a miracle to me.” (Thornton Wilder)