CHICAGO — Happy Friday, Chicago! Here's what we're reading before beer thirty.
Weed Science: National Geographic is taking a deep toke of the marijuania renaissance in America — for science. Sam Cholke is reading the series of interviews with researchers now looking into how the chemicals in weed (and not always the ones that get folks blazed) are found to reduce brain tumors in rats, reduce seizures in children and mysteriously help our brains process and get over severe physical and emotional trauma. Absolutely delve into the slideshow by photographer Lynn Johnson, which is one of the most moving depictions of the fringes of medicine in recent memory.
Al's Joint: Senior editor Andrew Herrmann is reading Smithsonian's take on Chicago gangster Al Capone's former home in Miami Beach's Palm Island. The gangster bought it in 1928 for $40,000, then spent $200,000 tricking it up with grottos, a cabana, a bridge made of red coral — and a seven-foot-high wall. Last year a company called MB America bought it for $8 million and spent $2 million to fix it up. On its blog, the National Trust for Historic Preservation says the much of the work was done by hand for fear machines might damage the structure. The property is available for video and photo shoots.
Smithsonian says the city of Miami Beach "had so feared the violence and corruption that swirled around the gangster that they sued Capone after he arrived in Florida, calling his new home 'a menace to the safety and well-being of residents.' " He died there in 1947.
Women in Math: Maryam Mirzakhani, 37, an Iranian-born math professor teaching at University of California at Stanford recently became the first woman in history to win the Fields Medal, The Guardian reports. Reporter Linze Rice is reading about how the Fields Medal, in its 80-year run, had never honored a woman with an award largely considered to be the "Nobel Prize for mathematics," until now. The prize is given every four years to those showing "exceptional talents" in math and are under the age of 40. Mizakhani describes math as a "language full of beauty and elegance," though a language not all, like Rice, can decipher well. Kudos to Mirzakhani in her barrier-breaking achievement.
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