In between the sunlit shallows and the dark, deep ocean lies an inky realm where few people have ever been. Stretching from about 30 to 150 metres, the mesophotic zone (meaning “middle light”) is an awkward depth. It lies just beyond the reach of regular scuba divers and it’s usually what aquanauts inside multimillion-dollar submersibles merely glimpse as they plunge deeper.
However, a new generation of scientists is pushing the limits of diving to discover the secrets of this ecological zone. “There’s so much to see, and everything seems new,” says Erika Gress from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. “It’s like a different world.”
For the first time, however, one of Disney’s marquee characters — Mickey himself — is set to enter the public domain. “Steamboat Willie,” the 1928 short film that introduced Mickey to the world, will lose copyright protection in the United States and a few other countries at the end of next year, prompting fans, copyright experts and potential Mickey grabbers to wonder: How is the notoriously litigious Disney going to respond?
Every year, around 1 or 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, Joline O’Leary drives home from a big New Year’s Eve party. Before turning in for the night, after the Champagne and fireworks, she eats a bowl of tteok guk, a humble Korean soup of beef broth boiled with thinly sliced, oblong ovals of tteok, or rice cakes. O’Leary, whom I met on a recent trip to Honolulu, is a fourth-generation Korean American. For her, this ritual is the first thing she likes to check off her list for the new year. “It’s good luck,” she said, “and I appreciate the tradition.”
Over the course of a dozen novels, readers of Elinor Lipman’s fiction have come to expect charm and clever high jinks. Her latest, “Ms. Demeanor,” carries on this tradition while adding a potent dose of wry social commentary. In case you haven’t guessed, the title is a pun on the legal term for a crime less serious than a felony, as well as a synonym for deportment. This nimble wordplay sets the tone for Lipman’s comedy of manners, which is sprinkled with female misbehavior.