Fet begged to “drive the living boat off with a single push”, to catch the fleeting before it vanishes

Fet begged to “drive the living boat off with a single push”, to catch the fleeting before it vanishes. The monthly digest has a more modest task, though the same one: to hold on to what matters before the flood of news washes it away. Here is the main news of July.

Archaeology and the origins of humankind 🧑🏻‍🔬 take up most of my time while I work on my dissertation. For the first time, a charred Herculaneum scroll, a Stoic treatise on ethics, has been read in its entirety, unrolled by a neural network and a synchrotron. The necropolis near Bury has supplied an answer to why the building of megalithic tombs ceased all across Europe at about the same time. And at Xultun in Guatemala the name of a Mayan mathematician and astronomer, Sak Tan Vash, “White-Breasted Fox”, has been read for the first time.

Art and its fate 🖼 remains the calling card of the channel. At the Hermitage, after three years of restoration, Titian’s “Saint Sebastian”, painted in patches in plague-stricken Venice, has been put on show. And Jonathan Yeo’s sinister portrait of Charles III has made its way into Buckingham Palace after all.

Restoration and heritage 🏛 The Opéra Garnier closes until 2032, and, by the way, lead has been found in the stage. The “House of the Master” in Mansurovsky Lane was saved only because Mosgornasledie (the Moscow heritage authority) compelled its owner to rescue it.

The market and money 💰 Klaus Kallmann, aged 98, has been suing the Musée d’Orsay for nine years over a van Gogh plundered by the Nazis. The heirs of Stettiner continue their litigation over a disputed Modigliani.

Church and power ⛪️ At Castel Gandolfo an assembly on AI and nuclear war was held, with thirty Nobel laureates. And in Tallinn a lead bull of Pope Clement V has been found.

Empires and learning 🏰 Genetics has shown that Lithuania was ethnically mixed even before its baptism. And for a bedtime story, the Persians sleep on the floor, courtesy of Dreuille.

Science and its mores 🦸🏽 The Silverpit crater in the North Sea has been confirmed as the trace of an asteroid. A journal reviewer extorted money from an author in exchange for a favourable review.

Nature and history 🌿 In southern Brazil the Jê people grew an oasis of araucaria forest two thousand years ago. And should you feel glum, remember that 95% of the world’s reserves of chaga are to be found in Russia.