How is it that humans figured out how to read? New cosmological findings that may finally solve the Hubble tension. And, more monoliths continue to pop up, a look at two of the more interesting ones from this past week. Sponsors:Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke BitTrust IRA, Waive your signup fee BitTrustIRA.com/kottkeLinks:Reading, That Strange and Uniquely Human Thing (Nautilus)Language is a tool, a technology (NomeDaBarbarian, Twitter) Astronomers Get Their Wish, and the Hubble Crisis Gets Worse (Quanta)Mysterious monolith appears in Pittsfield (WCAX)Photos of gingerbread monolith (Alexis Gallagher, Twitter)Christmas Day Wonder: Gingerbread Monolith Mysteriously Appears at SF Park (KQED)Gingerbread monolith delights San Francisco on Christmas Day (AP)Kottke.OrgJackson Bird on TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.