EXS 11.1 2020 : Excursions - Issue 11.1: (Re)Connect

To connect is an integral part of the human experience. We are social, connected, beings. The unparalleled events of 2020 have made this even more evident --- they have forced us to disconnect from life as we knew it and to (re)connect to history, nature, people, ourselves, and forgotten practices. This has weakened and strengthened our established bonds, while creating new ones. Ultimately, it revealed how dependent we are on our connections.

Researchers and scientists are constantly trying to understand the ways in which different phenomena connect with one another --- this is the ultimate goal of research. More than that, we long to find ways to understand substantial connections: Scientists have been searching for a Theory of Everything; the Six Degrees of Separation Hypothesis has been part of our collective imaginaries for decades; and the Internet of Things aims to eventually interconnect (most if not all of) our everyday objects.