Heap o' Links Sun Aug 14, 2022

Salman Rushdie was on Saturday taken off a ventilator and is able to talk, a day after he was stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture in New York.

Rushdie remains in hospital with serious injuries, but fellow author Aatish Taseer tweeted on Saturday evening that he was "off the ventilator and talking (and joking)." Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie, confirmed that information without offering further details.

Sadly, Pyrex is no longer borosilicate.

But in 1998, Corning, the company which made Pyrex, sold the brand to World Kitchen LLC. World Kitchen decided to stop the manufacture of borosilicate glass, and since then, Pyrex sold in the United States is made of tempered soda-lime glass, which does not handle heat as well as borosilicate glass does.

Because of its durability and resistance to chemical changes, borosilicate glass has traditionally been used in chemistry labs and industrial settings, as well as for kitchenware and premium wine glasses. Because of its superior quality, it is often priced higher than soda-lime glass.

Just like Corning made vintage PYREX, today's French made PYREX is still Borosilicate Glass.