I’ve got your missing links right here (16 April 2011)
I’ve been on holiday this week, so here’s a somewhat truncated and uncategorised version of the usual weekly links.
In literature and mythology, heroes and villains are often mirror images of each other. Andrea Kuszewski looks at the science behind that
The Human Brain Atlas, a map of gene expression in the human brain
You should all be reading SciCurious’s excellent blogging from the Experimental Biology Meeting 2011. Her hands have probably fallen off by now.
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. Apparently, that includes being hunted, torn apart and eaten by children.
How Colin Firth became a published author in Current Biology, on a neuroscience study about brain differences between liberals and conservatives. Meanwhile, the Neurocritic pulls apart the results.
An amazing resource! Timetree lets you work out when any two species last shared a common ancestor. I last shared an ancestor with T.rex around 275 milion years ago…
When journalists do primary research, Ben Goldacre smashes.
Slate has a great two-part series on the top reasons for wrongful convictions: eyewitness misidentifications and false confessions
Eric Johnson discusses the allure of gay cavemen
The challenge of cryogenics – Jennifer Ouellette discusses zombie dogs, antifreeze proteins and, er, Demolition Man
How the psychology of blog commenting has changed in recent years
Cool transitional fossil shows how jawbones evolved into ear bones
Daemonosaurus? Really? Why not call it Evilsaurus, or Muhahahahahasaurus?
Atlantic writer taunts spammers; spammers hack his wife’s Gmail, send out mass requests for money
Duck sex: brighter-billed males are better catches because they have more sterile sperm
When Tim Radford gives you tips on science writing, you read them
Calls for more sharing of raw palaeontology data on the web
The genetic basis of a classic evolution example, the peppered moth
How a humpback whale song went viral
Why is polio so bloody hard to finish off?
How Fukushima is and isn’t like Chernobyl, by Geoff Brumfiel. Meanwhile, with Fukushima still in crisis and thousands of bodies still missing from the quake and tsunami, some guy decides it’s a great idea to create a video game of the whole affair
Heh. Everyone’s a critic. The first page of Infinite Jest, posted to Yahoo Answers, draws derision.
Great Scott! China bans time-travel movies. “Upset over a booming genre of movies and TV where Chinese citizens travel to a simpler time in the past, the government has put the kibosh on all forms of entertainment that make use of the plot device.”
Yes now you too can pay £215 to have a skeletal hand clutch at your neck
Scuttledfish: Noise in oceans leads to ‘severe acoustic trauma’ in octopus, squid
Nobel laureates in sciences at 25 times more likely than the average scientist to sing or dance, and 17 times more likely to be an artist
Extreme positions are the worst! A piece on why bloggers/columnists are pushed towards extremes
Turns out that grafting Steve Buscemi’s eyes onto any woman’s face sends you straight into the uncanny valley
The latest in Charles Q. Choi’s Too Hard for Science series – the meaning of dreams
Two bees or not two bees: on the genetics of bee sociability
Recreating Yuri Gagarin’s spaceflight on film. You should click on the link just to see that STUNNING first image.
You can attend Stanford’s Human Behavioural Biology course for free on Youtube, featuring Robert Sapolsky
A visual comparison of words in advertising for girls and boys’ toys. Unsurprising, but striking nonetheless
A fish-driven robot. This thing needs some sort of attack claw on the front
Gosh. How flattering/mortifying. People clearly don’t have enough to talk about.
Go Further
Animals
- Octopuses have a lot of secrets. Can you guess 8 of them?
- Animals
- Feature
Octopuses have a lot of secrets. Can you guess 8 of them? - This biologist and her rescue dog help protect bears in the AndesThis biologist and her rescue dog help protect bears in the Andes
- An octopus invited this writer into her tank—and her secret worldAn octopus invited this writer into her tank—and her secret world
- Peace-loving bonobos are more aggressive than we thoughtPeace-loving bonobos are more aggressive than we thought
Environment
- Listen to 30 years of climate change transformed into haunting musicListen to 30 years of climate change transformed into haunting music
- This ancient society tried to stop El Niño—with child sacrificeThis ancient society tried to stop El Niño—with child sacrifice
- U.S. plans to clean its drinking water. What does that mean?U.S. plans to clean its drinking water. What does that mean?
- Food systems: supporting the triangle of food security, Video Story
- Paid Content
Food systems: supporting the triangle of food security - Will we ever solve the mystery of the Mima mounds?Will we ever solve the mystery of the Mima mounds?
History & Culture
- Strange clues in a Maya temple reveal a fiery political dramaStrange clues in a Maya temple reveal a fiery political drama
- How technology is revealing secrets in these ancient scrollsHow technology is revealing secrets in these ancient scrolls
- Pilgrimages aren’t just spiritual anymore. They’re a workout.Pilgrimages aren’t just spiritual anymore. They’re a workout.
- This ancient society tried to stop El Niño—with child sacrificeThis ancient society tried to stop El Niño—with child sacrifice
- This ancient cure was just revived in a lab. Does it work?This ancient cure was just revived in a lab. Does it work?
Science
- The unexpected health benefits of Ozempic and MounjaroThe unexpected health benefits of Ozempic and Mounjaro
- Do you have an inner monologue? Here’s what it reveals about you.Do you have an inner monologue? Here’s what it reveals about you.
- Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io has been erupting for billions of yearsJupiter’s volcanic moon Io has been erupting for billions of years
- This 80-foot-long sea monster was the killer whale of its timeThis 80-foot-long sea monster was the killer whale of its time
Travel
- Spend a night at the museum at these 7 spots around the worldSpend a night at the museum at these 7 spots around the world
- How nanobreweries are shaking up Portland's beer sceneHow nanobreweries are shaking up Portland's beer scene
- How to plan an epic summer trip to a national parkHow to plan an epic summer trip to a national park
- This town is the Alps' first European Capital of CultureThis town is the Alps' first European Capital of Culture