I’ve Got Your Missing Links Right Here (26 July 2014)

ByEd Yong
July 26, 2014
5 min read

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Top picks

An astonishing swarm of mayflies smothered bits of Wisconsin; Gwen Pearson reports. And here’s a chat with a mayfly chaser: “Bring a shovel.”

In Ghana, fish populations affect pretty much everything, including baboons and education. Michelle Nijhuis explores the links between sea and land.

Hilarious. “No ‘wi-fi’. Talk to each other.”

This googly eyeball is an eclipse and its pupil is a moon spiralling to its death. By Robert Krulwich.

Asteroid Vesta is like a giant celestial seed, doomed to never germinate into a proper planet. By Nadia Drake.

Largest aquatic insect in the world found in OH GOD WHAT IS THAT KILL IT WITH FIRE. By Bec Crew.

This summer, one plucky rover will face its biggest challenge yet.

Jason Goldman on whether animals truly create art.

Science/news/writing

Congresswoman smacks down that lamentable Science cover, cites SAFE13 study.

Turtles turn out to be rather chatty.

First case of Ebola reported in Africa’s most populous city Lagos

Hey beetle, what’s up with the purple butt beret?

Satanic leafy-tailed gecko to sue biologists for defamation.

Google’s new moonshot project: to discover as many false positives as possible.

“Russian scientists have lost contact with an experimental satellite filled with geckos that was to be the focus of new research on animal sex in zero-gravity.”

On maggots, brain imaging, and the power of experience.

Zoo pointlessly stabs lion, basically.

If this dinosaur was fuzzy, were all of them?

Anti-GMO activists go way, way too far.

Tracks Hint at the Social Life of Tyrant Dinosaurs

A story about a lionfish science fair project has turned into an ugly dust-up. Kudos to Bob Grant at The Scientist for actually doing *some reporting* on this story. And Christie Wilcox has a complete timeline.

Blockbuster cystic fibrosis drug may counteract a 2nd drug that it’s meant to boost.

Blue whale “hot spots” overlap with busy shipping lanes. Don’t cross the streams!

Study says dogs can be green with envy, enters grey area.

African elephants have 2,000 genes related to smell—the most ever discovered in an animal

Genome-editing tech used to cut HIV out of host genome in cell lines. V. cool; long way to go.

Jonathan Eisen walking the walk in terms of supporting gender equality in science. Kudos, Jonathan.

Like chicken kiev but instead of garlic sauce, Campylobacter.

This study is nonsense. I’ve been sleep-deprived for ages but that didn’t stop me from landing on the Moon or sequencing the genome, did it?

“So, how do you know if a poo-shaped rock is a genuine fossil or just pseudo-poo?”

“When California’s governor enlisted the aid of two palaeoecologists, their careers took an unusual turn…”

Members of previously uncontacted tribe in Brazil infected w flu

“The flower hat jellyfish pretty much looks like someone painted it while tripping on acid.”

Someone forgot the safety word: Female Octopus Strangles Mate, Then Eats Him

Huge study ties 108 genetic locations to schizophrenia while the Broad Institute gets a $650m donation for psychiatric research. Sara Reardon, Carl Zimmer & Benedict Carey report.

Paracetamol. It’s everywhere. And folks still aren’t sure how it works.

A joint statement on research that creates potential pandemic pathogens. Fascinating list of signatories.

“They are awesome, spider webs — they’re just not the pinnacle of spider evolution that we thought”

Watch 100,000 cells of a developing embryo move, shift and shuffle in living color.

How sandstone arches make themselves

Hallucinatory ‘voices’ shaped by local culture

Stoned wallabies “can become disoriented and lose their ability to find water.”

Heh/wow/huh

Confused cats against feminism

EAT THE DATA. EAT IT. Information is delicious.

Snake Facts

NSF to decide all future grant proposals by penalty shoot-out

Great moments in Science (if Twitter had existed)

Brian Switek reconstructs the tragic deaths of two baby mammoths

Silk’s dual role as both a telegraph wire and a food-catching net presents a potential evolutionary problem”

Postdocs, I think you’re being trolled.

At TED, one guy said to me: “I loved your talk. Where did you learn English?” This one’s for you, Appalling CEO Guy.

Journalism/internet/writing

Telling: “he said” versus “she said” in the NYT.

The science writers of LWON do the Four Yorkshiremen sketch about freelancing and the gig economy.

All 552 episodes of “The Simpsons,” searchable by character, topic, and theme http://t.co/m5R81mWbk9

Follow one taxi around NYC.

Millions of Legos, swirling in the sea, washing up on British shores. Why?

Tsk, old people today.

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