I’ve Got Your Missing Links Right Here (01 November 2014)
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Top picks
One of the best things I’ve read about Ebola for ages, from Maryn McKenna. She considers what would happen if it became endemic. Carl Zimmer clearly explains why, unlike the flu, Ebola isn’t airborne
“She emailed a photo to a world-renowned tadpole expert who was so excited he formatted his reply in ALL CAPS.” Matt Simon on the vampire frog.
“My body was a foreign object that I propelled thru the world & that housed my brain, where I lived” A wonderful essay by Veronique Greenwood.
The Ebola Survivors Club. They are immune but they care for sick and orphaned.
Why is the Mona Lisa so popular? Ian Leslie on how canons form.
“Imagine, for a moment, a world with three suns“. Nadia Drake helps you.
“If mega-rich people could buy places on clinical trials, would this help drive forward the development of new treatments that could benefit everyone?” Alexander Masters considers the case.
“Yesterday, before I got here, my dad was trying to fix an invisible machine.” A perfect short tale by Vaughan Bell
The One Basic Fact About History That Time Travelers Always Forget. Annalee Newitz on the rise and fall of oxygen.
“Later on, the cosmonauts narrowly avoided being obliterated in a huge fireball.” The incredible tale of how the people who took the first spacewalks almost didn’t return to Earth. By Paul Rincon.
My TED talk on parasites passed a million views last weekend.
A magnificent use of GIFs: What breath looks like in humans, in birds, in bugs
News/science/writing
Brain surgery cured one man’s arachnopobia
As the world focuses on Ebola control, many basic Qs about the virus remain unanswered.
How to make more published research true. A manifesto by Ioannidis
What animals think when they see themselves in a mirror.
Go to bombing range, find mammoths.
Resourceful Crustaceans Turn Invasive Seaweed into Homes
Stunningly detailed 180 million year old fern frozen in time by a volcano.
By killing off older fish, overfishing may lead populations to lose the knowledge of migratory patterns
Microbe that fights chronic diarrhoea.
Two remarkable movies of parasites controlling their hosts.
Space: hard.
For the first time, researchers have opened and closed the blood-brain barrier in humans on demand.
Does anyone actually read prescription drug warnings?
This is a crossover between Babe and The Little Mermaid.
Just what amphibians needed: another apocalyptic fungus.
Meet the vampire blenny, a tiny little fish thatOHGODWHATISTHATKILLITWITHFIRE
The top 100 most cited papers of all time (spoiler: are really booooooooring).
Very cool: a site that gathers positive energy/climate stories from around the world.
Inside the Field Museum’s Hidden Flesh-Eating Beetle Room.
Algal virus found in humans [very slightly] slows brain activity
“Gas-spewing Icelandic volcano stuns scientists”. Er, with awesomeness, not rocks and lava and stuff.
Five science facts schools teach that are absurdly wrong
With great flowers comes great responsibility.
Infectious plant virus thawed out from 700-year-old reindeer shit, because SCIENCE.
This guy has clearly never heard of the Streisand Effect
The voyages of the pigeon louse.
Most Autistic People Have Normal Brain Anatomy
“Some researchers caution that much of what we hear about microbiome science isn’t always, well, science”
It is wonderful to see the amazing Emily Willingham get recognition for her efforts to stand up for science.
The first clean rooms worked so unexpectedly well that the inventors thought their dust counters were broken.
Tracking Sea Turtles as They Swim for Their Lives
Slow loris bites are really unhealthy.
Giant tortoise on Galapagos makes ‘miraculous’ stable recovery
Blood’s always red, right? WRONG. Not if you’re an octopus. Or a penis worm.
“To hold the jumping spiders in place while they studied them, the [lab] devised a tiny, 3D printed plastic harness.”
The Antares rocket exploded just after lift-off.
Why mosquitoes can’t spread Ebola. Hint: not just flying syringes.
Rose George on what needs fixing in the way we care for people with dementia.
Heh/wow/huh
Science To Be Replaced By Anecdotes
The Onion on anti-vaxxer plan to staple messages to Halloween candy
A demo of feathers and bowling ball falling in a vacuum.
A subtly unsettling moment in the jungle
Internet/journalism/society
The Existential Crisis of Public Life Online. A thoughtful take on Twitter, GG, and the stream of ugh.
Meet the harrowed people who keep beheadings out of your Facebook feed. [Trigger warning]
This is an ode to the mechanical pencil.
What foods frighten YOU?
Why scientists really should use Twitter.
To all journalists who try to justify a rubbish headline by saying the piece is full of caveats, maybe shut up
Tom Stoppard’s new play The Hard Problem is inspired by philosopher David Chalmers
Go Further
Animals
- These 'trash fish' are among Earth's most primitive animalsThese 'trash fish' are among Earth's most primitive animals
- These photos are works of art—and the artists are bugsThese photos are works of art—and the artists are bugs
- The epic migration of a 6-foot long, 200-pound catfishThe epic migration of a 6-foot long, 200-pound catfish
- Frans de Waal, biologist who studied animal emotion, dies at 75Frans de Waal, biologist who studied animal emotion, dies at 75
Environment
- Are synthetic diamonds really better for the planet? The answer isn't clear-cut.Are synthetic diamonds really better for the planet? The answer isn't clear-cut.
- This year's cherry blossom peak bloom was a warning signThis year's cherry blossom peak bloom was a warning sign
- The U.S. just announced an asbestos ban. What took so long?The U.S. just announced an asbestos ban. What took so long?
- The most dangerous job? Inside the world of underwater weldersThe most dangerous job? Inside the world of underwater welders
- The harrowing flight that wild whooping cranes make to surviveThe harrowing flight that wild whooping cranes make to survive
History & Culture
- Meet the powerful yokai that inspired the demon king in ‘Demon Slayer’Meet the powerful yokai that inspired the demon king in ‘Demon Slayer’
- A surprising must-wear for European monarchs? Weasels.A surprising must-wear for European monarchs? Weasels.
- Meet the woman who made Polaroid into a cultural iconMeet the woman who made Polaroid into a cultural icon
- Inside the observatory that birthed modern astrophysicsInside the observatory that birthed modern astrophysics
Science
- LED light treatments for skin are trendy—but do they actually work?LED light treatments for skin are trendy—but do they actually work?
- NASA smashed an asteroid. The debris could hit Mars.NASA smashed an asteroid. The debris could hit Mars.
- Humans really can have superpowers—scientists are studying themHumans really can have superpowers—scientists are studying them
- Why engineers are concerned about aging infrastructureWhy engineers are concerned about aging infrastructure
Travel
- Play and stay in the mountains of eastern Nevada
- Paid Content
Play and stay in the mountains of eastern Nevada - This couple quit the city to grow wasabi in Japan's mountainsThis couple quit the city to grow wasabi in Japan's mountains