I’ve Got Your Missing Links Right Here (21 March 2015)
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Top picks
“Three days before Britain declared war, on September 3, 1939, Janet Vaughan received a telegram from the Medical Research Council. It read, “Start bleeding.”” Rose George on a woman who changed our relationship with blood.
The great Hillary Rosner on the beetle that’s killing North America’s forests, and what their incursion says about our changing world.
I love this Alexis Madrigal piece on doing talks from memory; it’s such a rewarding thing to do, and something I adored of the TED experience
“The paper describes a way to read the book of history in human DNA to a level of detail that is completely unprecedented.” Christine Kenneally on a fantastic new paper on Britain’s DNA
“Prosthetic devices have long been created by men, for men.” A fascinating, top-class piece by Rose Eveleth
The most remarkable globe in the world is in a Brooklyn office building. Via Atlas Obscura.
This is a really interesting piece on how Apple works the three metals in its watches. By Greg Koenig
Mars One finalist talks about how ridiculous and flawed the whole affair is
Wonderful Arielle Duhaime-Ross piece on flatworms, memory, the revival of controversial experiments, and the Unabomber
There are craters on the side of the moon that *faces* us that we can’t really see w/o relying on gravity fields. By Nadia Drake.
The Palm Tree That Waters and Fertilizes Itself. By Liz Preston.
Science/news/writing
The devastating environmental impacts of poorly planned road building
A velvet worm’s slime cannon is like a garden hose
The “world’s forests are fragmenting into tiny patches”—more than 70% are within 0.6 miles of an edge.
How a grad student’s 3am blog comment became a paper that challenged a titan of economics
DNA does not explain The Dress
Whales pump nutrients upwards by eating at depth and releasing “flocculent fecal plumes” at the surface.
“I prefer my seafood without sperm, thank you”
“George Church, a geneticist at HMS, believes the new study should not have been published”
G is for goddamned goshawk.
Insects Unlocked: a new photography initiative from Alex Wild.
Researchers track eye movements to sway moral decisions. Tiny effect; I agree with Churchland
Our cyborg beetle legions are almost ready for deployment
Nice paper on wild baboons showing social partners have similar microbiomes (as in humans, termites, b/bees…)
Why do we find it so hard to torture robots?
“When humans began building shelters about 20,000 years ago, we unrolled a welcome mat for other species.”
Artist Uses an Eye Tracker to Draw Portraits Using Only His Eyes
The NYT published a truly abysmal piece by Nick Bilton on phones and cancer, which distorts the evidence and quotes a noted quack. Phil Plait gets angry. Also here’s an explainer on phones/cancer that I wrote in 2011. It still holds.
Brilliant and lovely art-essay on race, comics, and how we see color.
These giant bomb-sniffing rats could save your life one day
The Meaning of Siberia’s Mystery Craters
The Newest Place on Earth
Quorum-Sensing Molecule Modifies Gut Microbiota
Why you should never, ever interrupt mating tortoises
Heh/wow/huh
The Only 31 Things Standing Between You And Your Dreams
THIS Pallas cat video
Here’s someone tickling a platypus
A hilariously absurd passage from a 1969 popular science book. (Marginalia mine.)
Internet/journalism/society
South Korea is the plastic surgery capital of the world
A Side-by-side Comparison of the First and Last Frames of 55 Movies
Good roundtable on journalist/scientist relationships, featuring some familiar faces.
The head of Google’s “unconscious bias program” fulfils her mandate in spectacular fashion by calling out her CEO for unconscious bias.
Wait, you want your employees to discuss race relations with people who, by definition, haven’t had their coffee yet?
What, no YOU have dust in your eye.
“Apparently every Disney woman is a clone/direct descendant of some primordial creature with huge round cheeks”
How to Google Something You Don’t Know How to Describe
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
- 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
- This royal city lies in the shadow of Kuala LumpurThis royal city lies in the shadow of Kuala Lumpur
- This author tells the story of crypto-trading Mongolian nomadsThis author tells the story of crypto-trading Mongolian nomads
