I’ve Got Your Missing Links Right Here (Oct. 3, 2015)
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Top picks
Me at the Atlantic:
- The Surprising Genealogy of Your Brain
- How People Living at Earth’s Extremes Reveal the Genome’s Best Tricks
- Save the Parasites (Seriously) Alex Witze profiles four diverse voices in the debate over building a huge telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea
Here’s Nadia Drake on the recent news about flowing water on Mars, Lee Billings on why searching for life in that water will be really hard, and Rachel Feltman on our reaction to science news: ” Do we really have to pick between accepting things wholesale and becoming convinced we’re being duped?”
Jamie Shreeve’s piece on Homo naledi is amazingly good.
“An Alfred Hitchcock film helped to prove one patient had been conscious while in a coma-like state for 16 years” By Tom Stafford.
Science/news/writing
“Scientists are just specially-educated versions of the guys in the coffee shops.”
Every Solar System Image You’ve Ever Seen is Wrong. Till Now.
Researchers identify a handful of genes that help bacteria in the mouse gut adapt to dietary changes.
The Ambon damselfish can tell individuals apart from their faces
Scientists warn that gene-edited micropigs may be a distraction from more serious researDAAWWWW LOOKIT SO CUUUUTE
“The organizers of a conference for stutterers argue that the condition should be considered just another way of speaking”
Bill Gates Just Gave $6 Million To Genetically Engineer An HIV Vaccine (that’s not really a vaccine)
Resting bitch connectomes are totally going to be a thing. (Some of the language in this piece is pretty troubling.)
Shell is abandoning its controversial Arctic drilling plans
“Science is a great democratizer in its way: It allows people to do what they want with the facts”
“Cormorants, it turns out, have been exasperating people in many places for many, many years”
An effort to sequence thousands of people’s genomes reaches the end of the beginning.
How a Fossil Can Reveal the Color of a Dinosaur
CT scans of Pompeii victims show that they had perfect teeth
In the absence of a blood meal, some malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in East Africa feed on an invasive weed
Bacteria in ancient flea may [probably not] be ancestor of the Black Death
Next up from climate change: shell-crushing crabs invading Antarctica
Wait, WHAT? Hawksbill turtles are flourescent?
When it comes to cancer, is one metaphor better than another?
Heh/wow/huh
Fantastic and sometimes surprising aerial photographs of London
A compilation of every time R2D2 screams.
Volcanically induced lightning is AMAZING.
The two times I’ve dialled into a press conference, this has been exactly my reaction
Nation Demands NASA Stop Holding Press Conferences Until They Discover Some Little Alien Guys
Epic work on this headline
Internet/journalism/writing
The only thing I have to add to Megan Garber’s ode to MacGyver is a nod towards the EPIC THEME SONG
The ladder at the center of a centuries-old religious tussle
“Judgmental moralizers have had a heyday with Pompeii over the years.”
How do you pitch a freelance story to a site or magazine? Some quick advice for those new to pitching
Go Further
Animals
- Cougar travels 1,000 miles in one of longest recorded treksCougar travels 1,000 miles in one of longest recorded treks
- Rare gray whale spotted in the Atlantic—and it's only the beginningRare gray whale spotted in the Atlantic—and it's only the beginning
- Why 'funga' is just as important as flora and faunaWhy 'funga' is just as important as flora and fauna
- Termite fossils prove mating hasn't changed in 38 million yearsTermite fossils prove mating hasn't changed in 38 million years
Environment
- Why the 2024 hurricane season could be especially activeWhy the 2024 hurricane season could be especially active
- Mushroom leather? The future of fashion is closer than you think.Mushroom leather? The future of fashion is closer than you think.
- This deadly fungus is hitchhiking its way across the worldThis deadly fungus is hitchhiking its way across the world
- Why 'funga' is just as important as flora and faunaWhy 'funga' is just as important as flora and fauna
- This exploding mine holds a treasure that may change the worldThis exploding mine holds a treasure that may change the world
History & Culture
- See the story of Jonah and the whale like never beforeSee the story of Jonah and the whale like never before
- This ancient mosaic offers extraordinary insights into the pastThis ancient mosaic offers extraordinary insights into the past
- These are the real dunes that inspired Dune—and you can visit themThese are the real dunes that inspired Dune—and you can visit them
- Meet the only woman privy to the plot to kill Julius CaesarMeet the only woman privy to the plot to kill Julius Caesar
Science
- Women’s bodies are understudied—but that’s starting to changeWomen’s bodies are understudied—but that’s starting to change
- Hundreds of tiny arachnids are likely on your face right nowHundreds of tiny arachnids are likely on your face right now
- What's worse than a hangover? Hangxiety. Here's why it happens.What's worse than a hangover? Hangxiety. Here's why it happens.
Travel
- A taste of West Bengal, from curries to Kolkata street foodA taste of West Bengal, from curries to Kolkata street food
- Discover southeastern Spain's secret coastal regionDiscover southeastern Spain's secret coastal region
- All aboard Norway's slow train under the midnight sunAll aboard Norway's slow train under the midnight sun