I’ve Got Your Missing Links Right Here (20 February 2016)
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Top picks
From me at the Atlantic:
- How Microbes Make Malnutrition Worse
- Biologists Steal Nanospear Technology From Bacteria
- XY Bias: How Male Biology Students See Their Female Peers
Superb piece about the “nature-faked” relationship between Hadza hunter-gatherers & the honeyguide bird. By Cara Giaimo
Palau’s aggressive response to illegal fishing may help the rest of the world save all of the oceans. By Ian Urbina.
Heard of white noise? There’s also pink, blue, grey, and brown noise. By Meghan Neal
100,000 years of everyone ****ing everyone. An explainer about prehistoric interbreeding by Ewen Callaway.
A superb, insightful, compassionate piece on the vaccination debate, by Maggie Koerth-Baker
“When I go out in nature, I don’t even see terrain anymore. All I see are mathematical functions and graphs.” Inside the Artificial Universe That Creates Itself
Sometimes not writing a story is the best journalism, by Rose Eveleth
Science
Modern Milgram experiment sheds light on power of authority
Absurd Creature of the Week: The Huge, Bee-Decapitating Hornet That Can’t Survive Group Hugs
Flowers in SPAAAAAACE
What triggered the animal kingdom’s great evolutionary explosion? A new theory
This story about a new bacterium behind Lyme disease is really about why Lyme has been such a tough puzzle to crack
Lots of People Are Losing Distance Vision, and No One Knows Why
A lovely piece about an ancient flower trapped in amber
A male copepod is likely to bump into a female once per year, but may live only a few months or weeks.
An Instagram for pond scum
There’s another mosquito-borne virus you should worry about & this time, we won’t be able to spell it.
As Antibiotics Fail, We Need More Vaccines
Nice piece on Keolu Fox’s mission to make indigenous groups a part of genomic medicine.
Aquarium decides not to let you ogle its octopuses having a blind Valentine sex date, cos of sexual cannibalism
150,000 penguins die after giant iceberg renders colony landlocked
“You know what doesn’t work to convince true believers that a conspiracy is not afoot? Thorough debunkings”
The Brain Scoop looks at how scientists manage their periods during fieldwork in remote locations
Is there really a war on science? Spoiler: no.
On weird starry sea creatures that carry their babies like mammals
Jo Marchant talks about her new book, Cure, on mind/body relationships in health.
Does Toxoplasma gondii alter human behavior? Or should I become a Toxoplasmoskeptic?
In First Human Test of Optogenetics, Doctors Aim to Restore Sight to the Blind
Why It’s So Hard To Prove Zika Is Causing Birth Defects
On The Life Project: “This absorbing book is nothing if not a tribute to Helen Pearson skill as a writer.” Quite so.
On the mysterious origins of syphilis
Miscellaneous
An imagined Back to the Future prequel that explains Doc Brown’s ties to Libya
Hackers are holding a Los Angeles hospital ransom
Recommended reading for journalists: Adrienne LaFrance assesses the gender bias in her own coverage
“Drink was probably involved.”
Amazing journalism that grounds big events through the opinions of everyday people. Or, y’know, quail.
Screw the Huffington Post, bunch of parasitic weasels
The amazing life of Fidel Castro’s favourite cow
Go Further
Animals
- This ‘saber-toothed’ salmon wasn’t quite what we thoughtThis ‘saber-toothed’ salmon wasn’t quite what we thought
- Why this rhino-zebra friendship makes perfect senseWhy this rhino-zebra friendship makes perfect sense
- When did bioluminescence evolve? It’s older than we thought.When did bioluminescence evolve? It’s older than we thought.
- Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?
- This pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilienceThis pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilience
Environment
- This pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilienceThis pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilience
- 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?
History & Culture
- Meet the original members of the tortured poets departmentMeet the original members of the tortured poets department
- Séances at the White House? Why these first ladies turned to the occultSéances at the White House? Why these first ladies turned to the occult
- Gambling is everywhere now. When is that a problem?Gambling is everywhere now. When is that a problem?
- Beauty is pain—at least it was in 17th-century SpainBeauty is pain—at least it was in 17th-century Spain
- The real spies who inspired ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’The real spies who inspired ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’
Science
- Here's how astronomers found one of the rarest phenomenons in spaceHere's how astronomers found one of the rarest phenomenons in space
- Not an extrovert or introvert? There’s a word for that.Not an extrovert or introvert? There’s a word for that.
- NASA has a plan to clean up space junk—but is going green enough?NASA has a plan to clean up space junk—but is going green enough?
- Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?
Travel
- What it's like to hike the Camino del Mayab in MexicoWhat it's like to hike the Camino del Mayab in Mexico
- Is this small English town Yorkshire's culinary capital?Is this small English town Yorkshire's culinary capital?
- This chef is taking Indian cuisine in a bold new directionThis chef is taking Indian cuisine in a bold new direction