I’ve Got Your Missing Links Right Here (7 May 2016)
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Top picks
From me at the Atlantic:
- Every Episode of David Attenborough’s Life Series, Ranked
- A DNA Sequencer in Every Pocket
- Sir David Attenbingo
- Humans Paid for Bigger Brains With Gas-Guzzling Bodies
- Why Are Your Gut Microbes Different From Mine?
- The Sketch That Revolutionized DNA Sequencing
- Future Smartphones Will Tell You What’s Killing Your Plants
Stem-cell plan aims to bring the Northern white rhino back from brink of extinction. Ewen Callaway reports.
Really fascinating read from Amos Zeeberg about all the colours that we’re missing from our screens
Everything You Need to Know About the Theranos Saga So Far. By Nick Stockton
How to Get Rid of a Dead, Rotting Whale on Your Beach (Hint: Don’t Blow It Up). By Sarah Zhang
The tough sell of $1-million gene therapy cures, by Antonio Regalado.
What if we had universal translators? Rose Eveleth considers another possible future.
A new Biggest Loser study shows the perils of turning weight loss into a spectator sport. By Julia Belluz
A Mine vs. a Million Monarchs – Dan Fagin on another challenge facing the iconic butterfly
Found: A Mesmerizing Jellyfish With Bright Yellow Gonads. By Sarah Laskow.
Swimmer mistakes sea urchins for mines, calls the Navy. By Sarah Keartes
How a weasel took down the world’s biggest particle smasher. By Geoff Brumfiel
Who debunks the debunkers? Daniel Engber on “a rumor passed around by skeptics — a myth about myth-busting”.
What’s Behind Slovenia’s Love Affair with a Salamander? One of my favourite people Meehan Crist writes about one of my favourite animals, the olm
Such a good Rose Eveleth piece contrasting the RFID chip in her hand and the IUD in her uterus
A worm that plagued the American South—and bred stereotypes about lazy Southerners. By Rachel Nuwer.
The sixth-season premiere of Game of Thrones taps into a longstanding (and sexist) trope: anxieties about women being something other than they seem. By Megan Garber
Audubon Made Up At Least 28 Fake Species To Prank A Rival. The prank lasted almost 200 years. By Sarah Laskow
The Twilight State Between Wakefulness and Sleep is a Window into Consciousness. The wonderful Vaughan Bell makes his Atlantic debut
Veronique Greenwood writes about learning Mandarin as an adult.
Science
“Is Empty Nose Syndrome Real? And If Not, Why Are People Killing Themselves Over It?”
Great Q&A with Emily Willingham and Tara Haelle, authors of “The Informed Parent.”
A ‘semantic atlas’ of the human brain – mapping the neural responses to 10,000 English words
Let people most affected by gene editing write CRISPR rules
Gotta get diseases early: Eradication of ‘sudden oak death’ disease is no longer possible in California
A bot was programmed to randomly pick 3-D printing models on Thingiverse, remix them, post the results
Snakebites kill up to 94,000 people worldwide every year—but a new, powerful antivenom may help reduce that number.
New Amazon Frog Named After Mythical Monster
New estimate: 1 trillion microbe species on Earth
Where Dead Whales Go to Live. A peek at the Smithsonian Institution’s marine mammal warehouses.
In science, it matters that women come last
Nearly one-third of antibiotics are prescribed unnecessarily
The New Yorker screws up big time with science: researchers criticize the Mukherjee piece on epigenetics
This week’s story about an “autonomous” robot surgeon? Sarah Zhang has the best report on it
Cattle drug threatens thousands of vultures
Bravo on this headline
T he long, strangely passionate debate in England over American squirrels
Here’s your brain on stories
A comprehensive profile of CRISPR pioneer Emmanuelle Charpentier
In one of the most extreme examples, a single fruit fly gene makes more than 38,000 different proteins.
Plant protein Luminidependens behaves like a prion
The “pain matrix” isn’t actually about pain. Nice what-are-we-really-measuring-here by @jenlucpiquant
Fluorescent sharks, and the camera that lets us see through their eyes
Transplanted Fecal Microbes Stick Around
Most Gut Microbes Can Be Cultured
Did wolves save Yellowstone? Not so fast
Scientists who do ‘wasteful’ federally funded research go talk to Congress about it
A review of Dave Hone’s new book on tyrannosaurs
This microbiologist loves bugs, hates hype — and wants you to send him your cat’s poop
Miscellaneous
This entire thread
This aerial video of sheep herding is the most oddly satisfying thing you’ll watch all day
John Oliver gives periodical cicadas a quick but informative overview of the last 17 years
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
- Why are these emperor penguin chicks jumping from a 50-foot cliff?Why are these emperor penguin chicks jumping from a 50-foot cliff?
Environment
- 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?
- Are synthetic diamonds really better for the planet?Are synthetic diamonds really better for the planet?
- 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?
History & Culture
- Why Passover is one of Judaism’s most important holidaysWhy Passover is one of Judaism’s most important holidays
- Is this mass grave a result of contagion—or cannibalism?Is this mass grave a result of contagion—or cannibalism?
- The surprising story of how chili crisp took over the worldThe surprising story of how chili crisp took over the world
- We swapped baths for showers—but which one is better for you?We swapped baths for showers—but which one is better for you?
- How a 3,000-year-old tomb upended what we know about ancient PeruHow a 3,000-year-old tomb upended what we know about ancient Peru
Science
- Ground-level ozone is getting worse - here's what that meansGround-level ozone is getting worse - here's what that means
- Would your dog eat you if you died? Get the facts.
- Science
- Gory Details
Would your dog eat you if you died? Get the facts. - In a first, microplastic particles have been linked to heart diseaseIn a first, microplastic particles have been linked to heart disease
- New fossils reveal one of the smallest titanosaurs ever foundNew fossils reveal one of the smallest titanosaurs ever found
Travel
- Why it's high time for slow travel in Gstaad
- Paid Content
Why it's high time for slow travel in Gstaad - How citizen science projects are safeguarding Costa Rican pumasHow citizen science projects are safeguarding Costa Rican pumas
- These guides spend their lives looking for dolphins. They’re dogs.These guides spend their lives looking for dolphins. They’re dogs.
- What it's like to hike to the end of the world in ChileWhat it's like to hike to the end of the world in Chile
