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Nerds and Words: Week 36

I have dug through the Internet this week and uncovered all this geeky goodness. You can find the thousands of links from previous weeks here.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


I have dug through the Internet this week and uncovered all this geeky goodness. You can find the thousands of links from previous weeks here.


I have marked my favorite links with a ?. Enjoy.


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Science to Read, Write, and Watch

We might get a jump on the next virus to challenge humanity if we create a catalog of ALL THE VIRUSES

?Jellyfish: The gooey menace that is taking over our oceans.  It's way worse than I thought

When plants that were shaped like human body parts were thought to help that body part

"There may be things we will never know, but will be compelled to keep asking. That's the beauty of science."

And just like that, a one-eyed (or infected?) jaguar kills a crocodile from the bank like the reptile would a wildebeest

?You haven't seen anything scarier than the 10-foot bobbit worm. It's like " dangerous rainbow from Mario Kart"

HFCS is not poison, and other myths you probably believe

Searching the solar system for a perfect solar eclipse

"I feel it. I breathe it. I listen to evolution. I write, study, scrutinize and collect evolution. I am evolution."

Was Diana Nyad really at risk of being bitten during her historic swim? (Spoiler: Not really)

Sometimes on those crappy photo compilation websites you get a good post. This animal camouflage post is one of them

?What dinosaur tails pressed into mud 200 million years ago can tell us about their behavior

It had to be said: The Biased Views of Hank Green and SciShow on GMO food

If every element came into contact simultaneously...it would be pretty boring

We aren't the only mammals who tan

Does Everybody Have Chronic Lyme Disease? Does Anyone?

?Ever thought of your life as a fractal? This post on chaos theory was wonderful

82% of parents who didn’t vaccinate their children cited worries about side effects, so we did a study and found none.

What creature built this mini, silky, Isengard? Really, we have no idea.

?What is the LD50 for papers explaining what LD50 is?

"Zombies," like the 1996 WHO report on acupuncture, just won't die even though we slayed them before

You'd lift off the ground before you went fast enough to kill yourself via speed bump

A frog no bigger than a dime might use its skull as an amplifier

?Controlling the Leidenfrost effect to kick off the underground water droplet race scene? Really cool video

As Dr. Eugenie Scott steps down, let's remember how much of the good fight she has fought

Meet the students who are standing up for science around the country

I don't believe in science, I don't have to. There's evidence

What is the "uncanny valley," really? Should it instead be a cliff? Does it even exist?

?"Toning" is a myth, exercise is largely unimportant for weight loss, and why it's so hard to "get ripped"

Just what are "fairy circles"? Termites, plants, fire-breathing dirt dragons?

"Is it just me, or is it really hot in here? Oh, it's not just me?" How honeybees decide to cool off.

The history behind prescribing Traditional Chinese Medicine for the flu, and why it won't work

?Nature preserves an extinct bee with the flower that loved to paint it

 

Nerdery at its Finest

Nothing quite like old school animatronics: Making the "chestburster"

?How did this worker approach this fuel mass at Chernobyl without dying a horrible death? The gems you find in physics forums...

I love popular web browsers and sites drawn as manga characters

?YES. SHARKNADO COSPLAY

Very cool: A map of 870,062 scientific papers from the arXiv

NASA can be a serious parking lot jerk

?A well-written article about how cow-tipping is practically impossible (checked the calculations myself!)

Ultimate "fake geek girl" idiocy.

 

Pop Culture Happenings

Yes, this is exactly why I can't stand writing emails

Married to a Doll: Why One Man Advocates Synthetic Love. How can you not read it?

?The delightful nostalgia rush of watching Jason Alexander teach Larry David how to play himself

When an artist decides to trace a whole room with a LED and a long-exposure camera, beauty ensues

So...You REALLY don't want to piss off the Russian Spetsnaz

That thing where you accidentally build a skyscraper that focuses sunlight into a car-melting beam

You know who really sucks at math? People who think biology explains why there aren't more women in computer science

The secret (and amazing) "fore-edge" paintings revealed in early 19th century books

 

GIFs and Images to Wear-Out Your WOW Box

?The only sensible liquid to fill a balloon with is mercury

LEGO Mars rover street art

Answer every comment you like in a thread with this peacock spider GIF

Beauty above destruction: Hurricane Ivan from the ISS

?RUN! BIRDS USE KNIVES NOW

Damn you brain making this center square look as though it has a gradient!

Perhaps Jesus' whole water into wine gag was the iodine clock chemistry demo...

Long exposure plasma ball

?At a low temperature and with a bit of seed crystal, you can amazingly transform a brick of pure (beta) tin

Sure, tap a keg with explosive rope

This is my favorite "elephant toothpaste" foam reaction so far

I would like to see the x-ray of this impossible limbo attempt

?Seeing a nuclear blast's shockwave push aside vaporized debris is arresting

I love honeybee warning signs.

Kyle Hill is a science communicator who specializes in finding the secret science in your favorite fandom. He has a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering and a master's degree in communication research (with a focus on science, health, and the environment) from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Aside from co-hosting Al Jazeera America's science show, TechKnow, Hill is also a freelancer who has contributed to Wired, Nature Education, Popular Science, Slate, io9, Nautilus, and is a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer. He manages Nature Education's Student Voices blog, is a research fellow with the James Randi Educational foundation. Email: sciencebasedlife@gmail.com

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