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
? That cute "tickled" slow loris? She was actually getting ready to fight back: The Curse of Cute
Keep It Simple Students: Mapping the Biological Pathways of Parkinson’s Disease
? Cryptozoology has science exactly backwards--more Bigfoot sightings make it less likely to exist
My new favorite thing is watching what looks like observatories playing space invaders
The golden tortoise beetle is like an ankylosaurus, but with poop!
One must-have for great white shark "pitstop science"--a wet towel
? "I spent daughter-at-work day in an autopsy room watching my father dissect a dead man."
Why Malcolm Gladwell's books are less The Science and more The Secret
How evolution could bring back the sabercat
A morbid infographic with a design I really enjoy: clean and with interesting units
"For five years I was Breaking Bad’s science adviser...I considered my work as a service to science"
Do menstrual cycles actually "sync up"? Could they ever?
DARPA's running robots are now running without cables
? A moth that wants you to think it is two flies feeding on bird poop
Great use of GIFs in this story about how charged water droplets could change the way we run power plants
The robot built to eliminate the jellyfish scourge at 900kg of the invaders per hour
On the physics of moshpits. Science that makes you want to fight everyone
Guess which animal has the hardest (and amazing looking) teeth. Story here
Take an "I have to watch these white sharks feeding on a dead whale footage" break
Robot solves Rubik's Cube in 1 second...kinda
Just who (parasite) controls who? The Great Puppet-Master Debate
In which I compliment a 45-minute old calf on its eyelashes
? Depending on how long Twitter is popular, humans may go extinct in 200 years. XKCD makes it make sense
Incredible: Watch a glowing sperm war going on in this fruit fly's reproductive tract
Water droplets can climb serrated surfaces--if they are hot enough. The Leidenfrost Maze
Your brain can be hacked by lasers and algae genes
Birds fly into this lake, dies, turn to stone. One photographer made a book out of the cemetery. But keep in mind that this lake that "turns birds to stone" is filled with life, and just don't die in the slow Medusa's gaze that is the water.
Active sonar is killing whales
The naked mole rat has more than one weapon against the ravages of time
This lizard has green blood!
Why the Movie Myth of Injecting Medication Into the Heart Is Garbage
? Why don't ballet dancers get dizzy? Because our brains are so adaptable
Currently we fish based on size limits, but that doesn't really work, because of artificial selection
How hot will it get in my lifetime, or, scare yourself about climate change and then do something
The return of measles: Tallying the true costs of avoiding an essential vaccine
There is no scientific disagreement about the existence of evolution, except possibly in the textbooks of Texas
? Blarg. Botfly the size of a baby carrot removed from the skin of this poor/lucky entomologist
In 2010, 15 anglers working in shifts reportedly spent six hours reeling in a giant freshwater stingray
Nerdery At Its Finest
Big data doesn't mean simply increasing the font size
Huh. There is a "Worf Effect" used in screen writing that totally makes sense
I'm so late to this but still: This Mass Effect 3 fan art is so good it landed the artist a job at Bioware
? Dudes, it finally happened, we can all go home
I cried while writing this last sci-fi short. Is that weird? I just feel bad for monkey explorers
Fans name asteroid after XKCD creator, he responds nerdily
JJ Abrams apologizes for too much lens flare in Star Trek (also, don't play that drinking game)
? How (and why) Homer Simpson tried to tackle Fermat's last theorem
GIFs and Images for 2-Seconds of Wow
? Red pandas freak the hell out over pumpkins, but haters gonna hate
Does someone else want to tell this diver that petting this "friendly" moray eel is a terrible idea?
? I am not kidding, this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen: Welding in slow motion
This polar bear is way taller than anyone in the NBA, just saying
The end of a diamond-tipped tool shows just how pristine the surface of a diamond really is
? There is no lake in this photo. A very clever optical illusion
Laserman sees your laser pointer, goes all in
Make the LHC your wallpaper (yes, for your home)
Freezing bubbles freeze my heart
I love the physics on display here: Playing frisbee on a moving boat
? A reminder from crash test dummies: For the love of science wear your seat belt
Want to see a football helmet cut in half? How about a wall of 19 cut-in-half football helmets to illustrate the concussion-preventing designs on the market?
? You can demonstrate how the LHC works (basically) with some magnets, a track, and a soda can
I can't advise you do this, but oh my science do I want to do this. You know, have friends that are lions
So, bone cancer of the skull looks horrific
Science on the Vine: Always take a picture of the propeller
? Taking videos of propeller blades makes flying way cooler. Seriously, if you're on a propeller plane, prove to yourself your brain has a crappy processing speed. It's awesome.
Science on the Vine: This cannon simulates concussions!
Unbelievable! Across a limestone slab, more than 5,000 footsteps, with 462 individual trails...from dinosaurs
What is the degree I must have to squirt green dye on ocean jellyfish?
A Russian Proton-M rocket is impressive, somewhat sexual
Pop Culture Happenings
? Lab animals, wages, experiments: "It’s all lost because of politicians engaging in this political terrorism."
Heh. The 100 top things you honestly don't need to do before you die
Hidden message to Congress from the National Weather Service: "Please Pay Us"
? Hyperbole and a Half: The dangers of giving a 4-year old a dinosaur suit
Hey guys, women apparently don't care that much about penis size...unless they prefer a certain something
Doctors have vacuumed a 2-foot blood clot out of a patient's heart
Chris Hadfield as David Bowie as my hero
Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science? Is it a barrier or The Big Bang Theory?
"You are worth more than what is going on in your career."--Sinead O'Connor to Miley Cyrus in a kind of amazing open letter
"Millennials are as hard-working as anyone else–so why does pop culture pretend that all we do is party and hook up?"
Professor critiques the "Bing It On" challenge, Bing responds, gets sassy with statistics
Your reminder that Disney is an asshole, and lemmings don't commit suicide
Government shutdown forces CDC to halt seasonal flu program
? This website holds the face of every. single. Facebook profile. You can see them all