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, Watch
A nuclear bomb told us that great white sharks can live longer than you
The Mapmakers: The massive effort to fully image a healthy human brain
? “You see, but you do not observe!” Why You Should Envy, But Not Worship Sherlock Holmes
Seeding clouds to replace mountain snow. It’s too little too late
One benefit of the cold weather: Killing the pesky insect horde
Over 4,000 Reasons to Love (and Protect) North America’s Native Bees
? Have you ever seen the tracked movement of 16,000 cells in a zebrafish embryo? Straight-up mesmerizing
One of my favorite ever longreads from the archives, in case you’re chilly: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death
No, giant squids don’t get that big. No, Fukushima had nothing to do with it
Why It’s Not Such a Bad Thing to Get Eaten by a Lion
I’ve stopped using antibacterial soaps because of articles like this
What happens to water in space? Actually, you might have discovered it this winter. Seriously!
Some skepticism from another study looking at wrinkly fingers and grip
This website is a really pretty way to explore our most explicit message to aliens
? “The mantis shrimp doesn’t grab ass. It kicks it.”
The solar system is flat because we live in 3D, and gravity
Fight performance anxiety by getting EXCITED!!!! YEEEAAH!
? A Lonely Quest for Facts on GMOs
If the tigerfish wasn’t cool enough already, it also pulls birds out of the sky to eat
How Do You Move A Leg That Was Once A Fin?
If crocodiles use tools, maybe dinosaurs did too?
The slowest-evolving of all known vertebrates looks silly, but it can tell us so much about evolution
Wow. Shocking Study Finds Lions are Nearly Extinct in West Africa
Scientists shining lights on coral find that, hey, a bunch of fish also glow!
What resurrecting a pre-colonial water flea from 700 years ago might tells us about evolution and environment
Some marine reptiles could have been black, brown, or even counter-shaded like a shark
? A broken heart needs time, and probably this glue similar to worm head secretions
What You Should and Shouldn’t Worry about after the Fukushima Nuclear Meltdowns (Water/fish, no; On-site radiation, yes)
Micro-origami unfolding in water with the help of capillary action
How scientific instruments shape science, but also shape how we think about science itself
Bobbit worm video set to gunslinger music is, I must say, actually disturbing
You are more unique than a snowflake. Does that make you feel good? Science makes me feel good
How prairie dogs do “the wave” with uber adorbs yips and yelps
It’s official, this image of a sea star is accurate. Here’s the science.
? Why “Wind Chill” is too subjective to make any sense. Should we dump it altogether?
Sometimes an ice cube will grow a bizarre spike from its head, because physics!
? This Peruvian spider slingshots itself, in its web, towards annoying mosquitos. Incredible!
How the most studied organism on the planet can evolve right under our noses
Want to fossilize yourself? First, die. Here’s what you do next
Hmm. The more you online game, the more likely you fit the stereotype of online gamers
Beware bad statistics, you can correlate anything. Even organic food and autism
Engrossingly Gross Photos of Spiders and Insects Eating Each Other
“Drugs are not expensive because we are evil, they are expensive because we are stupid.”
Pokemon Red and the power of videogame nostalgia
? Why Everyone Seems to Have Cancer. A great explainer on cancer’s role in modern mortality
Fascinating neurological case study: The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read
Extreme Nerdery
Are we sure female elephant seals aren’t those things from Tremors?
? Scientifically accurate Pokemon: “Let’s be real, Pikachu is a rat that bit an extension cord.”
John Kerry was that Scooby Doo villain you couldn’t quite place
Star Trek Superfan Transforms Basement into Enterprise
Sunday night, you know what that means? Pokemon drinking game!
? Nostalgia overdrive: Artist takes all the sounds of the Zelda franchise, makes a catchy remix
In a galaxy far, far away, the Empire is still no match for Star Fleet
The Ghostbusters destroyed tens of millions of dollars worth of property, according to arbitrary counting
There was A LOT of stuff wrong with Pacific Rim, but I loved it anyway
Cataloging code from movies and TV. It doesn’t make any sense
I donated to this effort to make a complete description of all zombies, because I will definitely use it (Now 20x over-funded!)
Veteran MarioKart 64 players will immediately applaud this GIF
? A stinging critique of modern video game design, in ranty form: Enraptured by Sadness
My friend wins wallets: Self-folded Tyvek schematic of the Enterprise
So Pacific Rim was almost entirely CGI, but it was like, really good CGI
? Love every bit of this: The Scoville Heat Scale explained with Dragon Ball Z power levels
God I wish I had this idea: By mentions, was the polar vortex more Hoth or Game of Thrones?
Illustrating every character and chapter in The Silmarillion
New York could support a population of about 1,000 tyrannosaurs.
Another great deviantART find: A Link to the Future
? Everything you need to know about Pokemon Red/Blue in one image
Really interesting fluid mechanics behind a knuckleball in flight
? Yep, I want to see a fairytale end this way really bad
Chat Roulette can be fun with less flashers and more Batman
Sciencey GIFs and Images
This is why the destruction of comet ISON was so sad
Cockroaches spawning a lettuce leaf, or eating it, I don’t know where the GIF starts for you
? I may inadvertently cause a house fire by showing you this, buuuuuuut…orange peels are flame throwers
When a weather balloon pops at 120,000 feet, it’s journey is over, but the end was gorgeous
Should be a gallery of just weather balloons popping at altitude
? Saturn’s moons can gravitationally tug on the rings and you can see it.
Since 1962, Walmart has spread like the zombie horde
When you’re done destroying a Terminator villain, put him in a water balloon and pop it!
Keanu woah: See the sound a helicopter makes
This timeline of a trillion years in the future seems a bit speculative
? Love watching this computer simulation of a black hole obliterating and consuming a helpless star
A bubble popping above a little girl, perfectly timed
Darwin’s beetle was the first transformer
Whatever filter she used, she made a murmation look incredible
? 200 of the best insect and arachnid photos from Nicky Bay’s 2013
Really cool computer simulation showing J002E3–Apollo rocket debris–being captured into, and flung from, orbit
Damn submarine gravity making me stand all weird!
Pop Culture Happenings
We were right. “Baffles scientists” is being used (in books) now more than ever
? The Cold Rush: “Are iceberg water entrepreneurs the modern-day snake oil salesmen?”
Another personal genomics company is forced to prove its worth, offered “gene-based nutrition and skin care”
WTF spilled in West Virginia and what does it do? We don’t know.
I have been wearing headphones without listening to music all day
? Over the last year, *one* author out of 9,136 rejected man-made global warming
Confessions of a Former “Booth Babe”
Recreating Dutch paintings using scientific tools and instruments
Hard to not just watch the rolling ice balls of Lake Michigan
Here is the video of that hyper-critical TED talk about TED
? A history, and the fascinating appeal, of the AMA
Researchers at the South Pole have a rather unsettling tradition of freaking themselves out
? Creepypasta: How the internet is mapping the contours of modern fear
A Dolphin Hypothesis: They Are F***ers Too
Love when xkcd is a gut-punch of social commentary: “Photos”
Glad that I might be able to help this Australian research organization make a dragon for a 7-year old
FTC cracks down on nonsense weightloss products. Fines that powdermaker only 7% of last year’s income
? Absolutely beautiful portraits drawn with help from topographic maps
Wow (and sad). Conjoined whales discovered on shore
Classic Literature, Genderflipped
It’s the ground equipment, not the planes themselves, that get affected by the extreme cold
? Woman takes one piece of “alternative” advice from her nutritionist for breast cancer, dies
Rubber face of Bigfoot is totally real, says hoaxer
Wait, it’s cold outside?
? Fantastic and revealing “Proof of Heaven” expos? is no longer pay walled. Get skeptical
7 billion people on the planet, all on this webpage
Everyone seems to like “Her” except the other female AI we all know
It should trouble crop circle enthusiasts that a publicity stunt can be misinterpreted so badly
With only one hit of DNA to go on, scientists are bracing for the Asian carp invasion
? Proof that taking selfies everyday can result in something awesome
