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Nerds and Words: Week 35

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

Have we entered into an age of digital applause, like a butterfly from a cocoon?

"Out of 783 doctors, 97% had prescribed drugs without scientific basis, like antibiotics for viruses." BAD PLACEBO

How do we determine if octopuses feel pain?

We used to think that fetuses were sterile. Now we know (important) bacteria share the womb with us

? As always, the latest Symphony of Science is a fun listen: MONSTERS OF THE COSMOS. Auto-tuned Morgan Freeman!

123 years later, the "Elephant man" is still helping science with his bones and his DNA

There are over 40 theories on what déjà vu actually is, here are some of them, nicely animated

Dogs rescue their friends and elephants care for injured kin–humans have no monopoly on moral behavior

? What is a squid to do when it doesn't have its utility belt?

XKCD cuts me deep here...I use tired comparisons all the time

Damselfish that uses fake eyes to avoid predation can keep those eyes longer if predators are about

? What does a rig for inseminating a queen bee look like? Rather surgical

Scorpions famously fluoresce, but some harvestmen do too

What if you stopped going outside? I ask as I sit here in this hotel room on a computer

"Denying climate change isn’t just foolish — it’s bad for business."

Interesting take on a fascinating study: Are classical music competitions judged on looks?

Want to see signs of intelligent life? Just look up.

Julia Child Was Wrong: Don't Wash Your Raw Chicken. It's a bacteria transmission device

Get closer to learning how bees fly by gluing them down and shooting x-rays at them!

? I love this idea: Symbols to take back and reshape the public image of vaccines

Rolling your tongue is not genetic, earlobes are not either "free" or "attached," and other myths of human genetics

In experiments, this orchid-mimicking mantis actually attracted more insects than the real flower

A sanctuary for monarch butterflies looks like a decent sanctuary for me too

The "hellbender head-start program” isn't as bad as it sounds, though it involves giant salamanders

23 Signs You’re Secretly a Narcissist Masquerading as a Sensitive Introvert. We are looking at you Kanye...

Someone point me towards some gnus so I can call them an "implausibility of gnus." A mutation of thrushes!

WOW. See 10 years of weather in 3 minutes

? Just a shark walking over coral, no big deal. Looks like it is a new species!

What it looks like when you inject radon gas into a cloud chamber. You SEE particles decay!

Debunking each and every paper that claims a link between vaccines and autism. A noble slog

Don't spread this Fukushima radiation leak image around. It's fake.

We know more about the behavior of stars and black holes than we do about colossal squid

 

Nerdery At Its Finest

? Insect labs have their own version of Nike

An article after my own geeky heart: Sherlock Holmes and the Dynamics of an Asteroid

I have to admit: I score pretty low on this "are you a geek" test

A powerful laser eats balloons for breakfast

The best way to demonstrate the physics of a cantilever bridge is with beards

? A few images of a rolling shutter's effect on airplane propellers are definitely worth your time

Guitar strings don't just sound good, they look amazing if you sync a camera's frame rate with them

 

GIFs and Images for 2-Seconds of Wow

Ichneumon wasp!

? A NatGeo photographer's most amazing experience, GIFified

The easiest way to extract genetic material from queen bees? Grab a few from your handy bottle and start blending.

So yeah, this is what peeing on lava looks like

da Vinci invented the paintball gun, right?

Look at how the shrapnel is packed! Death by geometry: A hand grenade cut in half

Science on the Vine: Super cool N2

In a machine like this, everything shreds

? If you pop a water balloon just right, it looks like a twirling jellyfish

A stunning time-lapse video of the Yosemite rim fire. Like a billowing volcano and an autumn sunset

These animals just cruise the deep ocean. Sleep tight

? Seeing hurricane Katrina from its center might be the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Like a whirlpool in the sky

Science on the Vine: Close to royalty

Long-exposure shots of airports highlight our jet-powered tendrils extending into the skies

? Did you know that, unlike water, manatees are compressible?

A train to Kazakhstan carried the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft

SPACE PRON: The center of the Orion nebula

This is one incredible image from the Rim fire in Yosemite

Praying mantis eats a hummingbird, quotes Tyler Durden, "I wanted to destroy something beautiful"

I know I said prosthetic limbs have come a long way, but they're even better than I thought

The cells in your eyes get bored enough that this ring will disappear if you stare at the red dot

? When a kingfisher is a bird bullet

Want to play with Atlas moth. so. bad.

Who cares about the top of lillypads? The bottoms are much cooler

? A much better GIF of something much cooler: Throw a flying snake off a platform!

 

Pop Culture Happenings

There is still wage inequality, but the "women make $0.77 on the dollar" talking point simply isn't true

Yes people, "irregardless" is a word.

How institutional failings in "The Newsroom" parallel the workings of science

? Science creates great fiction, but it can also destroy whole genres of that fiction

Saying food "is like crack" demonstrates how out of touch and classist foodie culture has become

? The best subreddit might be where redditors expertly color historic black and white photos

Who really destroyed a field of GM rice in the Philippines, and who lied about it?

The creator of Calvin and Hobbes has a wonderful quote about doing what you love

"Why are there helicopters circling my house?" and other adventures in auto-complete

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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