conuly

http://wapo.st/12YTRG3

Something I must say is worse than what happens to baby hyenas.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Are-Babies-Born-Good-183837741.html

Will I be able to close down these month old tags without panicking? These questions, and more, answered soon!

This girl was cured of cancer (knock on wood) with modified AIDS.

( Read more... )

Museums are apparently doing all sorts of special programs to welcome homeschool groups

Here's a piece on Chinese language use to avoid internet censors

An article on how spring break is apparently getting less wild because all this stuff stays online forever

Here's an article on this interesting new idea of altering the pricing for more popular spots on San Francisco to increase turnover of those spots.
The article is pretty positive, but in the comments there's this critical site. I have to say, I have long thought it silly to give zillions of cars up to 2/3 of any given street, just for free!

Here's a slightly older article on a new method of cleaning up lead.

Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station marshmallow launcher!

In other news, Body-powered battery chargers bring us that much closer to the world of The Matrix.

Today she sent me an email with a picture in it and the message "why didn't you tell me these are sooooo cute?" This is all she said.

The picture was of a water bear, and it was certainly one of the most adorable pictures of a water bear I've ever seen. (Wikipedia says they're also called moss piglets. OMG THAT IS EVEN CUTER!)

But I digress. While you probably do encounter these every day, you equally probably don't realize it. So I replied to her with the note "Oh, is that a water bear?"

"How do you even know the stuff you do????

1. Does my mother even know me? I mean, I thought after 28 years she'd have some idea of who her daughter is, but....

2. More importantly - I didn't start this conversation, she did! And her very first words were asking why I never told her how cute water bears are! So... I don't... it's not... aaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhh!

In other cute animal news, I found a caterpillar gnawing on my rue today. I didn't realize that when you try to pry them off your rue plant they flash horns at you! I brought it in to Ana to show her, and explained that the caterpillar is trying to scare us away. "That's not scary!" "Well, it would be if we were a lot smaller, like if we were a praying mantis trying to eat it or something." Since we're not, though, it was just cute. But we only tormented the poor thing once or twice (for science!) and then put it back outside. Even if it is cute and educational, it's not fair to the caterpillar dear.

The first several are loosely connected.

One on how girls underestimate their own intelligence
Vaguely connected to that is this old, old New Yorker article on praising your kids.
Another article on the same subject.
Does Hidden Sexism Discourage Girls From Math and Science?
And an editorial on a similar vein

The mathematics of fish schools and flocks of humans

Here is an interactive, updated map of what the heck is going on in the Middle East and North Africa. It is utterly fascinating if you're unable to keep up.

Defector admits to WMD lies that triggered Iraq war

How the human penis lost its spines

Prison Rape and the Government. I skimmed this one.

Here's an article about earthworms, which are, of course, an invasive species in North America. Our native worms died out after the last ice age. Earthworms are good for your garden, but they're bad for the forests, so if you truck worms into a forest to fish, truck them back out again when you're done - don't just dump them there!

I pretty much stole all these links from the same person, just so you know :)

Fox insider outright admits they just make stuff up. I think we already knew that... and I also think that some people will never be convinced. Fox is pretty good at fooling some of the people all of the time, I guess.

Scientists discover how to make squids go completely berserk. No, that's actually the title of the article. Scientists do not explain why you'd want to make squids go completely berserk, though. Let's hope they never attempt revenge. If Otto is any indication, they can create plenty of damage just out of boredom. Revenge would be easy. Also, they can hear you talking about them behind their backs. Never turn your back on a squid, that's what I say.

Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? Well, that's depressing. I just kinda skimmed it.

And then there's this. This firefighter (according to this article, anyway) refused to answer calls to the shooting in Tuscon because of political reasons. It's like birth control and pharmacists all over again. If your beliefs keep you from doing your job - get another job! How hard is this?

For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining. What went wrong—and how we can fix it.

I'm not entirely sure I believe this article, but there it is.

Here's a video on blizzards and long-term methods for traffic calming.

NYPD Cops' Training Included an Anti-Muslim Horror Flick. Other than the disturbing nature of this, it's not really worth reading past the title (which sums up what you need to know) unless you are masochistically inclined towards comment-reading. Half of them say that Muslims and Islam and Obama are all evil-evil-evil, and the others say that this video is the work of Zionist Jews who, along with Obama, are all evil-evil-evil.

Teachers are (unreasonably) cautious about teaching evolution in school. Again, I warn you - don't read the comments.

And there's this interesting article on a school in the Bronx. Actually, I have to say, the really interesting part is the pictures. My god, that school has got to have the ugliest uniform I have ever seen in a school. Orange and blue plaid? I fully admit that this is a shallow worldview, but... wow.

More on the school profiled is at Wikipedia.