I can't just post about the earthquake, so I'm finally going to clear out some tabs

[conuly]

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!

Comments

About the link regarding sexism and girls and science/math

[lady-angelina.livejournal.com]

Huh, interesting. I never found that to be true for me, but then again, I never really was affected much by the gender of the instructor. I was never intimidated from pursuing math and the sciences just because some of my teachers/professors were male.

And I never, ever believed that I was "good at English and art, and bad at math and kickball," like the other article about girls and intelligence said. ...Well, okay, I WAS bad at kickball and any other physical activities, but I sucked hardcore at art and English, and math has always been one of my better subjects. Go figure.