Welcome to Sci-shimi, my monthly roundup of great science online! Like a delicious, fresh platter of sashimi, these tasty links are meant to be shared —どうぞめしあがれ !
This month's mind-blowing science moment: Meet the woman who developed a way to run 30 blood tests with a single drop. Best long-read: Resurrecting a forest, in which Carl Zimmer explains how genetic tinkering may help bring back the American chestnut, complete with a time-lapse video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty9b1vml5IQ Best non-science long-read: The dark power of fraternities by Caitlin Flanagan (with the best opening paragraph of all time). Extra-special shout out to Danielle Lee, butt-kicking science blogger, who was chosen this month as one of the White House's Champions of Change. Danielle, you rock so hard it's giving me whiplash! "That in spite of what we have learned, we can persist in being knowingly and brutally cruel—as inhumane and unfeeling as we once regarded all other animals to be." Powerful words from Virginia Morell on the Taiji dolphin slaughter. Who is the best thrower in the animal kingdom? The why—not the who—might surprise you, says Jason Goldman. Talk about changing for the one you love—lemurs in love smell alike. Vultures don't follow dead animals; they wait where animals die, explains Allie Wilkinson. Stunning photos show the inner workings of fish. What is a plant without its chloroplasts? Tiny robots, based on insects, that ARE THE SIZE OF INSECTS. What does lava look like before it erupts from a volcano? Erik Klemetti explains. Fish that climb rocks with their mouths. The real Batman—what a bat skeleton looks like in our size. The most beautiful animal you've never seen, by Rebecca Helm.
Star trek sand dunes prove mars is really weird (from Kelly Oakes at Buzzfeed) Andrew Revkin sums up California's water troubles, and what is in store for the thirsty state. So much for The Secret—the powerlessness of positive thinking. Ferris Jabr delves into the giant minds of elephants. A golden eagle takes down a deer. Seriously. Ed Yong explains the mystery behind a graveyard of ancient whales. Super Mario = quantum physics! "Suns and beaches doesn’t sound like the stuff of nightmares. But the patient said that these dreams were, in fact, unspeakably horrible." Feb was a month of conferences: AAAS, Ocean Sciences, and ScienceOnline Together. Be sure to catch up on the twitter hashtags by clicking the links!
*This* is why I love #scio14. Talk art to me, music, theoretical physics, fame. Tell me why all my assumptions are wrong, tell me. Thank you — LizNeeley (@LizNeeley) February 28, 2014
Bored kids are turning to twitter to amuse themselves. What does this say about the state of our education system Cane toads prove they can take the heat, or lack thereof. Love and hate—kinda the same thing, really. Kyle Hill explains why the Walking Dead zombies have venom, not a virus Horrifying image of animal research circulates the interwebs—except that it's not a picture of animal research at all. What would Miley Cyrus do (if she was into marine science)? #OceanMiley
Turns out, it’s pretty easy to put Miley on most stock oceanographic photos. Here she is deploying a CTD. pic.twitter.com/hZiA0ispPn — Kim Martini (@rejectedbanana) February 15, 2014
What is dark energy? Matthew Francis explains. Flying snakes (minus the plane) Waste heat is free energy—energy crisis solved? Academic scandal: more than 120 computer-generated papers have made their way onto the pages of respected journals. How accurate is the movie Pompeii? Actually, not as far-fetched as you'd think. Plastic ingestion in sea birds is worse than we thought. A map that shows how historical human populations mixed. How do mole get around? They swim through the ground. Have something to add? Tweet me link suggestions with the hashtag #scishimi!
