There’s a tortoise hidden somewhere in these links. Bet you can’t find it.

 

Monday:

A tour thru the wacky world of period-related patents. Vibrating tampons. pH monitoring! Bluetooth! ow.ly/WLT8s by @roseveleth

Sad but true: In academia, people are sometimes asked to write their own letters of rec. I know I did. ow.ly/WNDi5

Ancient Rome’s public toilets weren’t quite the sanitary revolution we once thought. I blame sponge-on-stick wiping. ow.ly/WNDNI

Photosynthesizing Plankton Punk Puzzled PhDs. ow.ly/WNEcI

Owie. Ötzi the Iceman had a stomach bug.ow.ly/WNGea

GORGEOUS. 3D printed model of dividing cells.ow.ly/WNIy7

When it comes to the microbes in our bodies, we may not be outnumbered after all! Phew.ow.ly/WNJRO by @edyong209

How poor science lent a lingering bad taste to totally-fine MSG. ow.ly/WNMn2

 

Tuesday:

Why nutrition data is always so crappy. Great analysis. ow.ly/WP6su (I got yelled at for using “crappy.” That’s fair, it’s probably more like “needlessly complex and you can’t really conclude much).

Holy wow! Rep. Jackie Speier is on the house floor right now talking about sexism in science!! WATCH IT RIGHT NOW. c-span.org/video/?403130-…

50 years ago, DMSO was prescribed for everything from headaches to colds. Today, it’s a fake cancer cure. ow.ly/WUpZb

Miss my links last week? Here they are! Smart bras, hangovers, and animals struck by lightning. http://ow.ly/WUqgS

That time that kids got to decide what to eat…and gave themselves pretty much what they needed. http://ow.ly/WUBDO by @cragcrest

His stress and her stress are not the same stress. http://ow.ly/WUT64

How stories constantly deceive us. Great from @mkonnikova, who’s book comes out TODAY! Can’t wait to read it! http://ow.ly/WX47C

Another one from @mkonnikova about how we all get conned. The Confidence Game is out today! http://ow.ly/WX4jx Def want to read.

A new idea for a shot at migraine.http://ow.ly/WX4xh I cannot tell you how much I hope this works. By @em_underwood

 

Wednesday:

The piles of stuff we might need someday are an argument that we will always be around to need them.” http://ow.ly/WX4V5 on tidying.

Love it. the person who made a map of squirrel-caused power outages.http://ow.ly/WXb1R

Can bats help replace pesticides? A scientist is trying to find out. http://ow.ly/WXc64

Do prestigious science journals attract bad science? http://ow.ly/WXcxp by @juliaoftoronto

In the Arctic, plankton migration is driven by the moon! http://ow.ly/WXcTb by @SarahZielinski

How do people study boredom? With the dullest videos and tasks EVER.http://ow.ly/WXiI1 by @maggiekb1

In the Oregon Standoff, Science is a Hostage http://ow.ly/WXmuo

 

Thursday: (RIP Alan Rickman. You will always be Snape to me).

How @brookeborel investigated a scientist’s bizarre alter ego. Bizarre is definitely the word.ow.ly/WY9PN by @cragcrest

Addyi. Female libido pill approved. But not yet popular. ow.ly/WYa5w my piece: ow.ly/WYaht

The piles of stuff we might need someday are an argument that we will always be around to need them.” ow.ly/WX4V5 on tidying.

An otterly adorable otter baby update.ow.ly/WYgmL

Love it. the person who made a map of squirrel-caused power outages. ow.ly/WXb1R

There are people who live, full time, in Antarctica. They aren’t researchers. They just live there. Very cool. ow.ly/X08VG

The first artificial insemination was EVERY TYPE OF WRONG. ow.ly/X0iKI h/t @edyong209 who I now blame for my emotional scars.

That moms kissing booboos study? It’s fake. “Ironic.” I hate to break this to you, but there’s no sarcasm in print. ow.ly/X0TXF (Journals, Y U do this?! There’s so sarcasm in print and people ALREADY believe we waste federal research money on stupid studies! And they certainly won’t be bothered to check the veracity!)

 

Friday:

Hard Science Vs. Harder Science. @szvandebates what’s the “real” science. ow.ly/X0UST

Scientists are blocking salamander immigration. For their own good.http://ow.ly/X0Yl3

“I’ll live the rest of my life with a heart implant, but may never know how well it actually works.” http://ow.ly/X1uJg

Says a lot about the state of funding that many scientists just hope to still be running labs in five years. http://ow.ly/X3rWz

Science doesn’t need another moonshot. It needs sustainable funding and growth. By @drgitlin http://ow.ly/X4gR7

The starkiller base in #StarWars would fling people off into space, actually. Oops. Love it.http://ow.ly/X4hsC

“Working in astronomy is like living in a small town you can never leave” @starstryder on awfulness of harassment. http://ow.ly/X4ifE

.@MeanwhileFuture is coming back as Flash Forward! Congrats @roseveleth! I’m so excited for season two! http://ow.ly/X6D3V