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I realized today that I’ve collected quite a few links, so it must be time for another Foraging post.  Lots of great photos this time, as well as a few important articles about sexism and, of course, some great science writing!  I hope you find something you like….have a great weekend, everyone!

Science
  • “Make history, not vitamin C” is an engaging, educational blog post by Eva Amsen.  It was the first thing I read in Openlab 2012, which reassured me that it really is an anthology of the best science writing online. 🙂
  • Over on Blank On The Map, Sesh Nadathur has written about a paper presenting a new strategy for dominating an opponent in repeated games of Prisoner’s Dilemma.  Given the amount of research that’s gone into PD, it’s actually a pretty amazing discovery which Sesh makes both accessible and interesting.
  • Back in September, Curiosity sent back pictures that have been called “definitive proof” that water once flowed on the surface of Mars.
  • What’s making mysterious geometric circles in the seabed off Japan?  The answer is amazing, if mundane.
Photos (about science…)
  • The final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour was captured in a satellite photo by Digital Globe.  It’s somehow touching that the retiring shuttle was photographed from space.
  • A remarkable photo taken by astronaut Aki Hoshide while working outside the ISS.
  • From outer space to inner worlds: Andy Ellison has taken detailed images of the inside of fruits & vegetables using an MRI scanner.  You can find pictures, videos and even interactive sections on his blog, Inside Insides.
  • Eckhard Völcker is a talented and ardent microscopist with a fantastic flickr stream full of beautiful plant sections.
  • Piotr Naskrecki has written a wonderful post about whipscorpions, The scariest animal that will never hurt you.  It’s worth clicking the link just to see his excellent macro photos.  In fact, why not go ahead and follow his blog?
Society
  •  An op-ed on AJE entitled “Confessions of a former Republican“.  I’m not posting it to bash Republicans, but rather as a reminder that people really do have some views which I consider very strange…and that they have reasons for those views.  It’s important to understand and remember that if we want to engage in fruitful dialogue.
  • Jennifer Keane writes about the importance of being open about mental illness.
  • HuffPo has an article about Catalogue of a Barmaid, a blog (with only one post) by a Cambridge graduate who was shocked by the sexist & misogynistic behaviour she met while working as a barmaid.  We have to call out people for sexist behaviour.  It’s not appropriate or funny. Ever.
  • Sexism abounds, even in science.  Ilana Yurkiewicz does a great job of summarizing a recent paper showing that leading scientists have a bias against hiring women.  There’s also quite a lively discussion in the comments.
  • I found Project Implicit through Ilana’s post.  Go find out what biases you didn’t know you have.
  • Finally, Becky Chambers gives her view on what women want from female protagonists in video games.
Online tidbits
  •  Terms of Service: Didn’t Read is an effort to rate and label websites so you know what it is that you’ve agreed to and how much control you have over your data.
  • Hypothes.is is a new project to create an open framework for annotation and critiquing of online texts.  It’s a bold project which I hope will succeed.
  • If you know a bit of programming and want to get your feet wet with bioinformatics, try the challenges at Rosalind.
  • The unbearably cute kitten cam.

That’s all from me! If you’d like to add something, feel free to leave a comment.