Stuff online, sinking the ark edition

Stuff online, chestnuts and sibilants edition

Chestnut

A chestnut, on a tree in Japan. (Flickr: Yuichi Tokutomi)

“Deoxyribonucleic asshole” is about right. James Watson, credited as co-discoverer of the molecular structure of DNA, is auctioning off his Nobel Prize medal in a fit of pique over his recent shunning for being a racist, sexist, jerk.

Stuff online, “a note so high nobody could reach it” edition

Solidarity rally and march for Michael Brown in response to the Furguson grand jury decision

Protestors at the Minneapolis rally against the Ferguson grand jury decision, 25 November 2014. (Flickr: Fibbonacci Blue)

“Nothing on Earth sounds less like freedom to me.” A grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson for killing an unarmed black teenager. Grand juries hardly ever decide not to indict, and Wilson’s testimony before the grand jury didn’t make any sense, but police officers are rarely charged for killing civilians. There are still some options to obtain a measure of justice, but the decision has prompted renewed nationwide protests over our unjust justice system and the deeper racism it supports.

Science online, blood and grape salad edition

Stuff online, pointing out the problem edition

Stuff online, doom and despair edition

Stuff online, Phobos and Demos edition

Stuff online, “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to be naturally selected” edition

  • This week at Nothing in Biology Makes Sense: In the movies and on TV, only bad guys evolve.
  • Because it’s what you do, not what you are. Why douchebag is the anti-white-supremacist slur for our time.
  • Is Minneapolis the new Portland? Is Pittsburgh the new Austin?
  • Without climbing the walls. Finding the way out of academia.
  • We can only hope. Next steps in Ferguson.

Stuff online, grass of the field edition

Stuff online, marathoning monarchs edition

Fall Foliage

Frick Park, Pittsburgh. (Flickr: corbin_dana)