Oy vey! Barely a month has gone by. This time, he’s mixed up in a bribery scandal involving a Binny’s liquor store. The evidence against him in this one isn’t particularly strong, but maybe we’ll be forgiven for spotting the pattern. | learn more
How accurate is carbon dating?
I was reading something that relied on carbon dating estimates, and I decided to check how accurate the dating process is. Spoiler: it’s pretty accurate. But last year, a discovery called into question its usefulness for dating within the span of a few decades. | learn more
Building the largest ship in the world
A photographer went to the South Korean shipyard that builds the Maersk Triple E. The photos and scale are impressive. | learn more
The US government is looking for pro joint rollers
“Two days ago, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced it was seeking a private contractor to roll “marijuana cigarettes” for ongoing research projects.” | learn more
Bill Gates wants to talk about soil
“Nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Bill Gates highlights several companies who are developing creative solutions to fight climate change caused by agriculture.” Included in his list is Cambridge Crops, which I have the good fortune to be a tiny investor in. | learn more
Drinkable retinol is here
The brand Dirty Lemon has made a drink that includes retinol, “a super-potent, typically topical skin-care ingredient revered for its ability to prevent and correct wrinkles, pimples and hyperpigmentation.” And interestingly, dermatologists aren’t calling BS on it. | learn more
Bacterial factories making high-performance proteins
This caught my eye because it discusses a way to make super-strong silk fibers without spiders. “A new method takes advantage of engineered bacteria to produce difficult-to-make proteins that could be useful during future space missions.” | learn more
Woman with gene mutation lives almost pain-free
“A woman in Scotland can feel virtually no pain due to a mutation in a previously-unidentified gene, according to a research paper co-led by UCL.” | learn more
“I was wrong”
From Seth Godin: “It’s difficult to get someone (a client, a boss, a voter, a partner) to say those three words. Difficult to say on our own behalf, too. Which is why we so easily get stuck.” | learn more
A Harvard linguist’s 13 tips for becoming a great writer
“Writing well is hard, but Steven Pinker managed to boil the essentials down to just 13 tweet-length tips.” | learn more