Ghost Jobs, Turkish Cats, and Southeast Asian Missile Names
“Ghost jobs” are still common on job boards.
On the contested terrain of early modern desire (or: 17th-century dildo shopping with the ladies).
A digital twin might just save your life.
New census projections highlight value (and by some measures, necessity) of immigration to the US:
British people pay attention when a storm has a name, Met office says (I wrote about this on Brain Lenses recently).
Paris stays Paris by investing heavily in public housing.
For the love of cats in Turkey.
On ant geopolitics:
In late 2022, colonies of the most notorious South American export, the red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) were unexpectedly found in Europe for the first time, alongside a river estuary close to the Sicilian city of Syracuse. People were shocked when a total of 88 colonies were eventually located, but the appearance of the red fire ant in Europe shouldn’t be a surprise. It was entirely predictable: another ant species from S invicta’s native habitats in South America had already found its way to Europe.
How the Dutch adapted to the Little Ice Age (as seen in paintings).
20 iconic things turning 50 in 2024 (among them: Post-It Notes, the Heimlich Maneuver, and the Meow Mix jingle).
Inside one of the world’s most dangerous games (I can’t believe this game exists, but it also seems inevitable that it does?).
How do birds sleep?
More than half of chickenpox diagnoses are wrong, study finds (tldr; vaccination has been so effective that we’ve become worse at recognizing what’s chickenpox and what’s not).
That attempt to beat all the Super Mario Maker user-built levels before the game was taken offline was successful (love this sort of thing!).
A prototype supersonic airplane has taken flight (if a few years later than planned).
Lots of adult-themed deepfakes are being made (of celebrities and everyone else).
The etymology of Southeast Asia’s missiles.
When your vision and hearing decline with age (interactive charts available, if you click through the link).
Side hustles are popular amongst Gen Z because “loyalty is dead.”
Chatbots (powered by AI) meant to help with mental health are becoming popular (and getting funding).