The Ed's Up #70

Monkey With Better Social Networks Stay Warmer in the Winter

"It’s three in the morning in South Africa, in the middle of winter. Temperatures have dropped to just below freezing and a vervet monkey—silver-furred and black-faced—is very, very cold. Soon, the rising sun will heat the land to a much nicer 25 Celsius, but for now, the vervet faces five hours of bitter chill. So, it seeks out some friends for warmth. And as they huddle together in a shivering heap, tiny thermometers in their bodies record their temperatures." (Image: McFarland et al.)
 

More good reads

• I just finished reading The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science, by Armand Leroi, and highly recommend it. It’s a thoroughly researched and beautifully written account that restores Aristotle’s status as the father of modern natural science. Here are a couple of reviews.
• A survey supposedly said that 80% of Americans want to label food with DNA, prompting a wave of smug hand-wringing. Ben Lillie wrote the only intelligent, thoughtful take on the results, what they mean, and some of the problems with the science-communication world. On a related note, Phil Plait nails the analysis of a QVC segment in which hosts try to classify the moon—another incident that people laughed over.
• Indonesia's peatlands burn and the rest of South-East Asia chokes. But who’s to blame? Companies, the government, or locals? By Mike Ives.
• "Shaish is part of a subset of people with Parkinson’s who experience an urgent flowering of creativity.” By Eliza Strickland.  
• Watch the terrifying Humboldt squid flash at each other.
• "Over the next decade, he grew from just under 4’10’’ to a shocking 7’1’’." Lindsey Fitzharris on a fascinating medical case.
• Have scientists created an alternate form of life? Carl Zimmer on bacteria that use a synthetic amino acid.
• "'Maybe I should bank some blood of my daughter's son...,' he says, only half-joking." Megan Scudellari on fascinating experiments in which young blood rejuvenates old bodies.
• Fish live 750m beneath Antarctic ice in perpetual darkness and cold. By Douglas Fox.

More good links will be released in tomorrow's linkfest on Not Exactly Rocket Science.

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And that's it! Thanks for reading.

-Ed