Informative Links

Scientists sticking wires into human heads have found our brain’s language center can multitask. Now we all be expected to keep that up at least 40 hours a week.

An interview with Randall Munroe of xkcd on his first book. And some other bloggers who have made the leap into print.

What it's like to be a Canadian with a baby in Mongolia, a land where they take breastfeeding very seriously. And not just for babies. (via Metafilter)

Everyone hears the original story, but few ever hear the admission that it was a hoax. Here are five such stories you should know about.

More and more people are dying from natural causes in prison. Hospice care in prison uses inmates to minister to each other in their last days.

Van Gogh often added sketches or paintings to his letters, to illustrate what he wrote about. Some people were lucky enough to be his pen pals and recipients of personal art.

Homeless at age 97, Bessie Mae Berger and her two sons live in an SUV in Venice, California. They prefer this arrangement to being separated.

The beginning of life may have been in rocks instead of the primordial soup. The alkaline vents of the ancient ocean had the necessary chemical reactions, even if its a counterintuitive idea. (via Metafilter)