Good Reads and Info

9 Developments That Prove We Really Are Living In The Future. You hear about new technical developments every day, but when you see them together, it’s apparent we are living a science fiction novel.

Private Plane, Public Menace. If you’re flying on a private plane, whether it’s yours, or chartered, or belongs to a friend of friend, no TSA screening is necessary.

The first cute exotic baby animal born at the San Diego Zoo in 2011 was …a Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko. Luckily, the first new year baby at Lincoln Park Zoo is cuddlier.

Mutual Funds to Match Your Lifestyle. Not that matching your lifestyle will mean a bigger profit, but it may make explaining your investments to your relatives more fun.

Google invites students between the ages of 13 and 18 to enter their global online science fair. Prizes include a trip to the Galapagos islands and a trip to CERN. (via Discoblog)
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Down the Hatch and Straight Into Medical History. Dr. Chevalier Jackson kept objects that his patients swallowed or inhaled (and he removed) and his eccentric collection is now a museum exhibit. (via Bioephemera)

Absinthe is Legal Again – 11 Things You Need to Know. The most important being whether it is legal where you are.

Hooked on Tonics: Snake Oils, Hangover Cures, and Other Questionable Medicine.
Carl Zimmer’s list of banned words for beginning science writers. Wonderful idea: leave the jargon in class and just tell us what happens.