August 28, 2017
Why Houston couldn’t evacuate: No one forgets the chaos of 2005, when 73 people died before Rita hit. / The Texas Tribune
Food banks, prescription medications, clean diapers: How you can help those affected by Hurricane Harvey. / Texas Monthly
Dramatic photos of the damage and flooding in Houston and on the Texas coast. / The Atlantic
Video comparisons of Houston before and after Harvey shows the flooding is worse than water: In many places, it’s a river. / YouTube
As floodwaters rose, Trump tweeted Mexico would pay for his wall; Mexico instead offered aid to Texas. / BuzzFeed
An emergency number targeting Houston flood victims goes to an insurance company—and other scams and fake news. / BuzzFeed
A look at the history of courtroom sketches, which depict more than what happened, but how it felt. / Atlas Obscura
Harvard and Hollywood collaborated to introduce Americans to the concept of the “designated driver.” / Now I Know
“People can die.” Thiel and friends fund herpes vaccine trials abroad where regulations are lax. / Kaiser Health News
Babylonians did trigonometry before Greeks, tablet shows—and more efficiently, in base 60. / The Telegraph
A worrying harbinger: Fastest trans-Arctic crossing used liquefied natural gas, which will accelerate melting ice. / Engadget
“If a woman doesn’t want to have a child with Down syndrome, their bar for what qualifies as a life worth living is set quite high.” Are Icelanders, who have overwhelmingly choose not to have children with Down syndrome, practicing eugenics? / Quartz
China approved the creation of the world’s largest energy company—and second-largest company by revenue. / Bloomberg
Liberals are concerned Sunday’s antifa-led violence will do their cause more harm than good. / Los Angeles Times
“Wonderwall” is by now so cliché that it’s “shorthand for a lack of self-awareness.” / MEL Magazine
The new world Scrabble champ won with a 74-point “carrels,” a group of partitioned library tables. / BBC
“Diamonds, by contrast, could have represented the upper class in French decks, as paving stones used in the chancels of churches were diamond shaped, and such stones marked the graves of the aristocratic dead.” A brief, fascinating history of playing cards. / The Atlantic
Naval vessels don’t broadcast their location data, and therefore pose increased danger for collisions. / The New York Times
“Emotionally spent, I retire to the back seat. I eat my first gummy around noon, and by 2 p.m. my dad and I are singing show tunes from my dad’s playlist, the songs we’ve always sung together.” Laurie Lindeen drops off her son at college. / The New York Times
Assembling a 33,600-piece jigsaw puzzle over the course of nine months. / YouTube