February 5, 2013: Afternoon
- A proposed think tank, the Center for the Study of Existential Risk, would study scenarios that result in the end of humanity.
- Sedentary lifestyles reduce sperm counts—as does running in tight clothing and too much time on a bike.
- Qantas asks passenger to remove T-shirt bearing an Inigio Montoya quotation from The Princess Bride.
- The web release of My Bloody Valentine's first album in 22 years: "the closest thing to standing in line at a record store for a few hours before midnight."
- Scientists develop a "genetic patch" that can prevent a hereditary form of deafness.
- How Hitler's toilet ended up in New Jersey.
- Norway's diapers are so cheap that foreigners drive hundreds of miles to buy them up.
- The Seville garbage collectors' strike enters its second week.
- Seth Sawyers visits Sevilla's bullring.
- A new Indian league hopes to make badminton cool, but not as cool as cricket or soccer.
- Surowiecki: The ban on sports betting does exactly what Prohibition did. It makes criminals rich.
- A Long-Haired Handsome Jesus, Michael Blankenburg's beautiful online memoir about growing up in East Texas.
- From the attic: Dennis Mahoney deduces why we press the elevator call button even after it's already been pressed.
- Out today: Mahoney's debut novel, Fellow Mortals.