January 31, 2014
- Russia's life expectancy correlates directly to vodka consumption; a quarter of all Russian men die before 55.
- Pew research shows 52% of Americans are disappointed with the outcomes of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- From Schwarzkopf's boots to traffic cones, the U.S. government's official color palette controls much of what we see.
- Related: The common potoo bird is virtually indistinguishable from a tree branch.
- Flying snakes—all five species of them—glide through air by turning concave, not unlike an airplane wing.
- By reducing the number of audible alarms—from 90,000 a week to 10,000—hospitals can better tend to those patients in true crisis.
- The problem with the anime industry is the people who don't leave the house because they're too busy watching anime.
- School officials at a Salt Lake City elementary seize lunches from children whose parents owed lunch money.
- Perfume company to release pizza-scented cologne; testers say it captures the smell of pizza going cold.
- CDC issues warning on pest strips used by entomologists and museums.
- English is not as well-equipped to describe smells as other languages.
- Nothing can be all things to all people, and Sherlock felt smothered by the weight of nine million expectations.
- The Morning News seeks an intern for Spring 2014—deadline to apply is next Friday.
- The future of biography is searching private emails and text messages.
- Digital version of map from the 1300s shows Britain in its earliest recognizable geographic form.
- The Tom Waits map of the world.
- Anyone is just as free to decline [success] and do something else with their time—and by extension, with ours.
- Song of the week: "Feeling Alright" by Warpaint.