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Friday Nite Videos -- December 16, 2016

Portside
Daryl Davis, Race & America | Movie Trailer. Everybody Knows | Leonard Cohen. ¡Cuba! Exhibition Now Open. The Brilliant Life of Ada Lovelace #OrdinaryWomen. My President Was Black.

¡Cuba! Exhibition Now Open

Its complex politics and vibrant music have attracted the attention of the world. But Cuba, the largest island nation in the Caribbean, is also home to the unexpected. It’s a place of stunning contrasts: mysterious caves and bright boulevards, sweltering fields and cool forests, hard challenges and high energy.

A Conductor of Evolution’s Subtle Symphony

Stephanie Bucklin Quanta Magazine
At first, the biologist Richard Lenski thought his long-term experiment on evolution might last for 2,000 generations. Nearly three decades and over 65,000 generations later, he’s still amazed by evolution’s “awesome inventiveness.”

Friday Nite Videos -- October 21, 2016

Portside
John Oliver | Third Parties. Leonard Cohen | You Want It Darker. Where Does Complexity Come From? The Park of Friendship in Tijuana. Monkeys Can Make Stone Tools Too.

Monkeys Can Make Stone Tools Too

Stone flakes made by capuchin monkeys look remarkably similar to stone tools made by early humans 2-3 million years ago, raising questions about the archaeological record.

Can Great Apes Read Your Mind?

Christopher Krupenye The Conversation
In past research, apes consistently failed on tasks designed to assess their understanding of others’ false beliefs. They did’t seem to know when someone has an idea about the world that conflicts with reality. But in a new study involving 40 bonobos, chimpanzees and orangutans the apes were able to anticipate that an actor would behave in accordance with a false belief.

Giraffes Get Caught Up in the Great Genetics Nerd Fight

Marley Walker Wired
Just like taxonomists have debated over which physical characteristics warrant a new species designation, they’re conflicted over how much genetic variation you need to prove differentiation.

We Finally Know Who Forged Piltdown Man, One of Science’s Most Notorious Hoaxes

Sarah Kaplan The Washington Post
In 1953 scientists investigating Piltdown Man, an alleged "missing link" between modern humans and apes, concluded that it was a fake. But their investigation couldn't answer the question: Who had done it, and why? Many suspects have been proposed, but we now finally know the culprit in this long-standing mystery.

New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity

Emily Singer Quanta Magazine
Scientists have figured out how microbes can suck energy from rocks. Such life-forms might be more widespread than anyone anticipated.
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