some organisms are amazingly specialized. Perhaps the narrowest ecologic niche of all is that of a species of the fungus family Laboulbeniaceae, which grows exclusively on the rear portion of the elytra of the beetle Aphenops cronei, which is found only in some limestone caves in southern France. Larvae of the fly Psilopa petrolei develop in seepages of crude oil in California oilfields; as far as is known they occur nowhere else. This is the only insect able to live and feed in oil, and its adult can walk on the surface of the oil only as long as no body part other than the tarsi are in contact with the oil. Larvae of the fly Drosophila carciniphila develop only in the nephric grooves beneath the flaps of the third maxilliped of the land crab Geocarcinus ruricola, which is restricted to certain islands in the Caribbean.
Everything is heritable:
“A general intelligence factor in [border colly] dogs”, Arden & Adams 2016
“GWAS of 89,283 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with self-reporting of being a morning person”, Hu et al 2016
Politics/religion:
“Cuban missile crisis: The other, secret one”
“The Market for Sanctimony, or why we need Yet Another Space Alien Cult (YASAC)”
“So Far Unfruitful, Fusion Project Faces a Frugal Congress”
Thomas Jefferson and planning the University of Virginia
Statistics/AI/meta-science:
“PlaNet—Photo Geolocation with Convolutional Neural Networks”, Weyand et al 2016
“When Quality Beats Quantity: Decision Theory, Drug Discovery, and the Reproducibility Crisis”, Scannell & Bosley 2016
“Deming, data and observational studies: A process out of control and needing fixing”
“Online Controlled Experiments: Introduction, Learnings, and Humbling Statistics”
“My published negative result...”
Gambler’s ruin
“Bayesian estimation supersedes the t test”, Kruschke 2012
“Electoral Precedent”
“A Bayesian view of Amazon Resellers”
Psychology/biology:
“Aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation”, McIntyre & Fahy 2015 wins the Small Mammal Brain Preservation Prize by passing their evaluation (commentary)
“Effects of Initiating Moderate Alcohol Intake on Cardiometabolic Risk in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A 2-Year Randomized, Controlled Trial”, Gepner et al 2015
“Be Happier”
“My son’s flashcard routine”
“A Mole of Moles”
“We Add Near, Average Far”
“Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution”
“The animals that sniff out TB, cancer and landmines”
“Parenting and Happiness”
Is sleep to save energy?
Technology:
“Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found Them”
“How Did Software Get So Reliable Without Proof?”, Hoare 1996 (comments)
“Stargate Physics 101” (“Testing is sufficient to show the presence of bugs, but not the absence.”)
Merkle’s Puzzles
On Ray Kurzweil
Pokemon: determining the personality settings
“Can you use a magnifying glass and moonlight to light a fire?”
Economics:
“The life of American workers in 1915”
“Patents and innovation in economic history”, Moser 2016
“Elephants and Mammoths: Can Ice Ivory Save Blood Ivory?”, Farah & Boyce 2015
Philosophy:
“Technology will destroy human nature”
“Lord Russell meet Lord Russell”
Just wanted to say that I really appreciate your link roundups and look forward to them every month.
I gave you a thumbs up in agreement but didn’t give one to Gwern for his links. Pointing-something-out bias?
-- Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution