Paleontology Tensions & Studying Stones

Featured Articles

The Asteroid-in-Spring Hypothesis

Intelligencer • 27 Aug 2024 • ~11150 words • Archive Link

In the world of paleontology, the recent tensions surrounding a site in North Dakota reveal much about both scientific discovery and personal ambition. This article explores the complex relationship between two scientists, DePalma and During, as their conflicting narratives highlight tensions between individual researchers and the collaborative nature of scientific discovery.

None of what follows will make sense absent a single social fact: The field of paleontology is mean. It has always been mean. It is, in the words of Uppsala University professor Per Ahlberg, “a honeypot of narcissists.” It is “a snake pit of personality disorders.” “An especially nasty area of academia,” the Field Museum’s Jingmai O’Connor calls it.

Studying Stones Can Rock Your World

The New Yorker • 26 Aug 2024 • ~4450 words • Archive Link

In her new book, Turning to Stone, Marcia Bjornerud takes us on a personal journey through the world of geology. By intertwining her life story with the tales of various rocks, she invites us to think about our relationship with the Earth in a fresh way. This piece beautifully explores how our understanding of rocks can reveal profound truths about our planet and ourselves.

The rocks around us, Bjornerud says, tell us that change happens occasionally by violence but mostly by patience; that survival entails the power to endure and the wisdom to recognize that the world can alter in a single day; that being thrown into even the harshest and most unfamiliar of environments can lead to beautiful transfigurations.

Recommended Articles

The cocaine kingpin’s wildest legacy: what can be done with Pablo Escobar’s marauding hippos?

The Guardian • 27 Aug 2024 • ~4450 words

Pablo Escobar's legacy is far more than just his notorious drug empire; it's also a growing population of hippos roaming the Colombian countryside. This piece from The Guardian explores how these animals, once part of Escobar's exotic menagerie, are now causing environmental challenges and sparking unique conservation efforts. Join the journey into this unexpected intersection of wildlife and criminal history.

The presence of these beasts in the heart of South America, waddling at night down rural paths and staring into the headlights of jeeps and motorcycles, might be comical if it weren’t so deadly.

The Unbelievably True Story of One of the Artists Behind Cadillac Ranch

Texas Monthly • 27 Aug 2024 • ~5000 words • Archive Link

The article provides a detailed profile of Doug Michels, one of the artists behind the iconic Cadillac Ranch installation in Amarillo, Texas. It explores his fascinating life, from his whimsical ideas about dolphins to his complex legacy in the art world. It's a thoughtful reflection on how one person's creative journey can shape cultural landmarks.

Cadillac Ranch might be an American Stonehenge, an ironic commentary on consumerism, a pit stop for the kids, a curse, a canvas, or a dump. It depends on who you ask.

How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction

Slate Magazine • 28 Aug 2024 • ~5300 words • Archive Link

This article discusses the long-standing American tendency for highway construction and expansion despite evidence that it fails to reduce traffic congestion and contributes to climate change. It explores the history of this phenomenon, the forces driving it, and the potential for unlikely alliances to break this cycle and shift transportation policy toward more sustainable solutions.

Solutions that can truly mitigate congestion, like improving transit service, implementing congestion pricing, and encouraging dense development, are often brushed aside as impractical. Instead, the U.S. is hooked on paving more and more highways, making old ones bigger, and adding new bits and bobs to the existing networks.

What Red Dead Redemption II Reveals About Our Myths of the American West

Literary Hub • 28 Aug 2024 • ~4100 words

While exploring the themes of "Red Dead Redemption II," this book excerpt delves into the American mythos surrounding the West and its transformation from wild frontier to settled civilization. It raises intriguing questions about how these narratives have shaped our understanding of identity and history while also challenging long-held beliefs about the West. I

In the *Red Dead Redemption* games, the West wasn’t *won*—it was robbed, deceived, and cheated. It was harnessed by easterners who sought little more than wealth and power.

Nudge Theory Is Making Inroads in Health Care, With Mixed Results

Undark Magazine • 28 Aug 2024 • ~2950 words

The article discusses the use of "nudge theory" in healthcare, where subtle social cues are used to guide people's decision-making without restricting their choices. It explores the mixed results of implementing nudges in various healthcare settings, highlighting the potential benefits and the challenges in predicting when nudges will succeed or fail.

But a core tenet of behavioral science is that humans don’t always act rationally — that people naturally fear losing what they have more than they value acquiring what they don’t; that they tend toward choices that require the least cognitive effort; that they are driven, more often than they care to admit, by social cues.

Why Is the Loneliness Epidemic so Hard to Cure?

New York Times • 27 Aug 2024 • ~4750 words • Archive Link

In a world where loneliness feels increasingly pervasive, this piece explores why the loneliness epidemic is so challenging to address. Through a mix of personal anecdotes and research insights, the authors delve into the complexities of social disconnection and the role it plays in our health and well-being.

Loneliness is a compound or multidimensional emotion: It contains elements of sadness and anxiety, fear and heartache. The experience of it is inherently, intensely subjective, as any chronically lonely person can tell you.

The Strange Allure of Blue Food

Atlas Obscura • 26 Aug 2024 • ~2200 words

Have you ever wondered why blue foods are so rare yet so intriguing? This article dives into the history and psychology behind our fascination with blue in food, exploring how marketers have successfully introduced this unusual color into our diets—often for fun rather than flavor. It’s an interesting look at how something as simple as color can shape our culinary experiences.

Nature’s rarest color may not enhance flavor and appetite, but it brings something to a recipe that no other color can. Blue adds mystery, surprise, delight, and even humor to our food; ingredients that can be just as important as any seasoning.

In Kosovo, Techno Is a Symbol of Resilience

Condé Nast Traveler • 19 Aug 2024 • ~3850 words • Archive Link

In the heart of Kosovo, a resilient techno scene has emerged as a symbol of the country's post-war recovery. Discover how a tight-knit community of DJs, promoters, and musicians have used electronic music to reclaim cultural spaces and forge a sense of unity in the face of historical trauma.

For Kosovo, the soundtrack to both its post-war struggle and collective euphoria was electronic music. An early watermark of this time was The Road of Peace Train, which saw a group of Kosovar and Serbian ravers hitch themselves to a freight train, assemble some turntables, and blast ‘90s electronica as they rode across the former Yugoslavia in 2002, from Pristina to Skopje, in a symbol of unity.