Weekend Reading: The Mostly Science Edition

I don't know whether the story of this week is one of an unusually hectic week kicking my butt or one of me rising to the challenge and (mostly) getting the most important things done. It is probably somewhere in between. However, it meant that I didn't do as much in support of the release of Taming the Work Week as I wanted.

Luckily, my awesome blog friends have come to my rescue. Academic Jungle posted a very nice and thorough review of the book. Laura Vanderkam wrote a post and interviewed me for her CBS MoneyWatch column. And Zenmoo posted the first review on the Amazon page. Thank you, all! More posts will come along later, and I'll post links when they come out. Amazon reviews are also greatly appreciated- my publisher tells me that they really help to sell the book.

But enough about me. Let's talk about science! I have several science and math related things for your this week:

First, an old Boing Boing article from Maggie Koerth-Baker about poison potatoes and how conventional breeding techniques can have unintended consequences.

Next, an old Science news article about the physics of the combination of corn starch and water.

This story about a big advance made by a previously obscure mathematician is nice. This should finally kill off the misconception that failing to land a tenure track job is an indication of lack of intellectual capabilities. It should, but it won't...

Finally, this story about the use of a 3D printer to save a baby's life is awesome.

Happy weekend, everyone!