Linkapalooza the Umpteenth.

It's time again to clear out some of the tabs that have accumulated. (Especially since I am trying to clear them all, eventually, as I'm going to switch over to another browser. Firefox is just not what it used to be; I've had nasty issues with typing lags and other long load-times and lags, and it's getting on my nerves. So currently being tested: Opera. Any browser advice is taken gladly.)

There's been a new study on alcohol consumption, and it looks like there are no health benefits that outweigh the potential downsides after all. I really liked the note of caution at the end of the text, though - where a Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk (I wasn't aware this subject even existed!) very rightly states that there is also no safe level of living, but nobody would recommend abstention. After all, getting a fix in some way or other is a very human (and a very ancient) thing...

Speaking of ancient, if you like bananas, you might be interested in this history of the domesticated banana on Sapiens.

Let's stay with the topic of domestication - honey bees are endangered, among other things, by the varroa mite. Torben Schiffer wrote an interesting article (German and English) about this problem, stating that quite a bit of it is home-made and due to the methods of modern bee-keeping.

An article at Quartz makes a case for puns as the most elevated display of wit. Much to my delight, as I'm a total sucker for puns - the more groan-worthy, the better.

And to round things off, something from Australia in an article in German: Researchers have found out that cotton can be recycled (or upcycled) into a replacement for human cartilage.