Another collection of links to pieces you may have missed. Again this time with rather more of a scientific bent, although most a actually readable and interesting.
OMG! Deja vu! This piece on Jabłoński diagrams takes me back to my post-grad days ‘cos these processes were central to what I was working on. How’s this for a scientific demonstration …

Meanwhile physicists have been exploring the hydrodynamics of urination “splashback”. Should be an IgNobel nominee.
Apparently men stroked in their underpants may illuminate the chemistry that bonds relationships. Don’t get too excited: they were stroked on non-sexual parts of their bodies while wearing only underpants. Another IgNobel nominee?
A little over 100 years since Captain Scott sailed off on his vessel Discovery, there’s a new RSS Discovery about to start oceanographic research.
What happens in the brain when we’re asleep? Looks like it flushes the “neuro trash” out of the system.
And there are several more articles from Nautilus on actual waste …
First up it seems there are so many pharmaceutics leaking into our waterways that some fish are now blissed out on Prozac.
Every part of every one of us is made from something else’s waste. Yes, really! Without waste we wouldn’t be here.
While we bemoan the amount of plastic debris in the oceans, it seems it is providing useful homes for some critters.
So where does all that plastic come from. Indeed, where does your stuff come from? Yeah, OK, the supermarket. And where do they get it? Brandon Keim on Nautilus tries following the backward chain ad infinitum. And fails. Which I find rather worrying.
Moving away from the vaguely scientific to things in my backyard …
Here’s one of those curiosities about London that cab drivers are actually brilliant at: London’s narrowest alley. Should be good for a pub quiz or two!
What were they thinking of? Once upon not very long ago US Ivy League colleges took nude photos of all their first year students.
What is mankind’s greatest invention? String? New Scientist makes the case.

Finally two pieces on what makes Autumn so gloriously colourful. The first from Grrlscientist in the Guardian, the second from Malcom Campbell at SciLogs. Just think, I did my research on analogues of some of those chemicals, hence the Jabłoński diagrams.