Another in our series of links to items you may have missed, but which I found for you.
First off let’s kill off a few common science myths which most people seem to believe but which are, well, myths.

Next, something dear to my heart … what gives beer it’s flavour?
Also interesting is what causes the colours of gemstones.
And a third infographic (isn’t that a horrible word?) on how dogs evolved.
Returning to the theme of science mysteries and myths, here are a few things about how the world of flying works.
And on to the medical. What is the classical medieval disease? No not plague, but leprosy. It is something else which is commonly misunderstood, including the fact that it is still around.
And here are seven things you shouldn’t let your doctor do unless you absolutely have to.
Just what were they thinking? A Chinese hospital has installed an automatic sperm extractor.
Yes, apparently female infant masturbation is a thing, at least in America. And it really isn’t a cause for concern.
Meanwhile sex educator and blogger Emily Nagoski has this week been answering sex education questions from her readers. Interestingly one asked “How do you fix sex education?” Here’s Emily’s answer, which is just as applicable to the UK as the USA.
Apparently one psychologist is suggesting that we should give up forcing gender equality in the sciences at school. And from reading this article have to say I agree: far better that boys and girls study what they’re interested in than we channel them into subjects they may not do so well at, just because. At the end of the day I don’t care who deigns my drugs or my car; I’m more interested that they do it well and hopefully enjoy doing it. But that doesn’t mean we should put roadblocks in the way of girls doing science or boys doing needlework. When I was at school (half a century ago!) no-one stopped girls doing science. Yes more girls than boys did English, French and Biology at A-level but almost as many girls as boys did Maths and Physics. And we even had one boy who insisted on doing O-level Domestic Science! Let’s just find out what kids can do and encourage them to do what they enjoy — which should be so much more fulfilling.
Meanwhile according to another doctor we would all be much better off and less stressed if we were all to work a four day week. What he doesn’t say is whether we would get only 4 days pay for it, and if not how it would be funded.

Now an article on how wildlife is thriving in the aftermath of Chernobyl and in the absence of meddling humans.
A very interesting report on some historic experiments to determine if birds of prey see or smell out their carrion lunch.
What to do with dead wood? For the sake of wildlife, just leave it alone.
George Monbiot (who else?) suggests that the principal threat to freedom of expression comes not from state regulation but from censorship by editors and proprietors
Ah, so we’re now onto wordy things. OK, so here are 11 “modern” words which are much older than we think.
Still on words, it seems Shakespeare invented many phrases we take for granted in the modern world.
Which allows us to shimmy quickly to history. Our favourite London cabbie is still writing about the history of Waterloo Station and its environs. Episode 9 is about Waterloo’s darker side.
And while on the darker side, here’s an encyclopaedia of everyday monsters, starting with that widespread parasite, the earworm.
Coming up to date, here are some more infographics who owns all the major brands in the world. So who thought all these companies were independent?
Finally I’ll leave you with this summary of what it is like to be middle aged …