Interesting Links for 21-08-2017

Second-home ownership up 30% since 2000

(tags: housing uk )

What it feels like to be in the zone as a programmer

(tags: programming emotion productivity )

8,000 years ago, 17 women reproduced for every one man

From The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature:

In the ancient empire of the Incas, sex was a heavily regulated industry. The sun-king Atahualpa kept fifteen hundred women in each of many “houses of virgins” throughout his kingdom. They were selected for their beauty and were rarely chosen after the age of eight—to ensure their virginity. But they did not all remain virgins for long: They were the emperor’s concubines. Beneath him, each rank of society afforded a harem of a particular legal size. Great lords had harems of more than seven hundred women. “Principal persons” were allowed fifty women; leaders of vassal nations, thirty; heads of provinces of 100,000 people, twenty; leaders of 1,000 people, fifteen; administrators of 500 people, twelve; governors of 100 people, eight; petty chiefs over 50 men, seven; chiefs of 10 men, five; chiefs of 5 men, three. That left precious few for the average male Indian whose enforced near-celibacy must have driven him to desperate acts, a fact attested to by the severity of the penalties that followed any cuckolding of his seniors. If a man violated one of Atahualpa’s women, he, his wife, his children, his relatives, his servants, his fellow villagers, and all his lamas would be put to death, the village would be destroyed, and the site strewn with stones.
(tags: sex prehistory society )

Teenagers’ blood being sold for £6,200 a shot

(tags: teenagers blood OhForFucksSake )

Crown shyness is a phenomenon observed in some tree species, in which the crowns of fully stocked trees do not touch each other

(tags: trees viaSwampers )

Not Being Assaulted at a Gig is a Basic Human Right

(tags: rape assault women music OhForFucksSake )

Every PhD’s nightmare: your Doctoral adviser telling CNN that you’re not *actually* an expert in your field

(tags: phd funny politics )

19 Scottish Landmarks That Got Terrible Reviews

I agree with The Royal Mile one
(tags: review funny Scotland )

More terrible reviews of Scottish sights

(tags: reviews Scotland funny )

Immigrants Do Not Increase Crime, Research Shows

(tags: immigration crime )

How do I improve my storytelling?

(tags: storytelling writing viaFanf )

Joss Whedon Is a ‘Hypocrite Preaching Feminist Ideals,’ Ex-Wife Kai Cole Says

(tags: JossWhedon feminism relationships marriage )

Only economic study showing benefits of Brexit debunked as ‘doubly misleading’

(tags: UK Europe fraud economics )

Why Iran hates the USA

(tags: Iran UK USA politics oil )

Why North Korea hates the USA

(tags: USA war NorthKorea )

Sexism in Silicon Valley

(tags: sexism usa Technology )

A friend just spent 3 hours in detention in UK border control for doing science communication

(tags: science immigration OhForFucksSake uk )

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