Links 4 October 2019

Roman ring carved from a single sapphire. This used to belong to the Dukes of Marlborough, and back then everyone thought it had been Caligula's although I gather that is no longer the consensus view.

Very interesting: Why is Millennial Humor Weird?

Skepticism about Sun Tzu's Art of War from ancient and modern strategists.

Gay Street in Greenwich Village is celebrated as a bastion of LGBTQ+ culture; does that "erase" its black history?

Should scientific papers come with publicity web sites, hashtags, and Instagram campaigns?

Ben Pentreath in New York, and at his country home in Dorset; two great photo sets in one post.

Feverish right-wing rhetoric about Civil War in the US. Honestly I think some people just enjoy the fantasy.

This week brings us to the 100th anniversary of the Elaine Massacre, in which racial conflict, an attempt to form a black farmers' union, and the Red Scare of 1919 came together, producing a mob of white vigilantes who killed more than 100 black Arkansans.

A poll of Nature readers says most researchers have felt pressured by peer reviewers to cite studies in their papers that seem irrelevant.

Reforestation in China: $100 billion spent, more than 31.8 million hectares of new forest created, an area larger than New Mexico. On the other hand the trees are chosen because they grow fast and will control erosion, not because they are good for wildlife. But I would still say even the wrong trees are better than exhausted, eroded cropland, and the forests should diversify over time.

This to That, a web site that gives advice on how to glue anything to anything else.

Some amazing entries in the 2020 Sony World Photography competition.

How a hospital in Memphis was shamed into wiping out the medical debts of 6.500 poor patients.

Should we censor social media to prevent violence?