The precursor to the war on drugs: on December 5th, 1933, prohibition in the United States of America came to an end.

Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded. ~ Abraham Lincoln (speech, 18 December 1840 to the U.S. House of Representatives)



What could go wrong? Spider drinks graphene, spins web that can hold the weight of a human.

Grapefruit, Animal Economics, and Big Drunk Guys. Some peculiar sociology research.

T’was the Overnight Before Christmas: The Merry Tale of How Air Cargo Deregulation Led To Amazon.

The Science Behind Why Dark Winter Days Bum People Out.

Pop-Tarts alerts police about Illinois man who spreads mustard on his breakfast pastry.

ICYMI, Thursday’s links are here, and include carbon paper history, people who still use iron lungs to breathe, a slingshot that launches swords, Congressmen behaving badly in 1856, and, for Winston Churchill’s birthday (and related to the first link, above), the doctor’s note allowing him to drink “unlimited” alcohol in prohibition-era America.