Links for you. Science:

Drought, flooding, disease – climate change is already threatening the source of our caffeine fix. Are we facing the end of coffee as we know it?
Absurd Creature of the Week: The Two-Foot-Wide Sea Star That’s Basically a Bear Trap
Using DNA to Fight Dog Owners’ Discourtesy in Brooklyn (BUT IS IT ARTISINAL SEQUENCING?)
Golden rice paper pulled after judge rules for journal (note that the data aren’t in question; the issue is IRB violations)
An ancient skull found in Australia suggests our ancestors modified their skulls. Some people still do it today, but why?

Other:

Say farewell to old Boston (excellent; on the failed 2024 Olympics bid)
Who is your IT outsourcing firm working for? (important; probably relevant to anyone whose job is dependent on IT)
Does Zimbabwe Really Need Trophy Hunting?
Ted Rall: LAPD Convinced LA Times To Fire Me After I Criticized Cops
Here’s the 2022 Winter Olympics Venue, In The Middle of Winter
What It’s Like to Have the Oldest Phone in San Francisco (I was a relatively late adopter of the iPhone, and I agree that it’s not intuitive at all)
This Alabama jail really did torture an inmate with a Burmese python
Sunrise in the Allston Railyard
San Francisco Middle Schools No Longer Teaching ‘Algebra 1′ (SF should be teaching basic arithmetic better so this isn’t a problem–in my limited experience, most ‘algebra’ problems are arithmetic problems)
I won at science (funny; file under Black Swan)
Training Officers to Shoot First, and He Will Answer Questions Later (if officers are never culpable, then the solution is to not allow them to carry guns)
Harvard professor warns of infrastructure woes
Shame of methadone use clouds heroin addicts’ recovery