Links for you. Science:

Freaky ‘Penis Snakes’ Have Finally Made It to the U.S., and of Course They Chose Florida
Deep in the forest, Germany fights another virus. This one hits pigs.
Wheelbug
A horseshoe crab’s blood is vital in testing drugs. Critics say using it endangers the ancient creature.
Can we predict the limits of SARS-CoV-2 variants and their phenotypic consequences?

Other:

SocioLOLogy (excellent)
This Pandemic Has Turned Our Historical Reaction to Epidemic Disease on Its Head
Larry Summers Holds Positions With Numerous Financial Bottom-Feeders: The online, often predatory lending companies benefit from lower-income Americans needing emergency cash. That aligns with Summers’s concern trolling about an ‘overheated’ economy.
What I Heard in the White House Basement
This might be the key to turning rural America blue again and defeating Trumpist disinformation
A Fight Over Zoning Tests Charlottesville’s Progress on Race
White Republicans and White Democrats are moving farther apart on race. Or is that just an education gap?
Biden cannot sit back and let our democracy sink. He’s now showing us he gets that.
Many parents still haven’t gotten their adolescent kids vaccinated. What are they waiting for?
A new thing rich people are into: absolutely enormous crystals (the last sentence should chill everyone who cares about paleontology)
How Local Media Spreads Misinformation From Vaccine Skeptics
$15 wage becoming a norm as employers struggle to fill jobs
Toying With Treason: A short history of Republicans’ long history of selling out the U.S. to help them win the White House
The myth of “the welfare queen” that flourished under Ronald Reagan, powered 40 years of Republican election victories and guided government policy as America largely dismantled its social safety net, is finally dead.
NIH director: ‘We want to avoid lockdowns at all costs’: Still, Francis Collins warned that “most of the projections say we’re in for a really tough August, September, October.” (NIH has been far more cautious than CDC–and results to date bear out that caution)
The Metaverse Has Always Been a Dystopian Idea
The GOP scamming of rural Trump voters continues. A new study shows the latest. (debatable if this is a scam, or a tradeoff they can live with)
RIAA kills youtube-dl
Over 65% of Texans support vaccine mandates, poll says
Why is Bezos flying to space? Because billionaires think Earth is a sinking ship
The Big Money Behind the Big Lie: Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win at all costs.