Links for you. Science:

Wildlife exposure to SARS-CoV-2 across a human use gradient (welp)
In Hunt to Solve ‘Fairy Circle’ Mystery, One Suspect Is Dismissed
The U.S. is officially in a flu epidemic, federal health officials say. They’re preparing to deploy troops and ventilators if necessary
Tracking the horizontal transfer of plasmids in Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri using phylogenetics
Covid Patients Coming Off Ventilators Can Take Weeks to Regain Consciousness. A new paper suggests that the combination of the virus and anesthesia plunges the brain into a prolonged state of quiet — like a freshwater turtle in winter.
Where Did Omicron Come From? Maybe Its First Host Was Mice (maybe, maybe not; I lean towards long-term human infections)

Other:

I mask at the gym. It’s the smart thing to do. Why do I feel so dumb?
No One Forced Republicans to Do Any of These Things
Man killed in Okeana shooting identified, bond set for suspect (killed his neighbor because he thought he was a Democrat)
Here’s how a Twitter engineer says it will break in the coming weeks
Quack COVID Group America’s Frontline Doctors Is Suing Its ‘Rogue Founder’ Simone Gold
Trump Keeps Musing About Journalists Being Raped in Prison — He’s Not Joking
The Fetterman-Oz Debate Highlights GOP’s Disdain for the Disabled
The Death of a Statesman
San Francisco is no longer a real place. It has descended into fan fiction
Peter Thiel Has No Clue What Makes America Great
A MAGA America Would Be Ugly (“…if MAGA wins, we’ll probably find ourselves wishing its rule was as tolerant, relatively benign and relatively nonviolent as Orban’s.”)
Mysterious company with government ties plays key internet role
New Voting Laws Add Difficulties for People With Disabilities
Obviously These Results Confirm All Of My Beliefs
Elon Musk Doesn’t “Get” Twitter (And Yes, He’s Really That Bad)
Political ideology of U.S. elected officials linked with COVID-19 health outcomes
Musk’s Kobayashi Maru
Why some young Black Bostonians are choosing to move to the South
Obama’s Attack Works Because He Hits Republicans Where They Think They’re Strong
How the Republican Fringe Became the Mainstream. Conspiracy theorists and far-right fanatics have long been present in the GOP. Now, they’re running it.
Hong Kong’s Cultural Icons Vanish as Covid Hastens Gentrification
The World’s Democracies Ask: Why Can’t America Fix Itself?
Alabama’s Confederate mansions get state funding, distort our history
This Time the Robber Barons Came for Democracy