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I have dug through the Internet this week and uncovered all this science/pop culture goodness. You can find the hundreds of links from previous weeks here.

This week covered Halloween, hurricane Sandy, the run up to the election, a bunch of cool science, and a conference for me.

I have marked the best links with a ∞. Enjoy.

Must Read

Couldn’t make it to this year’s CSICON? I live-tweeted the crap out of it for you. Check out the Storify 

∞ Finding a little beauty on the battlefield: The Kopp-Etchells Effect

When the “mommy instinct” dangerously trumps science | Novella

∞ It’s Global Warming, Stupid | The necessity of recognizing our unnatural future, and the climate’s fate

Must Watch

Looking for a short, simple introduction to climate change? Watch this 15 minute TEDx talk.

If you put a sheltered pig underwater, sea lice will devour it. If you remove the cage, sharks will devour it

Why do paper cuts hurt so damn much?

∞ Our Story in 1 Minute: A tapestry of documentaries showing how Earth came to be. Really cool

A brilliant quickie on why you can never quite reach light-speed (I’m looking at you, Millennium Falcon)

∞ “Literally speaking, is there really such a thing as a No-Brainer“?

A picture of hurricane Sandy from the ISS

Science

A fitting skeptical motto: “Don’t trust your brain!” (which is “you”…but not the you that is trusting…whatever)

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual – Galileo Galilei

How to eat a Triceratops (with a handy slide show for assistance!)

How Words Have Shape: The Kiki Bouba Effect

Here’s an abstract that will make you happy if you like equality

Did you know aphids give “birth” to live young?

How much caffeine would it take to kill you? (a lot)

“The iron in your blood is supernova shrapnel.”

∞ XKCD will not stop until it halts a locomotive with a BB gun

The newest nocebo: “Wind Turbine Syndrome” Is Catching | The Crux

Roadtrip? You might want to pack a few Red Bull’s

We are gathering clues as to how great white sharks mate, but we still have a lot to learn

“…The arguments for Proposition 37 are ‘anti-science’ and ‘ideological’.”

There are real-world zombies, but they are caused by parasitic, rather than otherworldly, means

Pop-Culture

Just saw this picture on Facebook…so moving.

∞ Storms of Sandy’s power are what we expect from CO2-driven global warming, but there’s a lot more to it than that

Every risk analysis is clear on climate change

Seth Meyers from SNL likens ignoring climate change to ignoring steroids in baseball, in GIF form

How Sandy compares to other hurricane behemoths Katrina and Irene

What psychological factors underlie refusing to evacuate ahead of a storm? These might come into play

FACT CHECK! 9 Viral Photos That AREN’T Hurricane Sandy

Funny/Cool/Interesting

Yeah, I’m pretty serious about costume parties. Rebecca Watson was impressed.

Feeling morbid tonight [Halloween]? This is (probably) what happens when you die. Thoughts on demise and purpose from last Halloween

“I need 30 retro panels of how you can get killed by electricity!” Got ya’ covered

∞ A Curiosity selfie to admire the hell out of

TIL: Defenestration: The act of throwing something/someone out a window. E.g., “I’d rather defenestrate myself than see Star Wars ep. 7.”

EVERY skeptic will appreciate this costume

Hey, it’s Halloween, here are some scary-looking fish

You’re not likely to die this Halloween, unless you’re a bug, then you have a horrible fate

What’s really scary: Soon, AGW’s role in creating superstorms will be perfectly clear.

It is so damn satisfying to mess around with a program that can dig up a picture with a person pointing wherever you want

On the Carl Sagan Walk, wealth inequality, and the power of ten

Are zombies scientifically plausible?

∞ Nikon’s 10 best micro-photos of 2012 are *stunning*.

Seen adorning a reporter’s desk today: ‘Skepticism is a Virtue.’ Refreshing

XKCD: Of course brilliantly mapping an important discovery in cosmology onto everyday life

“Hate to break it to you, but Sandy is not ‘god’s way of’ anything. Nature has no master. And no agenda.”–Cara Santa Maria

Don’t be stupid if you’re in the hurricane’s path. Don’t tape your windows, and other myths

This young humpback whale can FLY

∞ Ladies, it might be fashionable now, but it’s really just a chimp-in-estrus impression

No one cares about / Your “gut feeling” on something / If there is data #haiku

In the spirit of graphing stuff, I whipped this up this morning: The Uselessness of State Capitals [Graph]

Discothyrea: cutest ant ever?

Redditor lives near Adam West, tries to look him up in the yellow pages, finds Batman

This graph explains both the Internet and “mansplaining” at once

Wait, you can have an informative GIF that’s not just a Sherlock/Cumberbatch facial expression? Neat

Need a douchey math-related pick up line? No problem

If a giant alien sea urchin was breaking into your house, it would look like this.

∞ *Beautiful* photos of a dire situation: Documenting Earth’s Melting Glaciers