To live and die in CA: Your ZIP Code determines life expectancy (video)


Deb and Maria are the same age, each has two kids, and they live just a few miles apart. Deb, however, will live, on average, 15 years longer than Maria. This public service video from The California Endowment — narrated by George Takei — explains the discrepancy:

What determines how long we live? The surprising thing to us was that adjacent communities can have a 15 year-difference in life expectancy.

Mas…To live and die in CA: Your ZIP Code determines life expectancy (video)

R. Crumb 1970: Mr. Natural’s 719th Meditation (video)


Mr. Natural’s 719th Meditation by R. Crumb was first published as a comic in 1970. Crumb created ZAP Comix and is the artist behind 60s and 70s memes like Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat, and Keep On Truckin. This new YouTube version of the strip adds music and sound effects.

Mexican biologists wonder: Where have all the axolotls gone?

axolotlYou know those uber-cute salamander-like axolotls who are native to the lake system in and around Mexico City? They’re gone.

The Guardian reports:

Growing up to a foot long (30 cm) and known as the “water monster” or the “Mexican walking fish”, its only natural habitat is the Xochimilco network of lakes and canals, which are suffering from pollution and urban sprawl.

Biologist Armando Tovar Garza, of Mexico’s National Autonomous University, described an attempt last year by researchers to try to net axolotls in the shallow, muddy waters of Xochimilco as “four months of sampling zero axolotls”.

Mas…Mexican biologists wonder: Where have all the axolotls gone?