"Ancillary Materials"

By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA

Your latest glimpse into the non-work-related stories that amused or intrigued me over the past few weeks. I don’t know about you, but my brain (sort of) feels bigger now.    

• How many people can say that they’ve seen what goes on inside a termite’s gut? Well now you can be one of those people — and you’re welcome. 
• Reddit put together this nifty infographic on the most translated book in each country. Anne of Green Gables has been translated in 36+ languages in Canada. The Way To Happiness by L. Ron Hubbard has been translated into 112 languages in the U.S. Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the winner in England, appearing in 175+ languages. What about in Croatia, Norway, Cuba, or Ghana? (If you’re ever tasked with creating trivia questions, this chart is gold.) 
• The Economist published this brief article on the role microbes play in giving teas their flavor. While it was long assumed that oxidation was the preliminary factor behind the flavor profile of black tea, a new experiment has shown that fermentation a la microbes is essential. The next goal moving forward is to identify the microbes involved and then mix and match them to create new flavors.  
• This just in: The world remains a mystery. Researchers in Antarctica (members of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration) drilled through the Thwaites ice shelf not expecting to find much evidence of life. But surprise — there was a shocking amount of life under that shelf, some of which resembled “a crazy garden of weird flowers.” Learn more about this fantastic research from this feature in Atlas Obscura.  
• Eating meals is often the best part of my day. That’s why I was drawn to this column in The Guardian on how food critic Jay Rayner grew into and accepted his identity as a food writer/critic. He also argues that, despite the troubles of the world, we should never let our enthusiasm for food diminish.    
• If you ever go to Norway, whatever you do, Do NOT urinated while facing Russia.