-{Due to scheduling conflicts, Linky Friday will be appearing one day early this week and next.}-

Education:

[E1] Teenage test scores do a pretty good job of predicting future income in the aggregate. There’s a lot of noise, however.

[E2] Northeastern Illinois is facing enrollment problems, so naturally they respond by spending money to gussy itself up with on-campus housing.

[E3] The increase of the college premium is largely the result of incomes plunging for those who didn’t go to college. Which is why it’s important for the economy to import more unskilled (and undegreed) labor?

[E4] Unsurprisingly, it’s a better idea to give students work machines instead of toys.

[E5] University of Liverpool is threatening staff pay when online students drop out.

[E6] From Mad Rocket Scientist: You would think the Bulwarks of open dialog & free thought would be more robust in defending it.

Culture:

[C1] The Dragonlance novels had an indelible influence on Dungeons and Dragons.

[C2] According to tailor Charlie Allen, American business suits are for slobs.

[C3] Ben Shrecklinger argues that we should do away with the seven-day week. I’ve probably thought about it in the past, but while days are earth axis rotations and months are lunar rotations and years are revolutions around the sun, weeks are cultural.

[C4] Models for stock photography have no idea where their image will turn up. Digiday interviews a guy who turned up on Cialis ads.

Language:

[L1] Mental Floss asks “When did Americans lose their British accents?” Relatedly, I don’t like superfluous ‘u’s, but it sure would be simpler if we’d never deviated from British spelling.

[L2] Roy Peter Clark takes an aggressive stand for the passive voice. Like the double-negative, this is one of those things I was taught was wrong that was only wrong in certain (though common) circumstances.

[L3] From Chris: Learning two languages in infancy has cognitive benefits beyond language.

Health:

[H1] The debate around the efficacy of Alcoholics Anonymous has bounced around back and forth over the years. Penn & Teller made waves by declaring it bullpucky. Keith Humphreys argues, however that it’s actually as effective as psychotherapy.

[H2] Some fluoride in the water is good, but the experience in Maine may be that too much fluoride is very, very bad.

[H3] After a workout at a gym, Amy Salloway was hooked on a House marathon and set up a chair to keep watching. A picture taken of her went viral. Here’s her story.

[H4] James Hamblin looks at the link between Diet Coke and obesity, and finds that Diet Coke doesn’t necessarily cause weight gain, if used strategically.

[H5] Razib Khan decoded his newborn son’s DNA.

Transportation:

[T1] The bizarre story of the Dutch cyclist who had tickets to two Malaysia Airlines flights that met with a tragic end.

[T2] Have we reached Peak Hybrid? This is probably not related to the fact that hybrids are not as efficient as we think, since almost no cars are.

[T3] I actually kind of like the idea of standing on flights. I’m just worried that I wouldn’t fit in the seats.

[T4] Meanwhile, the problem with driverless cars is that its not-drivers are kind of lazy.

[T5] Rachel M Cohen argues that we may have a right to free parking.

Arctica & Antarctica:

[A1] Climate change is allowing us to build an internet connection through the arctic.

[A2] Earth’s magnetic field is weakening.

[A3] Antarctica inhabits an odd place in the nation-state dynamic, perhaps making us rethink sovereignty. More on Antarctica.

[A4] The crimeless, jobful, and not-quite-but-a-litle Randian utopia of Svalbard.

[A5] Antarctica may not be as lifeless as we think.

Video:

[V1] Tim Minchin giving a graduation speech at the University Western Australia (via MRS)