I just realized I forgot to do a month in review post in January. Well, I had a lot going on in my personal life in January, most notably the arrival of a tiny new human being. Blog posts are not the only thing I forgot – I forgot to pay some important bills and to do some important paperwork at my job too.

3 most frightening stories

• Cheetahs are in serious trouble.
• The U.S. government may be “planning to roll back or dilute many of the provisions of Dodd-Frank, particularly those that protect consumers from toxic financial products and those that impose restrictions on banks”.
• “Between 1946 and 2000, the US and the Soviet Union/Russia have intervened in about one of every nine competitive national-level executive elections.” The “Great Game” is back in Afghanistan.

3 most hopeful stories

• The theory of island biodiversity gives us some clues on how to maximize the biodiversity that a given amount of natural land can support.
• Commercial supersonic jets may be back soon.
• You can sue your city for not designing safe streets.

3 most interesting stories

• Apple, Google, and Facebook may destroy the telecom industry.
• There are some quantitative theories of how social interaction works in cities.
• Virtual reality company Magic Leap may be “the world’s hottest startup”.