Linkwad.

1. I’d like to be able to say “Only in Baltimore could a drunk cop taunt and shoot an unarmed man and not be convicted of murder,” but I’m pretty sure that’s true just about everywhere.
2. Everything is terrifying, grocery store edition: in the US, food kills one person every two hours.
3. Compare and contrast: 1777 vs. 2011.
4. FBI agents no longer need a reason to investigate anyone they want, or record it. But don’t worry–there’s no way they’d abuse that power.

Get freaky.

Holy shit, uncanny valley.

Via Engadget.

Relatedly, here’s the case for and against anthropomorphic robots.

The breaking point.

Via @BoingBoing, an explanation of metal fatigue, which took a chunk out of a Southwest Airlines 737 over the weekend. Read it all, since three more Southwest 737s are showing cracks.

Relatedly, Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner has been criticized for its composite body, which won’t show signs of fatigue.

Linkwad.

1. The mistake-prone post-9/11 anthrax investigation, chapters 1 and 2. I was looking for the Atlantic piece a while back for some reason, but thought it was from the NYer. If I mentioned it to you, here it is.
2. The Fukushima Daiichi plant’s reactor container might be leaking.
3. “If you find yourself rolling around the tundra with a one-ton polar bear, you don’t have much to lose.” Noted! Via the Hairpin (Have I mentioned how awesome that site is?).

Linkwad.

1. A roundup of Bradley Manning/PJ Crowley reactions: Spencer Ackerman, Ezra Klein, Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan.
2. “The city as economic weapon.” A long, but really interesting interview about airports and urbanism. Via @nicolatwilley and @warrenellis.
3. Why Borders failed, via @BoingBoing.
4. This Amy Bishop story is pretty damn disturbing, and includes some bits I didn’t know.