Just how cold is that squirrel? (The Conversation)
by Bridget B. Baker
Do squirrels hate sprinting through snow in bare paws? How do fish swim in ponds below thick layers of ice? And why are people in Alaska fine with wearing shorts on 40-degree days? Adapting to cold weather can be a complicated thing.

What’s really going on in Venezuela (The Washington Post)
by Jana Morgan
How badly will Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro be hurt by President Trump’s decision to formally recognize Maduro’s rival? Maybe not that much. But other recent developments could spell trouble for the embattled presidency.

Rethinking the language of health (Wired)
by Virginia Heffernan
When we call Chicken McNuggets an “unhealthy food” are we stating an obvious fact or succumbing to dangerous cultural messages? Looking at the health problems associated with dieting and fat stigma could upend some ideas about food that we rarely question.

The strange power of the hagfish (The Atlantic)
by Ed Yong
Hagfish slime expands by 10,000 times in less than half a second. It’s one of the softest, and weirdest, materials in nature.

Thinking differently about environmental danger (Public Books)
by Claire Sagan
It’s common to hear that climate change represents a crisis for humanity. But that wording might obscure more than it clarifies about the causes and victims of environmental destruction and the possibility of environmental justice.

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