Well-researched stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship. Brought to you each Tuesday from the editors of JSTOR Daily.

The drinking gene (Massive)
by Irene Park
Alcohol is responsible for 88,000 deaths a year in the U.S. alone, as well as numerous other social and health problems. So why do we like it so much? It may go back to the days when we came down from the trees and started eating rotten fruit.

Queer Germany before the Nazis (Atlas Obscura)
by Natasha Frost
In the early twentieth century, medical authorities gave official sanction to people with a diverse range of gender and sexual identities to dress as they wished.

Neuroscience in prison (The Conversation)
by Arielle Baskin-Sommers
In pop culture, brain scans look like a way to figure out whether a criminal is really responsible for his actions. In real life, a better application for neuroscience is figuring out how to make the criminal justice system serve convicts well.

Cats, dogs, and human culture (The Washington Post)
by Karin Brulliard
Does having a pet make you healthier or happier? Not necessarily. But the drive to keep animals around us seems to run deep anyway.

Property rights in the online age (Pacific Standard)
by Calum Marsh
If you pay real-world money for a magic sword in a video game, is the sword your legal property? As “owning” movies, books, and software increasingly means getting limited rights to access digital information, the legal system must adapt.

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