Quick Links for Sunday, August 6

Imaginative LEGO campaigns. These are just awesome.

Dolphins and whales will never evolve back into land animals.

› If you’ve any interest in hominins’ evolution from fish to two-legged mammals, you absolutely cannot miss Neil Shubin’s Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body.

Our galaxy contains trillions of free-floating planets. Astronomers have calculated that rogue free-floating planets—dark, isolated orbs roaming the universe unfettered to any host star—are six times more abundant than planets orbiting stars. They've estimated there are about 20 times more free-floating worlds in our Milky Way than stars 🤯. The scientists have deduced that these planets are probably formed within the disk of gas and dust surrounding an infant star, just like other planet, but then ejected by collisions with other protoplanets.

Exposure to certain fragrances during sleep dramatically boosts cognitive function. Researchers discovered that "enriching the air with fragrances improves cognitive performance." Tests carried out on people aged between 60 and 85 revealed that cognitive decline and conditions such as dementia could be slowed with "the diffusion of a different choice of perfumes through the bedroom before bed each night." The results between those exposed to different fragrances varied by 226% when compared to a group exposed to a trace amount of an odorant.

Fossils show how long-necked reptiles lost their heads. “‘Evolution is a game of trade-offs,’ Dr. Spiekman said. ‘In the long run, the risk of having a long neck was worth it for this animal.’ In other words, sticking your neck out can be worth it for the species — even if you personally get your head bitten off.”