Russian President Vladimir Putin started a wee scandal in China by flirting with none other than the country’s first lady; Islamic State may be on its way out; meanwhile, a protein in sugar beets could serve as an effective blood substitute. These discoveries and more below.

Putin Hits on China’s First Lady, Censors Go Wild Russia’s Don Juan-in-chief just got a little too friendly with Xi Jinping’s wife.

Buy Your Daughter All the Butch Dolls You Want, She Still Won’t Be Able to Get an Abortion in Texas Hello young girls, and welcome to your Orwellian princess-power future, where you shuffle morosely to the Big Sister Factory on your toe-smashing glitter heels to pick your toys.

The War Nerd: Farewell Islamic State, We Hardly Knew Ye Suddenly, Islamic State just can’t fall fast enough.

Federal Sites Leaked the Locations of People Seeking AIDS Services for Years Two federal government Web sites that help people find AIDS-related medical services have begun routinely encrypting user data after years in which they let sensitive information — including the real-world locations of site visitors – onto the Internet unprotected.

‘The Issue Formerly Known as Privacy’ Control over data profiles is about power, not privacy.

How Numbers on Facebook Change Behavior The Facebook Demetricator shows we like liking a little too much.

The Age-Old Question: What’s Better for You, Coffee or Tea? It’s an age-old question: What’s better for you, coffee or tea? Even back in the 18th century, inquiring minds wanted to know.

How Many Muslim Countries Has the U.S. Bombed Or Occupied Since 1980? Barack Obama, in his post-election press conference yesterday, announced that he would seek an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) from the new Congress, one that would authorize Obama’s bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria—the one he began three months ago.

Why BuzzFeed Doesn’t Do Clickbait You won’t believe this one weird trick.

The First Photograph of a Human Being This picture, the earliest known photograph to include a recognizable human form, was taken in Paris, France, in 1838 by Louis Daguerre.

What Makes a Child an Art Prodigy? The paintings of seven-year-old Aelita Andre have sold for tens of thousands of dollars, raising the question of what separates true, precocious genius from mere youthful creativity with hype.

Plant Protein Could Be Used for Blood, Say Scientists A protein found in sugar beet could be used as a blood substitute to help tackle the shortage of blood, researchers in Sweden suggest.

Mexico: ‘We Are Not Sheep to Be Killed’ There must be few instances of a head of state spending long hours listening to the poorest of the poor of his country’s citizens, and then accepting their demands.

The Death of Milán Rózsa, Hungary’s Harvey Milk Milán Rózsa was born just a year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1988.

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