Squirrel Week and a whole lot more

All work and no play would make John a very dull boy indeed if all of this work wasn't so much fun and it didn't produce so many interesting, important stories.

I gotta tell you, I did not expect to see so many of my articles appear this week. Yes, I wrote a lot during this past week, but four articles on this list were actually written the prior week. Meanwhile, one of them was published a couple of weeks ago but my editor didn't tell me. Ah, the writer is always the last to know.

Anyway, here are this week's publications, starting with my two "Extinction Countdown" articles for Scientific American, where it unintentionally ended up being Squirrel Week:

This Massive Squirrel Has Been Saved from Extinction

Mysterious Flying Squirrel Could Get Endangered Species Protection


Next up, four new articles from TakePart, where I continue to write about wildlife, animals and poaching:

Take a Good Look at This Rare Malayan Tiger—It May Be One of Your Last

Zambia’s Lion King Is Dead

FBI Classifies Animal Abuse as a ‘Crime Against Society’

What's Not Trying to Kill California Sea Otters?


Switching topics completely, here's a new feature and a cool blog for IEEE's The Institute:

Landing a Job in Big Data

The Tricorder Might Soon Become a Reality


And finally, check out my latest weird history and explainer articles for Mother Nature Network:

Meet the man who invented the emoticon ... in 1879

Take warning when the sky is red in the morning


This coming week shall be busy, busy, busy. I'm starting two new features for print magazines (the issues won't appear for months) as well as continuing along in similar veins to the articles above. Sure, some of it's going to be dark and depressing -- I don't shy away from that -- but none of it will be dull.