I’ve decided to add a new regular Friday feature, in which I gather links to the articles I discover throughout the week and post to my social media as potential story fodder. Perhaps someone other than my immediate circle needs inspiration and can find it here, if nothing else some of it is quite entertaining, some of it quite informative, and the rest at least interesting (I hope).

Dire Wolves are real. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2021/01/dire-wolf-dna-study-reveals-surprises/

Italy braces for its biggest mafia trial in decades. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55633091?fbclid=IwAR1wixB7HU2Yw9ZaXS3KhCdfV7RPNoaPzVgCDDbDdckZQcs789WTInh-1uM

Rare Superplanet unlike any other discovered
https://www.foxnews.com/science/super-earth-nasa-discovers-10b-year-old-planet

Wanting out of the house despite COVID restrictions, wife puts husband on leash and takes him for a walk. Yes, you read that right.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55631198

Polar Vortex… let the disaster stories commence.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55631198

Columbia is overrun by hippos.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/11/invasive-hippos-escobar-colombia-castrate/

Astronomers keep watch on nearby planet with signals that seem technological in origin
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/01/proxima-centauri-blc1/617635/

Human culture lasted years longer than originally thought by 20k years.
https://phys.org/news/2021-01-human-culture-years-longer-thought.html

New super fast space ship
https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a35133014/jupiter-nuclear-plane/

Well, so there you have it. Some interesting reads that I hope inspire you and stimulate your imagination, or at least keep you entertained. Tune in every Friday for more.