The news on the new H7N9 bird flu is progressing at a breakneck pace. Check Helen Branswell’s awesome explainer for all the context you need, and Maryn McKenna’s guide to finding and parsing the news.

Megan Garber’s wonderful story of how the mobile phone was invented 40 yrs ago.

What would it be like to see the world through a whale’s eyes? By Alexis Madrigal .

The NYT’s obituary of rocket scientist Yvonne Brill led with her cooking, husband and kids. Which was utterly ridiculous, and prompted a justified outcry. Io9 summarises what happened. Here’s more good reading:

“By understanding autism from the inside, we become more fully human” – more outstanding writing from Steve Silberman, this