Headlines from July 24, 2012

Fighter jets bomb areas of Syria’s second city of Aleppo; Russia expects Syria not to use chemical weapons.
Man in goat suit seen living among goats in Utah mountains.
Serbia becomes global hub for sex-change surgery.
Writer looks for Fitzgerald’s first love in Lake Forest, Ill., to find the origins of Daisy Buchanan.
It took 13 years to build the original bread-slicing machine.
Forty years of satellite photography from the Landsat program.
The spot that maximizes the chance of a field goal is 2.8 inches behind the center of the basket. Data on putting balls through hoops.
Tennis’s wacky scoring system stems from eggs and clocks, perhaps.
A humane punishment for Penn State would have been a one-year death penalty—not a sentence of perpetual losing. #opinions
How to attend this summer’s Olympic Games in London without dying.
Ruminations on a candid photo from a recent Team USA dinner.
Domestic airlines generated $3.4 billion in revenue from checked bags last year.
Sarah Hepola on why every woman should travel alone. #opinions
See also: Pictures from Hepola’s trip across the country. #tmn
Gear chosen by tech expert Brian Lam for your next big road trip.
In light of Penn State’s punishment, it’s time to reread “The Shame of College Sports.” #longreads
Physicists say you should run, not walk, to avoid the rain.
Sally Ride, first American woman to fly in space, dies at 61 from pancreatic cancer.
Brief report on the once-a-day pill that can reduce substantially the risk of catching HIV.
Mitt Romney cites no former presidents as businessmen models because none were any good.
Notes from Miles Davis responding to records in a blind listening test.
Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander on the Constitutionality of owning assault rifles.
David Remnick profile of Bruce Springsteen at 62. #longreads
See also: On the no-beer relationship between The Boss and New Jersey’s Boss.
Did you know that in Jamaica, Céline is loved most of all by the badasses? Excerpt from new Nick Hornby book about loving art.
Double-decker London bus transformed into one that does push-ups.
On “the endowment effect”—so strong that even imagined ownership can increase something’s value.
Cause of the week: Davy Rothbart’s “Washington to Washington” hike for city kids.
She was fat the first time we saw her, large, brilliantly beautiful, fat. Review of Billie Holiday.