Headlines from August 21, 2013

Astronaut recruits asked to compose a haiku, limerick, or Twitter post as part of their NASA application.
French language purists should note the first article of the 1789 Declaration of Human and Civic Rights is the perfect length for a tweet.
Roundtable debate over e-cigarettes—e.g., do they simply prolong addiction? How should they be regulated?
“Attention schema theory” contains “a very simple idea at its heart: that consciousness is a schematic model of one’s state of attention.” #longreads
Mandy Patinkin used to be the most temperamental of actors—“not quite Cher, but close”—but not anymore.
According to new study, dates find penny-pinching more attractive than costly displays of affection.
Unrelated: Photographs of water being gracefully tossed. #tmn
Barnes & Noble reverses decision to axe Nook, claims failure was due to too much inventory rather than poor sales.
Round-up of common knowledge particular to workplaces that’s typically surprising to outsiders.
No surprise that Maria Sharapova will not be changing her last name to “Sugarpova” for the U.S. Open.
Dispatch from the first international football match played in Afghanistan in 10 years.
Based on data from Twitter, map shows New York City’s happiest and angriest areas.
Related: Ex-pats compare areas of other big cities to areas of New York. #tmn
Please note that the entire area is filled with pre-pubescent girls. London transit authority advises people to avoid Leicester Square due to One Direction movie premiere.
Rumor that 42 One Direction fans committed suicide agitates Twitter users.
“Moviegalaxies” creates constellation graphs depicting the relationships of characters in a movie.
Study finds intelligence officers more prone to irrationality than students when choosing between risky options.
In the back of an Egyptian police van, 36 protesters suffocated; elsewhere, 25 police officers executed.
The war between state power and those holding it to account needs constant refreshment.
British government, not quite understanding the internet, makes the Guardian destroy Snowden-related hard drives with a drill.
Jeffrey Toobin compares David Miranda to a drug mule, refers to journalism as “magical immunity sauce.” #video
Citing privacy worries, legal site Groklaw shuts down and founder quits the internet.
If you don’t want your email snooped by the government, Kolab will store your messages in Switzerland.
Supreme Court justices communicate via memos on ivory paper.
Intervention by letter is an emotionally unhealthy way to address something. Open letter to the writers of open letters. #tmn
Documentation of abandoned houses in rural Iceland. #photography
See also: Photographs of famous New York restaurants without any customers or staff. #tmn
Looters escape unstopped with 1000 rare artifacts from the Malawi Museum in Minya, Egypt
Two millennia before the Iron Age, Egyptians crafted iron jewelry from meteorite debris.
Inside Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary art, a gallery for children operates like a haunted house.
Related: Exciting, strange language to be enjoyed on a poorly translated Japanese cat-costume website.
Onion obituary writer, paying tribute to Elmore Leonard, lets all hell break loose.
Tribute paid to Elmore Leonard’s ear for language “that even the most indolent and snobbish masters of the mainstream must vigorously covet.”
“Uncruising” means pitching a tent on the deck of a state ferry, where no decaf or running are allowed.