Emergency boom: The men that the oil boom is bringing to North Dakota aren't just sexually frustrated; turns out the hard laborers are also accident-prone. McKenzie County Hospital, which has seen its average number of annual emergency room visits go from 100 to 400 in three years, is coping with massive debt, overstrained staff, and patients -- often transient workers -- giving false contact information and skipping out on the bill. Even when given the right addresses, in an area where new neighborhoods pop up over night, ambulances still get lost trying to find the sick and injured -- especially when they live on streets that don't yet have signs. New York Times
The other Darwin: We’ve all heard of Charles Darwin, but what about Alfred Russell Wallace? Darwin and Wallace co-discovered evolution in the late 1850s, and like your typical 19th-century naturalist, Wallace kept a slew of notes and observations about the living world. Some 4,000 letters of Wallace’s are now available online as part of a Natural History Museum of London project. Memorable episodes include Wallace’s illustrations of new species and his account of his ship catching fire. After 10 days at sea in a lifeboat, Wallace earned his membership in the survival-of-the-fittest club. Nature
Backdoor billionaires: Climate deniers with millions in pocket change have a new way to spread idiocy: a large-scale funding organization for climate denialism called The Donors Trust. Patrons are guaranteed anonymity, allowing wealthy backers (many with ties to the fossil fuels industry) to donate millions of dollars in secret. Still an audit trail shockingly reveals one donor as Charlie Koch, owner of an oil and gas company and infamous climate denier. New Zealand Herald
Up a creek: New York’s infamously polluted Gowanus Canal had an unlucky visitor last Friday: a bottlenose dolphin. Onlookers reported that the dolphin appeared sick, swimming slowly and trailing blood through the superfund site. Marine mammal experts kept a close eye on the mammal while waiting for the evening's high tide to attempt rescue. Unfortunately, the dolphin couldn’t hold on that long and died around 6:00 pm. In 2007, a baby minke whale -- nicknamed Sludgie -- also died after wandering into the canal. New York Times
Ronald goes fishing: Need a quick, eco-friendly bite on the go? Head to McDonald’s!(?) The fast-food giant is venturing into the world of sustainability by reinventing a classic: the Filet O Fish. The millions of crispy sandwiches sold across the United States will now come from sustainably certified Alaska pollock, approved by the Marine Stewardship Council. Unfortunately, they will likely taste the same. Los Angeles Times
Green team: Watching football might actually be good for the environment. An energy consulting firm compared the electricity use of American homes during the Super Bowl with other winter Sundays. In some places, power use dropped a whopping 7.7 percent. Consultants suspect that with everyone glued to the tube, fewer folks are doing the laundry or running the vacuum. It’s also helpful that Super Bowl parties gather many people in front of one screen. Now, about those stadiums... New York Times
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