Domestic airlines in the United States are failing financially. Fine. Sure. We knew that. But here's the kicker:
They've been financially failing for 40 years, almost the entire time they've been popular. And that? Is fascinating. Back at the turn of the 20th century, a lot of the first electric utilities and long-distance railroad companies went bankrupt, because people couldn't figure out how to make a profit in an industry with huge, fixed overhead costs. This is some evidence that the kinks haven't totally been worked out on that, even today.
(Via Matt Yglesias) — Maggie
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Maggie Koerth-Baker at 1:42 pm • • 
In news that would be completely fascinating, were it not so damn depressing:
One of the causes behind Caribbean coral die-offs seems to be a bacteria, spread
from humans
to the coral through sewage. It's the first time that a human disease has ever been shown to kill an invertebrate.
