FLICKR, TIMOTHY KRAUSE

Selected stories from The Scientist’s reading list:

• Vacant lot or thriving ecosystem? Nautilus: “The Wild, Secret Life of New York City”
   
• BBC News: “Brazilian researchers in Rio de Janeiro have released thousands of mosquitoes infected with bacteria that suppress dengue fever.”
   
• Blood-based biomarkers predict recovery time from surgery? Science News: “While combing through blood samples taken after surgery, the researchers [from Stanford University] noticed that certain versions of cells called CD14+ monocytes seemed to contribute to a better recovery.”
   
• Quanta: The shipping “of lizards around the Caribbean is forcing researchers to account for human activity in even their most basic ecological models.”