Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending December 20, 2013)

Google’s Road Map to Global Domination
This in-depth profile of Google’s huge mapping efforts shows that “Where?” is one of the most powerful questions we can ask of technology, or that it can ask of us.
—Tom Simonite, senior editor, IT

Google Glass Lead: How Wearing Tech on Our Bodies Actually Helps It Get Out of Our Way
The technical lead for Google’s face computer explains how his team designed the device to improve in-person conversations.
—Tom Simonite

Bitcoin, Magical Thinking, and Political Ideology
Programmer and writer Alex Payne takes apart Bitcoin mania.
—Brian Bergstein, deputy editor

What Was Hyped, and What Fell Out of Favor, This Year in Biotech
If you want to know what happened in early-stage biotech this year, here is a useful overview.
—Antonio Regalado, senior editor, business

From My Archives: Quark Inventor Murray Gell-Mann Doubts Science Will Discover “Something Else”
Why Murray Gell-Mann though science writers were ignoramuses.
—Antonio Regalado

Scientists Losing Data at a Rapid Rate
Valuable research data is often lost as years pass and information technologies change. Should journals be responsible for creating long-lasting archives of this valuable information?
—Susan Young, biomedicine editor