Nerds and Words: Week 52

But Not Simpler has had a great first year (over 1,000,000 hits in eight months!), of course thanks to all my nerdy readers. I did a lot of experimenting here, from controversial pieces about water fluoridation to a piece on taste perception in full Seussian rhyming scheme to a piece proving that a Pacific Rim punch is like a 747 to the face. I've had so much fun learning about this stuff and sharing it with you. Here are the top ten posts of the last eight months, hoping for another uber nerdy 2014:

And, as always: I have dug through the Internet this week and uncovered all this geeky goodness. You can find the thousands of links from previous weeks here.

1. Squirtle, I (Should) Choose You! Settling a Great Pokémon Debate with Science

2. The Fungus that Reduced Humanity to The Last of Us

3. Saving Lives in Serenity: Can a Fanboy and Physics Change a Movie?

4. What Really Happens When Lightning Strikes Sand: The Science Behind a Viral Photo

5. The Mechanics of the Pull-Up (and Why Women Can Absolutely Do Them)

6. I Hate to Break it to You, but You Already Eat Bugs

7. Why Portland Is Wrong About Water Fluoridation

8. The Ocarina of Time Travel, Extra Dimensions and Branching Universes

9. What The Nerdiest Chart of Sci-Fi Ships Says About Our Dreams of Space

10. Pacific Rim Physics (Part 1): A Rocket Punch is a Boeing 747 to the Face