This week, I’m back at the helm of Required Reading while Lakshmi is away and I’ve collected some favorite videos and social media content for your enjoyment. — Hrag Vartanian

‣ Chinese scientists have discovered a type of moss that might thrive on Mars, which could help efforts for human habitation on the red planet. Ling Xin of the South China Morning Post reports:

Li and her team found that the dried moss plants fully recovered within 30 days after exposure to Martian conditions for one, two, three, and seven days. Hydrated plants exposed to the simulator for one day also survived, but regenerated more slowly.

According to Li, the team has already planted the moss in a replica of the soil found on Mars. “It grew really well, and all it needed was water,” she said.

Next, Li and her team will be looking for opportunities to send moss samples into outer space for exposure experiments, or even to the surface of the moon or Mars.

‣ A good “dating a German” spoof:

‣ And then waking up next to the same German 🙂 :

‣ A spoof of Gen Z fighting wars (also, End all wars!):

‣ Europeans in the Hamptons (which, for those not from these parts, is a vacation area on Long Island, east of New York City):

‣ Drag before music?

‣ My favorite gay-owned hair salon continues to slay online:

‣ Did you know the origin of the term “podcast”? Also, you should check out Hyperallergic‘s podcast:

‣ I’m not even sure if most New Yorkers would even notice:

‣ How homophobia in the US led to a boom in Filipino nurses in this country:

‣ What in the queerness is going on in Amsterdam?

‣ Freedom House, an organization that grades freedoms around the world, had some fun and graded the fictional kingdom of Westeros in The House of Dragons franchise (for comparison, Russia gets 13/100, Azerbaijan gets 7/100, Syria gets 1/100, Cuba gets 12/100, and Rwanda gets a 23/100):

‣ The Rubik’s Cube has just turned 50, and guess what: Robots are better at it:

Required Reading is published every Thursday afternoon, and it is comprised of a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays worth a second look.