Interesting Reads for Monday, 26 December 2016: Best Nat Geo Photos 2016, Gravitational Waves, Best Song of 2016 & More

(click image to enlarge)

National Geographic's 52 best images of the year—curated from 91 photographers, 107 stories, and 2,290,225 photographs.     (National Geographic Magazine)

My vote for Best Song of 2016: Radney Foster's "All That I Require" (Youtube)

Severe droughts explain the fall of the Maya (BBC)

Why gravitational waves truly are the “scientific breakthrough of the year” (Vox)

Super large diamonds originating from 200 to 500 miles deep inside our Earth contain "messages in a bottle" which tell Scientists more about the planet's evolution    (NPR) 

How the Military-Industrial Complex has fattened Pentagon grifters: Study/Investigation shows $125 Billion in bureaucratic waste could be saved in 5 years if we cut out most private contractors (Washington Post)

How the Navy’s Zumwalt-Class Destroyers Ran Aground     (National Review) 
Fascinating Graph To View: How Americans Spent Their Money In The Last 75 Years    (howmuch.net) 

Peabody Energy, World's Largest Private Coal Company, Wants To Emerge From Bankruptcy Without Any Plans To Clean Up The Earth It Ravages; Cleanup Costs Could Fall On Taxpayers (Reuters)

Low Costs of Solar Power & Wind Power Crush Coal, Crush Nuclear, & Beat Natural Gas    (Clean Technica) 

Big flops. Waning studio profits. What Hollywood's record box office doesn't tell you (LA Times)