Hot Links: Facebook Execs Jump Ship, Most Powerful Laser Ever

Hot Links is Motherboard’s weekly roundup of key stories from the weekend to prep you for the week.

More bad news for Facebook, which just saw the exit of four high-level managers. At this point, is all the doom and gloom surrounding the company a self-fulfilling prophecy? Personally, I think so, as I think the firm’s structural problems are less of an issue than its susceptibility to hype.

In bad news for Motorola mobility employees, new owner Google plans on axing 20% of its workforce to shore up costs.

The highest resolution ever has now been achieved with a printer. Suck my inkjet, Retina Display.

Plenty, including myself, have been skeptical as to whether Apple’s astronomical legal costs are worth taking on Android makers in patent battles. Here’s the number that says it’s a smart fight.

New research from Disney has turned regular houseplants into multitouch controllers. I have no idea what’s going on here.

The Wikipedia edit wars are in full swing now that Paul Ryan has been picked to be Mitt Romney’s VP.

IBM proves yet again that it’s an engineering giant: The firm has made breakthroughs in spintronics memory, a next-gen storage technology that promises more space and less power consumption.

The flooded tablet market is proving good for consumers: Barnes and Noble just slashed Nook prices.

According to EPIC, a petition on the White House site that would have forced a review of TSA actions was pulled down right before it hit its goal. The White House does not want to talk about the TSA, folks.

Is App.net, the subscription social network that promises no ads, the beginning of a new ‘white flight’ in the social sphere? Here’s an excellent discussion on the topic.

More evidence that frogs are fucked: chytridiomycosis, the fungal disease that’s obliterating frogs worldwide, is getting a boost from climate change. How was it spread in the first place? Why, because of the live bullfrog trade, of course.

The largest 3D map of the universe is now available, and it contains more than a million galaxies.

Also in superlatives: the world’s most powerful x-ray laser is now operational.

The annual Pikes Peak hillclimb happened this last weekend, and perhaps abetted by the high speeds of the now-fully paved course, one pair went flying off the mountain. Both survived.

Follow Derek Mead on Twitter: @derektmead.