Over at SciAm Blogs, Sci is talking about a recent paper looking at the phenomenon of mimietic desire, the idea that an object grows in value when you see that other people want it, and probably explains the popularity of almost every single pointless trend. How does it work? Head over and check it out!
Today’s Friday Weird Science comes to you courtesy of Bug Girl, who never fails to send me all the completely crazy entomology stuff she comes across. And she sees…a lot. And insects have some truly amazing mating systems. Including this one. (Source) Yup, that’s a walking stick. And boy can those sticks go at it! […]
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Sci is at Sci Am Blogs today, talking about a recent fMRI study looking at caffeine and responses to socially threatening stimuli. Is your boss threatening you? Or can you blame it on your cup of coffee? Head over and find out!
…but they mean much more than most people think they mean. People on blogs talk about work-life balance a lot. We talk about working “only” 60 hours a week. We talk about having a hobby. We talk about having kids. We talk a lot of balance. But there’s one big aspect of academic life that […]
Sci has blogged before on why asparagus makes your pee smell. It turns out there are sulfurous compounds in asparagus that come out during digestion, making your pee smell significantly musty and weird for many hours after. Unless, of course, you can’t smell it at all. I have to admit, I thought EVERYONE could smell […]
I think it was Andrea Kuszewski who alerted me to this paper. And it definitely pricked up my ears. Is sleepin’ around good for big brains? Does promiscuity make for additional smarts? Does getting more tail make your brain extra hale? Well…sort of. But “promiscuity” is probably the wrong word. Take out promiscuity…and put in […]
Well, not FASTER, per se, but your gamma oscillations in the hippocampus appear to become more powerful! Want to know what that means? And what it might have to do with moving quickly? Sci is at SciAm Blogs today talking about a paper showing increase power of gamma oscillations in the hippocampus which go along […]
When I first heard about giant sperm, I thought those MUST be the greatest. I mean, why have a giant copulatory organ when you can let the sperm speak for itself? Some species of ostracods (a type of crustacean) can have long sperm that are TEN TIMES the body length of the ENTIRE ANIMAL. I […]
I think we’ve all had that kind of pain. A headache, maybe, or an injury. The kind of pain…that THROBS. You know what I mean. When I get one of those throbbing headaches, it’s like every beat of my heart is pushing the blood up through my brain, and with the blood comes another throb […]