Sci is dealing with some personal stuff right now, and can’t post today. I offer up this repost as a piece of glory from the early days, all the way back in 2009! 🙂 Every once in a while, when I look at the lit, I’m truly amazed by the things people report in. This […]
Sci used to be a vegetarian. I decided on being a vegetarian the summer after high school, on a trip across the United States, while studying environmental and land use issues. I guess it’s not too surprising that some of the things I found led me to give up meat. And give it up I […]
Sci is at Scientific American Blogs today, talking about a cool study investigating the role of kappa opioid receptors during pair bond maintenance in voles. Because while pair bond formation requires lots of warm and fuzzy feelings, pair bond maintenance is a bit more aggressive. Head over and check it out!
No really. A fetish. Or rather, an animal MODEL of a fetish. Or at least, that’s the idea behind today’s study, which is a study of sexual conditioning. And WHAT animal is going to be the subject of such scientific debauchery??? (Source) Everyone please give a big welcome to one dirty little bird, the Japanese […]
Yes! I’m very happy to say I’ll be at the IgNobels again this year, tweeting live from the ceremony and interviewing as many winners as I can get my grubby little paws on. Most of the action will be happening over at Sci Am Blogs, and you should definitely follow along! I can’t wait to […]
Note: I was thinking about writing up some refutations on the idea that “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,”, because that is NONSENSE and that kind of claim makes me ragey. However, Kate Clancy over at Context and Variation has written up a […]
This is what happens when science bloggers talk to each other too much. I blame Laelaps (it was his idea!). Are you…grant writing? Your data…ravishing… Your paycheck…dwindling… Your scent…DESPERATION. (Source) DESPERATION: the new fragrance for academics everywhere. Smell hints of fear, lab chemicals, coffee, tears, musty papers, carpel tunel. Light notes of bitterness, regret, and […]
Sci is at Sci Am Blogs today, talking about a paper looking at fMRI signaling in anorexics as compared to controls and obese individuals. I’ve seen a bunch of papers on obesity and reward-related systems, but this is one of the first I’ve seen trying to look at anorexia, the opposite side of the reward […]
YES. YES. There is something called the Toot Trapper and it exists. This alone should be enough to make your day. It certainly made mine! Honestly, as with many of the papers I write for Friday Weird Science, it’s the methods of this paper that really take the cake. Beans, rectal tubes, Mylar pants, and […]
Sci is over at SciAm Blogs today talking about a new hot study getting some major press. The press release states that they have “blocked” addiction using a new drug called (+)-naloxone through the immune system, while “avoiding the wiring”. What the heck does that mean? And what did they really find? It turns out […]