Salt: From "mmm" to "eww"

I love salt. It’s just delicious. I wrote this post while noshing on deliciously salty popcorn, after a dinner which I put salt on. I crave salt so much that my parents used to joke about getting me a salt lick. And I’m not alone. Sodium is an incredibly important part of life, which means […]

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The BRAIN Initiative: BAM or BUST?

Sci is at SciAm today, talking about the much-talked-of BRAIN initiative. What is it? What are its goals? And will it work? Will it be a BAM (Brain Activity Map) or a BUST (Badly Underfunded S**T)? What do you think? Head over and check it out.  

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Friday Weird Science: Eyeballin’ the David’s Balls

*sings* Doooooo your balls hang low do they wobble to and fro can you tie ’em in a knot? can you tie ’em in a bow? *ahem* Anyway. testicles. Most people with intimate experience of testicles (and heck, even those who have experienced them second, or even third hand), will know that one testicle generally […]

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Book Thoughts: My Beloved Brontosaurus

Disclaimer: Brian Switek and I are good friends (I have impersonated a squid for him on occasion). In fact we are such good friends that his latest book, My Beloved Brontosaurus, is dedicated to me (I am SO SO flattered and honored. I cried when I saw it, cause BRONTY IS THE BEST). So I […]

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Being taken seriously: the double standard

As I was discussing bench-friendly hair the other day (currently, I’ve got piles of pins all in it, holding it back. It may look a little silly, but it’s really comfy), several commenters wondered why I didn’t just put on a baseball cap or a hairnet and call it a day (we do have to […]

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The superiority illusion: where everyone is above average

We’d all like to believe that we’re above average, but statistically, that just can’t be true. But why do we persist in believing it? How does our brain come up with the idea that we must be more above average than the other guy? I’m at SciAm today to talk over a new study that […]

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