Friday Weird Science: The physics of the strapless evening gown

Today’s Friday Weird Science comes to you courtesy of Marc Abrahams, the founder of the IgNobel Prizes (which I’m going to next week! So excited!!). The study was featured in his new book, This is Improbable, and Marc was kind enough to send me a copy of this paper when I asked about it. (Ok, […]

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A predator that's cool will pressure fish to school

Sings: *but that’s why birds do it, bees do it, little fishies in the seeeeeas do it, let’s do it…* Let’s come together. Into groups, schools, herds, flocks. Prey animals all over the world do it. We know why prey animals tend to clump together. More animals means more eyes to spot predators. More animals […]

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Undergrad Herding

There’s a great post up at ProfSnarky’s, giving advice to undergrads who have just gotten a job with a prof. It’s full of some really good advice, and if you’re an undergrad who wants to do research, I definitely suggest you check it out! But I also thought I would add some of my own […]

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Sunday Funny: Pyramids as stress reducers.

Got this one from Biochembelle. While some may say “presented without comment”, this I merely present with LOTS of eyerolling. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2007 Mar;4(1):35-42. Epub 2006 Jul 26. Housing in pyramid counteracts neuroendocrine and oxidative stress caused by chronic restraint in rats. Bhat MS, Rao G, Murthy KD, Bhat PG. Source Department […]

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Friday Weird Science: The Bra Strap Injury

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 […]

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Do vegetarians feel more disgust?

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 […]

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Back off stranger, that's my mate!

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!

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