It is more than coincidence. It is FATE that brought us today’s Friday Weird Science. First, Mr. S alerted me to the reviews for this hair removal product. Warning: do not read the reviews unless you have the space and time to laugh til you cry. As a brief excerpt: I didn’t have long to […]
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hermaphroditic flatworm in possession of its own sperm, rarely runs short of sperm, and thus must be in want of another hermaphrodite of suitable quality to inseminate.” -Jane Austen, if she had studied flatworms What are the economics of donating sperm? In many species where you have […]
Echidnas, aka Spiny Ant Eaters, are among the species that, until now, I usually forgot existed. When it comes to monotremes, the platypus is the most charismatic (or at least, definitely the oddest looking) of the bunch. And echidnas, well, they just look like…kind of a cross between a hedgehog and an anteater. Kind of […]
If you’re reading this sentence, chances are you’re reading it silently (if you’re reading it out loud, hey, that’s cool too). Your lips aren’t moving, you’re not making any sound that other people can hear. But are you making “sound” in your head? Many people who read silently do so by imagining a voice speaking […]
If you’re the kind of nerd like me, then you’re the kind of nerd that really liked spending time in libraries and old bookrooms as a kid. To this day I love having books around me, especially the old kind with nice leather covers. And of course, if you’re spent time around old books, you […]
For the past…oh my, for the past FIVE YEARS, I’ve been recording, every year, the books I manage to read. Five (gulp) years ago, this was because I was trying the then popular idea to read 100 books in a year. Then I started a blog. 100 books did not happen (though I did get […]
The handsome stranger clutched her shoulders, supporting her as she swooned. The suddenness and violence of the robbery and her rescue disoriented Beverlee, and for a few moments she did not know where she was. But as she began to be conscious of her surroundings, she was increasingly aware of the tall, firm man she […]
I’m going to start with an upfront declaration. This paper is awesome for three major reasons: 1. It is interesting science. 2. It utilizes Dungeons and Dragons. 3. The first author is in middle school. Yes. That last bit is correct. He’s 14, and he just might be better published than you (he is, perhaps, […]
Some of us like to think that we think better under pressure. Maybe under the pressure of a deadline, but when it comes to severe stress and times of crisis, well, cognitive performance tends to crumble. We know that part of the cause of this is because of increases in dopamine released into the prefrontal […]
I’m sure you all have heard “Beer before liquor, never sicker. Liquor before beer, everything clear”? Whether or not it’s true (and honestly, it’s not true), most people talk about differences in alcoholic drinks. Some people love wine, some people get horrible wine headaches. Some people are happy with beer, others find it makes them […]