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Should I let my baby play in the sewer?

Okay, so I'm not really wondering that but it seems like studies continue to come out that indicate that it's better for children to be exposed to dirt and other irritants early in life so their immune systems will be stronger. A couple of new studies with rats not only grossed me out but also made me think that there must be something to this belief.   Gritty rats and mice living in sewers and farms seem to have healthier immune systems than their squeaky clean cousins that frolic in cushy... READ ON

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Mars and her Moons

My post yesterday about Hawking's vision of a colonized Mars got me searching the internet for more information on the red planet. We all know Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, both sons of Ares (or Mars in Roman) and Aphrodite (or Venus). And we can all connect the dots and figure out that Phobos is where our many phobias come from. But what about Deimos? Well, it turns out that's Greek for "panic." Which makes sense, right? Phobias lead to panic attacks. The two moons were discovered in 1877... READ ON

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Spam spam spam spam spam

I just got the best piece of weight-loss spam I've ever seen. The headline was "If you like to taste but have an ugly waist..." I like my waist just fine, thanks, but I have to commend the authors of the email for their literary flair. Anything that brings poetry back into American life is good by me. Speaking of weight-loss and spam, the Jan/Feb issue from this year covered them both: there was a very serious piece on fat vaccines, and an only-slightly-less-serious piece on 10 bizarre museums, one... READ ON

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Hall. Virginia Hall.

The smearing of Heather Mills McCartney -- okay, it's not really "smearing" if the tabs say you've been in hard-core German porn, and you have -- has left one-legged young girls bereft of a role model. May I nominate Virginia Hall, my favorite female spy this side of Mata Hari? Apparently, the CIA has a book reviewer (what a desk job!), who says:  The Wolves at the Door does more than chronicle Hall's extraordinary career. Pearson gives vivid detail about Hall driving a crude ambulance... READ ON
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So easy you can do it in your sleep

Whenever I feel so sleep-deprived that I just. can't. go. any. further, I think of Randy Gardner -- not because he cheers me up, but because compared to him I have no excuse for whining. As Gelf magazine says: Gardner holds the world record for sleep-deprivation. In 1965, as a high-school student, he went 265 hours without so much as a nap. In the past 41 years, no one has equaled his mark. This wouldn't be a terribly difficult feat for an insomniac, but then Gardner isn't one of those:  Even... READ ON

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Happy Papa's Day

 ... READ ON

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Wheels and Wheelchairs

OhGizmo has a feature today about the new Hungarian Kenguru car, which seems pretty amazing from OhGizmo's write-up (the Kenguru site has their own write-up, but it's a slightly harder read in Hungarian). But here's why this vehicle is so exciting: the car is specifically designed for wheelchair-bound folks, and it has high hopes of giving people back their independence. The concept is really simple. You just wheel yourself in through the back of the car, click your chair into place,... READ ON

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Movin' On Up!

Acording to this article on Brietbart today, British physicist Stephen Hawking says "'...the human race should reach for the stars to survive as the Earth is at risk of being wiped out by a disaster.' He believes humans should settle in space, predicting a lunar settlement within 20 years and a Martian colony in 40." Okay, so everybody pick their jaw up off the floor now and say it with us: "WHAAA??????" Twenty years and we'll be settling on the moon? Like, we'll have our primary residence on earth... READ ON

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Working like a dog

The job market is tough for a lot of us, but apparently at least one segment of the population has its career search well in hand (or paw): dogs. A year ago, Jada, a frisky black mutt, was living in a Florida pound, her days numbered. Today she commands hundreds of dollars an hour at some of Manhattan's most exclusive hotels and apartment buildings. Her fate turned on her newly gained ability to sniff out something reviled in New York these days: bedbugs. ... Dogs have long been partners in law... READ ON

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Drone on (and on, and on...)

Lockheed Martin has developed Drone technology that has "applications from everything to homeland security to search and rescue," says this new report. Called "Predator B's," (sounds like Predator Bees to me!) the drone tests completed yesterday were controlled from the SPAWAR (Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command) complex in San Diego. Of course unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been around since WWII, when simple radio-controlled planes were used to train anti-aircraft gunners. More... READ ON

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