I think silliness in squirrels must be an evolutionary adaptation. I saw a squirrel today doing somersaults and hopping around like mad. I kid you not. Being the rationalist that I am, my first thought was "epileptic seizure?" but now I think a more plausible explanation is that no sane predator would want to eat something with a case of the ( Read more... )

 

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guys, you are going to get so sick of marathon updates. i haven't even registered yet, and i'm excited. there's still seven months left. and my wildest dream is to break four hours.

And paula radcliffe has more guts than any woman who ever lived. holy crap. i've been there: you're in second place, and every fiber of your being is focussed on the ( Read more... )

This is so cool. There are some really beautiful specimens here.

http://carlzimmer.typepad.com/sciencetattoo/

I want one!

Yer icon is mistaken. A gunshot to the head does not release butterflies. That's not how it works at all. It releases a hole. That's what it does! I'm not kidding.

I have lived this life before ( Read more... )

In which I write about a random assortment of maybe disconnected things

Here's a strange thought for the day. I was perusing a bookstore this morning, and found about a dozen books that I wanted to read. Then I remembered that I have to go to work today, and thought to myself, "I can't wait until I retire". Seriously. I feel like I could read all ( Read more... )

Guys, they've made this series by Alexander McCall Smith into a movie!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0874957/

See also this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401548.html

Totally must see this. It's filmed in Botswana and should be good! These are some of my favorite books. I've read 4 of his books, but I think ( Read more... )

This is a kinda interesting quiz.... comment with your results if you take it! I'd be curious because they don't tell you what the average score is.
I got 16 out of 20 correct.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/

cheers!

Also, apparently my brain is exactly equal parts male and female
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/

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Another music discovery in my recent obsession with stringy instruments: the insanely fast guitarist John Jorgenson.