"War, unh, Good god, y'all, What is it good for?" Well, apparently we have an answer to that question now. War is good for getting more cows, which is of course good for getting more women, which is essential to maxing out how many babies you sire. And from a woman's perspective, hooking up with... Continue Reading →
Awe-full
“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and more steadily we reflect on them - the starry heavens above and the moral law within.” -Immanuel Kant Have you ever been awestruck? It's a truly palpable feeling, hence the bolt-of-lightning idiom often associated with it. Awe is often accompanied... Continue Reading →
2015 Resolutions
For eclectics, the new year is generally an uplifting time. It's an excuse to take stock of one's life and reset the switch. Eclectics revel in change and new things, so a whole new year holds a lot of promise and potential energy. Many of us use the new year to resolve to make certain things better... Continue Reading →
Microbe vs. Microbe
In this Mini Post, two of our favorite subjects, microbes and dirt, come together. In a new report, researchers were able to extract a powerful new antibiotic from a bacteria found in the soil. Teixobactin is made by the soil bacteria Eleftheria terrae. The researchers are excited because they feel the way this antibiotic works... Continue Reading →
Sugar: The New Yayo
Robert Lustig has been espousing the view for years that sugar is the new cocaine. I've only done cocaine once, and I can safely say that it had a little bit more of an effect on me than sugar does. But the cumulative effects of all the sugar inundating our society are no doubt more... Continue Reading →
World’s Greatest Living Artist
Some friends and I recently had an email discussion about who the greatest living artist is. We figured Bob Dylan, although he wasn't necessarily any of our first choices, might win a national poll. The guy that started the discussion was a big proponent of KRS-One. Some other names we batted around were Toni Morrison, Mikhail Baryshnikov,... Continue Reading →
Philosophiae Trivialis
Philosophy attempts to answer some of the most profound questions: what is truth, what is beauty, what is the meaning of life, how do you know that you believe you have socks on? Well, maybe the latter question wasn't foremost on the mind of Socrates. But, in a New York Times article, Professor Quassim Cassam... Continue Reading →
A Fallible Mind
I think of memories as a continuous complex chemical cycle in which neurons relay information from an event to one another. Over time, the cycle fades, sometimes disappearing completely. When we recall an event, new neural connections are made, and the cycle is refreshed, but details may be missing or have even changed - what... Continue Reading →
Shocking News
Some scientists get to have a lot of fun. "Hey, let's do an experiment where we get to shock people - there are endless possibilities here. Oh, and maybe we'll learn some stuff." These scientists determined that people would sacrifice a certain amount of pay not to be shocked (no surprise there), but they would sacrifice... Continue Reading →
More Poop News
I committed a double homicide this week. Two of the little suckers in one trap, the promise of some yummy peanut butter just millimeters away. We tried to give them every opportunity to avail themselves of the no-kill traps, but after one of their brethren found himself so incarcerated (he was later released at the... Continue Reading →
Poppa's Cottage 