Global Spin

The Times (of London) writes: “Scientists from the Ruhr University in Germany and the University of California in Los Angeles have discovered a ìchemical noseî, named hOR17-4, on sperm cells that allows them to sense high concentrations of a sperm- attracting substance called bourgeonal, which researchers believe works as a chemical road sign to mark [...]

Posted by Karen in Science on March 27th, 2003 | Comments Off

This conversation about Iraq is much wittier than any I’ve had, but it sounds very familiar. And yes, I’m stealing outright from Wil Wheaton’s weblog.

Posted by Karen in Iraq, Politics on March 27th, 2003 | Comments Off

Karen sent a link to an article at Space.com about a bizarre new nova-like star that is expanding and cooling in a way astronomers didn’t expect. At the same time, it’s giving us a show: a light echo, which is light that bounced off larger and larger regions of dust around the star as the [...]

Posted by Karen in Space on March 27th, 2003 | Comments Off

There is a fascinating article at New Scientist. It outlines some of the environmental repercussions of war in Iraq. These aren’t things I’ve heard brought up in any other news. This is a very delicate ecosystem and the idea that we–both sides–could be causing horrible, irreversible damage just horrifies me.

Posted by Chris in Politics on March 27th, 2003 | Comments Off

The San Diego Zoo has streaming video (requires RealOne player) of Bai Yun and her new suitor Gao Gao… er… gettin’ it on. You just have to play Barry White when you watch it. Apparently this is a great success for the Zoo. They’re hoping that Bai Yun will conceive naturally this time, even though [...]

Posted by Karen in Fun on March 26th, 2003 | 1 Comment »