Doc Bushwell
bushwells | September 11, 2007Or when Maidenform just isn't enough.
LiveScience reports that Bras Don't Support Bouncing Breasts.
The science of brassiere design in this study refers to the biomechanics of breasts bouncing during exercise. For women with larger endowment, e.g., a pair of D-cup breasts weighing 15-23 pounds, the unrestrained movement has potential to damage the delicate supporting ligaments and inflict pain. Women may abandon active sports because of this.
Sports bras of the compression type only limit up-and-down movement of the breasts. The study revealed that during vigorous exercise, women's…
bushwells | September 10, 2007In anticipation of forking over multiple dead presidents, a healthy kidney and sacrificing a pair of white doves to enter the local googolplex cinema to see 3:10 to Yuma, I indulged in a Christian Bale-o-thon this weekend. Well, OK, two DVDs don't make a "-thon" but it's a little more focused than my typical viewing habits.
The two films I watched this past weekend were Reign of Fire and The Prestige. Both qualify as Mystery Science Theatre designates. In fact, Michael Nelson of the real MST 3000 has a Riff on Reign of Fire available for the low, low, LOW price of $2.99!
Some of the blurbs…
bushwells | September 4, 2007This deserves to be highlighted. Hat tip to Lorri Talley (see comments in Orb Weaver entry).
I give you...
The Mating Dance of the Jumping Spider!
"I have the best pedipalps of them all! The very best. With my little dance, I will hypnotize you into wanting them. Yes, my darling, wanting them!"
bushwells | September 4, 2007Since Labor Day weekend has passed, it's time to put away those white shoes and to take note of the late summer orb weaver spiders.
Orb Weaver spiders are members of the Araneidae family. These include the ubiquitous yellow and black garden spider and familiar genera such as Mangora spp. and Araneus spp. When my kids were little, they referred to the more common Araneidae as "Charlottes" after E.B. White's Charlotte's Web.
Chimp Refuge field observers, Dawn & Bobby, recently shared a photo of an Araneidae arachnid that has set up her shop behind their house:
This is a pretty spider to…
bushwells | September 1, 2007A new addition can be found in the sidebar. Yes, the Chimp Refuge has joined the OUT Campaign bandwagon. Click on the Scarlet Letter of Atheism, and you will be taken to the site for the campaign which includes a link to Richard Dawkins' introduction to the initiative.
Since it's a Saturday, and I'm in a frivolous frame of mind, I'll post some atheist-friendly graphics below the fold. They may be already known to many but there's nothing as comforting as friendly familiar faces. Pull up a chair, have a cup of coffee (the Official Beverage of the Devil and Atheists) and have a look.
(Hat…
bushwells | August 31, 2007...Why Bathroom Sex is So Hot.
The Salon newsletter popped up in my gmail files within the past hour with the aforementioned article by James Hannaham. It's a pretty interesting essay on the allure of public restroom schwinging and whether or not such acts make a guy Teh Gay or Not Teh Gay, as Senator Larry Craig would claim.
From the article:
Imagining that closeted gay men are the only ones involved in bathroom sex is naive, since it assumes that homosexual acts are synonymous with homosexual identity, which is silly. One hardly needs to be reminded of the many hyper-masculine settings…
bushwells | August 24, 2007So you've got your Harry Potter fandom, your Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom, your Pirates of the Caribbean fandom and your Star Trek fandom.* Isn't it about time for an Evolutionist/Rationalist fandom? Well, isn't it? Check out my answers to the meme** that's sweeping the fan-i-verse!
Note added in proof: The responses to this meme may readily be extended to any scientist-fandom, e.g., see comment #1. Have at it!
01. The first character I first fell in love with.
Charles Darwin. Sweeeeeet!
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now.
Thomas Huxley - Darwin's bulldog…
bushwells | August 14, 2007The Teh finally hit the conservative pages of Scrip World Pharmaceutical News.
Wyeth's new antipsychotic receives FDA non-approvable letter after fatality
August 13, 2007
Scrip
The US FDA has issued a non-approvable letter for Wyeth/Solvay's new-generation atypical antipsychotic bifeprunox, which was under review for the acute treatment of schizophrenia and the maintenance of stable adult patients.
Wyeth's share price on teh New York Stock Exchange closed at $46.59, down by 6% on August 10th. (emphasis mine)
OK, it may just be a typo, but I'd like to think it's an oh-so-hip ironic reference…
bushwells | July 12, 2007When one thinks of a house mouse, a meek cheese-nibbling furry little critter is most often visualized Don't be fooled. These are nasty beasts. Just ask the chicks of the stormy petrel, Tristan albatross and Atlantic petrel.
The vast majority of avian extinctions have occurred on islands. Rats, an invasive species on many islands, are often blamed for such extinctions. Mice were thought to pose no threats to seabirds' nests. However, once their ratty brethren were removed from the competitive scene, the mice moved in on delicious territory. The little fiends have been caught in the…
bushwells | July 11, 2007As a belated follow-on to my rant on ol' Hissy Chrissy Hitchies' contention that women aren't funny, I offer this film clip via LiveScience: Humor and the Sexes. Be forewarned that you must suffer through a Yahoo ad in the beginning which pokes gentle fun at Incompetent Men and Their Tools, a subject that is always a knee-slappper. In the meat of the film, Allan Reiss discusses the tantalizing observations that men's and women's brains respond differently to humor.
From Hitchen's Vanity Fair article:
The researchers found that men and women (10 each - Doc Bushwell) share much of the same…
bushwells | July 7, 2007So last year we had the dreaded 06/06/06, and lo! No apocalyptic beasts appeared in the heavens. This year, it's our lucky day: 07/07/07!
Seven is considered a "lucky number," a prime of a magical, mysterious signficance. So where does the source of this luck derive? Why, from the Bible, of course! At least in part. From LiveScience, 07/07/07: Is This Your Lucky Day?
The number seven is considered lucky due to its frequent and favorable appearance in the Bible, say historians.
"As the number of the days of God's first week, of the levels of heaven...of the numbers of angels and trumpets…
bushwells | July 6, 2007Speaking, or rather screeching, as a menopausally-crazed, cognitively-impaired winged harpy, I feel it is my duty to swoop in and squawk about the recent hormone replacement therapy free-for-all that's goin' down at Science Blogs.
Links are hardly necessary given that this is front page news but those of you who have wandered into this mess of bonobo scat and banana peels called the Chimp Refuge can scurry off to Neurotopia v.2 where another insidious primate provides extensive and authoritative reviews in three parts. I'd just like to point out a couple of things. I may have missed these…
bushwells | July 2, 2007A friend visited from Boston this past weekend, so we took a jaunt into The City on Saturday. Our prime destination was the American Museum of Natural History where Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids is now playing as a special exhibition.
The imaginary bestiary was entertaining and informative. The basis of myth was explored nicely, and provided testament to the power of human imagination when confronted with natural phenomenon. A seventeen-foot winged green dragon greeted us at the entry, and a plethora of dragon, unicorn and mermaid flavored tchotckes awaited the…
bushwells | July 2, 2007To the approximately half-dozen or so of my regular readers:
The Refuge has been very active recently thanks to the capers of the young males of the troop. As a consequence, those few entries I offer are likley to be buried quickly. Should you have a burning desire to read my blathering specifically, I have added a "Doc Bushwell" category so that my meager number of entries can be sorted from the piles of overripe banana peels.
And now back to your regularly scheduled brachiation...
bushwells | June 14, 2007Following up on the wacky tobaccy post, the FDA advisory panel voted 14-0 against recommendation of rimonabant to move forward as a treatment for obesity, citing the need for further safety studies. As noted, the primary concerns are psychiatric/neurological issues.
I really can't resist a "No shit, Sherlock!" as pertains to the psychiatric and neurological issues. The endocannabinoid system is under scrutiny for psychiatric indications, i.e., new antidepressants and anxiolytics. It's not exactly unexpected that such adverse effects might arise given the different responses among…
bushwells | June 13, 2007
Today, the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabologic Advisory Committee reviews rimonabant, the cannabinoid receptor antagonist developed by Sanofi-Aventis, for recommendations, or lack thereof, as an anti-obesity medication. Rimonabant was approved in Europe for limited cohorts of obese patients, but rejected as an anti-smoking medication. Approval for marketing rimonabant in the US is pending next month, and the advisory committee's assessment will weigh heavily on this decision.
There are other 'bants in the pharma pipeline so it should be interesting to see how today's decision plays out…
bushwells | June 8, 2007An e-droog recently waxed poetic about a single malt Scotch that she gave to a friend on the occasion of his thirtieth birthday. If I recall correctly, this was an especially rugged Islay beast, and stronger than the infamous Laphroaig. The subject of single malts triggered an avalanche of nostalgic reverie, not uncommon for us geriatrics, so I will inflict you with my aged yammering...and photos... here.
A British friend, then a post-doc in the lab next door and now a chemoinformatics guru, introduced single malts to me back in my grad school days. My previous experiences with Scotch had…
bushwells | June 8, 2007Today's offering is a departure from the usual floral genitalia.
I found this specimen at Marquand Park in Princeton. This park sports a variety of ornamental trees. I believe this is a leaf of Fagus sylvatica, the European beech, likely the atropunicea variety, the same species as the "copper beech" shown in todays Orgasmic sparklers and single cask malt Scotch entry. Carotenoids and anthocyanins contribute to the coloration.
The Wellesley College Web of Species has a good description of Fagus sylvatica.
Beeches of both European and American origin have smooth grey bark, and have…