More links to the interesting amusing or curious you may have missed …

Someone has finally realised that there is no way to totally shield children from pornography and that they’re going to find it anyway. So what?, I say. They have to learn these things sooner or later. And how much better to have it out in the open (Oooo, missus!) and that they learn about such things in the comforting environment of home. Oh, they don’t have homes. Hmmm …

Scientists reckon that after a lot of work they’re finally beginning to be able to decode the contents of dreams, without waking up the subject.

This one is definitely not for teatime, and maybe not for work! Pictures of the world’s most revolting cakes. Nah, there must be worse than these, surely!

More pictures, and of all sorts of things. But these are seen microscope photos and many are rather beautiful. See how many you can correctly guess.

So we’re always being told we should drink 8 glasses of water a day. Why? Well actually no-one really knows, or where the myth started. I’ll take my share in beer, thanks!

We’re always being told that fresh pee is sterile. So in another item Mind the Science Gap asks “Mommy, why do I need to wash my hands if I only pee?“. Interesting take on house-training boy children!

Waht to really stand out from Nature’s crowd? Be true blue!

They think it’s good, but from here it looks more like a disaster for book publishing. Penguin and Random House to merge (subject to regulatory approval).

Somewhere in London there’s an observation tower, masquerading as a memorial column, which has been closed to the public for 130 years. IanVisits would like to see the Duke of York Column, just off Pall Mall, reopened. I bet most Londoners don’t even know it exists!

And finally it’s party time down in Kent. Archaeologists have found the remains of what appears to be a 6th century Saxon nightclub (ie. a feasting hall) in Lyminge. It sounds seriously impressive.

In this edition of links to interesting items I’ve collected this week, we bring you mostly science-related things. In no special order …

The Bristlecone Pine is an amazing tree which can live for thousands of years. It chronicles climate change past and it looks as if it may be showing the way into climate change to come.

So what are you actually running scared of? Biologist Rob Dunn is always good value and here he looks at how our “fight or flight” mechanism is still running from nasty, big predators.

Still on biology here are a series of amazing microscopy photos of creepy crawlies. Preferably not for mealtime or just before bed, but the images are so brilliant!

We all get earworms. No, not more bugs! I mean that song or tune which loops endlessly in your head despite distractions. Now psychologists are trying to understand why.

Psychologists again! It seems they’ve concluded that what we’ve always been told is true: that men and women can’t be “just friends”. OK, guilty as charged, sometimes — though I’m far from sure it is true of all my opposite sex friendships.

There have been several articles recently about the age of puberty having fallen over the last 100 years in both boys and girls. Do scientists really not understand why? How about better nutrition and hormones in meat? I bet they account for a large percentage of the change. But OK it will be hard to prove.

Finally on the basis of some meta-studies some scientists have come to the conclusion that premenstrual syndrome is probably a myth. Probably true for some women, but I find it hard to believe it’s all in the mind. I think a lot of people will need a lot of convincing.

May your weekend run smoothly!

As I said in my previous post, it’s been another busy week when I’ve just not had either the time or the mental energy for blogging, despite there being many things I wanted to write about. So in summary form here are a few that I picked up, would have liked to write more about, and which you may have missed. Let’s start with the the cute …

Berlin Zoo have some adorable new, but very rare, Rusty-Spotted Cat kittens. I defy anyone not to like these kittens.

Squirrels, L to R: Grey, Red, Melanistic (black) morph of Grey, Brunette morph of Red
While in Britain there’s another colour way of our favourite nut guzzler. But don’t be deceived the brunette squirrel is just a colour morph of our now rare red squirrel — just as there are black, grey squirrels.

Still on things biological the Evopropinquitous blog writes about Things I Learned as a Field Biologist. It’s often interesting and sometimes a bit squeamish. One wonders though how these people actually do any work in the field!

Now here’s something for real science geeks. Make your own Particle Detector from things you have around the house. No, I haven’t tried it (I have far too many left thumbs for craft work) but it certainly looks as if it should work.

From particle detectors, to particle generators. Except they weren’t. In interesting short post from IanVisits about the early plans for an underground railway in London which came to naught.

And finally this week for something different. Mr Bean-Blackadder has been throwing the toys out of his pram and probably annoying the righteous in the process. The Daily Telegraph reported a nice tirade from Rowan Atkinson: we must be allowed to insult each other. Joining in the campaign former shadow home secretary David Davis said:

The simple truth is that in a free society, there is no right not to be offended. For centuries, freedom of speech has been a vital part of British life.

Precisely. It’s called freedom of speech.

Here’s a science-y edition of our occasional collections of links to articles you may have missed. They’re mostly not deep science, so they shouldn’t tax the brains of you arty types! In no particular order …

It can’t be so people can make pathetic jokes about their intelligence, so just why is it that so many women go blonde? Ah, of course, it’s all to make Miley Cyrus look so much sexier! 😉

An English major turned science writer is amongst those defending the teaching of algebra in school. It’s part of our cultural heritage.

Does your cat pester for food? If so it might need a psychologist. It would be beastly to deny the creature such a pleasure.

Oooo-eeerrr missus! Insect sting fetishes?! I don’t think so, thanks.

So is (human) virgin birth a reality? Despite lots of looking it seems the answer is still probably not. Some interesting stories though.

Here are two aspects, both from Scientific American, of some recent work on consciouslness. First of all the question of whether self-awareness requires a complex brain. And secondly, scientists are suggesting that octopi are conscious, by which they seem to mean they’re able to think.

And finally one for the medievalists out there … A guy called Rob Colautti has created an evolutionary history of dragons. Definitely gets my vote for cool link of the week!