The Lumpen Proletarian

Why guys go for outta-their-league ladies - Behavior- msnbc.com

A new study confirms what women say they’ve known all along: Men, no matter how unattractive, think they’ve got a chance with a runway model.

Will This E-Reader Replace Papers? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Drug Label, Maimed Patient and Crucial Test for Justices - NYTimes.com

At issue is whether plaintiffs have the right to sue when the products that hurt them had met federal standards.

Researchers disclose key advance in treating spinal cord injuries

PhysOrg.com: Researchers in Rochester, N.Y., and Colorado have shown that manipulating stem cells prior to transplantation may hold the key to overcoming a critical obstacle to using stem cell technology to repair spinal cord injuries.

Team finds genetic link between immune and nerve systems
PhysOrg.com: DURHAM, N.C. —Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered genetic links between the nervous system and the immune system in a well-studied worm, and the findings could illuminate new approaches to human therapies.

Bright ideas lighting up Grand Central Terminal

PhysOrg.com: New York's Grand Central Terminal may be a grand old National Historic Landmark, but thanks to some modern technology, it's becoming one the most energy efficient buildings in the city.

Research pushes back history of crop development 10,000 years

PhysOrg.com: Researchers led by Dr Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick's plant research arm Warwick HRI have found evidence that genetics supports the idea that the emergence of agriculture in prehistory took much longer than originally thought.

Flabber | Weblog: Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising

Elke dag een paar bijzondere, interessante, sexy of humoristische posts.

Important Twist in Supercapacitor Research

PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- Car batteries as we know them today may soon be relics. Storing energy in clunky containers with limited shelf lives has plagued car makers and military engineers who need lightweight, powerful and reliable means to crank engines into life, enliven radios and operate other electronic appliances.

Products Placed: How Companies Pay Artists to Include Brands in Lyrics | Listening Post from Wired.com

Songs that refer to products and brands have been with us for years, from Simon and Garfunkel singing Mama don't take my Kodachrome away to Janis Joplin's plea for a

Off on the Great Schlep - Los Angeles Times
If you need proof that this is the most important election in a generation, get this: Jewish grandkids are flying to Florida to visit their grandparents -- without being guilted into it without being guilted into it -- to talk their elders out of voting for John McCain.

World could head for a global pandemic caused by antibiotic resistance | ZME Science

Antibiotics are agents that act against microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi or protozoa. It's obvious that since the development of antibiotics, the world

The Real Girlfriend Experience - News - Broward-Palm Beach New Timespage 1 - Broward-Palm Beach New Times

Off the Shelf - Bacardi, the Puerto Rican Rum That Will Be Forever Cuban - NYTimes.com

Rum, revolution, romance and modern globalization come together in a pistol-packing salsa dance of modern history in “Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause” by Tom Gjelten.

Ping - Technology Doesn’t Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds. - NYTimes.com

Over the course of human history, writing, printing, computing and Googling have only made it easier to think and communicate.

The College Issue - The Camera-Friendly, Perfectly Pixelated, Easily Downloadable Celebrity Academic - NYTimes.com

Five studies in the new world of online lecturing.

Chicago Unveils Multifaceted Plan to Curb Emissions of Heat-Trapping Gases - NYTimes.com
The blueprint would change the city’s building codes to promote energy efficiency, and it calls for installing huge solar panels at municipal properties and building alternative fueling stations.

A Professor and a Banker Bury Old Dogma on Markets - NYTimes.com

The Fed chairman and the Treasury secretary have cast aside long-held views about regulation and government involvement in private business.

Dim Lights, Big City - It’s Bottom’s Up Amid the Crash - NYTimes.com

As the market went up and down all week, so did the glasses at Harry’s, a restaurant three blocks from the New York Stock Exchange.

Busy and valuable: Bees are worth $220bln a year

PhysOrg.com: Bees and other pollinating insects are worth 153 billion euros (220 billion dollars) a year, thanks to their help in growing fruit, vegetables, oil crops, coffee, cocao and spices, a French study has found.

Water for farming | Running dry | The Economist

The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage

Technology Review: The Holes in Our Genomes

Scanning DNA for structural changes brings new insight into disease.

In Cairo, Living in Fear at a Cliff’s Sharp Edge - NYTimes.com
The true scope of what happened when a huge piece of a cliff broke off and crushed the lives below remains hidden beneath massive rocks.

globeandmail.com: HUMANITY AT RISK: ARE THE MALES GOING FIRST?

The most authoritative news in Canada featuring articles from The Globe and Mail, breaking news coverage, national news, international news, sports, weather, Report on Business.

'Friendly' bacteria protect against type 1 diabetes

PhysOrg.com: In a dramatic illustration of the potential for microbes to prevent disease, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago showed that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria were protected against the development of Type I diabetes.

Israel Unleashes First 'Skunk Bomb' | Danger Room from Wired.com

Possibly because of excitement over the Russia-Georgia conflict last month, little attention was given to a new development in chemical warfare – the first use by the Israeli police of

'Obey' Street Artist Churns Out 'Hope' for Obama | The Underwire from Wired.com

If you've been to any major U.S. city recently, you may have spotted a two-tone print of presidential candidate Barack Obama emblazoned with the word Hope on a bumper sticker,

Global Warming's Ecosystem Double Whammy

Plants and soils act like sponges for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but new research on the cover of this week's Nature finds that one abnormally warm year can suppress the amount of carbon dioxide taken up by some grassland ecosystems for up to two years. The findings followed a four-year study of 12-ton containerized grassland plots at Nevada's Desert Research Institute. Plots were extracted intact from the Oklahoma prairie and sealed inside four, living-room-sized environment chambers.

Posterity Post

Op-Ed Columnist - Need a Job? $17,000 an Hour. No Success Required. - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

I’m delighted to announce that Richard Fuld, the longtime chief of Lehman Brothers, is winner of my annual award for corporate rapacity and poor corporate governance.