Random links
- New York Times Room for Debate: The Squishy Science of Food Allergies
- "A federal report released last week found that while many more children and adults are reporting food allergies, no clear agreement exists on what a food allergy is or how to test for one. An article in Pediatrics in November 2009, for example, indicated that doctor visits for food allergies among children tripled from 1993 to 2006. ... What accounts for this increase in reported incidence of allergies: doctors making overly broad diagnoses, unreliable tests or anxious parents? What are some reasons or theories why more people now appear to be affected than in the past?"
- Why Fancy Cakes Can Taste So Crummy
- "If it looks like a bird, or a car or a plane, it's probably been handled to death."
- Lawsuit could make designated drivers liable for intoxicated passengers
- Sounds like a great way to increase the number of drink-and-driving deaths
- Coffee drinkers don't gain alertness
- "That kick in alertness we get from our first coffee or tea in the morning is in fact just the removal of the fatiguing effects of caffeine withdrawal, which occurred from overnight abstinence"
- Why does academia treat its workforce so badly?
- "Academia has bifurcated into two classes: tenured professors who are decently paid, have lifetime job security, and get to work on whatever strikes their fancy; and adjuncts who are paid at the poverty level and may labor for years in the desperate and often futile hope of landing a tenure track position. ... I have long theorized that at least some of the leftward drift in academia can be explained by the fact that it has one of the most abusive labor markets in the world."
- "Visitors to Beijing zoo are warned not to feed the animals, but they are encouraged to eat them at a restaurant that offers crocodile and scorpion on its exotic menu."
- If the animals in question aren't endangered species and are delicious, what makes it worse than eating any of kind of meat?