Rotundus.com

From The Man Who Gets The Science Right On 'The Big Bang Theory':

[David Saltzberg] got involved with The Big Bang Theory in 2007, when the show was little more than a theoretical construct. The set designers asked him to show them some real graduate students' apartments, so they could see how young scientists really live.

"And they did a nice, faithful re-creation of their apartments," he said, adding that after CBS tested the show, the sets were scrapped, because, Saltzberg thinks, the sets were too depressing.

Probably tangential, but it never quite makes sense to me why people (probably occasionally including myself) are so particular about cleanliness when visitors stop by.

An interesting blurb from a recent Globe and Mail piece on Arctic infrastructure chronicling a first cargo ship traversing the Northwest passage:

Canada’s Arctic search-and-rescue capabilities are desperately poor. Our long-range helicopters are based in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Labrador: each aircraft would take more than a day to fly the 2,500 kilometers to the Northwest Passage, stopping to refuel along the way. ... As a point of comparison, Russia has several search-and-rescue stations in the Arctic and is building ten more – each with its own ships and aircraft.

... Canada lacks a single port along the Northwest Passage in which a vessel could seek refuge in the event of mechanical problems or a serious storm. Russia has sixteen deep-water ports along its Arctic coastline.

The article also discusses the crash of a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter in the Arctic a while back. The crew survived the crash but ended up freezing to death as there was nothing more than an icebreaker available to come to the rescue. Canada has the longest coastline of any country on the planet, but the supporting infrastructure doesn't necessarily seem to be there. Compare as well, the US Coast Guard's equipment (e.g. 210 aircraft) versus the Canadian Coast Guard's equipment (49 aircraft). Perhaps the Arctic environment would be one in which lots of UAVs would be a good strategy?

Texas man’s ‘beer gut’ turns food into alcohol due to rare auto-brewery syndrome

"The man, whose wife suspected he was a secret boozer, has been placed on a low-carb diet after it was discovered that excess brewer’s yeast in his stomach sparked a chemical reaction that caused fermentation if he ate starch."

Artist's Shit

Someone apparently bought one of the tins of this shit for 124,000 pounds at auction in 2007. "Artist's Shit is a 1961 artwork by the Italian artist Piero Manzoni. The work consists of 90 tin cans, filled with feces, each 30 grams and measuring 4.8x6.5cm, with a label in Italian, English, French, and German"

What's in YOUR handbag? Lipstick, diary, iPhone… plus E.coli, deadly bacteria - and excrement

I've heard the argument that reusable grocery shopping bags tend to be dirty often here. Seems to make sense that purses and whatnot are likely to be dirtier yet.

Cancer vaccine begins Phase I clinical trials

"The technology was initially designed to target cancerous melanoma in skin, but might have application to other cancers. In the preclinical study reported in Science Translational Medicine, 50 percent of mice treated with two doses of the vaccine—mice that would have otherwise died from melanoma within about 25 days—showed complete tumor regression."

S. FL Doctor Uses New Technology To “Re-Grow” Man’s Finger

"Using the bladder tissue of a pig, Dr. Rodriguez made a template of Halpern’s finger and attached it to what was left. The result was astounding. The finger’s cells, bone, soft tissue, even nail grew into the mold."

No, The Allies Were Not Paragons of Morality

Alongside comments on the post-war ethnic cleansing of German populations this article also talks about the bombing of places like Dresden and outlines some interesting comments from the commander of the US Pacific Fleet (amongst others) questioning whether nuking two Japanese cities was actually needed to to bring the war to a close with a minimum number of casualties.

Tiny Torrents

"Silent, microchip-sized 'fan' has no moving parts, yet produces enough wind to cool a laptop"

French lawmakers ban child beauty contests

"Beauty pageants have a proud tradition in France but there are limits to what French lawmakers will accept. On Tuesday senators banned children's beauty contests to prevent the 'hyper-sexualisation' of kids, promising tough sanctions for those who break the law." Tougher penalties than I'd have expected - up to two years in jail and a fine of up to 30,000 euros.