Rotundus.com

As Wealth and Literacy Rise in India, Report Says, So Do Sex-Selective Abortions

This seemed to be a disappearing issue in other parts of the world (and the trend in sex-selection IVF procedures in North America favours female babies), but in India it seems as though things are getting worse for girls.

Bad boys most attractive, happy guys not so much: UBC study

"Happy smiling men are consistently rated least attractive by women when compared to proud or brooding men... In women, happiness is the most attractive expression to men." Basically they seem to reduce cranky males to high-status males and happy women to fertile women. You can find the study here.

More Weather Deaths? Wanna Bet?

The byline: "Contrary to what many environmentalists would have us believe, Americans are increasingly less likely to be killed by severe weather."

Cookulus

This sounds interesting: "The restrictive thing about writing recipes is that unless home cooks have a lot of cooking knowledge to manipulate what’s on the written page they are stuck with what I write. But on a tablet or smart phone (or anything with a touch screen) the user should be able to change what is happening in the recipe at will."

The Lord Provideth: Woman wins $1million Lotto jackpot after atheist son prays for prize

What can I say other than that I'm amused: "A non-religious son who mockingly prayed for God to let his mother win the lottery was stunned after she hit the $1 million jackpot the next day."

Peer review with SWoRD

This looks like an interesting way to try to get writing assignments in large-scale classes.

We encourage the Christian Churches and congregations that share our understanding of the new marriage and family legislation to give up the right to perform marriages on behalf of the State. There is a limit to how far Christian Churches and congregations can collaborate with a state that in a fundamental way breaks with both generally accepted and Christian norms for marriage.

- The Church’s Right to Perform Marriages in Light of the Norwegian Marriage Act of 2008

I'm not quite sure how to interpret their followup to this. Their recommendations don't quite seem to match their rhetoric.

Chinese Prisoners Allegedly Forced to Play 'World of Warcraft'

Cruel and unusual punishment?

Flash mob: Hundreds of Surrey students dance for Earth at Central City

I wonder what the environmental footprint of this event was once you account for the production of the 600 t-shirts and the transportation of all the students to a different location. Almost the opposite of green I'd say - hopefully fun for the students though.

Married Couples Are No Longer a Majority, Census Finds

"Married couples represented just 48 percent of American households in 2010, according to data being made public Thursday and analyzed by the Brookings Institution. This was slightly less than in 2000, but far below the 78 percent of households occupied by married couples in 1950."

Cooking Temperature for Pork Is Lowered

You may now consume rare pork - at least thus saith the USDA. Others suggest that currently pork tastes a little odd if cooked to only those temperatures. I wonder if the taste might be diet-related?