- A cure for ‘colorblindness’ may be in sight – Basically, scientists used gene therapy to replace the gene causing color deficiency in non-human primates (male squirrel monkeys) and the primates were able to pass a color test. Wow!
- Your Body Is Surrounded by Clouds of Skin and Fart Bacteria – “Everywhere you go, in everything you do, you are surrounded by an aura of microbes. They drift down from your hair when you scratch your head, they fly off your hand when you wave to your friend, they spew out of your mouth when you talk. Even when you sit around doing nothing, you’re sitting in your own, personal microbial bubble. Made up of millions, billions, trillions of bacteria, yeast, cells, and cell parts, this bubble is actually more like a cloud—a cloud, new research suggests, that is unique to you.”
- No, That’s NOT What the Earth Would Look Like Without Water – You may have seen a photo going around that allegedly shows what the earth would look like without water, but it’s wrong–and Phil Plait explains exactly what it shows.
- A new study gives parents another reason to read to their kids – “A new study finds that the text of children’s books contains substantially more unique words than ordinary parent-child conversation, which may help explain why reading to children is so important to their development.”
- Kentucky Clerk Again Accused Of Interfering With County Marriage Licenses – Not much to say about this one except that, in the words of Daffy Duck, this woman is despicable!
- Lawsuit: Scumbag Pill Price Gouger Stalked and Harassed Ex-Coworker’s Entire Family – The guy responsible for the price hike of a cheap anti-parasite drug coincidentally has a shady past!
- Oklahoma Pre-K teacher allegedly calls being left-handed ‘evil’ and ‘sinister’ – “The child was sent home with a letter about how left-handedness is often associated with evil and the devil.” And not only that, the superintendent supported the teacher!
I am a big fan of books, but it occurs to me that the “more words” and “larger range of topics” benefits probably apply to TV too…
Mary,
I never thought I’d live to see the day that someone said that being left handed made you evil. Are right handed people supposed angelic and good now?
This has to be the strangest form of bigotry I’ve ever heard of.
Actually, this is not a new concept (in fact it’s such an old concept I thought it was long gone). The etymology of sinister is from the Old French sinistre which means left.
I was just going to say… She isn’t wrong about the sinister bit, at least.
My mother had this happen to her when she was a child. She was forced to use her right hand, they bound her left arm/hand down.
I knew someone this happened to in 5th grade. He had better hand writing than me (in that it was more legible) but because it slanted to the left and he was left handed, it was unacceptable.
On the bacteria stuff, my research (and commercial development) into the use of ammonia oxidizing bacteria as part of the human microbiome is advancing nicely.