December 29, 2008
things I read last week and didn’t post
Many of these amateurs may have studied biology in college but have no advanced degrees and are not earning a living in the biotechnology field. Some proudly call themselves “biohackers” — innovators who push technological boundaries and put the spread of knowledge before profits.
In Cambridge, Mass., a group called DIYbio is setting up a community lab where the public could use chemicals and lab equipment, including a used freezer, scored for free off Craigslist, that drops to 80 degrees below zero, the temperature needed to keep many kinds of bacteria alive.
Co-founder Mackenzie Cowell, a 24-year-old who majored in biology in college, said amateurs will probably pursue serious work such as new vaccines and super-efficient biofuels, but they might also try, for example, to use squid genes to create tattoos that glow.
Little blue pills for Afghan warlords changing hearts and minds:
In their efforts to win over notoriously fickle warlords and chieftains, the officials say, the agency’s operatives have used a variety of personal services. These include pocketknives and tools, medicine or surgeries for ailing family members, toys and school equipment, tooth extractions, travel visas, and, occasionally, pharmaceutical enhancements for aging patriarchs with slumping libidos, the officials said.
“Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people — whether it’s building a school or handing out Viagra,” said one longtime agency operative and veteran of several Afghanistan tours. Like other field officers interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity when describing tactics and operations that are largely classified.
Pubic hair and the economy (via kottke):
It does seem that George Taylor’s famous hemline theory — that the length of women’s skirts rise and fall with economic times — can be applied to bikini lines as well. In 1922, Sears and Roebuck introduced the first women’s razors. Electrolysis emerged in the ’60s until social and political rebellion gave way to a renewed celebration of “Hair” (whose upcoming Broadway revival is no mere coincidence). Then, in the ’80s, power suits and polished, tight skin reigned, just before Black Monday pushed bikini waxing to the bottom of “to do” lists. As the millennium neared, however, dot-coms let the money and the liquor flow, and women bared all like never before. As “Sex and the City” reminded us (and reminded us again), the Brazilian plowed its way across America’s heartland, but these days those crops are growing back — in Technicolor.
Mr. Koester, who was a Ford aerodynamicist at the time, had been assigned to turn the popular boxy Fairlane design study that was introduced at the 2005 Detroit auto show, inspired by the woody station wagons of the 1940s, into the production Flex crossover. He had to produce a shape slippery enough to provide acceptable fuel mileage, and he feared the boxy show car would have to be radically revised.
To his surprise, in hundreds of tests at Ford’s Wind Tunnel 8 southwest of Detroit the original edges produced less drag than curved substitutes, Mr. Koester said. In the bumper, headlights and hood, in fact, aerodynamics were improved by carefully designed edges.
Eyelash-growth drug wins FDA approval:
Allergan Inc., maker of the wrinkle smoother Botox, won U.S. approval to sell the first prescription medicine to enhance dull or thinning eyelashes.
The Food and Drug Administration cleared the solution, called Latisse, after a unanimous recommendation from its outside advisers, Allergan said this morning.
Latisse contains the same main ingredient as Allergans Lumigan, on the market for glaucoma since 2001.
Mrs. Wunderle lives in the Fuggerei, a Roman Catholic housing settlement for the poor that Jakob Fugger “The Rich” built in this southern German city nearly 500 years ago. Praying for Mr. Fugger and his descendants to enter the Pearly Gates is a condition for living here, at an annual rent of 1 Rhein guilder, the same as in 1520. In today’s money, that’s 88 euro cents, or about $1.23.
Would your car survive a nuclear blast:
The Caddy above and dozens of other now-classic cars you can see in the gallery below were used in the government’s “Operation Doorstep” project. As part of the program, houses and cars were set up near nuclear test sites in Nevada to study the bombs’ effects on people and property. What those tests showed (or at least what the public was told) is that not only could cars survive a nuclear blast surprisingly well, but they also made wonderful shelters for people.
But as a pamphlet from that era pointed out, be sure to roll down your car’s windows halfway to equalize the pressure of the shock wave. Otherwise your car could end up with crushed roofs and shattered glass like many in the accompanying photos.
Dolphins winter in New Jersey:
Federal wildlife experts say the remaining dolphins are healthy, and should be able to make it through the winter if they choose to stay. They cite the cases of dolphins that successfully spent winters in Massachusetts, Virginia and even northern Scotland.
But some animal advocates worry the dolphins will meet the same fate as four that drowned in the Shrewsbury River in 1993 when ice closed in on them, or the 26 dolphins killed by a sudden freeze in 1990 in Texas’ Matagorda Bay.
“It would seem to me that the natural habitat for dolphins in the winter when it gets cold is much farther south in warmer waters,” said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J. “Isn’t it stressful for them to be in this colder environment? Since they are mammals, what happens if the ice freezes over and they can’t breathe?”
Man shot for talking during movie:
A family seated in front of Cialella began to talk during the film, so he told them to be quiet. But that didn’t stop the younger son from making comments. He even threw popcorn angrily at the talkative son, but the talk did not stop. Cialella became so enraged that he pulled out a Kel-Tec .380-caliber handgun and shot the father in the left arm.
Porn Star / Model / Actress Sasha Grey’s Vice Magazine fashion shoot:
Rare Flying Foxes filmed with Canon’s new 5d mark II DSLR:
3. WARNING – some scenes contain displays of animal genitalia and defecation process.
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i peeked.. where is the poop?
That picture there of Sasha Grey? That’s a pretty good picture.