Inkfish

That's great information,real cool. Please con...

2012-05-29T12:44:17.137-05:00

That's great information,real cool. Please continue

I'm a grapheme-colour synesthete. 5 is blue, 2...

2012-05-27T23:49:27.917-05:00

I'm a grapheme-colour synesthete. 5 is blue, 2 is light brown, 3 is pink, T is dark green.

Fascinating! Many thanks.

2012-05-12T01:39:19.946-05:00

Fascinating! Many thanks.

Elizabeth: Congrats to you too on your 1st blogday...

2012-05-11T16:38:44.606-05:00

Elizabeth: Congrats to you too on your 1st blogday!

Michael: Thanks for your kind words!

Not much to say, other than I LOVE YOUR BLOG! And....

2012-05-11T14:15:02.073-05:00

Not much to say, other than I LOVE YOUR BLOG!
And... THANK YOU!

Congrats! It's always fun to see what you'...

2012-05-10T07:55:09.906-05:00

Congrats! It's always fun to see what you'll write about next :)

Grandmom: You're a good sport for putting up w...

2012-05-10T06:46:06.587-05:00

Grandmom: You're a good sport for putting up with all the weird and gross stuff! They say to picture your audience when you write, but I admit I usually try NOT to picture my grandparents.

Abeille: Thanks for saying hello!

I'm a devoted lurker. Happy blogday!

2012-05-09T18:36:42.412-05:00

I'm a devoted lurker.

Happy blogday!

Hi Elizabeth, I have enjoyed reading your blogs......

2012-05-09T17:58:53.373-05:00

Hi Elizabeth,
I have enjoyed reading your blogs...some strange...some funny...some really weird, but always interesting. How does my granddaughter, who seems perfectly normal come up with these ideas, especially the "poop" blogs?
Grandmom

You're so topical! The following was on mornin...

2012-04-30T15:55:45.930-05:00

You're so topical! The following was on morning edition today:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/04/30/151550273/to-predict-dating-success-the-secrets-in-the-pronouns

Aww, I haven't thought about that graveyard ac...

2012-04-24T19:42:19.396-05:00

Aww, I haven't thought about that graveyard across the street from you old house (or the dying to move in comment) in years! Good times. This post is reassuring. Between my intrinsically morbid outlook and the realities of my job I should be supremely motivated, connected, and generally well adjusted.
-Brenna

Tomas--That's an interesting angle I hadn'...

2012-04-12T20:01:24.393-05:00

Tomas--That's an interesting angle I hadn't thought of. Thanks!

However, it is also true that thinking about the f...

2012-04-12T16:54:52.135-05:00

However, it is also true that thinking about the future makes people feel anxious - because of the uncertainty of what will happen in the future. In general, people can only tolerate a certain amount of anxiety in their lives. So if your present condition is making you anxious, you are going to try to avoid thinking about the future. Here's a relevant, recent publication: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/04/06/0146167212442970.abstract?papetoc

Could you just say that, for whatever reason, the ...

2012-04-11T21:32:14.731-05:00

Could you just say that, for whatever reason, the search terms ratio described in the article is a strong predictor of the nation's wealth? And, if not the suggested explanation, what are the alternative ones?

Interesting. These data are exactly the sort that ...

2012-04-10T23:00:36.800-05:00

Interesting. These data are exactly the sort that people can easily make stories about, but that don't actually mean much on their own. The jump from searching for next year to being more forward thinking as a nation seems almost like concluding that people who search for the word 'open' must be more open-minded.

Norman, I was just thinking the same thing. I won...

2012-04-04T11:36:39.207-05:00

Norman, I was just thinking the same thing. I wonder if conifer adaptations to fire like very thick bark and closed (serotinous) cones actually evolved later, or if they existed back then. My guess is they probably did exist at least to some extent.

Certainly any change to fire frequency or intensity can cause big changes in plant communities. There are big issues with invasive plants altering fire regimes and proliferating explosively in the southwestern US.

I decline to speculate as to how the lice got from...

2012-04-03T21:50:34.187-05:00

I decline to speculate as to how the lice got from the ears to the testes.

Cool! Yes, gymnosperms have some great adaptations...

2012-04-03T20:36:59.220-05:00

Cool! Yes, gymnosperms have some great adaptations for fire. The article mentions that tree bark, fire-resistant spore coverings on ferns, and pinecones that need heat to open all may have evolved during the Cretaceous. Maybe in this period the shrubby angiosperms outcompeted the slow-growing gymnosperms, but the gymnosperms that survived adapted to fire.

Just thought I would mention as an interesting asi...

2012-04-03T20:20:07.000-05:00

Just thought I would mention as an interesting aside that in at least some modern-day forests, conifers actually love fire, while the angiosperms hate it. Southern pine growers (including pretty much my mom's whole family in Alabama) use this to their/our advantage by burning up the woods every couple of years (very carefully). The pines (especially longleaf) can survive fire beyond the age of 5 or so, whereas a good fire will definitely kill younger oaks and other hardwoods, and even has a pretty good chance of killing off a fully grown non-pine if it gets hot enough or the fire is repeated soon enough. Although we now do it in a controlled way, it's been going on forever either via American Indian humans or random lightning strikes. There's all sorts of cool related traits: for example, pine needles burn really easily and encourage fire, while oak leaves and hardwood litter will pretty much go out unless it's SUPER dry. I wouldn't necessarily want to make the case that those things evolved in that way because of the fire stuff, but maybe.

Anyway, it had never occurred to me that this wasn't true of all gymnosperm/angiosperm competitive scenarios, so I was interested to see the opposite case made in this article. I guess the angiosperms in question in the Cretaceous are actually (as you mentioned) more like shrubs, which are on a totally different time cycle than the 30- or 40-year tree growing cycle I'm used to.

I feel that through evolution and technology we we...

2012-03-31T22:39:44.848-05:00

I feel that through evolution and technology we were able to either replace or no longer need what was in the placenta. Today we can replace essential vitamins and nutrients for women after so they no longer need to actually consume the placenta.

This subject is very redundant. What's funny i...

2012-03-31T22:11:57.434-05:00

This subject is very redundant. What's funny is that, while reading this article, I found myself focusing on not "mind-wandering." I think that with each task I was given, no matter the level of difficulty, I would be distracted by something at some point. The working-memory seems to have a 'mind' of its own.....

Eh, we eat all kinds of other meats, including org...

2012-03-30T22:29:10.955-05:00

Eh, we eat all kinds of other meats, including organ meats. Seems like no big deal to eat a placenta. I don't understand getting grossed out by eating a certain sort of flesh, but not by eating all other types of flesh.. six of one, half dozen of the other. I'm not a vegan, either, just a pragmatist with a strong stomach :D

I was hoping it was a placebo kind of thing. But t...

2012-03-30T19:38:44.065-05:00

I was hoping it was a placebo kind of thing. But that photo...eww.

bloody oranges are common in many parts other than...

2012-03-29T18:15:15.710-05:00

bloody oranges are common in many parts other than Sicily. in Spainthey are called Bull´s Blood oranges

This is a very interesting article for sure! I be...

2012-03-26T13:15:41.540-05:00

This is a very interesting article for sure! I believe that I would easily be distracted if given either one of the tasks and were interrupted. When I study, I have to have total peace and quiet, absolutely NO distractions. To each their own I guess!