science

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No more allergies?!

For some reason, it took me 26 years to develop allergies. I'd never had them before, and then all of a sudden one day, every allergy-related symptom I'd ever heard of (scratchy throat, itchy eyes, clogged sinuses, etc) knocked me out while mowing the grass, and now I can't shake the thing. What's worse is that all the medications seem to leave me completely drowsy. So, I for one couldn't be happier to see New Scientist reporting that allergies might soon be a thing of... READ ON

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The Moonwalk Mating Dance

I've seen guys attract women by doing Michael Jackson moonwalks in clubs, but I had no idea the dance-move worked on chicks across the Animal Kingdom. The bird in this video (the winged one) is a Central American species known as the Red-Capped Manakin, and man, can it move! Personally, I think the bird needs to lose the human, and take his solo show on the road, but that's just one man's opinion. Video via the ever-amusing... READ ON

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Tall Women More Likely to Have Twins

LiveScience reports on a study that shows a link between the height of mothers and the likelihood that they will have twins. The study compared the heights of 149 mothers of twins or triplets to those of average U.S. women and found that the moms of twins and triplets were on average more than an inch taller. Dr. Gary Steinman, who led the study, explained that taller women have more insulin-like growth factor. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) is a protein released by the liver in response to growth... READ ON

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You Can Balance An Egg Tomorrow!*

David's Celluloid-stumper touched off a spirited discussion about tomorrow's Autumnal Equinox. On that day, and on its Vernal counterpart in March, you can stand an egg upright. This is true. The ability to balance an egg on these days is often attributed to day and night being equal in length. However, you can also balance an egg on the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year), the Winter Solstice (the shortest), my birthday, your birthday, Super Bowl Sunday and Viking Day. Bad Astronomy has... READ ON
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Dozens of New Species and a Walking Shark?!

MSNBC is reporting today that "Dozens of fish, shrimp and coral species, including two new types of a shark that walks on its fins, have been discovered in waters off New Guinea in the South Pacific, conservationists announced Monday." And while I'm definitely fascinated to read and see more about the findings, and how environmentalists are going to try and protect the so-called "species factory" along the New Guinea coast from fishermen, I'd be most interested in... READ ON

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Breathing Earth

Ever wish you could watch a real-time animated display of the CO2 emissions around the globe, along with the birth and death rates of each country? Well now you can. Breathing Earth is pretty interesting to watch. And you can drag your cursor over any country to see what's going on there. Link via... READ ON

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Obesity is more than a U.S. problem

The media often talks about how fat the U.S. is and while that's true, scientists gathering at the 10th International Congress on Obesity are pointing out that this is a global problem. Some very interesting facts: There are now more overweight people in the world than undernourished. There are over 1 billion overweight adults (more than 300 million are obese) and about 800 million undernourished. The World Health Organization recognizes that obesity is more of a problem in rich countries but... READ ON

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1 of 2 Japanese things to look forward to

I read two exciting things in this month's terrific Esquire, and surprisingly enough they were both penned by mental_floss contributor Doug Cantor. (Nice job, Doug!) Anyway, I figured they were too interesting not to post about, so here goes"¦ #1) Apparently, there's a new type of Baseball Pitch? Dubbed the Gyroball, the throw is the first entirely new baseball pitch to enter the sport since the split-fingered fastball?! Developed by two Japanese scientists who are... READ ON

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The certainty of chance

Can one person really change the world? The answer, claims Princeton's parapsychological Global Consciousness Project, is no. At least, not just by thinking about it. But results of recent experiments by the GCP hint that the combined mental energy of millions may indeed have some impact upon world events. After measuring the readouts from random number generators stationed all over the world for the past seven years, the group found spikes of decidedly non-random activity surrounding a number of... READ ON

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How to bet on snail races (and win!)

Hey, we're not judging. If you want to spend your free time (and cash) betting on gastropod races down at the track, we're fine with that—we're just here to give you a tip. When inspecting the snails at the start line, make sure to put your dough on the least slimy creature. According to New Scientist magazine, researchers at MIT have modeled snail movement, and determined that part of the reason for this is that the mucus that snails and slugs generate has a truly unusual... READ ON

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