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Stop eating your pet's food

Apparently people are eating their pet's food, and they're getting salmonella poisoning in return...

A scientific reference manual for US judges

Science and our legal system intersect frequently and everywhere - climate, health care, intellectual...

Rainbow connection

On the way to work this morning, I noticed people pointing out the train window and smiling. From...

Neutrinos on espresso

Maybe they stopped by Starbucks for a little faster-than-the-speed-of-light pick me up....

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Becky JungbauerRSS Feed of this column.

A scientist and journalist by training, I enjoy all things science, especially science-related humor. My column title is a throwback to Jane Austen's famous first line in Pride and Prejudice

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A little science happy for the Labor Day weekend

A little science happy for the Labor Day weekend

Sep 04 2009 | comment(s)

Sadly, this is probably accurate for a good number of us...



As is this...



For the physicists among us:
I swear, Officer, I got this pot from a church fundraiser!

I swear, Officer, I got this pot from a church fundraiser!

Sep 03 2009 | comment(s)

Ah, summer. Sunshine, lazy days, kids selling cocaine under the guise of lemonade on the sidewalk. Wait, what?

Best excuse ever for ingesting pot: it was the mysterious sidewalk salesman working for a "church fundraiser" who sold me the magic brownies. Also the most interesting issue of CDC's MMWR ever.

A few months ago, a pre-school teacher, with best intentions of supporting a local parish, bought some brownies from a sidewalk vendor who was holding a bake sale fundraiser for the church. I'll let MMWR set up the rest of the story:
Truth in Advertising

Truth in Advertising

Aug 31 2009 | comment(s)



You have to admire her candor.

* Photo courtesy of me, taken in parking lot at sushi place where I went for lunch.
A Reading Rainbow of Choices

A Reading Rainbow of Choices

Aug 30 2009 | comment(s)

We've all slogged through books in school that we didn't particularly like, wondering how knowing how to interpret the deeper subtexts of the oligarchial collectivist society in Orwell's 1984 will help us as adults.

Education is a perennial topic of concern, and within that debate reading is always a touchpoint. How do you teach literature? How do you instill a love of reading in kids who would rather play video games or watch TV?
A big

A big "wtf" salute to NPR - dog hair and cancer

Aug 27 2009 | comment(s)

I love NPR. I listen almost every day. I just want to get that that up front and center, because right now I am staring at the NPR story on my computer with a "WTF?" look on my face, and this is not my typical NPR look.*

The headline, "Dog Hair May Shed Light On Cancer," appeared in my RSS feed inbox. I clicked on it because (a) I am a sucker for stories about dogs, and (b) I was hoping for pictures of said cute puppy puppy puppies. I was slightly disappointed on the first point; not at all on the second.
Discursive Factoids: The D-list

Discursive Factoids: The D-list

Aug 27 2009 | comment(s)

A number of stories caught my eye today and I wanted to write about each of them, but did not want to overwhelm the blog list like someone else who shall remain nameless (but happens to play rugby) does on occasion. The first unifying thread I noticed was that all deal with the letter D. So, like Kathy Griffin, the D-list it is.

Drug dispensers: Vending machines in prison - Pepsi, Coke ... Viagra?

Really, what could go wrong in this scenario? Images of the Fonz whacking the jukebox played in my mind, but replace the Fonz with a convict and the jukebox with a vending machine dispensing prescription drugs...