Talking About Stuff, with Mike and Christiana

First up: Monkeys will Pay to Look at Porn, Found at ScienceBlog.

In the new work, researchers Robert Deaner, Amit Khera and Michael Platt, all of Duke University Medical Center, tested this hypothesis by measuring how much fruit juice monkeys would accept or forgo to see photographs of familiar monkeys, permitting the researchers to compare monkeys' valuation of different types of social information. Male monkeys "paid" in juice to view female hindquarters or high-ranking monkeys' faces, but required "overpayment" to view low-ranking monkeys' faces.

# Approximately 1.1 acres of land with 300 ft. frontage bordering on U.S. Route 22, Salem Township, Westmoreland County, PA USA, which averages approximately 30,000 vehicles per day past the club entrances.
# Thousands of square feet of parking area.
# Single level steel building approximately 2,000 sq.ft. (28x71), licensed by Salem Township, PA to conduct all-nude adult club stage performances, private performances and NUDE DRIVE-THRU performances.
# Public Electric and Water are connected to the premise.
# Heated with propane gas.
This offer is for those who would enjoy a fun hobby or collectors of "one of a kind" originals.
Serious parties should have their attorneys respond via email on their behalf.

Midwest Feeding Co. about 20 miles west of Lincoln, ... takes in as many as 12,000 cows at a time from farmers and ranchers and fattens them for market. Byproducts from the massive operation resulted in a dung pile measuring 100 feet long, 30 feet high and 50 feet wide that began burning about two months ago and continues to smolder despite Herculean attempts to douse it.

...SNIP...

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has informed Dickinson that his smoldering dung pile violates clean-air laws and is working with him to find the best solution to extinguish it, said agency spokesman Rich Webster.

Simply dumping water on the heap is not the answer, Webster said, because of concerns about runoff to any nearby water source.

Dickinson first tried using heavy equipment to spread out the smoldering pile and extinguish the fire.

"But the problem was, it started in another spot," he said. "We've also had the fire department out a couple of times."

And still it burns.

A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Just wanted to call everybody's attention to a few things here and there on the web.

First up, Dean's World, has got a couple of good posts up. The first is the latest regarding the HIV/AIDS debate, which I've posted about before here and here.

The issue is incredibly complex, and to be honest, I haven't really been able to devote enough emotional time and energy to the question to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, even in my own mind. Suffice it to say that, I was once convinced that HIV caused AIDS, now I'm not. I'm not convinced that they are unrelated, however, only that the issue is more complicated than that.

The second post is an essay about the spread of democracy, in Iraq and domestically. It looks at the issue from a perspective not unlike what you mind find in a Western movie. In fact, the repeated theme is referred to as "Cleaning Up Dodge". The essay manages to be simultaneously idealistic and pragmatic, optimistic and pessimistic. It's long, but a fascinating read. I didn't agree with all of it, but it makes a lot of good points.

The last link today is a bit of lighter news. On WUNC, my local NPR station, I heard a story about the growing trend of Fish medicine in Veterinary circles. The story is called "Fixing Nemo" and it includes, among other things, the account of a surgical procedure on a goldfish, giving it a cork prosthetic fin, allowing it to swim normally. It's an audio-only story, but it's charming.

First up, this guy is a little too committed to the Legend of Zelda. Seriously, dude. Seek help.

Next, anyone remember that scene in The Fifth Element, where they've rescued this disembodied hand, and a fancy futuristic sewing-machine-looking thing recreates Milla Jovovich a tiny layer at a time? Well, tomorrow is today! Check this out:
Made to Measure Skin and Bones A Reality Using Inkjet Printers

"Using conventional methods, you are only able to grow tissues which are a few millimetres thick, which is fine for growing artificial skin, but if you wanted to grow cartilage, for instance, it would be impossible," Professor Derby says.

The key to the advance which Professor Derby and his team have made is the innovative way in which they are able to pre-determine the size and shape of the tissue or bone grown.

Using the printers, they are able create 3-dimensional structures, known as 'tissue scaffolds'. The shape of the scaffold determines the shape of the tissue as it grows. The structures are created by printing very thin layers of a material repeatedly on top of each other until the structure is built. Each layer is just 10 microns thick (1,000 layers equals 1cm in thickness).

ST AGNES was a Roman virgin and martyr, who suffered in the tenth persecution under the Emperor Diocletian, A.D. 306. She was condemned to be debauched in the public stews before her execution, but her virginity was miraculously preserved by lightning and thunder from heaven. About eight days after her execution, her parents going to lament and pray at her tomb, they saw a vision of angels, among whom was their daughter, and a lamb standing by her as white as snow; on which account it is that in ever graphic representation of her there is a lamb pictured by her side.

"And on sweet St Agnes' night
Please you with the promis'd sight,
Some of husbands, some of lovers,
Which an empty dream discovers."

Just wanted to throw a link up here to Mike Meitin's movie line meme. Last I looked, there were a few still unanswered.

Also, I don't normally put quizzes here, but this one was interesting because it guessed my exact age.

This is a fun one:
Imagine you are on "Lets Make a Deal". You are faced with Doors numbered 1, 2, and 3. Behind one of them is a car. Behind the others, a booby prize. There is no apparent differences between any of the doors. Your guess is a pure 1 in 3 shot.

Ah, but once you've made your choice, good ol' Monty Hall decides to switch things up a little. He opens one of the remaining doors, revealing a booby prize. Now you have another choice. Do you want to stick with your original choice or do you want to switch your choice to the one remaining door? There is no sure thing, but is there a statistical advantage to switch your original choice, or does it make no difference?

You should thank him too, because he is speaking for you also. Check it out: he was in a commercial targeted at Palestinians, urging them to vote in their upcoming election.

In a transcript obtained by The Associated Press, he said: "Hi, I'm Richard Gere, and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important: Get out and vote."

Seems like the weird ones are coming out of the woodwork today. Here's just a few:

Tsunami Relief Helicopter Attacked with Bows and Arrows

A senior police officer said the crew were not hurt and the authorities are taking it as a sign that the tribes have not been wiped out by the earthquake and sea surges as many had feared.

Constipation has been misunderstood for far too long, and it's high time that changed. So say four doctors who want to set the record straight on constipation.

Unlike artificial adhesives, the millions of microscopic hairs embedded in a gecko's toes counteract the forces of gravity, while at the same time repelling dirt, the scientists reported. The findings, the researchers say, may open the door to tape that can be reused endlessly, robotic rovers that run swiftly over the Martian surface or even fumble-free football gloves.

Michelangelo Buonarroti's world-famous statue of David is to be placed behind a protective wall of invisible air, a Florence museum official said Monday.

Rita Carlisle, 53, from Knaphill, Surrey, suffers from a condition called essential tremor. The stolen remote control gadget sends out pulses to calm the condition and can be switched off so she can rest. Ms Carlisle, who now struggles to sleep, was carrying the device and £600 cash in a handbag which was stolen in Farnborough, Hants, on 23 December.

Check this out: The elephants used in the Alexander movie have been dispatched to Thailand to help clear away debris!

Ever been trying to talk on your cell phone, but there's just too much noise? Well, maybe you should pick up one of these portable phone booths.

Found that over at Dave Barry's blog. On a slightly sadder note though, his most recent column tells us that he has decided to stop writing regular columns for the time being. That's a shame. I've been reading his stuff since I was a kid. Hopefully he'll keep up his blog at least.

UPDATE: The Denver Post has a brief interview with Mr. Barry. It's an interesting piece, though the writer has a couple of odd turns of phrase where he's presumably trying to be clever but it comes off like he is insulting Dave Barry.