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Another SciBling Saying Goodbye

Benjamin Cohen of The World's Fair tells us he's "moving on to Blogger Emeritus status." I am ending my tenure here at The World's Fair, the blog Dave and I started back in June 2006. I'll finish up and sign off for good by the end of the month. Between now and then, I'll be posting my top ten favorites from these past three years. David Ng will continue blogging on The World's Fair, who Cohen suggests will announce a new co-author for the blog. So read the best of Cohen's posts before he goes, say goodbye, and stay tuned.

Grrrr

My email was just beginning to calm down, and now Bill Donohue rants again. He names me and fsmdude, and since people can't find a mailing address for a guy named "fsmdude", all these cranky little old Catholic ladies are sending me their shrill denunciations of youtube videos, instead. Oh, and Bully Billy has conveniently forgotten the history already: "It was a professor from the University of Minnesota, Morris campus, Paul Z. Myers, who started the war on the Eucharist this past summer by intentionally desecrating a consecrated Host." I guess he never ever called for the expulsion and…

New Reader Poll: PZ's Comments

PZ Myers turned 51 on Sunday. His blog, Pharyngula, is one of our network's most popular, with a impressive Technorati ranking of 2,491. So this week's poll is for the PZ fanatics: How many reader comments has Pharyngula received since joining ScienceBlogs (as of March 10)? Click Here for PollOnline Surveys | Web Poll | Email MarketingView MicroPoll Want to know the results (and the real answer)? We'll publish them exclusively in next week's ScienceBlogs Weekly Recap—the fun e-newsletter that brings you the top posts, quotes, photos and videos from the previous week on ScienceBlogs. (Click…

Are YOU Going to the North Carolina ScienceBlogging Conference?

The North Carolina Science Blogging Conference will be held Saturday, January 20, 2007 in Chapel Hill, NC. This is a free, open and public event for scientists, educators, students, journalists, bloggers, "and anyone interested in discussing science communication, education and literacy on the Web." On the slate so far are lectures and discussions about promoting science literacy, using blogs as collaborative tools, and a host of other topics from medical and helath blogging to illustration. ScienceBloggers already registered for the event include: coturnix of A Blog Around the Clock,…

Visualizing Marathon 2010

Check out one of our Satellite Festivals Happening this weekend! Visualizing Marathon 2010 It is a weekend-long student data visualization competition and they have about 95 students from Harvard, Columbia, SVA, Pratt, Parsons, L'ecole de design (France), etc. attending. The challenge will be announced Friday (Tonight!) at the Opening and it will focus on a complex scientific issue - more specifically - planetary boundaries. This challenge focuses on science and it's all about the merge of science and design, making sense of complex issues through data and design. Pretty Cool! Read more…

Just one more day to vote!

Tomorrow is the last day to vote for the jingle contest, so listen to the submissions and get your vote in! Find the 7 jingles here listen to them all and then vote! You have until TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY MAY 12th to vote! Some of the submissions don't include the words "USA Science & Engineering Festival" - we have still included them here because we like the feel of the song - if you like them, too, don't let the lyrics keep you from voting for them (we can always ask the composer to fix that later). So what are you waiting for? Go listen and VOTE!

Vote for the Jingle Contest!

Just a few more days to vote for the jingle contest, so listen to the submissions and get your vote in! Find the 7 jingles here listen to them all and then vote! You have until THIS WEDNESDAY MAY 12th to vote! Some of the submissions don't include the words "USA Science & Engineering Festival" - we have still included them here because we like the feel of the song - if you like them, too, don't let the lyrics keep you from voting for them (we can always ask the composer to fix that later). So what are you waiting for? Go listen and VOTE!

Where do people find information about evolution?

I am sure glad that others have started parsing the numbers of the new report on 'The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science'. Duane Smith takes a close look at a couple of tables in the report and concludes that, while relatively few people say they get their information on evolution directly from the Bible and Church, many do so indirectly, by beeing steeped in their comunities' beliefs transmitted by family, friends and neighbors (as well as local and church-run media). Interesting take (and I agree with him on this). What have you found so far?

Welcome to the Angry Toxicologist

A belated welcome to the progressive blogosphere (and our blogroll) to the Angry Toxicologist but still a very sincere one. The AT is appropriately angry about most of the same things that make us angry. TAT is a toxicologist. We do environmental epidemiology -- in the words of epidemiologist Richard Clapp, that's toxicology where you let the animals out of their cages. So we are in the same line of work, although for a change of pace we blog mostly about infectious disease. From the Left. That's what happens when you're angry. Welcome to the public health blogosphere, AT. Whoever you are.

DonorsChoose Update

Sandra Porter was out of town, but now she's back and she is joining the DonorsChoose drive - the 20th scienceblogger to do so. Furthermore, she is adding some cool new prizes to the prize pool - check 'em out. Go to Sandy's challenge here. Also, one of the non-scienceblog science blogs - the Northstate Science is joining the drive. Check out their projects. Seven of my 25 programs have been funded so far, including the donations from five of my readers with a total of $582.52. Thank you! Update: Janet has the full update on the SB drive.

A rarely discussed problem related to washing your hands in a public bathroom

We're starting to pack the car for the trek homeward. It's a thousand mile drive so we aren't going to do it in a day. But in my youth I once drove alone for 17 straight hours in a VW beetle that had no radio, stopping only to gas up and use the bathroom. Which brings me to this post from earlier this year (February), not about washing your hands after using a public bathroom ( hope you do), but about the vexing problem of drying them once you've washed them: Link to: "Hot air and paper towels in the public bathroom"

Swine flu: first pics of the new virus

CDC has posted images of the H1N1/2009 (aka swine flu) virus. This looks like it is grown in tissue culture (probably dog kidney cancer cells). It presents the ideal picture of a spherical virus studded with HA and NA protein spikes on its surface and enveloped with capsular material derived from the host cell. When flu virus infects actual organ tissue in an intact host it is pleomorphic, i.e., it has a variety of shapes, including a long threadlike one. However this is its ideal shape, often rendered in cartoon or diagram form in textbooks. Here's a typical diagram of a flu virus: Source…

New Scientist's top five science videos of 2008

Compared to five years ago, there is a lot of great science on the web, most of it free. New Scientist is one of the best general science publications dand comes from the UK (much like the US-based Science News). While each have subscriber-only Premium Content, there is quite a lot of free access material, including some great videos on New Scientist. As part of a year-end wrap up New Scientist just posted their five most popular videos. Here they are. If you always wanted to see a human egg ovulate, here's your chance (you have to wait to get to #1):

Freethinker Sunday Sermonette: time to break the rules

The headline over at The Raw Story (a liberal news site) is: "GOP senator lobs false atheism smears in desperate attempt to hold seat." So Liddy Dole, the absentee Senator from North Carolina, thinks that the way to save her seat is to "smear" her opponent as "godless." Her opponent, Kay Hagan, will have none of it. "I believe in God," says Sunday School Teacher Hagan: OK. I get it. In North Carolina you better believe in God or you can't be elected. Probably not just North Carolina, either. Almost anywhere in these United States. Those are the Rules. Time for some New Rules:

Bustin' out all over

It must be the season. The godless are popping up all over. Strange Doctrines is back after a hiatus. I suspect he was off in mystic Tibet studying the rituals of Dormammu. Go say hello to the Hooping Humanist. He's even got a picture of me! I don't know if we want to encourage this: atheists are also busting out in song. The Midwest Humanist channels Monty Python. You can turn your godless musical talents into fame and glory: Q Transmissions is running a musical contest. They've already adapted some lyrics from Miss Prism, which you can listen to. If you must.

Raising AIDS awareness, using different kinds of talent...

It's a big AIDS week here and I hope you are checking the AIDS at 25 special blog here on scienceblogs.com. There is a lot of good information and opinion there. And then, sometimes there is some fun. Like this one, for instance, which look almost elegant compared to the one under the fold.... This dress reminds me of posters with a bunch of colorful condoms, inflated, with smiley faces drawn on their 'heads' I remember since late 1980s (when AIDS became big news in Yugoslavia). I also remember the slogan "Kondom u svaki dom!" (a condom in every home) from that era.

Conception Date Affects Baby's Future Academic Achievement (!?)

It could be the seasonal use of pesticides, as this study suggests, or it could be seasonality in nutrition of mothers and infants, or seasonality of environmental stressors, or seasonality of mothers' hormone profiles. Most likely all or most of these and other factors play a role, and the relative importance of the factors differs between geographic regions, between socioeconomic strata, and between times in history. But there is one factor that has been repeatedly demonstrated to play no role at all: the position of planets, moons and stars, as seen from Earth, at the moment of birth of…

Thank You!

This book, Darwinian Reductionism by Alex Rosenberg, arrived in the mail today. I do not recall ordering it, and I know it used to be on my amazon.com wishlist, so the only explanation is that this is a gift from one of my readers who chose to remain anonymous. I happen to know Alex Rosenberg and think that he has vastly evolved in his thinking about biology since he joined the Duke faculty several years ago (at which time he was a very genocentric Dawkinsian). He is also a wonderful person, and I hear a great teacher and advisor. I am really looking forward to reading this book. Thank you…

Help a godless young lady out

This is a rough situation: a graduate student from New Zealand, working here in the US, got that sorrowful phone call telling her that her father had died. You know how graduate students are — poor. So she needs some help, and is asking for donations. There are a lot of us, you know, so if we each chipped in just a little bit, we can help her through these difficult times. I was a grad student once, and I also got that same sad phone call on the day after Christmas, 15 years ago. At least I didn't have to fly to the other side of the world to say farewell.

Evolgen disputes my explanation!

RPM of Evolgen disagrees with my definition of synteny! This is terribly distressing. Especially since, strictly speaking, he is precisely correct. The word has evolved in its usage from the pure form that RPM is describing to a more colloquial, pragmatic, somewhat sloppier sense as used by people looking at comparative genomics rather than classical Drosophila genetics. If you read contemporary evo-devo papers, my definition is more useful in comprehending what they're saying. If you want to read Drosophila genetics papers, you better know what RPM is talking about, or god help you (and…

Reinvention

Forbes magazine asks What if you could pick one thing and start over from scratch? What would you change? Would you choose another career, a different home, a new spouse? Or would you choose to remake the world around you? Why not fix America's prison system, make schools more efficient, or make your political leaders more intelligent? The editors asked me to contribute to their special report, speculating on how we would "reinvent things without regard for cost, politics or practicality". I thought a little bigger than a new spouse or career, though, and instead tossed in few peculiar…

I have never been a fashion model before

So many people are asking where I got my "Knowledge is Power, Power Corrupts, Study Hard, Be Evil" t-shirt, as modeled here, and I wish I could help you, but I don't know where you could order your own. I can tell you exactly where I got it: in Detroit, at Moonbase ConFusion, from one of the many vendors in the dealer's room. I know, that doesn't help much. Sorry. Someone could always go to Cryptic ConFusion in January and hope that the same t-shirts are available then…it's a great con, even if this particular shirt isn't always available. Hooray! ElfPirateMonarch found that identical t-…

Medblogger alert

The Kaiser network is hosting a live webcast to discuss the influence of the blogosphere on health policy — the panel is tilted towards right wing bushites who prioritize money over health, so a more progressive contribution from the audience would be desirable. It's going to be on tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1pm Eastern. Oh, and if you worry about the future of health care, get a load of this: nurses in California can get continuing education credit by attending a Catholic conference full of woo. This is not reassuring. I don't think a lecture on sex ed by a nun reciting papal dogma should count…

Strange New Art Game

I'm a fan of Jason Nelson's I made this. You play this. We are enemies. He's just released his newest game, Evidence of Everything Exploding, described as: ...Using documents, both historical and little-known from B. Gates, NASA, James Joyce, Dadaism, Neil Gaiman, Fidel Castro, the Pizza Box Patent and many others, the game explores those strange moments where history turns or doesn't, where unusual forces collide to create or topple storylines, possible futures. Complete with matchbook death rewards, strange marked up text and curious prophecies, The madness of the pages meets the madness…

Scientologists blame psychiatry for 9/11

We'll have to add Scientology to Pal's list of disease-promoting groups. Via Screw Loose Change I learn that as part of their bizarre hatred of psychiatry, they've now taken to saying that 9/11 was caused by psychiatrists in addition to the holocaust. Apparently, Osama was just a regular guy until al-Zawahiri, a psychiatrist, got to him. Strange considering al Zawahiri was not a psychiatrist at all. Scientologists Try to Explain how Psychiatrists caused 9/11 and the Holocaust from Chris Doyle on Vimeo. Anyway, watch the crazy! I'll have a post up on my experience on my psych clerkship…

ScienceOnline09---let's get moving!

ScienceOnline09 is rapidly approaching, and I'm very excited about my "geek-cation". I'll be co-moderating a session on anonymity with Abel from TerraSig, and I'll be leading a session on Blogging 101 at which you can actually start a real blog. w00t! I'm also hoping to talk some people into joining me for a podcast, preferably one that involves the participants drinking. If you're coming to the conference, visit the links above to discuss the sessions. If you're not coming but want to feel like you're there, were going to be doing lots of live blogging.

Skeptics' Circle Number 78 - The Skeptical Surfer

This week's circle is at skeptical surfer's blog. Although I think Christian has made an error or two in his evaluation of the latest NHANES studies and what they say about obesity. For one, obesity has always been 30+ BMI, overweight was changed from 27 to 25 by one government agency responsible for surveillance of disease (CDC) to conform with other agencies' metrics. Further as I explained, the NHANES studies are hardly single variable, and don't take into account a change in medical culture towards better secondary prevention of comorbidity in the overweight and obese. It's all good…

Boing Boing strikes gold - a new name for evolution denialists

Mark at Boing Boing proposes an excellent new name for Intelligent Design creationists - "cdesign proponentsists". It's in honor of this wonderful observation from "Of Pandas and People" the creati ... I mean cdesign proponentsists textbook: This is one of numerous examples of their dishonesty in suggesting that they're anything but creationists in disguise. I like Mark's this idea, this should be their new name. It's a bit of a compromise. They don't want to be called creationists, and we don't want them to get away with lying. It's perfect! Now as to the pronunciation. How about "see…

Pray for Robert Beale, too

We have some local scoundrels, who also tend to be entangled in the right-wing Christianist nonsense. One of the notorious kook/thieves in these parts was Robert Beale, a multi-millionaire tax evader who has just been convicted. The story features arcane, desperate legalisms this wacko used to avoid paying taxes — did you know that if you live outside the District of Columbia and U.S. Islands, you are a non-resident alien, according to the Constitution, according to Beale? This dishonest, greedy sleaze deserves one thing from us: our prayers. On this National Day of Prayer, pray ferociously…

Welcome Zooillogix

Go say high to Zooillogix, another two-brother team science blogging away here under the auspices of Seed. I will enjoy their blog, as long as they stay away from too many pictures of creatures with more than 4 legs (tentacles don't count). The African Booze tree should be your first stop there. And that makes me think of another plug. Everybody should be reading Seed magazine. I got my first copy as a super-special scienceblogger last month and I love it. It's a great magazine, with beautiful graphical design, and some of the best-written general interest science articles I've read.

Sure, I take requests

As Steve subtly reminds me, the latest edition of Circus of the Spineless is up at Sunbeams from Cucumbers, wherein Steve makes the argument that CoS is way better than a normal circus. You be the judge. And while I'm plugging posts elsewhere, I'll note that two new posts are up on Panda's Thumb in the ongoing series responding to Wells' Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design. Burt reviews Wells' chapter on Darwinism and "Traditional" Christianity, while Richard points out even more errors in the Lysenkoism chapter, specifically discussing Wells' treatment of…

Not just the Mormons, of course

Here's the story of a young Yemeni lady filing for divorce from her abusive husband. "My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn't stop the marriage," Nojoud Nasser told the Yemen Times. "I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, 'We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.' So this is what I have done," she said. She's eight years old.

Mentos, the fizz maker

I am soooo going to show this trick to my kids. Candy + pop + science = perfect combination. Even better than sparking wintergreen lifesavers. (And this one doesn't involve blowing up stuff that could actually, y'know, really harm you). And finally, since I've not participated in poetry pimpin' at Scienceblogs yet, I offer an ode to Mentos on this, the closing day of National Poetry Month: A Mentos Poem by Rachel from Michigan What can I say about Mentos, They make my life complete. They taste nothing like pimentos, And is why I will eat.......them. (More about the experiment on Steve…

I know I shouldn't find this funny

It's Ruthless Reviews coverage of the Creation Museum's opening. I'd just like to say that I don't condone dressing up like a mentally disabled person before interviewing Ken Ham. And I don't find it funny, at all, to mock somebody for their religion. Even if they think dinosaurs are vegetarian, they don't deserve mockery from pill-popping investigative reporters going undercover with "Asperger's by proxy". I especially don't find it funny that they created a fake website, the "Special Times", to gain press access to the Creation Museum's opening. And this youtube video of the interview…

The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

tags: The surprising truth about what motivates us, tasks, simple tasks, complex tasks, commissions, innovation, mastery, economics, financial rewards, purpose motive, blog writing, making the world a better place, RSA, streaming video This video is really interesting for two reasons: first, it's a hand-drawn animation that evolves in front of your eyes, and second, I think it explains why scientists like to write blogs for the public about science -- for free! Adapted from Dan Pink's talk at the RSA, this fascinating video illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home…

Because we all love Paleogene 'ungulates'

I know, I know: these are the sorts of animals you want to find out about, but just can't. Dinoceratans (much more than just Uintatherium Uintatherium Uintatherium), mesonychians, phenacodonts and arctocyonids. And what about pantodonts, tillodonts, taeniodonts.. and so much more? I know it's cruel, but one day I'll get round to them. One day. Consider this an annoying teaser. Artwork by Michael Long, ZdenÄk Burian and Graham Allen. For other articles on Paleogene placental mammals see... Homage to The Velvet Claw (part I) Giant killer pigs from hell Snow White and the six perissodactyls…

Obama wins a Nobel?

I know this award is heavily politicized, but this is ridiculous: Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. I don't think Obama's efforts for peace have been particularly notable — the wars still drag on with no end or even promise of an end in sight, and there has been some sabre-rattling over Iran from his administration lately — but I guess all you have to do is follow after Bush and not blow anything up for a year, and presto, you look like Gandhi. Oh, well. It's definitely more appropriate than the award to Kissinger, but that isn't saying much.

Danger, aquarists, danger!

I'm sure this happens all the time. A 2cm long fish apparently found it's way into the penis of a 14-year-old boy from India in a bizarre medical case. The patient was admitted to hospital with complaints of pain, dribbling urine and acute urinary retention spanning a 24-hour period. According to the boy, the fish slipped into his penis while he was cleaning his aquarium at home. This is precisely why, when I'm cleaning the bank of tanks in my lab, I make sure to keep my pants on. (via Rev. BigDumbChimp, who always finds stories like this.)

Science in the Triangle

From SCONC: Thursday, March 19 6pm SCONC night at the Museum of Life and Science. Join your fellow science communicators for refreshments, socializing and a bit of brainstorming about Science in the Triangle - the museum's evolving experiment in community science journalism and scientific-community organizing. Our host, Troy Livingston, MLS Vice President of Innovation and Learning is seeking SCONC input about ways the group can become involved in community building activities at the site and at the Museum. So get those neurons moving and bring your ideas! There's plenty of free parking.…

Sean Carroll at the Bell Museum

This should be good, but I may have to miss it: Sean Carroll will be speaking at the University of Minnesota on 15 May — he'll also be speaking at the biology commencement the day after. He'll be talking about his new book, Remarkable Creatures, which is very good. I'll be flying back from California the day before, and have my own university's commencement ceremony to attend the day after, so he's right there in a tantalizing hole in my own schedule…I could do it with a little bit of shuttling back and forth. I'll have to think about how to manage it…

KRISTOF: Obama's 'Secretary of Food'?

In today's NYTimes: As Barack Obama ponders whom to pick as agriculture secretary, he should reframe the question. What he needs is actually a bold reformer in a position renamed "secretary of food." A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat. Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy -- all while…

Add yet another factor to the circadian hypothesis of morning heart-attacks

Related to this discussion, there is a new interesting study out - Daily rhythms in blood vessels may explain morning peak in heart attacks: It's not just the stress of going to work. Daily rhythms in the activity of cells that line blood vessels may help explain why heart attacks and strokes occur most often in early morning hours, researchers from Emory University School of Medicine have found. Endothelial cells serve as the interface between the blood and the arteries, controlling arterial tone and helping to prevent clots that lead to strokes and heart attacks, says Ibhar Al Mheid, MD, a…

Oncology Blog Aggregator

I heard that this is how it happened: when I went to Belgrade and talked about OA at the med school at University of Belgrade, I mentioned that Vedran is the local Web guru for them if they need anything. Someone from the Oncology hospital was there and later she contacted Vedran and asked him to make a blog aggregator that pulls together what people are writing about cancer. So, he did it - the Oncology Blog Aggregator is now live. If you know of good cancer blogs that should be included in the aggregator, let me know in the comments.

Associated Press is even dumber than we initially thought!

Follow up on this story (re-check the links within for background): Jeff Jarvis: AP, hole, dig Patrick Nielsen Hayden: The Associated Press wants to charge you $12.50 to quote five words from them Cory Doctorow: Associated Press expects you to pay to license 5-word quotations (and reserves the right to terminate your license) Afarensis: AP to Bloggers: You Must Pay or Our Narcs Will Get You! Patrick Nielsen Hayden: The Associated Press: worse than merely foolish Oh, oh. Associated Press is sooooooo dead on arrival. Nice to have known you have existed, cavemen!

Zoonoses on my mind

More from SCONC: Tuesday June 17 at 6:30-8:30 pm Science Café - A 'One Medicine' Approach to a Changing World NC State's Barrett D. Slenning MS, DVM, MPVM will share with us the view that knowing about diagnoses and treatments of animals can benefit humans. The opposite is also true, given the fact that about 60 percent of all human pathogens are zoonotic diseases, transmissible between animals and people. Join us to learn how human and veterinary medicine can join forces to protect us with rapid responses to the outbreak of disease. Location: The Irregardless Cafe, 901 W. Morgan Street,…

Potter, again

Now that I have finished reading HP7, I finally let myself go around and see what others are writing. Here is some of the best I found so far, to be read only if you have finished the book (or do not care for spoilers). There is a paper that looks at sociopolitical aspects of the books. And there is tons on the internets, e.g., this enormous comment thread on Pandagon, which touches on everything from quality of writing, through gender issues, to politics. And there is a bunch about science of Harry Potter And the greatest spoiler-full spoof of the seventh book, scene by scene. Hillarious.

A Geneticist in Chernobyl

Remember when we discussed the mammal vs. bird survival at Chernobyl the other day? Well, I learned today that someone is about to go and study the humans there as well. I am not exactly sure what kind of reserch it will be, but it will have something to do with the mutations in genomes of the surrounding population. Sarah Wallace, a senior at Duke University, will be part of the team. And you will be able to follow her adventures and her science on her blog: Notes from Ukraine (MT will not render Cyrillics well so I translated the name of the country)

Devonian Blues

Lots of people have sent me links to this—thanks, all!—and it's the perfect thing to lift me out of the finals week blahs, and it's also just in time for Mother's Day on Sunday: The Devonian Blues. Every single girl and every little boy Was born from the clan of the wayward Dipnoi Don't let the preacher man spoil all the fun Took a lot more than 6 days to get the job done Amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and man All belong to the fish tribe, doncha' understand? Your momma was a lobefinned fish My momma was a lobefinned fish Sing along, everyone!

Acknowledgment long overdue

For the past few years, I have been receiving postcards from Theo Nelson regularly. They are lovely and colorful handmade cards with a poem on the back. I got another one today — all the others are lined up on a wall in my office — and I thought it was about time to mention it. It's Spring again! Of course, Spring in western Minnesota doesn't look much like that: what we have is lots of gray rain, gray dirty snow shrinking into lumps of gray dirty ice, and brown grass poking up through mud…but we'll take it! (Reverse of card below the fold)

Mary's Monday Metazoan

This may shock you, but the Trophy Wife is not perfect. She doesn't quite get the cephalopod fetish, and thinks I'm a bit…weird. I know! It's unbelievable that there's only one person on the planet who thinks that, and I'm married to her! So, anyway, just to appease the spouse, I'll try to regularly throw in a non-cephalopodian creature. This week, here's something from back home in our mutual birth state of Washington, a crab being eaten by a sea anemone. Try not to read anything Freudian into it — although now that I've mentioned it, everyone will be looking for a metaphor here.