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Memorable links from the first half of 2011

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


2011 was an exciting, stressful, occasionally scary, and very fruitful year for me, personally and professionally. I hope you are all pleased with the way life treated you this year. And if not, there's always 2012!

Instead of reviewing my activities in the past year, I thought I'd do something a little different and share with you the blog posts and news articles from 2011 that I found the most memorable. Because there are so many, this post contains links from January through June. If I remember to do a part two, that list will undoubtedly be shorter because I started my current job in June and have had much less time for blog and news reading.

Browse, read, and enjoy. Glancing over this list, I think it probably tells you a thing or two about where my greatest interests lie.


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AT&T Pretty Much Predicted 2011 in 1993

Kissing & the science of humanity

Lemur Week: Ringtailed Lemurs Look Where You're Looking

Hard Core

The Mathematics of Beauty

No love for outsiders – oxytocin boosts favouritism towards our own ethnic or cultural group

Stop using the word “Caucasian” to mean white

How the diabetes-linked 'thrifty gene' triumphed with prejudice over proof

Saturday Evening Rant, Iodine Edition

Are your Allergies worst in the morning?

Extra nipples – They’re just a matter of timing

Did Henry VIII have a blood disorder?

Masturbation calms restless leg syndrome

The danger of appealing stories: anecdata, expectations, and skepticism

Is Bigger Really Better?

Forget chocolate on Valentine’s Day, try semen, says Surgery News editor. Retraction, resignation follow

The "Lesbian Until Graduation:" Now A New York Times Most Emailed Article!

That's Not a Dinosaur!

The Neuroscience of the Gut

Sucked Out Of A Plane?

Nervous Nellies

Reflections of Gotham: Why Do New Yorkers Wear So Much Black?

That (expletive) Semen-Antidepressant Study

Divided by language, united by gut bacteria – people have three common gut types

Nature's Living Tape Recorders May Be Telling Us Secrets

How peppermint may cool that irritable bowel syndrome

Superfetation: Pregnant while already pregnant

Sex on the brain: Orgasms unlock altered consciousness

Marketing food to kids with cartoon characters

Gut Bacteria Linked to Behavior: That Anxiety May Be in Your Gut, Not in Your Head

Mpemba’s baffling discovery: can hot water freeze before cold? (1969)

Bats Use Carnivorous Pitcher Plant as Living Toilet

Blue Lights Shown to Give a Brain Boost! But is a Better than Coffee?

Semen allergy suspected in rare post-orgasm illness

"Life creates [the Force], makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter," Yoda explains in The Empire Strikes Back, gesturing to Luke's physical body. This quote is striking because of the apt juxtaposition of the wonder of life with its often disgusting vessel. Like many other animals, we secrete, excrete, expectorate, defecate, flatulate, regurgitate, urinate, circulate, masticate, menstruate, ejaculate, and ventilate. We are filled with gas and feces and blood and guts and mucus and any number of rude things. Life as we know it is possible because of the countless impolite things we do every day. Are we luminous beings? Perhaps, but that's neither here nor there. This blog is about the crude matter that keeps us alive.

Michelle Clement has a B.Sc. in zoology (with a minor in American culture studies) and a M.Sc. in organismal biology from The Ohio State University. Her thesis research was on the ecophysiology of epidermal lipids and water homeostasis in house sparrows. She now works as a technical editor for The American Chemical Society. Her broader interests include weird human and animal physiology, obesity and enteric physiology, endocrinology, sexual and reproductive health, personal genomics, anthropology (physical and cultural), sociology, and science education and communication. She lives in Ohio with her boyfriend and two cats.

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