Well.

Assorted things.
( assorted medical )

( assorted musical )

Oh, and I bought me a pair of those lighted knitting needles!

ETA: lighted knitting needles!

Mystery Science News 3000

The July/August issue of Natural History has a column full of links to web sites about reptiles. More than most people would want. However, you may wish to note the turtle site http://chelonia.org/, the Reptile Database at the European Molecular Biology Lab at http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~uetz/LivingReptiles.html, and, to give snakeophobes the creeps, try http://flyingsnake.org/ .

New Scientist, 2 Sept.: the Feedback column includes

Our favorite paper titles this week - spotted by our colleague Jeff Hecht and reader Chris Draper - are, from the Journal of Evolutionary Biology (vol 19, p 1437), "Heritability and fitness-related consequences of squid personality traits," and, from Biological Conservation (vol 124, p 27), "Effectiveness of supplemental stockings for the endangered woodrat."

And from the 9 Sept. issue,

A dark corner of Feedback's soul is, we confess, almost looking forward to a breakaway International Astronomical Union (Pluto-Xenaist) faction seeking to reverse the recent planetary demotions. One astronomer, for example, writes (on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issues): "Poor Pluto. One must truly sympathise. After all, it is at least an order of magnitude greater in mass than its new-found terminology companion, Ceres..." He proposes therefore that the ex-planet of the God of the Underworld deserves a category of its own: giant dwarf planet. Or, anticipating reactions from people of different stature who do not embrace and reclaim the label of their oppression, mildly gravitationally challenged planet (MGCP), as distinct from the severely gravitationally challenged like Ceres.

From Science News, September 9: "Hey, Roach Babe" is the title of one article. Male hissing cockroaches whistle at females when courting them. Yes, whistle. Not hiss, not rub body parts together (which is how most insect noises are made), but force air through their spiracles in complex tunes, a breath-powered voice just as birds and humans. Males that don't whistle are spurned by the females.