http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/05/david_feldman_on_risks_of_bisphenol_a.html

David Feldman, MD, emeritus professor of endocrinology at Stanford, and his team were the first researchers to identify and warn about possible effects of low levels of bisphenol A (BPA) on human health. BPA has been increasingly seen in the news lately, with Wal-Mart and Nalgene moving away from the chemical used in many household plastics, as well as Canada leaning toward declaring the chemical a dangerous substance. The Stanford University School of Medicine has just published a short interview with Dr. Feldman about the accidental discovery, and we would like to recommend that interview to our readers: Stanford Q&A: David Feldman on risk of bisphenol A in plastic bottles...

The image is taken from a page at Rubbermaid: Rubbermaid food storage & beverage products that contain BPA

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/11/the-bush-administration-tries-to-block-mad-cow-testing-by-meat-packers/

This is a very interesting battle:

The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority. The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

But Creekstone attorney Russell Frye contended the Agriculture Department’s regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. He said the agency has no authority to prevent companies from using the test to reassure customers.

Larger meatpackers have opposed Creekstone’s push to allow wider testing out of fear that consumer pressure would force them to begin testing all animals too. Increased testing would raise the price of meat by a few cents per pound….read on

(h/t Chris)

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheThrillingWonderStory/~3/288525319/link-latte-60.html

http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/05/dynamic-languages-strike-back.html

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/288520140/derren-brown-live-in-1.html

The show doesn't feature much by way of traditional conjuring tricks, but rather builds up a sustained narrative about mind reading and skepticism, wherein Brown performs an escalating series of amazing mentalist stunts -- guessing things he should have no way of knowing, seemingly imparting his ability onto random audience members, and all the while implying at times that this is hypnosis, body-reading, mind reading, simple tricks, none of the above, and all of the above, reminding us all the while that it's just tricks, that psychic phenomena are rubbish, and so on.

The general effect is one of intense mental alertness and continuous amazement: Brown's expert misdirection, gripping stage presence, humour and patter had me thinking at a million miles a minute, trying to unravel the mysteries he presented even as fresh ones were revealed.

After the intermission, Brown came out in a formal tux and announced that he would finish the show with a revival of the Vaudeville-era "oracle" act, in which a purported mentalist answers questions from sealed envelopes. He proceeded to do so, adding variation upon variation, each one more astounding than the last. By the time it was over, I was absolutely mystified and utterly delighted.

At the show, I picked up a DVD of "Something Wicked This Way Comes," a movie version of his last touring show. It features many similar amazements (though I thought the new show really outdid the last one), and the ability to rewind and go back and still not spot the gimmick makes it all the more amazing.

Brown's new show runs to June 7. If you're in London and want to have your mind blown six ways to Sunday, this is about as good as it gets. Link to tickets at the Garrick, Link to Something Wicked This Way Comes DVD

See also:
Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind video -- baffling mentalism
Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind: book explains magic, hypnosis and the rationale for rationalism

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/288513925/major-earthquake-hit.html

A 7.5 quake just hit China's Sichuan province, about 60 miles outside of capital city Chengdu (incidentally, the city many foreign visitors -- including me, not too long ago -- fly into when traveling into Tibet). Link to USGS data, and Link to Google Map showing location, which is about 900 miles SW of Beijing. (thanks, Mike Outmesguine!)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080512.html

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=2&id=53831

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=53831

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=53830

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=53830

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=53850

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=53850

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=3&id=53851

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=53851

http://www.daniellecorsetto.com/GWS478.html

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/288497974/costs-of-hops-crops.html

Over at Wired.com, a piece by David Kravets on one odd effect of the (i can't believe I'm typing this) global food shortages -- artisanal beer brewers are reformulating recipes to reduce the amount of increasingly costly hops:

At Pacific Coast Brewing here, brewer Donald Gortemiller is reworking his recipes and altering his brewing styles like never before.

Gortemiller isn't acting on a spurt of creativity. He's coping with a worldwide shortage of hops -- the spice of beer. The dry cones of a particular flowering vine, hops are what give your favorite brew its flavor and aroma. Prices of the commodity are skyrocketing as hop supplies have plummeted, forcing smaller brewmasters around the United States to begin quietly tweaking their recipes, in ways that are easily discerned by serious imbibers.

The shortage -- caused by a dwindling number of hop growers worldwide, and exacerbated by a Yakima, Washington, warehouse fire -- has forced Gortemiller to use fewer and different hops than before, changing the flavor of his beer. He's also resorted to beer hacks, like "dry hopping," in which the hops are added late to the mix, consuming fewer hops and yielding a more consistent flavor.

"When hops were $2 a pound, compared to $20 or $30 a pound now, it didn't matter. We'd throw them into the boil at various times," Gortemiller says. "That was an inaccurate way of doing things. We're modifying recipes and using about 20 percent less hops."

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/288493108/anti-genital-mutilat.html

"More than 140 million women in the world are condemned to feel nothing." Link to post at Ads of the World, more scans on kuteev's livejournal. Campaign by Contrapunto BBDO, Barcelona. The ads are for a group called AMAM, Association of Women against Genital Mutilation, who have run some very provocative PSAs before, too. Oddly, AMAM appears to have no web presence at all, but there are lots of blog posts about past evocative print campaigns. (thanks Susannah Breslin)

http://lolthulhu.com/2008/05/12/i-has-an-unfathomed-mountains-of-madness/

http://feeds.theonion.com/~r/theonion/daily/~3/288467292/rubiks_cube_solved_with

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/78819

http://feeds.theonion.com/~r/theonion/daily/~3/288467293/optimism_cant_beat_cancer

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/79331