The Mortal Wombat

• Science 'must teach experiments'
  The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts says more experiments could help reverse the decline in interest in science. This is very true -- I'm not sure I'd have taken Chemistry and Biology at A-Level if there'd been no prospect of pract
  (tags: schools science experiments)

I've finally got round to putting pics from our Normandy holiday online. Only four months late...

I've had confirmation that the Genographic people have received my DNA samples, so I should get a result in the next few days. I'm very excited about it, even though the likelihood is that they'll just say ‘your forefathers came from Western Europe’. As the Project advances, they'll be able to make more specific lineage identifications. And, you never know, they might tell me I'm a descendant of Genghis Khan. Mr Khan* and his sons were such prolific sowers of their seed, that their genetic legacy is still very evident today.

*The author of the article seems to think that Khan was his surname...

• Color Perception Is Not in the Eye of the Beholder: It's in the Brain
  Researchers at the University of Rochester have found that the number of colour-sensitive cones in the human retina differs dramatically among people -- by up to 40 times&mdash -- yet people appear to perceive colours the same way.
  (tags: medical colour_perception)

• Make a USB turd
  Like it says. Carefully craft a suitable turd, plug it into your computer, and Bob's your second cousin thrice removed
  (tags: comedy)

• Two-womb mum has double baby joy
  A Devon woman with two wombs beat medical odds by giving birth to two babies at the same time.
  (tags: forteana medical uk childbirth)