cavities, beer cocktails, lucky iron fish, honey bee development, mountain lodge candles, job automation

i've had some dental work done lately, and recalled briefly having read something about whether dental cavities have a genetic component (my mother, despite excellent dental hygiene, also has had a lot of fillings). Back-tracking that study to a 2001 review, " Dental caries incidence is affected by host factors that may be related to the structure of dental enamel, immunologic response to cariogenic bacteria, or the composition of saliva. Genetic variation of the host factors may contribute to increased risks for dental caries. ", though " the evidence supporting an inherited susceptibility to dental caries is limited. Genetic linkage approaches on well-characterized populations with clearly defined dental caries incidence will be required to further analyze the relationship between inheritance and dental caries". A more recent though less peer-reviewed article is here. In brief, there may be a genetic component, but it's difficult to confirm and might be due to a variety of factors. i also came across the excellent word armamentarium, which is the complement of tools used by a (medical) professional.

The boys and i were talking about bloody marys (the beverage) the other day, and i mentioned that a Michelada is a bloody mary made with beer (and weirdly, a bloody ceasar is a bloody mary with the inclusion of clam juice specific to Canada). Looking further into things, cervesa preparadas are a broad category of cocktails prepared with beer, usually with tomato juice. These share a common base with the Shandy (usually beer and lemonade, at least in the States, though apparently other softdrinks count). The other day, some friends and i tried a tasty grapefruit Radler, which is apparently 50:50 sparkling lemonade and beer (and interestingly, 'radler' means 'cyclist' in German). Also, a diesel is beer and cola, at least in western Europe. They lost me with that last one.

My dad used to raise birds in large format to sell to local pet stores, and to supplement the iron in their diets, would leave iron nails in their water dishes. This apparently worked, and i had forgotten about it until coming across an article the other day for "Lucky Iron Fish", or iron ingots shaped as such being given as a dietary aid in Cambodia against anemia. These are boiled in water, with lemon juice to increase absorbance.

i really enjoyed this article about the source of mysterious radio wave bursts.

Honey is flower nectar that has been partially-digested-then-regurgitated by bees, then evaporated to consistency. Yes? (Technically, "Honey is nectar that has been enzymatically converted via the addition of enzymes from the hypopharyngeal gland, mainly diastase, sucrase and glucose oxidase.") Also, here is a cool 6 minute youtube clip about a guy who partnered with some Cali scientists to get really neat photographs of bee development, specifically regarding the impact of a parasitic mite (appropriately named Varroa destructor), including a one minute clip where you can actually watch them develop.

Some folks wrote a flattering collaborative fanfic for a Yankee Candle company scent called "Mountain Lodge", including the line "The Yankee Candle Company has effectively replaced the need for contact with the male half of our species with a compact and clean-burning candle in a jar", and that company posted it as a bit of advertising to their tumblr. i think it gets better every time i read it, and nearly makes me want to track down the scent just to determine the veracity.

Today, Ryan linked this article about making one's computer screen into a playable nintendo level.

And this happened:

 me:  https://graphics.cs.wisc.edu/Papers/2014/CG14/Preprint.pdf

strictly for the first part of that title

 Bryan:  indeed

 Bryan:  http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/05/21/408234543/will-your-job-be-done-by-a-machine

1.2% chance of microbiologists being automated, here's hoping

 me:  it's weird to consider being a microbiologist

i mean, technically we are

 Bryan:  well, at the very least we almost are

 me:  ha

 Bryan:  as long as you don't walk around saying, "as a microbiologist" i think we're OK

 me:  "Do you need to come up with clever solutions"  the second part of that is 'but only seem to generate more questions'

 me:  are we human, or are we dancer?

 Bryan:  the world may never know

MV, Fantasia, monkey gland sauce, paper airplanes, cheese curd pride, WD-40, 'basic'-ness

This recent study ties getting the measles vaccine to a drop in overall childhood illnesses, as speculated, " These results provide population evidence for a generalized prolonged (roughly 2- to 3-year) impact of measles infection on subsequent mortality from other infectious diseases. Fluctuations in childhood mortality in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Denmark are explained by a simple weighted integral that describes the prevalence of measles immune memory loss and thus captures the impact of measles infection and immune depletion. " In brief, a measles infection may wipe out already established immunity present in an individual, and getting the vaccine ensures that a person doesn't get measles, and their immune system retains the immune 'memory', recognizing pathogens it has previously fought. Virology is really, really cool sometimes. (Okay, biased opinion, virology is cool ALL the time, even when we'd rather not be dealing with that cold, thankyouverymuch.)

A very good friend (Hi, LZ!) recently celebrated a birthday, and decided to show the 1940s classic Disney's Fantasia in the background while we all played board games. i and several others in attendance had not seen the entirety of this movie before, and was quite frankly astonished by the sheer trippiness of the content. While looking into it, the back story (as documented by wikipedia, granted) is really interesting, " Disney considered using a well-known conductor to record the music for added prestige. He happened to meet Leopold Stokowski, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1912, at Chasen's restaurant in Hollywood, and talked about his plans for the short. Stokowski recalled that he did "like the music"; was happy to collaborate on the project, and offered to conduct the piece at no cost.^[18] Following their meeting, Disney's New York representative ran into Stokowski on a train headed for the East Coast. In writing to Disney, he reported that Stokowski was "really serious in his offer to do the music for nothing. He had some very interesting ideas on instrumental coloring, which would be perfect for an animation medium".^[18]  ". i like the idea of these two huge names getting so excited about bringing classical music to Americans, and resultant dancing ballet-gators.

Monkey gland sauce, a sauce that sounds reminiscent of American BBQ sauce, does not contain monkey glands, despite the provocative name. i was reading about the South African  meat dish biltong (courtesy of seeing an item featured here), which is like a thick cut beef jerky, and came across the name.

John Collins is responsible for folding a paper airplane (called Suzanne?!) that has flown the Guinness World Record recognized greatest distance in the world, and will show you how.

NPR's Sandwich Mondays has finally gotten around to reviewing a Wisconsin tradition, Fried Cheese Curds. Best line? " In the Midwestern version of the Bible, the serpent tempts Eve with cheese curds. It's called Wiscon-Original-Sin. ". Exactly. In other news, Sandwich Mondays is no longer a thing.

We were talking about repairing a squeaky piece of lab equipment last week in lab when i (incorrectly) stated that WD-40 is corrosive. Because it's under patent, they don't list the 'ingredients' on the side, but someone did mass spec to determine them. Turns out, mostly hydrocarbons.

This is a buzzfeed article concerning the term 'basic', as applied to American white female consumers, defined by urban dictionary as "An adjective used to describe any person, place, activity involving obscenely obvious behavior, dress, action. ". i was not familiar with the term, which is why i read the entire thing, but it makes a salient point, "Unique taste — and the capacity to avoid the basic — is a privilege. A privilege of location (usually urban), of education (exposure to other cultures and locales), and of parentage (who would introduce and exalt other tastes). To summarize the groundbreaking work of theorist Pierre Bourdieu: We don’t choose our tastes so much as the micro-specifics of our class determine them. To consume and perform online in a basic way is thus to reflect a highly American, capitalist upbringing. Basic girls love the things they do because nearly every part of American commercial media has told them that they should. ". It's interesting commentary on the concept of choice and availability.

As i linked to James and Kelly AT earlier this week, here are incredibly detailed images taken by a highly talented non-professional astronomer. i particularly like the solar ones.