mycophile

Grrr, I hate it when the media misrepresent science... A news item today said that scientists are planning to create a new sort of life form artificially, and it will enable them to model the workings of life and do all sorts of nice things to help the world. What do I hear on the 6 o'clock news? "Scientists to create new life form. New biological weapons to result." Damn nincompoops. I don't want to elaborate, see my post on the boards..

According to my scale, I reduced my BMI by 1.6 over the past month! Yay! A little bit more, and I'll be fit as a fiddle. Now if only I can get my libido back (damn SSRI...).

Microbe of the Day

This little thing, called a dinoflagellate, causes a disease called Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, which you get by eating shellfish that have eaten lots of these critters. As the name implies, the disease causes paralysis, and can end in death. Not a good thing. The old adage about eating oysters in months that end with R (ie. September-December) might have to do with the fact that dinoflagellates thrive in warmer weather, making shellfish more dangerous to eat.