Weird CSI Stones Feeling Unexpected Orgasm
Rutgers Lab Studies Female Orgasm Through Brain Imaging by Mara Altman (New Jersey Magazine): Intrepid reporter has an orgasm in an fMRI machine, in the name of science (and the US$100 participation fee). In the process, you learn quite a lot about the neurophysiological processes behind the female orgasm, and about women who can think themselves into orgasming.
The Search For Genes Leads To Unexpected Places by Carl Zimmer (New York Times): Oddly enough, scientists have discovered genes that can slow down blood flow (to slow cancer) in yeast. But yeast doesn’t have blood, so what the hell? Turns out that there are deep homologies in DNA; similar very distantly related genes get reused for dramatically different purposes.
Too Weird For The Wire by Kevin Carey (Washington Monthly): In 2002, a murder spree by a Baltimore crime syndicate/gang led to the arrest of several members of the syndicate after they got a bit sloppy. So far, so McNulty and Bunk. The weird bit is why, when it came to their time in court, the (black) criminals started reciting bizarre rehearsed statements in court that were derived from white supremacist legal theory. [via]
Feeling Like A Fraud by Christian Jarrett (The Psychologist): All too many highly successful people are motivated by the fear of being found out as a fraud; Jarrett examines this phenomenon, the theories of how it arises, and whether it really exists, and whether some ‘sufferers’ are just being modest.
The Stones And The True Story Of Exile On Main Street by Sean O’Hagan (The Guardian): A fascinating look at the genesis and legacy of the Stones’ best album: O’Hagan argues that Exile On Main Street is the most Keith Richardsy album they ever made, with all that implies. I once played much of the keyboards at an over-two-nights tribute show playing the whole of this album; I went in not being a huge fan of the album but liking “Rip This Joint” and “Tumbling Dice”, and came out converted to its idiosyncratic charms.
The CSI Effect (The Economist): Jurors now expect real life trials to use the (somewhat unrealistic) standard of evidence they use in crime TV shows like CSI; this may be skewing their verdicts in odd ways, and judges are beginning to have to give speeches about how real life is not like a TV show. [via Mind Hacks, where Vaughan Bell also assembles evidence arguing that this CSI effect is anecdotes and rubbish - though, David Simon’s 1991 book Homicide: Life On The Killing Streets also mentions juries thinking everything is like Columbo or Miami Vice]
