Asparagus-induced aromatic pee is an event that has always amazed me because it happens so quickly. When you eat asparagus, it goes into the stomach to be broken down by acids in the stomach, just like any other food. The nourishing elements of the meal are absorbed into the blood stream and the food molecules travel through the bloodstream to the liver and kidneys for purification. This is all normal and good. Waste that is collected in the kidneys is excreted in urine. Asparagus, unlike other vegetables, contains asparagusic acid. …

Science Face to Face is a series of one on one interviews between Science Friday® radio host Ira Flatow and renowned scientists from across the United States. These events are free and held on college campuses in the New York area. A webcast will also be available to watch live TODAY. At 7:30pm join Ira Flatow in a discussion with neurobiologist and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Eric Kandel at the New School, at 65 West 11th Street. Visit the webcast website for more information.

Garbage Dreams is a documentary film which sheds light on how much the world needs to refocus its values. This film proves that modernization is not always the best idea. The film introduces us to Cairo’s most influential, but highly underappreciated, social group, Christians known as the Zaballeen. Their livelihoods are centered on collecting and recycling Cairo’s trash. This is all they know, but now foreign garbage companies want to strip them of their livelihood. The Zaballeen live on the outskirts of Cairo, where hey recycle 80 percent of everything …

Looking for fun after school? How about performing surgery? The only requirement is that you be tall enough to reach the keyboard. Virtual surgery is for everyone. It’s a creative way to learn about your body and explore professions in science. Edheads hosts a variety of different virtual activities. You can design your own cell phone, conduct surgery, investigate a car crash, or predict the weather. From would-be medical practitioner to detective, meteorologist, or engineer, Edheads offers something for everyone.
Most people find the virtual surgeries the best feature of …

Tara Parker-Pope, in the health blog section of the New York Times website, addressed in her post “A Diva’s Lessons on Weight and Beauty” the scientifically based concept that controlling body weight is not a matter of will power. Thank G-d, it’s finally dawning on the New York Times’ editors that fat people actually don’t deserve to be punished for their lack of will power (particularly after that awful Times magazine cover touting Clive Thompson’s misguided article (“Are Your Friends Making You Fat?”) on Christakis and Fowler’s research).
What many people …

This post is a follow-up to: Newton’s Theory of Gravity (Part 1)
I have not posted (I can’t quite bring myself to use “blogged” as a verb in the past tense, but I should probably get over such squeamishness) in almost a month now, for which I apologize. My excuses are standard – my work intruded. In the last month I have started looking at data from a new run and been to a conference (I’ve also been to my 10th high school reunion), and I am now visiting the mine …

This post is followed by: Newton’s Theory of Gravity (Part 2)
I fear that I got a bit ahead of myself at the end of the last post on the spectral lines of hydrogen. To fully close the circle between dark matter and everything I’ve been talking about in the last few entries, we do need to cover Newton’s theory of gravity. Therefore, I will try to do so now, so that we can put this particularly sequence to rest.
First, on talking with a friend earlier today, I was asked, “I …

After acquiring the book almost a year ago, I (again) started reading Gary Taubes’ book entitled Good Calories, Bad Calories. Based on what I’ve read so far, and knowing Gary Taubes’ background, I believe it’s a very scholarly work, and very thoroughly researched. From the title, it’s obvious that this book considers the scientific evidence for specific types of diets and how they affect body weight regulation.
In the first part of the book, in order to draw parallels with current scientific evidence for the “epidemics of obesity and diabetes,” he …

As mentioned in the last post, the Bohr atom is not correct, quantum mechanically speaking. It does, however, do an excellent job in modeling the simplest atom, that of hydrogen. Hydrogen is the lightest element, consisting of one proton with one electron in orbit. With the Bohr atom model, we know that the orbiting electron can exist in various discrete orbits, corresponding to different energies. In addition, we know that when the electron jumps between these levels, it emits or absorbs a photon. Finally, we know that the energy of …

Also see Rosalee’s review of The Age of Stupid.
With ice caps melting in the Arctic and the rising of global temperatures, how many more years do we really have on Earth? The Age of Stupid is a documentary which combines fiction, personal accounts from real people, and animation to illustrate how our ignorance will lead to our demise. The Age of Stupid opens in the United States on September 21, 2009, as part of the United Nations’ Climate Week. The producers want us all to take action against climate change …