Al!

Al Franken's first recorded Senatorial joke. Phwoop!

here.

No @$*# No Pain

Turns out, swearing can mitigate pain. The only catch is that if you swear regularly and have sort of desensitized yourself to it, then the effect is less. So swear at the right times. (This, by the way, is all from the Short Sharp Science blog, which in turn is referencing a study from Keele University in the UK).

here.

Alpha!

Gmail is no longer in its beta version!

here.

For the Selachophobics

"... you can minimize your risk by abstaining from bodily discharge (urine, feces, or vomit). If you can't hold it any longer, release it in small doses, letting it dissipate before releasing more."

Selachophobia, by the way, is an irrational and persistent fear of sharks.

That's one of the topics explained in the Slate Explainer addressing what to do if you happen to meet the same fate as Bahia Bakari, the lone survivor of the Yemeni airlines crash into the ocean last week.

here.

N.P.R.

Scott Shafer, who is a host and reporter at KQED, the San Francisco public radio station I interned at last summer, has filed a report for NPR's National News about some of the less obvious ramifications of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in the United States military. It's interesting to hear someone you worked around (though not directly with) do a story like this for the national outlet. Plus, the report is very well done.

here.

Science Well Done

A nice article in the New Scientist earlier this week on radioactivity in the universe. It's not something you typically find in solid storytelling form. Sure, eventually the article gets a little too buried in the trees of the forest after the first page for those who haven't taken physics or chemistry anytime recently, but I still applaud the effort.

here.