Discussing breast feeding can be as risky an activity as wearing a Red Sox cap in Manhattan or using a Powerbook in Redmond. Pediatrician Sydney Spiesel puts on his flak jacket and gives it a try in this week’s Slate. He has, in fact, one of the more sensible opinions I’ve read. While I don’t […]
Technology site MAKE remembers the kiddies with links to a couple of homemade play dough recipes today. I haven’t tested these particular versions myself, but they sound similar to a recipe my mom used to make for me when I was younger. (Hasbro, makers of the “real” Play-Doh, even admit their secret formula contains mostly
Does frequent consumption of french fries as a toddler increase the risk of breast cancer, and whole milk reduce it? Those are the preliminary findings of a group of researchers led by a doctor at Harvard Medical School. While they warn that their results should be confirmed by other studies before being hailed as fact,
The New York Times today discusses how “thousands” of schools across the country are reducing class time in subjects other than reading and math, as a reaction to the reading and math testing requirements of the “No Child Left Behind” law. (Registration required for NY Times site.) In some cases, schools have completely eliminated other
Recent brain research has found that teenagers’ brains undergo an “extensive renovation” from a burst of growth in brain synapses, a process that may last until the mid-20s. Scientists involved in the research say this may help explain emotional swings and why teens are more likely than those of other ages to crash a car,
Bank of America announced this week that it is partnering with Olivia Travel to launch a credit card aimed at the lesbian community. The card, a WorldPoints Platinum Plus Visa, lets cardholders earn points towards travel and merchandise, including Olivia travel. While Olivia claims that this is the first card marketed specifically to lesbians, I’d
A new study claims genetic tests available in the U. S. for detecting high risk of breast cancer may miss some mutations that indicate the disease. An additional test, available in Europe, but not the U. S., can detect gene changes the U. S. test can’t. The researchers say there are a lack of clinical
Forbes recently published a list of “The 20 Most Important Tools Ever.” I always find these sorts of lists interesting, even though I often (as in this case) disagree with many of the choices. (I view knifes and swords as variants of the same thing, not deserving two separate entries, for example.) Not making the
Scientists at Temple University have shown experimentally for the first time that children as young as ten months can associate a word with an object, even though it has to be an object in which they have previously shown an interest. Older children can associate words with both objects that interest them and those that
The LA Times had a nice story about Oxo tools a couple of weeks ago. (Thanks to FOOD Blog for the sighting.) I’ve been a big Oxo fan for years, and was glad to see the coverage. (I’d own all of their products if we weren’t a lesbian family with one stay-at-home-mom, paying federal taxes
