Science

I was one of those who both preached the virtues of cursive writing and criticized as misguided efforts by the General Assembly to mandate its teaching. Perhaps the mandate attempt wasn't so misguided after all:

A mystery that has befuddled us all is finally explained -- Why do socks always get lost in the laundry?

You have many socks, and if you see one of them and don't immediately find its partner, you say, "Oh! A sock has been lost!" You remember that a sock is missing, but you do not exactly recall its type or color.

Alert the media, we have a real shocker here:

Every morning, millions of people perform an essential daily ritual - having their first cup of tea or coffee. It concentrates the mind and acts as a pick-me-up.

Oh, goody, something else I can get obsessive about:

Here’s something to ponder the next time you head to the loo: Only five percent of people wash their hands long enough to kill disease-causing germs. Translation: Ick.

The New York Times finally acknowledges that global warming has plateaued and grudgingly bows to the obvious:

The slowdown is a bit of a mystery to climate scientists.

[. . .]

But given how much is riding on the scientific forecast, the practitioners of climate science would like to understand exactly what is going on.

[. . .]

Well, well:

After setting off a storm of criticism from abortion rights groups upset that a Democratic president had sided with social conservatives, the Obama administration said it will comply with a judge's order to allow girls of any age to buy emergency contraception without prescriptions.

So, the girls don't all get prettier at closing time:

You're going to have to come up with a better excuse for sleeping with that person whom you wish you'd never met.

It seems that the old "beer goggles" excuse just won't work.

Fascinating:

Hey, look at me, I'm mental!

We’ve all probably had that one coffee drink (or carbonated beverage) too many, at that point in a slog of a day where we’ve gone and imbibed a Red Bull or Grande coffee against our better judgment.

Now, this is my kind of study:

Four-minute bursts of high-intensity exercise such as running on a treadmill, three times a week are enough to increase fitness, researchers found.

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