Will you help turn this disorganized stack into a useable database? Files by Horrgakx via Flickr.

Here at Biofortified, we’ve been collecting citations of papers about the risks and safety of genetic engineering. The goal of this collection is to populate our GENetic Engineering Risk Atlas (GENERA) with citations and, eventually, unbiased summaries of the literature. The database would be useful to anyone looking for more information about genetic engineering, from interested consumers to farmers to scientists.

Our biggest struggle so far has been trying to figure out how to turn this disorganized list into a useable database. The main stumbling block has been the sheer volume of work that needs to be done to summarize and present all the information we eventually want to. Finally, today, a stroke of genius: We can do it in steps, and crowd-sourcing is the key!

You, dear readers, make Biofortified great by getting involved in conversations and bringing new people to the site. Now, you can contribute to Biofortifed’s biggest project to-date and help create an important resource about genetic engineering. If you have some time this holiday season, you could help us enter the basic details about each study such as the authors, title, abstract, etc. into a spreadsheet that we can import into GENERA.

If everyone enters a few studies, we’ll have them done in no time. Please let us know if you would like to help – we have files all ready for people to work on. Just send us a message via our contact page and Karl or I will respond ASAP.

This lovely ceramic ornament will look great hung on your favorite plant!

Do you have a special someone that you just can’t find the right gift for? Biofortified has many gifts for your favorite plant scientist, foodie, or any fan of agriculture. Many of these are available with 2-day shipping from our Zazzle store. Not only do you get a great gift, 25% of each purchase goes to Biofortified to help us keep this website going.

But, first things first. In our last community contest, we wanted to find the most co-existing community member who has provided helpful and productive comments. It was a difficult decision for the editors to make, but the winner of our fourth community contest is none other than Ewan R! His contributions to the community have been a delight, from long comments breaking down arguments piece by piece, to clever witticisms that always bring a laugh.

For his prize, he chose to receive a copy of Tomorrow’s Table, which is on its way to him along with a tote bag. Four cheers for Ewan! (Because three are not enough.)

So lets get to this year’s extravaganza.

In 2006, this was a really scary costume.

Last year, we held a contest for who could make the most awesome and creative carving. This year we will also open the contest up to costumes on the same theme!

Here are the rules:

• This contest is open to everyone – you need not have ever commented on the blog before the day you enter in the contest. But, you will need to register for the blog to enter.
• Carve any fruit, vegetable, grain, or heck, fungus into the scariest creature imaginable. While you may carve the classic pumpkin, extra points will be awarded for creative use of alternatives. Feel free to do a little genetic engineering and splice different plants together.
• OR – carve yourself a killer plant or genetics-based costume. Whichever you choose – if you can include a reference to recent news, genes, or something we’ve talked about on the blog, that will certainly set you above the rest!
• Upload a photo of your mad creation to your profile page, and mention it in the comments on this post below.
• To give you time to upload a picture from Halloween, the contest is open until November 4th, at midnight Pacific time in the US.
• Biofortified’s Editors will decide on a winner and announce it on Sunday the 6th.

I'm honored to be invited to your dinner party. So um, who else did you say was going to be there?

And what will you win? Besides eternal glory, we do have some prizes for you:

First place: A Biofortified tote bag, first pick of one of the books on our prize page, and a Norman Borlaug commemorative coin.

Second place: A Biofortified tote bag, and second pick of one of the books on our prize page.

Again, in order to enter this contest you will need to register, log in, and upload your entry photo. This is very easy to do, and you can find out more about it on our Community Tutorial page.

So break out your pumpkins and/or your sewing machines, and help us scare up a great Halloween! If you are hard up for carving ideas you could always check out Extreme Pumpkins. Make an extreme potato monster. Or put yourself in a potato sack and be the monster. Good luck! And be sure to let us know about your entry here in the comments. If we get a lot of great entries we might hand out extra prizes!

My summer job was to serve as a mentor for 10 wonderful, talented undergrads from all over the US. They were at Iowa State for a program called “Research Experience for Undergraduates” that I would recommend to any young people interested in science. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the students got free housing and food, plus a generous stipend. They got to work side by side with researchers at ISU all summer. For many of them, the research will result in a publication – a significant achievement for an undergraduate. The goal of the program is to allow students an opportunity to try “real” science, hopefully encouraging them to go to grad school, or, in some cases, helping them realize that research is not for them. Students who might not otherwise get a chance to do research are selected, such as those from small liberal arts universities and minority students.

My specific job responsibilities included taking care of administrative details such as in-processing to the university and helping to run weekly luncheons with scientists. The best part of the job was getting to organize field trips and go with the students. We went to Living History Farms, where students learned about farming methods from pre-colonization all the way to modern methods. We smelled and tasted local produce and other foods at the Des Moines Farmer’s Market. We spent a day at a conventional hog farm, seeing pigs from birth to adulthood. We learned about the medical side of research through a visit to the Mayo Clinic and about commercial agricultural research through a visit to Pioneer. Each trip was an adventure that was even more fun for me because I got to experience it through their eyes. REU is a wonderful program and I’m honored to have played a small part in it.

When I wasn’t running around to field trips or taking students to the social security office to get new cards, I was writing. And writing. And writing some more. Nights blended into days as I let my drive to write dictate when I slept and when I woke. I spent a lot of time at Vesuvius Wood Fired Pizza, where the authentic Italian pizza is so delicious and the atmosphere was quiet but not too quiet. The staff was very tolerant as I arrived at 11am when they opened then finally looked up bleary eyed as the diner crowd started to pour in, having spent the day on data analysis or re-writing a chapter for the millionth time.

The result of my labor is titled “Novel approaches to improving qualities of maize endosperm”. I will post parts of my thesis little by little in case anyone would like to read them, I’ll figure out a way to post it without having one huge long post.

At the end of July, my mom visited me in Iowa to help me pack the house, just as I was finishing my PowerPoint for my defense. She was there for a week but it seemed like much less as all of a sudden it was Friday the 22nd, the day of the defense! My mom stayed with the movers (yes, the movers came on the defense day, it was the only day they could come!) while I set up the snacks and projector for the defense. My best friend who now lives in another state even drove up to see the talk! My friends and colleagues from all over the university got to hear me give a mostly smooth talk, interrupted only a few times by me saying “ok, let me restate that, I’m getting ahead of myself” or something similar. It was really a comfort to have so many friends there to support me. After the seminar, everyone cleared out and it was time for the real questions.

My committee was great. They had really good questions, most of which I did well enough on, although I had to stop and take a breath when diagramming allele frequencies in my corn populations on the white board. I was nervous, although far less than I expected to be. No huge flaws were discovered, and I was announced as Dr. Bodnar. I’m still surprised that none of them called me on my long convoluted introduction that discussed everything from food insecurity to evolutionary plant breeding, but I suppose they were more concerned with my actual research.

It seemed fitting to go to Vesuvius for dinner, and then to my lab manager’s house for a going away party. My major professor’s daughter made lovely cupcakes that said “Congratulations Dr Bodnar” letter by letter! It was great to catch up with everyone, especially since I hadn’t spent much time in the lab over the summer. I didn’t even get to help in the fields this year, and didn’t get any sweet corn from our research plots. I still can’t believe that part of my life is over. Iowa State holds so many memories and so many wonderful people. I miss them very much.

There wasn’t much time for reminiscing, though. On Saturday, we had the trip to the hog farm, then Sunday it was time to head out! Pete and Peppy (the cats) were in their carriers, and Devin and Leila (the dogs) had their leashes hooked near the back door of my Matrix so they couldn’t climb into the front seat. Snacks and clothes filled the rest of the back, and my mom and I barely had room up front. We stopped in a great Marriott in Ohio that allowed all 6 of us to stay for a reasonable fee, and arrived at the townhouse on Monday at about 5pm. This is the townhouse that I rented sight unseen because it is impossible to find a place that will take four pets! It’s… ok. Let’s just say I was ready to move out before I even moved in. I didn’t have time to even think about finding another place, though, because I started work on August 1st!

Between writing, I was looking for positions with the USDA but they weren’t really hiring, with the budget cutbacks and all. I even applied for some regulatory affairs positions with big ag, but I’m overqualified (PhD rather than Masters) so didn’t even get any interviews. I went to a job fair at ISU, and while some of the jobs seemed sort of interesting, I really didn’t want to be another plant geneticist at Monsanto. I also really didn’t want to be an academic researcher scrambling for grants for years and years until maybe getting tenure. After teaching biology lab last fall, I knew teaching wasn’t for me either.

I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to go into some sort of science policy or science communication career. I’ve always felt the pull back to government service. Thankfully, my spouse is great at finding about neat opportunities and he told me about the Presidential Management Fellowship. Since the 1970s, this program has placed young people with graduate degrees into government bureaucracy. It’s a much needed injection of youthful creativity combined with advanced education that allows the US government to avoid getting stuck in the past (well, there are only so many of us, but we try!).

The application process is pretty rigorous. First, I had to convince Iowa State’s grad college to start an advertising campaign so they could accept nominations – because your school must nominate you for the program. Then, an online personality test determines if we are fit for government service. Finally, an all-day in-person interview that we had to pay our own expenses to get to. There was an individual and a team briefing exercise and a writing exercise. The applicant pool started at about 9000 and 850 were selected to be finalists. After being selected, we have to find out own jobs. I went to the PMF job fair in Washington, DC (paying my own expenses, again) but just wasn’t really that excited about any of the offerings. There were a few positions I could see myself enjoying, but they weren’t really career starters. Then, I went to happy hour. No, really.

GovLoop, a social networking service for government employees had a happy hour for new PMFs. I was tempted to stay in the hotel to grade finals, but decided networking was more important. At the bar, I bumped into an NIH employee that was previously a PMF but was now Special Assistant to the Director of HR at NIH. When I said I was a geneticist, he asked if I’d applied to NIH. My response: “NIH has jobs for PMFs?” NIH’s intern program was in a state of flux with a new program director coming on board, so they hadn’t advertised. I went back to the hotel and immediately applied. I was interviewed over the phone, and after waiting nervously for weeks, got a call at 7pm the day before my graduation ceremony that I had a job!

So, I’m a Presidential Management Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. What does that mean? This program has to be the single best opportunity in all of the federal government, and possibly anywhere else. For all of you grad students out there reading this, here’s the scoop:

It’s a two year fellowship, starting as a GS-9 with non-competitive promotion to 11 after the first year, and to 12 after the second year, assuming you stay with NIH (if you’re not familiar with these numbers, Google GS pay scale – it’s not extravagant, but it’s pretty nice after 6 years of research assistant pay).

During the two years, you are expected to do rotations lasting between 3 and 6 months with different offices. The location and subject matter of the rotations, among all 27 of the institutes, is up to the intern. I’m focusing on communications and legislative affairs, but will also try my hand at budget and grants management (we have to do 2 “core” rotations in budget, grants, administrative officer, or human resources). We get to meet with the executive officers of every institute (they are like the CEOs) and pretty much have a golden ticket to have an hour meeting with any higher level staff person we want (except maybe Dr. Collins, although I haven’t asked!). It’s networking heaven. We are also encouraged to get involved in NIH wide activities and committees. Oh, and I almost forgot, $2500 per year for personal development! I’m using my funds to get a certificate in Legislative Studies at Georgetown. Oh, and one more thing – we can do an external rotation anywhere in the US government. I’m trying to get a rotation on the Hill approved.

The NIH philosophy on this seems to be that the PMF program (and a few other intern programs) is the best way to grow their own managers. They’ve been involved with the program since the mid-80′s and the ranks of NIH are peppered liberally with former PMFs.

For anyone interested in NIH, they also have a ton of great programs for students from undergrad to post-doc levels. If you’d like more info on those let me know and I’ll try to help you find it. Same with the PMF program – they will start accepting nominations in mid September, so if you have any questions about applying please contact me ASAP.

So, that’s where I am, and how I got here. Now I just need to figure out what a former soldier with a doctorate in corn genetics and a blog about biotechnology is doing at the National Institutes of Health

Thanks for reading my story!

I’m here to answer the call for a de-lurking post, so I thought I would break the ice and show a couple pictures from my recent trip to Madison, Wisconsin, to  attend the March Procession of the Species. Humans of all shapes and stripes were dressing up as their favorite species to celebrate the work of Charles Darwin. And here he is – the years have been very kind to Chuck, but I didn’t realize he was so big!

Karl went dressed as a giant ear of corn, and isn’t that a walking pitcher plant in the background?

And here I am with a lovely peacock and a huge dragonfly. Hey aren’t peacocks male – so this is cross-dressing too?

What are some of your favorite species? Here’s a great opportunity to say hi for the first time in the comments – and express some inter-species love!

We started having site errors that coincided with our move to Dreamhost – but we couldn’t tell if it was entirely due to that, or the large assortment of plugins we have installed on the site to make everything from the Forum, Community pages, Syndication, and GENERA work. It seems that the problem was a combination of both issues. Each plugin takes up a certain amount of server RAM to run, and the hosting account only let us use so much. Unlimited disk space, yes. Unlimited Bandwidth, yes. But should our site use more than a certain piddly amount of active memory – comments are lost and authors have trouble saving their posts. We had to pay more for more memory, but it did not fix the problems. When our site went down (again) due to server errors early last week, within hours we were in agreement that it was time to get off of Dreamhost.

You learn a little bit along the way, that Unlimited space and bandwidth doesn’t mean much without the memory to process it. And a website host with no uptime guarantees? I went through a lot of hosts looking for these essential requirements, and one that we came across, and eventually decided upon, was GreenGeeks. We settled on a virtual private server of sufficient memory, and signed up. A little shakiness with the transfer, and we were done.

Immediately, I have noticed a remarkable difference in load times, and upload and download times via FTP as well. I am impressed with the speed, indeed. But that’s not the best part about GreenGeeks. They’re wind-powered. So we can blog only as long as the wind is blowing! Just kidding. They purchase wind energy credits for three times the amount of energy used by the servers, so now by blogging more we’re actually making the environment better! (It’s the neoliberal dream. Quick: alert Michael Pollan) So I hope you will all do your part to heal the planet and comment more frequently! Pitch in – Biofortified is triple-green! (Note: this does not include your home computers, you energy-grubbing Earth-wreckers!)

Now that we have moved to a more capable place, I’ll be making a few changes to make things more accessible. Believe it or not, we actually have 791 registered users on the blog – and more come in daily. This is not a good thing, because most of these are automatic spam registrations that seem to bypass the required fields that people need to enter to sign up for the blog. Our community page, which displays all registered users, was getting choked with these and so I added a temporary fix that filtered out all users that haven’t left comments. The result is odd numbers of users on each community page, if you have noticed. Awkward to navigate.

This must change, and so now I am announcing the Great Biofortified User Purge of 2011. In a week, I will delete every user account that has zero comments. Only those who are actively a part of the community will have their accounts saved. Just one comment saves your login form the chopping block, and when it is all done, we’ll have a more secure block against registration spam to ensure that the community pages are for the blog community, and not web-crawling bots. I will send an email to all registered user accounts instructing their holders to log in and comment just once to make sure that they don’t have to register again. If you have commented before with your account you are already done. If you are reading this, and signed up recently but have yet to comment – now’s your chance!

That’s the news, so I’m looking forward to seeing how much awesomeness we can pack into our new server space. Happy biofortified blogging!

Gosh, it has been too long since our last contest in November, the first annual FrankenFood Carving Contest – and I have a bit of a confession to make: I forgot to announce the winner! While several fantastic pumpkins were carved, one entrant thought outside the jack-0-lantern varietal box and went with a Spaghetti Squash. Still Cucurbita pepo, but hilariously carved and lit up! I think this is what I looked like when I read what Andy Kimbrell said way back when. Check out the head splitting, string-vomiting action!

So our third community contest, the carving contest goes to GregH, who is also an undergrad horticulture and finance major with quote a collection of plants listed on his profile page. Is that popping sorghum as well? Coolness. Greg wins an embroidered cotton canvas shopping bag (complete with custom pocket with a pen-holder), along with a Norman Borlaug commemorative coin! Maybe belated but just in time for farmer’s markets in the spring, no?

Back in October, I really jumped on this community contest concept, probably too many at once, and the winner of our second contest also got lost in the shuffle. They found out that they won by email, mind you, but all of you need to know as well. The theme for this contest, if you recall, was to nominate someone you disagree with. And for being a thoughtful and courteous commentator we have awarded the victory bag to the one and only Bernarda! This is what Anastasia had to say in her nomination:

[Bernarda] has contributed greatly to conversation by bringing new perspectives and presenting them in a non-argumentative way. I feel that a lot of times we all just talk past people we disagree with, which is frustrating and unfruitful. But with Bernarda, particularly on the Miracle Plants: Fallacy or New Frontier post, I think we’re not talking past each other any more but actually having some real discussion.

Isn’t that what we’re here for? I’ll keep to one contest per month from now on, but hey I’m just a plant – so please remind me at the end of the month if I forget! Give a round of congratulations to our winners, and on to contest number 4!

Community Contest #4: Feel the Love

There have been lots of discussions here lately, and in the last couple of months, we have had some great posts and comments on the topic of coexistence between genetic engineering and organic/non-GE farming. I don’t know about you but I would like to see more of this! Each community contest has a special theme to it, and I would like this to be the theme for our fourth contest. Here are a list of posts that touch on the topic of coexistence to get you thinking about who deserves your nomination:

Coexistence isn’t easy

Vilsack looks for solution on Coexistence

Coexistence takes Conversation

What the Heck is Alfalfa Anyway?

Biofortified on the Alfalfa EIS

Organic Infighting over GE Alfalfa

Can we Coexist?

Here are the rules for contest #4:

• Anyone can nominate someone for this contest, but must link to at least one comment (can be several) by that author.
• Editors (and me) are ineligible for the contest – but contributing authors can get in on the action.
• Comments can be from any date in the past, present, or future. They can be comments on posts or in the forum.
• Preference will be given to comments discussing Coexistence – but awesome comments that do not fit this description will also be considered.
• In order to accept the award, comment author must be registered, fill out at least some of their profile, and have a picture uploaded for their avatar. (Profile can be done after the winner is announced. Picture need not be a human photo – how about a cool plant?)
• The winner(s) will be judged on how awesomely smart, cool, funny, and productive their comments are. We want to reward people that help elevate the discussion and give them a special status in the community.
• Nominations will close on Saturday April 9th at midnight Pacific Standard Time. (End of the day, not the beginning!)
• Winner(s) will be decided by Biofortified’s editors, and will be announced on Monday the 11th.

Prizes

Biofortified just got a wonderful stack of books that we thought you might enjoy reading. So for this contest, the winner gets to choose either a Biofortified canvas bag as usual, or one of any of the books listed on our new Community Contest page. Some titles include:

• Denialism, How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens our Lives, by Michael Specter.
• The Conscientious Gardener, Cultivating a Garden Ethic, by Dr. Sarah Hayden Reichard
• Empty Pleasures: The Story of Artificial Sweeteners from Saccharin to Splenda, by Dr. Carolyn de la Pena
• Tomorrow’s Table, Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food, by Dr. Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak

There are a whole lot more books on our list a – little something for everybody, so check em out. And if we get a good turnout for this contest we might be forced to give more away! So remember, comments made up until the last minute count – so there’s still time to put in a fantastic comment and earn the love of your peers!

And this holiday season, Grist itself sent me half a dozen requests for money as a registered user (besides banner ads when visiting the site), saying that a donation would be a gift that keeps on giving. Truly Grist has been such a gift, but not in the way that they intended. I thought about the important things I observed, and put them all to a familiar tune. Sing along with me as you read The 12 Posts of Gristmas!

On the first post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the second post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the third post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Brand new flame accounts

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the fourth post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Thanks for explaining Bt

Brand new flame accounts

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the fifth post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the sixth post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Personal attacks,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the seventh post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Conspiracy theories,

Personal attacks,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the eighth post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Obfuscating facts,

Conspiracy theories,

Personal attacks,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the ninth post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Misrepresenting sources,

Obfuscating facts,

Conspiracy theories,

Personal attacks,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the tenth post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Screw Peer review,

Misrepresenting sources,

Obfuscating facts,

Conspiracy theories,

Personal attacks,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the eleventh post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

No comment moderation,

Screw peer review,

Misrepresenting sources,

Obfuscating facts,

Conspiracy theories,

Personal attacks,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

On the twelfth post of Gristmas the comments gave to me,

Twelve annoying requests for money,

With no comment moderation,

Screw Peer review,

Misrepresenting sources,

Obfuscating facts,

Conspiracy theories,

Personal attacks,

Matthew De-fends Meeee

Psst… thanks for explaining Bt,

Brand new flame accounts,

Two silent Toms,

And Doug doesn’t give a rat’s ass!

I will have more to say about these encounters in the near future, but for now, Merry Gristmas! And a happy new year of reaching out to people!

Rekha Basu, columnist for the Des Moines Register. Image via Iowa State University.

Anonymity allows folks to escape the flak for some of the ugly and prejudiced things they say – and which flout the standards for what our society considers decent and civil.

For whatever reasons, this column seems to be a lightning rod for that sort of demagoguery. But there is a relatively simple solution: Requiring people to use their real names when they comment. From now on, that will be the standard for commenting on columns with my byline. I’m willing to bet that step alone will force the quality of discussion to improve. When people know their friends, neighbors and co-workers are reading what they say, they have to be more accountable.

This isn’t punishment, and it’s certainly not to deny anyone’s free speech. It’s an invitation to come out of the closet.

The above are quotes from an article by Rekha Basu about civility in internet discussions: For civility, add names to opinions. Ms. Basu, a columnist on the Des Moines Register, writes about some pretty complex topics, including human rights, racial and gender issues. You can imagine that she gets some pretty nasty comments on her column. For years, she’s been discussing with her editors what to do to encourage more civil conversation, and has found something to try. Comments on her column will now only be allowed through Facebook. She’ll still get some nasty comments, I’m sure, but I’d be surprised if this change didn’t greatly improve the quality of discussion.

We’ve been pretty lucky here at Biofortified to have gotten only a few nasty comments, and the editors have only gotten a few nasty emails. Things aren’t going so well on Grist and many other sites. Biofortified isn’t going to start requiring real names, at least for now, but I would like to ask commenters to pause for a moment before clicking “Submit” on a comment. Remember that the people you’re entering into the discussion are real people just like you.

Gina Trapani, editor of Lifehacker. Image via Gina's website.

Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani has some great commenting guidelines that all of us, no matter our opinions on genetic engineering or anything else, should take a moment to read. She begins:

Leaving a comment on someone’s weblog is like walking into their living room and joining in on a conversation. As in real life, online there are some people who are a pleasure to converse with, and some who are not. Good blog commenters add to the discussion and are known as knowledgeable, informative, friendly and engaged.

Let’s listen to these two smart women and work towards having more meaningful discussions. Who’s with me?

h/t Francis Thicke who posted the column on Facebook.

The authors of Biofortified are honored to be this month’s host. The entries span a wide range of scientific topics that defies summarization. You’ll just have to see for yourself. In no particular order, I present to you this month’s Scientia Pro Publica.

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Dirk Hanson presents Anandamide Hits the “Hedonic Hot Spot” at Addiction Inbox. This explanation of why marijuana causes the munchies includes discussion of the search for drugs to decrease appetite.

Captain Skellett presents Thought controlled computers? Recent research says yes. at A Schooner of Science. Here, the cutting edge of computing meets neuroscience.

DNLee presents Heritability ? what you get from your folks at SouthernPlayalisticEvolutionMusic. Defining heritabilty and contrasting it with inheritance, all explained via rap music – in this case Juvenile’s Mama Got Ass (She Get it From Her Mama).

Alexander Peter presents Foam Roller Stretches to Reduce the Risk of Iliotibial Band Syndrome at FoamRoller.org.uk. This article provides some tips on how to prevent the risk of developing Iliotibial Band Syndrome by using a foam roller to relieve the stress from the IT band.

Michael Parsons presents 10 Psychological Reasons Why Most Diets Fail at Masters In Psychology. Diets can be tough to keep up with, but maybe the problem isn’t you. There are many psychological reasons why most diets fail.

Olivia V. Ambrogio presents Where the Wild Things Were at Beasts in a Populous City. Celebrating wondrous animals and remembering how our desire for all sorts of things affect their habitats.

SE Gould presents Waking sleeping bacteria at Lab Rat. Some bacteria go into a dormant state when resources are scarce. When they exit dormancy, they tell their fellow bacteria that conditions are good.

Andy Extance presents Extracting urine in the name of climate research at Simple Climate. Layers of animal dung may hold important data relevant to climate change.

Jennifer Lynch presents 20 Best Blogs for Primatology Students at Top Online Colleges. The blogs rounded up here are among the best in the field, especially for students looking to get a better understanding of all primatology has to offer. Bonus: monkey pictures.

Sharon Neufeldt presents Just Enough to be Dangerous at I Can Has Science?. A super clear, very brief introduction to chemistry, from atoms to organic chemistry.

Ben Harack presents How can we create power from nuclear fusion? at Vision Of Earth. How nuclear fusion works and its feasibility for future power generation.

Thonoir presents Endangered Species 2010: Reptiles at Ninjameys. The ongoing Endangered Species 2010 series continues with a look at the reptiles.

Romeo Vitelli presents The Great Coca Cola Trial (Part 1) and The Great Coca Cola Trial (Part 2) at Providentia. A look back at the somewhat lurid history of the world’s favorite soda.

Finally, Karl Haro von Mogel of Biofortified announces GENERA: the GENetic Engineering Risk Atlas. GENERA is intended to be an atlas of research related to the risks of genetic engineering. We’re in need of volunteers to help summarize peer-reviewed articles and add them to the database. I hope you’ll consider joining the team.

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