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Blogging the Periodic Table of Elements

I've always sucked at math and science, but if I had to pick a scientific field of choice, it would be chemistry. Perhaps it's because I loved the visual aspect of the subject? Or maybe it's because I loved the idea of tiny elements interacting with with other. Nonetheless, I actually did well in high school chemistry (unlike biology and physics) and even pondered taking a chemistry class or two in college. It goes without saying then that I was thoroughly excited to read of Slate's new series of posts on the periodic table of elements. Over the next few weeks, author Sam Kean will write a separate post about 25 of the most interesting elements. Each post will feature numerous facts about...

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Magnetic Thinking Putty

It stretches! It bounces! It tears! It also has a mind of its own when put into contact with metallic objects. Sold at Vat19 for $13.50 (currently sold out ), the Magnetic Thinking Putty also comes with a super-strong neodymium iron boron magnet that lets you play with the stuff straight out of the box. Take a look at the video below and tell me that it doesn't remind you of T-1000: Via Gizmodo. ...

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Kegels Alone May Not Be Beneficial

"Don't forget to do your kegels!" is one mantra that every pregnant woman hears. However, just how effective are kegel exercises? As much as fellow moms and moms-to-be tell me how beneficial they are, I have heard and read many accounts of women who have regularly done kegels throughout their pregnancies only to suffer from horrible incontinence after birth. I also know of women who have never done kegels and continue to have perfect post-partum urinary control. image source Yesterday, I read that kegels may not always prevent incontinence. In fact, a biomedical scientist named Katy Bowman believes that doing too many kegels may cause pelvic floor disorder (which leads to incontinence)! Instead, Bowman recommends exercises such as squats to help strengthen the pelvic floor. Click on over...

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Numbers and Angles

I am an Asian and I suck at math. There, I said it. I'm the only Asian I know who did better on the verbal section of the SATs. (Any other Asians out there on this boat?) Even my basic arithmetic has gotten so bad — blame it on the calculators on my computer desktop, cell phone, bedside table, etc — that J does not trust me to teach simple math to our children. So maybe some of my more mathematically-inclined readers can chime in here...

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