Helmets, flashing lights, and soy

[da]

Two pieces of interesting bike research, and one nutjob:

Seen via a comment elsewhere via signsoflife: http://community.livejournal.com/bikes/182986.html points to research showing that flashing bike lights may draw people's eyes to them, causing car drivers to steer involuntarily into them. What a pain. Googling "the moth effect" suggests there's evidence that it affects different people differently, and I'm on the fence about switching my tail-light to solid-red instead of flashing. Needs more research.

Another bike-related bit, a researcher at the University of Bath has found that bicyclists who wear helmets are crowded by cars, more so than bare-headed bicyclists. That's what we get for looking more competent.

Speaking of competence, via The Journal of Improbable Research, "proof" that soy is making kids gay. I can't follow his leap from isoflavones to super-strong estrogen, but maybe that's what makes him a NUTJOB.

Comments

[kraig.livejournal.com]

Soy is becoming increasingly used in societies, esp. North America. (I base that on a SWAG.)

People are increasingly coming out of the closet. (I also base that on a SWAG.)

QED. Consuming soy makes you gay.

Now I read the article, and his proof isn't much more conclusive than mine.

Think there's a career for me in jumping to conclusions?

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

...and, of course, everyone knows that Asia has been predominantly gay since the soybean was first cultivated.

You could get a career in baiting scientists.

[kraig.livejournal.com]

sweet!

Think I could get funding?

Maybe it only works when it's cultivated in North America.

[thingo.livejournal.com]

You're close. Actually, you've proven that being gay makes you consume more soy.

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

flydi would fail you both...

[kraig.livejournal.com]

That's ok, I'm interested in notoriety, not marks.

One of my current co-workers, upon meeting me for the first time, said "Oh, YOU'RE *that Mike* from uw.general. I always thought you were, umm... well... bigger."

I want that, only worldwide.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

ha ha ha.

Guessing: Adrian?

[kraig.livejournal.com]

Yes.

(Necroposting!)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

It's allliiiiivvvvve... Threads from the graaaavvvvve..

That was so long ago that I'd forgotten what I was laughing about. But you're excused, as it was a fine thread to go back to.

How are those monkeys coming? Trained for the faculty meetings yet?

[kraig.livejournal.com]

They keep running away to get MBAs. Just smart enough to be dangerous, I tells ya. :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh good; at least they're likely to stay out of both of our way, then. ;)

[kraig.livejournal.com]

Watch out, they're hiring a new VP Public Relations, and guess what the last one had... :)

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

You could just eat more...

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

SWAG?

[kraig.livejournal.com]

It's a technical term.

It means Scientific Wild-Assed Guess.

[dawn-guy.livejournal.com]

I expect both the numbers and the monkeys you pull out of your butt would be exceptionally well behaved.

[kraig.livejournal.com]

au contraire, I hope that any monkeys that come out of my butt are exceptionally poorly behaved feces-flinging wankers.

Then I'll turn them loose at a faculty meeting, and we can allow people to place bets on which species starts behaving poorly first, like cow-patty bingo, university gets half... hmm.

If you'll excuse me, I have to call ODAA with a new fundraising idea.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

Plus there's all that evidence from Asian countries where they've consumed lots of tofu and soy products for centuries! Why, just look at their... uh... reproductive rates? All the gay men in China and Japan? How non-sexist and homophilic Asian cultures are?

Hmm...

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. I posted my comment to kraig before I saw yours.

Though I suppose just because a culture was full of soy-feminized men, it wouldn't necessarily be non-sexist/homophillic. Maybe they'd merely be less likely to have to prove their masculinity by driving huge gas-guzzling muscle-cars.

...Hm.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

It could make for an interesting sci-fi short story. How *would* a culture be different if a large fraction of the male populace was feminized by some endocriniological bugaboo? Or vice-versa?

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've read something like that; I'll get back to you if I can dredge it from my memory...

[mynatt.livejournal.com]

My favourite part of the Bath study was that the researcher took samples while in drag (well, a wig) and found that people kept further away then when he looked more male. So, there you have it -- forget the helmet, and dress like RuPaul!

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

They could sell bike-helmets with built-in wig.

Oh. I wonder if pink bike-helmet == safer than blue bike-helmet. I may write to the guy and ask him to test that next!

[sulle-stelle.livejournal.com]

I don't really eat soy.

Does that mean I'm really straight? Have I been deluding myself?

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

No, it means someone's been surreptitiously putting soy in your diet.

...Don't look at me that way; it's the only scientific conclusion!

[sulle-stelle.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know about that. I mean, I am so butch and everything that I am, in fact, usually identified by people as straight..............

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Aha, the truth comes out! You'll pretend to be straight so they don't force-feed you the soy-burgers and so on?... Hm.

[sulle-stelle.livejournal.com]

Who's pretending? It's not like you've ever seen me in a dress or something..... ;-)

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

I believe I even have the photos to prove it.

[sulle-stelle.livejournal.com]

OBVIOUSLY Photoshopped.............