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

[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...