The moon is still here, and you didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize this year, but surely, there are still reports from the worlds of science and parenting to freak out about this weekend? Yes, and don't call me Shirley:
- "Virtually all of the 249 mothers in the study had significant amounts of BPA in their urine..." Italics in the original, because it's the San Francisco Chronicle.
- The UNC-CH study links prenatal BPA exposure to hyperactivity and aggressive behavior in 2yo girls, but not boys.
- Why? Oh, that's right, because "BPA may cause smaller penises." At least that's the Canadian excuse is. For some reason, there's no identifiable citation or study. [associatedcontent.com]
- Wait, what's this in the UNC study's abstract? "Prenatal exposure BPA increases offspring aggression and diminishes differences in sexually dimorphic behaviors in rodents." A few more generations of BPA, and humans will all be reduced to pugnacious, dickless Ken dolls. [ehponline.org]
- An AP poll found that 38% of parents "oppose [the] swine flu vaccine," which means only 59% of kids are expected to get vaccinated this year, an alarming drop from last year's vacc rate of 48%. Wait, what?
- Bonus make-my-day thimerosal quote: "'We're flipping out over swine flu, but it's only affected a few thousand people. Why isn't somebody freaking out about the autism epidemic?' said Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association." [ap/tpm]
- Doctors who call unexpectedly with Down Syndrome test results don't mean to be insensitive; they just have no idea what they're supposed to do in a situation like that. I hope you understand how difficult it is for them to read six survey results of what parents actually find important and useful. [physorg]
- Attention all Portuguese scientists with music training: pregnancy affects your singing voice. [physorg]
- Eating giant, Ikea-sized bags of licorice while pregnant shaves points off kids' IQ. [physorg via covetable]
- A 60-year study by one guy in The Valley who cracked the knuckles only on one hand found that his mother totally lied about it causing arthritis. [physorg]
Bonus Update: this weekend's On The Media has several stories about hysterical and/or bad science reporting. Good stuff.
