dear hubbie, mom, dad, gayle, warren, and kiddos -
thanks so much for all the effort y'all have put in so i can go off and enjoy an adventure w/ my brother in San Francisco (the last time we were there was when i was in second grade)!! you don't know how much it means to me!! xoxo!
see y'all next week!!!

*the designer's attic will still be up and going....

I Command a Lot of Respect!

You have to admit that it is flattering when a co-worker asks for your suggestions on how to improve their running.

Well a couple months ago, Tanya, (who is our laser department lead) asked such a question.

Turns out she had taken up running to improve her cardio fitness and felt this running thing was just not coming to her as easy as she thought.

Well first off she was running roads, and we know how freaking boring that can be.

So we started off with the basics, setting up a small 5km running program that had some achievable milestones along the way that would all come together with us doing a 5km run together on October 2nd.

Well, I must say she was impressive. Her finishing time was better than the goal set out in the program and has now a bench mark to further improve her time and distance.

She plans to join us on the trails soon as she does find the road work boring and repetitive.

She was kind enough to send me this photo showing how I am #1 in her books.

It's great having friends.

Sistem Pendengaran Burung Hantu

Beberapa waktu yang lalu Rendra sempat memposting artikel yang bejudul Fakta Unik Tentang Burung Hantu. Dan tak disangka ternyata artikel tersebut cukup banyak yang menyukai, terbukti sampai artikel ini saya terbitkan, artikel tentang burung hantu tersebut masih menjadi Fakta terpopuler dalam bog Fakta Unik ini. Nah, karena iu hari ini Rendra ingin membahas mengenai burung hantu lagi tapi kali ini adalah tentang Sistem Pendengaran Telinga Hantu yang hebat.

[Fakta selengkapnya]

The Case for the Food Reward Hypothesis of Obesity, Part I

Introduction

When you want to investigate something using the scientific method, first you create a model that you hope describes a natural phenomenon-- this is called a hypothesis.  Then you go about testing that model against reality, under controlled conditions, to see if it has any predictive power.  There is rarely a single experiment, or single study, that can demonstrate that a hypothesis is correct.  Most important hypotheses require many mutually buttressing lines of evidence from multiple research groups before they're widely accepted.  Although it's not necessary, understanding the mechanism by which an effect occurs, and having that mechanism be consistent with the hypothesis, adds substantially to the case.

With that in mind, this post will go into greater detail on the evidence supporting food reward and palatability as major factors in the regulation of food intake and body fatness.  There is a large amount of supportive evidence at this point, which is rapidly expanding due to the efforts of many brilliant researchers, however for the sake of clarity and brevity, so far I've only given a "tip of the iceberg" view of it.  But there are two types of people who want more detail: (1) the skeptics, and (2) scientifically inclined people who want mechanism.  This post is for them.  It will get technical at times, as there is no other way to convey the material effectively.

Read more »

10 Hewan Terkuat di Dunia

Bicara tentang hewan-hewan tekuat di dunia, kita tidak bisa langsung menyatakan bahwa hewan-hewan terbesar seperti gajah atau paus adalah hewan yang paling kuat di muka bumi ini. Tentu saja supaya hasilnya adil, kita harus membandingkan ukuran tubuh masing-masing hewan tersebut dengan benda yang mampu dibawa atau dipindahnya. Berikut daftar 10 hewan-hewan terkuat di dunia tersebut yang Rendra dapat dari situs scienceray.com.

[Fakta selengkapnya]