Those bottom rung researchers at Stanley Research Medical Institute of Maryland have made some very disturbing discoveries about the increasingly pesky toxoplasma gondii bacteria. From the Times Online: Infected men, suggests one new study, tend to become more aggressive, scruffy, antisocial and are less attractive. Women, on the other hand, appear to exhibit the “sex kitten” effect, becoming less trustworthy, more desirable, fun-loving and possibly more promiscuous. You might want to throw that cat... [continue]

Bio-editor may very well be the next cross specialization after the astrobiologist, the geophysicist, or the stripper/french maid. Harvard University liberals have constructed the world's first bacterial printing press capable of printing out mats the width of a single bacteria. The process begins using a borrowed computer chip technique called photolithography to create a template, onto which the press "...pours a liquid polymer. This cools, sets and is popped out, forming a stamp. This... [continue]

It seems that for every 10 pieces of crap on television like "American Idol," there is maybe one good show. Good television is not lost, it just takes some searching to find it. Not all TV is directed at the great number of vastly undereducated and sedated Americans occupying the mostly red heartland. This season blessed us with one of the most interesting and complex network shows in a long, long time: Lost. Having... [continue]

At the University of Haifa in Israel (of course), the finest of comedy research centers in the world, researchers S. G. Shamay-Tsoory, R. Tomer, and J. Aharon-Peretz have discovered how the brain processes sarcasm. Using people who are brain damaged, either with prefrontal or posterior lobe damage, as well as a control group of healthy individuals, the Haifa crew was able to pinpoint which areas of the brain were required to interpret sarcasm and... [continue]

Congratulations Kenneth Y. Tomlinson! You are the Austinist Shit-Bag of the Month! For those of you that don't know, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson is the Chairman of the Board for the Corporation for Public broadcasting (CPB). Here's a short list of the good work he has done so far: - "Tomlinson contracted an outside consultant last year to monitor the 'political content' of PBS's Now With Bill Moyers for 'anti-Bush,' 'anti-business' and 'anti-Tom DeLay' 'biases.'"...... [continue]

Well kids, the dawning of the end of the human species is closing in, and we are not talking about a crazy far-right apocalyptic conspiracy. Hod Lipson, Viktor Zykov, and Efstathios Mytilnaios virtually assured themselves a nice tenure wherever they want by creating the world's first self-replicating robots. Each robot is made of four identical cubes, each about 4 inches on a side, contain a complete copy of the replication program, and have electromagnets... [continue]

Truepenny is playing tonight, along with Lower Level, at The Vibe. The show starts at 9:30. Get out and support good local bands! Now!... [continue]

You figure with all the research on mice these days, it's gonna be The Secret of NIHM everywhere soon enough. The latest batch of wunderkind rodents is bolstering research on free radicals being a major contributor to the aging process. Free radicals are, of course, free-floating molecules with unpaired electrons. Over at the University of Washington, Peter S. Rabinovitch and his wacky crew cooked up a batch of mice that produced large amounts of the... [continue]

Hey Kids, from 3:30 pm until 5:30 pm today, the Victoria's Secret Pink line is throwing a little soiree at Coldstone Creamery on Guadalupe next to HEB. Elvis on Speed will be playing from 3:30-4:30, and Truepenny is on from 4:30-5:30. 1000 free gift bags will be given away to those who attend. Head on down, grab a cone, maybe some panties, and check out the sonic stylings of Truepenny, an Austinist favorite. You can... [continue]

Let's face the plain truth about human existence: No one likes to be told what to do. Places like Austin, in particular, where there is an educated and motivated populace, send out a resounding "go f*&^ yourself" when ordered around. As Austinist is fond of telling people, this is Austin, but it's still Texas. That is why the new smoking ban is so disingenuous: it goes against fundamental beliefs we hold as a community, even... [continue]

Don't forget to hook up with the Austinist Crew for Happy Hour at the New Opal Divine's Penn Field Location, for those of you who missed the very cool banner on the top of the page. 102.3 is going to be there presenting Shane Bartell by pure coincidence! Should be a good time, especially with the lady killer/Austinist contributor Justin Cox present. Don't forget to check out Ghostland Observatory and Avenue D at Karma Lounge...... [continue]

Starting at 9PM tonight, The Whiskey Decision and The Transit War are playing at Red Eyed Fly. The Whiskey Decision will be touring most of the Summer, so catch them at one of their last shows before they head out on the road. You can check out the rest of this month's Red Eyed Fly schedule at their calender page. Rock & Roll....... [continue]

Howdy Austinist readers and fans! First off, we love you, and probably more than is appropriate. Certainly this is true of our infamous editor, if not all of the Austinist contributors. Austinist digresses.... This Thursday we are having an Austinist Happy Hour at the new Opal Divine's Penn Field location off of South Congress. If it ends up like the last happy hour, you can be sure Austinist will be practicing our gymnastic abilities on...... [continue]

Today, May 3rd, is the last day for early voting for the joint general and special elections scheduled for May 7th, 2005. Here is a nice list of polling places around the county, provided by the lovely and overworked folks at the County Clerk Elections Division. Remember everyone, all Travis county voters can vote at any of these locations. Get out the vote kids, and exercise your constitutional right to decide if smoking (just cigarettes?)... [continue]

Hey kids, if you are looking for something different to do tonight, head on over to The Parlor to check out Gadjo Bango. Austinist's good friend Shannon describes their style as "Romani music played by a bunch of manic drunkards!" We are there! Gadjo Bango plays every Monday at 9:30, so don't miss it. While you're at it, you might want to try The Parlor's famous pizza, some of the best in Austin.... [continue]

Having only begun distributing the superior Firefox browser since November of last year, the fact that in a few months it has been downloaded by such a wide audience is simply uncanny. It's success can be largly attributed to two factors: 1) The almost fanatical devotion to the unique browser by everyone who has had the chance to use it, thus adding great credibility to the oldest of advertising strategies, word-of-mouth. 2) It doesn't... [continue]

Right now you may be asking yourself what the f*&% a gravitational lens/Einstein's ring is. This is natural, as you may not have taken any of the fine astronomy courses the University of Texas has to offer. Austinist has suffered in your stead. As defined by knowlex.org: "A gravitational lens is formed when the light from a very distant, bright source (such as a quasar) is 'bent' around a massive object (such as a massive... [continue]

Depending on the different news sources you usually peruse, you may believe that Munch's The Scream and Madonna, stolen from an Oslo gallery last summer, have been destroyed, or that they remain intact. As good old Rummy would say, the only "known known" is that no one knows where the hell either painting is, save maybe for the three suspects now in custody. The Dagbladet, a Norwegian tabloid, is reporting that both paintings have been... [continue]

Even though Time magazine went crazy and put up Ann Coulter on the cover, proving you can reside on the far, far left of the genetic bell curve and still make it big, they still, sometimes, resemble a news magazine. Such is the case with a recent article which reports that 4 of the 24 U.S. delegates to the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meeting in Guatemala City were barred due to their support of John Kerry.... [continue]

Today is the 15th anniversary of the day they placed the best thing to happen to astronomy since man 1st gazed at the stars: The Hubble Space Telescope. Austinist gives a hearty hazzah to man's finest attempt to understand the very fabric of our universe and the cause of its inception. Wired Magazine has written an excellent article online describing many of Hubble's finest accomplisments. With all of our modern problems, such as multi-stage, multi-nation... [continue]