Unfortunately, I just read the spoiler in your comment after skipping it in the main text.

Whatever you do, don't lift the flap.

I thought he just encouraged his childhood friend to buy Yahoo! stock?

I am probably missing something, but I don't see how using an fMRI machine would contribute to this experiment. I guess it would tell you which parts of the brain are being used in the subjects, but that does not seem relevant to the question, which was the relationship between language and numeracy.

It would have been a hoot - did you see the Mythbusters episode where they confirm the "myth" that elephants are afraid of mice?

It's one of Gakken's "otona no kagaku (Science for Adults)" magazines, which are actually box sets containing magazine and constructable kits. This site has information on the kits: [knol.google.com]

A friend got me this book a few months back: [www.amazon.com]

Be there AND be square!

This site is essential to any such discussion: [www.merzo.net]

Yes to both of you. A great ship for a great TV series - just don't lean on the walls or bump in to the doors or the sets will wobble.

There is no "No Ordinary Family" tomorrow (1/2).

@Isetta: Whatever you do, don't look at his crotch...

@Spatchmo: "Being 32 and British, a pussy was a cat until I was about 16/17, it's still not widely used out of the pr0n industry for that meaning, maybe more generally for calling someone a coward."

@Annalee Newitz: Name tags? We don't need no stinkin' name tags...actually, probably a good idea. The one meetup I went to I had no idea who anyone was, and ending up accosting a random person and discussed SF preferences for 30-40 minutes.

@davefromgp: Or the starred commenters pass out.

@rinion: No, in truth it only broke his heart, and that's what killed him.

@Boo-Jays: The second clip is a classic. Wife catches husband in hotel room, wearing gimp mask and leather pants with transvestite hooker whipping him? And the excuse he cries as he runs through the hotel corridors half-naked - "she's helping me work on intimacy issues"?.

@Dr Emilio Lizardo: "The Postman" is classic B-grade material. The bad acting, incredibly predictable plot - it delivers on every point.

@chizelord: And that, people, is how we separate the geeks from the non-geeks.