Fascinating. Funny about quartz—basic old white quartz was the first mineral I could find and identify as a kid on the beach.

How bad is the gem/mineral fraud problem anyway? I make jewelry as a hobby and just started delving into the whole how-fake-is-this-rock-anyway issue and found that most of the turquoise you see is fake—i.e. dyed howelite or smooshed together and dyed rock and plastic. Fortunately, I have a couple of pieces that…

The Christian right encourages adoption as a way of making more evangelical Christians and because they're willing to adopt older children, they get away with adoptions that should never happen—i.e. tons of kids, cockamanie and destructive approaches to child-rearing.

What makes you think that's the case? There's a huge and ongoing backlash against the unrealistic images of women in magazines and advertising. But, as with comic books, it doesn't seem to do much good. The only thing that is making a difference, honestly, is that Americans have gotten pretty chunky and there's…

Not a problem. I have my own pet peeves—its/it's—for one.

Coffee . . . I need coffee, but at least I'm consistent.

But a bit of jawbone (or skull) is pretty typical as far as early fragments go. The mandible's the strongest bone in the body, so that's what's most likely to last a couple of million years.

For a long time, astronomy and astrology were basically the same thing. So it's not surprising that some of the early astronomers were astrologers. The idea that the various heavenly bodies and stars were doing their own thing and had next to nothing to do with our fates was, culturally, an alien idea much of the…

It's a throwback. Thing about iceberg lettuce is that it can travel. So, for years, the only lettuce a lot of people saw off-season and out of lettuce-growing regions was iceberg. It has nearly no taste, but does have a ton o' crunch, so the custom of drenching it in a strong-tasting dressing evolved as a result. …

Actually, as that odd soul who saw Blade Runner during its original run, there's no question about Deckard being a replicant—as in it's a complete non-issue in the original cut (and, yes, the film was kind of a mess, but really, really cool looking and memorable). The mythos and power of the film is something that…

Yeah, I get so annoyed when little things like physics are ignored—water pressure at the bottom of the ocean is serious stuff—you'd get dense mini-zombies—only you wouldn't because everything at the bottom of the ocean that lives on cadavers would be having lunch.

You don't actually meet him, but I think the Raven King in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell does pretty well. Certainly better than the title characters . . .

Madeleine,

So you're saying women of color have pay equity and white women don't? Because from what I can see women of all hues face a problem with wage disparity—and that "we" means women period.

Really, I didn't hear her say "white women"—I heard her say "women". You're reading into her comments. The gender disparity in pay applies to all women.

And why is that? The continuing inequity in pay and the ongoing legislation restricting women's reproductive choices is something that should concern everyone who cares about equal rights. And it's time there was some more across-the-board support.

You know I'm sure you mean well, but your no excuses attitude is pretty authoritarian. Even bullies *are* kids and vulnerable the way kids are. You do have to draw the line about unacceptable behavior, but to be that dismissive of the possible causes, including a bad home situation, is unfair to everyone involved. …

You're welcome. I'll vouch for them—they are wonderful.

I think the key thing here is not the approval of the specific test, but the fact that the FDA has finally opened the door to approving these kind of tests as something other than medical devices. Makes for a totally different regulatory environment.

I think 23andme isn't saying much because the FDA has already…

Nah, I like Piper too. But, then, I also think many of the scenes between her and Larry were pretty funny. I hope he wanders back in for a bit at a later date.