Compiled by Ernest Reid
Academic to panel: “come at me bro”
University of Chicago hosted a conference on “Jersey Shore studies” late October, using cultural theory to unpack the gym-tan-laundry lifestyle.Many Canadians attended the conference, mostly from University of Western Ontario, and presented serious papers on the gender, sexuality, and labour problems of the MTV show over two days. One McGill undergraduate, Ellie Marshall, presented a paper entitled “Foucault’s Going to the Jersey Shore, Bitch!” Remember: if she’s at a cultural studies conference, she’s definitely classier than your average grenade.
With files from UChicago, The New York Times
Hot and steamy computer to keep scientists busy
British researchers announced they will build the Analytical Engine, a gear-based proto-computer imagined but never built by 19th century mathematician Charles Babbage. The multi-million dollar project will take a decade to complete. Researchers hope to determine whether Babbage could have built the gear computer with Victorian-era steam power. Steam-punk enthusiasts are also keen to prove that the Victorian era is still awesome.
With files from The New York Times
6th grade programmer making the rest of us look bad
When Thomas Suarez isn’t doing his sixth-grade homework, he’s developing iPhone apps. The Californian middle-schooler has launched his own company, put two successful iOS apps in the App store, and been invited to speak at a TEDx event. Suarez started an App Club at his middle school and hopes to venture into Android programming and development. He will continue to make lazy adults feel bad about themselves in the meantime.
With files from The Next Web
Science says: don’t have sex with animals
The Journal of Sexual Medicine published a paper linking bestiality with penis cancer. Lead author Stenio de Cassio Zequi, a urologist in Sao Paulo, thinks animal secretions might be toxic to humans.
“We think intense and long term [sex with animals] […] could produce micro-traumas in the human penile tissue,” he told Live Science. A female member of Equality for All, a pro zoophilia group, says zoophiles should practice safe sex like wearing condoms. What. The. Fuck.
With files from The Huffington Post
