(08/15) fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores in america 5:1 - granted, the list of disturbing trends in america right now is mighty long, but the fact that the ratio of fast food restaurants to grocery stores is 5:1 deserves a place in the ranks.

(05/11) toilet paper's eternal debate wages on - according to engineering degree, only 50% of people pay attention to the orientation of their toilet paper roll at all. of that group, 1 in 5 people get annoyed if the toilet paper is facing the opposite direction, and men are more likely to be annoyed by the situation. another fun fact? the discussion page for toilet paper orientation on wikipedia is twice as long as the page for the iraq war.

• below, 2010 posts

(08/01) how to pirate vinyl records - just because vinyl records are analog, it doesn't mean you can't pirate them. all you need is a wood box, glass, window cement, silicone mixture, liquid plastic and a drill press. hey, i didn't say it was going to be easy.

(08/01) the triceratops never existed, it was actually a young version of another dinosaur - scientists are saying that the triceratops dinosaur—you know, the three horned one—was actually a juvenile form of a torosaurus, the three horned dinosaur you don't know. apparently, dinosaurs' skulls can shape-shift. more.

(07/30) flip-flops cause more foot problems than high heels - britain's NHS reports that more than 200,000 people need medical treatment every year due to flip-flops; they cause long-term problems including shin splints, weakened tendons and aching toes. the takeaway: we just can't win.

(07/09) what would happen if the earth stopped spinning? - "the following is not a futuristic scenario. it is not science fiction. it is a demonstration of... an extremely* unlikely, yet intellectually fascinating query: what would happen if the earth stopped spinning?"

(07/03) the first photo of a planet outside our solar system - this isn't our sun. this other sun is 470 light-years away from our home. it's name is 1RXS J160929.1-210524, and the orange sphere near it has been confirmed today as an orbiting planet. the first photo of an extra-solar planet. click for more.

(06/29) understanding the nastiness of morning breath - the scientific explanation for morning breath: billions of bacteria live in your mouth and create waste, using your mouth like a toilet bowl. when you brush your teeth and eat breakfast, they're killed by the acids in your stomach.

(06/25) newspaper claims abortion triples breast cancer risk - the claim that abortion causes breast cancer is simply won't die, despite much evidence to the contrary. this week's culprit (of course) is the daily mail.

(05/21) mini-condom sized to fit tween penises just right - amidst statistics that show rising numbers of kids — and we do mean kids — are having unprotected sex, a swiss company has introduced an itsy-bitsy child-sized condom for penises ages 12-14. and it's called "the hotshot." omg, adorable.

(02/26) the next anti-choice target: miscarriage - a new utah law could charge women with homicide if they miscarry, making women's rights advocates concerned that women will be brought up on murder charges for drinking, failing to wear a seatbelt, or falling down the stairs.

(02/16) is everyone really bisexual? - the guardian's Marcus Morgan offers a spirited defense of bisexuality against various generalizations. but he still offers one of his own: that everyone's actually bi.

(01/18) ann, get your gun hooves - thank you to the folks at inventor spot for bringing these wacky "gun hoof" boots, designed by iris schieferstein, to our attention. they're sort of like a cowboy fantasy mullet: horse hooves up front, guns-a-blazin' in the back. whaa the fuck!

(01/16) "ever wonder how the stars of gossip girl always look so perfectly slim?" - um probably "being children." but apparently, it's spanx.

• below, 2009 posts

(12/13) bootleg tiger woods "unfaithful" gatorade found in stores - gatorade has discontinued its tiger woods-themed "focus" beverage, but bottles bearing a picture of tiger and elin nordegren with the message "unfaithful" recently turned up in colorado stores. investigators say the labels are the work of a guerrilla artist.

(12/09) carrying 3 condoms in d.c. could get you arrested for prostitution - d.c. police can declare "prostitution free zones" where officers can arrest anyone suspected of sex work, and those targeted say police have accused them of prostitution for carrying three or more condoms. discouraging safe sex? not the best idea.

(11/30) the blog bart's blackboard - is archiving the many phrases bart has written on the chalkboard in the simpsons's 21 seasons so you can give the pause button a break.

(11/11) freedom leg looks about 1,000,000x better than crutches - crutches, in a thousand years, their design hasn't fundamentally changed. and for something as minor as a sprained ankle or broken foot, the freedom leg looks like a welcome alternative.

(11/10) sex sounds: how loud is too loud? - a uk couple were given a "noise abatement notice" for having sex so loudly that they disturbed not only neighbors but people passing on the street, but the woman argues that she deserves 'respect for her private and family life."

(10/30) miley fan threatens to eat own cat - ready for a mega-eyeroll? a "fan" is threatening to kill her cat, fuzzy, and eat the animal unless miley cyrus reopens her twitter account.

(10/27) the cheapest way to smash an iphone for fun - osddly enough, a website called iphonedummy.net is selling realistic looking but completely non-functional iphone dummies for $20 a piece. as stupid as that sounds, there are a million and one uses for this thing.

a flowchart to determine what religion you should fallow - this flowchart to help you pick a religion is kinda offensive (muslims and hummus? really?), but it is pretty funny that answering "yes" to "are you rich and insane?" leads straight to scientology.

(10/25) hungry planet - what's on family dinner tables in 15 different homes around the globe?

(10/10) new spiderman film? - marvel is currently in talks to produce a spiderman spin-off film, centered around spidey's nemesis, venom. topher grace, who played venom in 2007's spiderman 3, is not expected to play the lead in the spin-off.

(10/09) these piano stairs will motivate even the laziest of you - some have fears most are lazy. maybe you don't want to hear a playful tune as you skip up and down steps. it's still a fun idea and apparently showed a huge increase in individuals taking the stairs.

(10/03) hotel reports stolen sex toys - 37% of travelers admit to stealing from hotels. while most of us steal towels and mugs, one british hotel claims their sex toys, available by request, are the most frequently stolen items.

(10/03) woman conceives babies 2.5 weeks apart - due to a rare condition called superfetation, todd and julia grovenburg of arkansas conceived again two weeks after julia became pregnant. the babies' due dates are in 2009 and 2010, but they'll probably be delivered together in december.

(09/05) united states of sin - the 7 deadly sins, broken down on a per capita basis. How does your state rate on the scale of saintly to devilish?

(09/03) playing tetris will get you a more efficient brain - according to new research by neuroscientist richard haier, tetris makes your brain more efficient, as it helps develop some parts of it. in fact, according to haier, any "challenging visuospatial task" will affect it.

(08/29) inside a fish hospital. yes, a fish hospital - patit paban halder runs a hospital solely for fish in chandannagore, india. basically, he has 32 aquariums in his home, and he treats ailing fish with his wife and son.

(08/27) snap into a... mechanically separated chicken stick - what's in a slim jim? according to wired, "mechanically separated chicken" paste, beef of indeterminate quality, corn, soy, salt, lactic acid starter culture, and enough sodium nitrite to kill you — if you snap into 1,400 of them.

best and worst fast food: mcdonald's edition - no matter how well you plan, every day can't be an ultra-healthy, bring-your-own-lunch-to-work day. but just because you're eating at a fast food place doesn't mean all bets are off. get to know your options with the healthiest and unhealthiest foods at mcdonald's.

(08/26) how different groups spend their day - the american time use survey asks thousands of american residents to recall every minute of a day. here is how people over age 15 spent their time in 2008.

(08/07) accidentally take your gadget swimming? rice might be your best friend - who hasn't accidentally left a phone, camera or mp3 player in a swimsuit pocket and gone swimming? it's a harrowing experience, but there's hope: dunking the gadget in rice is a somewhat surprising yet very effective drying method.

(07/18) the coolest calendar ever sucks ink out of a bottle - without a doubt, this is one of the best and simplest inventions i've seen in a long time: a long strip of calendar days, made with a material that sucks ink to tint one complete number each day. genius.

(07/16) eating meat for the environment? - utne reports that environmentalists say eating some grass-fed meat is actually better for the environment than being a vegetarian, because it encourages more raising of "pasture-based livestock," which is good for soil and plants. really? fuck that

(07/15) why you can't complain about the price of today's gadgets - yup, i say it again: (why you can't complain about the price of today's gadgets [http://gizmodo.com/5313690/why-you-cant-complain-about-the-price-of-todays-gadgets].

(07/06) for 17% of americans, the public pool is a urination station - here's a saying: "we don't swim in your toilet, please don't pee in our pool." turns out 17% of americans didn't listen. gross!

(06/12) sex on the beach spreads disease - thinking of having sex on the beach or in the pool this summer? watch out! pools can dissolve condoms, and sand could give you a uti. instead, have sex in a sterile room while wearing a biohazard suit.

(06/02) how much sugar is in that? - ever wonder how much sugar is in a certain type of food. well the peeps over at sugar stacks.com give you a visual.

(05/29) samsung's 240hz hdtv is the best lcd around - and i thought i was up to date going around looking for 120hz. with 2x the amount of hz, no wonder it's the best lcd around. of course, this comes out after i've already purchased my television... that's life for you!

president obama has jokes to make about his previous promises_ - maybe he should look at his own website for a refresher course, but wait, that might not be a good idea since THEY DELETE PROMISES! read more about it here.

virgin with down syndrome visits las vegas to get laid - lucy baxter is on a crusade to get her son with down syndrome, otto, laid. wonder if he has trouble because his mom is on tv trying to get him laid.

(05/28) women more likely to commit suicide while menstruating - wait, what? a study of corpses determined that women were more likely to commit suicide while they were menstruating. this bears out earlier research (down below) suggesting that more women attempt suicide while on the rag.

four states adopt 'no-smiles' policy for driver's licenses - stopping driver's license fraud is no laughing matter: four states are ordering people to wipe the grins off their faces in their license photos.

(05/27) next ipod nano with built in camera - they've got no other details, like megapixels or storage capacity or if it'll shoot video, but we can assume if it's real, we'll see it in september, like always.

(05/22) green day lashes out at wal-mart policy - "They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there," Armstrong said. "We just said no. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something."

(05/21) thinking they're fat pushes teens toward suicide - just thinking they're overweight — even if they're not — makes teens more likely to attempt suicide.

(05/20) calories per dollar - just as the kids today use alcohol labeling to ensure economical intoxication, so may the fatties of tomorrow make use of new york's fast food calorie labeling.

(05/19) power plugs of the world - have you ever wondered what type of plug they use in nepal? yeah, me too.

(04/17) he can't haz cheezburger - a study says guys who subsist on processed meat and full-fat dairy have lower sperm quality than fruit-and-veggie fiends. does this mean we can now use lunchables as birth control?

(04/15) was marilyn monroe a size 16? - an exhibition of costume reveals the truth about those famous curves.

New Shuffle Costs Apple $21.77 to build - the $79, third generation ipod shuffle costs apple a total of $21.77 to build and box.

(04/06) afghanistan reviewing "legalized rape" law - president hamid karzai has agreed to review the recently passed law, undoubtedly due to international outrage over the lack of protection for afghani women and their rights.

(04/05) do a pig a favor, ban vegetarianism now! - "vegetarianism is an eating disorder," coren writes, "it's a better eating disorder than many others, because at least it doesn't make you fat, and in general it doesn't cause you to wither away and die, but it does make you pale, and flaky, and unbelievably tedious to be around."

(02/12) this is why america is morbidly obese - check out this website: thisiswhyyourefat.com, but wait... it's not only food, laziness also falls in that category, observe: one & two.

(02/10) batwoman, a lesbian? - batman will be taking a backseat in 2009 and handing the detective comics series over to batwoman, who will mark the publisher's "most high profile title starring a gay superhero.", wow...

(02/08) blink 182, working on new album - what... the... fuck... hell-to-the-fucken-yes, i can't wait. i seen them on their last tour back when john kerry was running for president, ha.