All featured in eating contests across the U.S. In case you’re wondering, Sonya, the ‘Black Widow’ answers many questions at her site , and links to a video of the popcorn-eating competition, which went into double overtime. Click on the ‘watch the highlights’ moving text.

The Time Traveler’s Wife , by Audrey Niffenegger.

Not my photo, but I’m envious.

Do you long to be met at the door of a dining establishment with a demure greeting by a Japanese woman costumed as a French maid ? In Tokyo, this is possible, along with a room full of Snow White, schoolgirl, or elf costumes, where you can choose the waitress look you crave. The French maid, however, is the all-time favorite fantasy. Foods and various services (playing cards, picture-taking, nothing off-color) are available too.

Threats of bodily harm have been aimed at the staff of a restaurant offering squirrel on its menu.

A handheld text-to-speech device liberates a patient who has lost her ability to speak.

Researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute uncover the mechanism that allows certain bacteria ( E. coli and the plague bacillus) to inject proteins into our cells. The information will help in the design of new drugs to combat this injecting action.

Cryptococcus gattii moves from Vancouver Island to the B.C. mainland. Its spores cause headache, night sweats, and coughing (good thing I didn’t know about this last week), and can progress to pneumonia, meningitis, and death.

It’s the thing to do in Langzhong in Sichuan, where there is a public vinegar bathhouse. Devotees claim that it lowers the blood pressure and is beneficial to the skin as well. (sniff)

An article by Michael Fitzgerald from Technology Review.

They’re all subjects of dogged, determined, and unholy interest in the world of competitive eating .

This time, it’s popcorn for $10,000.

She has also won the lobster-eating competition, plus the one for boiled eggs. Boiled eggs must be a tough one.

A Parkinson’s patient discovers a happy byproduct of brain surgery.

What’s it like to have bananas mashed with peanut butter for breakfast with vegetable juice as a chaser? Kind of like slicing bananas into your pasta sauce. Or maybe pouring ketchup on a slice of banana cream pie.

Tired of eggs.

Not short ribs, but the not-very-meaty rib bones, dripping with barbecue sauce. It is possible to eat these at the computer. Just don’t expect to be able to type.

An amateur fossil hunter finds a new species of fish in Dunbartonshire.

Three little girls in one family die of a disease that disintegrates their brains. Their parents donate the organs, which help determine the genetic flaws that cause the illness.