The study published in Science discovered a glucose-aversion among German cockroaches, which despite their name are found all over the world. In fact, samples were collected from United States, Russia, Puerto Rico and South Korea. Glucose-averse roaches were found in 7 out of 19 populations. These roaches avoided jelly that contained glucose and spat it out when force-fed, even shaking their heads in disgust.

Study researcher Coby Schal says the mutant roaches have changes in the gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) that detect bitterness.

“The cells that normally respond to bitter compounds were responding to glucose in these cockroaches so they’re perceiving glucose to be a bitter compound” Schal explains. “The sweet-responding cell does also fire, but the bitter compound actually inhibits it – so the end result is that bitterness overrides sweetness.”

Schal calls it an evolutionary arms race between humans and cockroaches, which clearly have a leg up on us.

“Escape from the Skyscraper,” tasks participants with looking for clues that lead to an imaginary bomb, which was unfortunately found by real-life detectives after the event had come to an ended.

The suspicious device was a whiteboard with red and blue wires reminiscent of the bomb in Case Closed – The Time Bombed Skyscraper, in which the heroine correctly chooses not to cut the red wire because it reminds her of the red thread of fate that connects her to the hero. The bomb disposal unit was slightly more practical. An X-ray machine revealed the object was filled with paper mache.

Not only did Microsoft’s press conference fail to alleviate fears about the new Xbox One but followup interviews seem to confirm them.

(Almost) Always Online

Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison tells Wired an internet connection for won’t be required for “certain” single player games, which implies it will for some or even most games. Furthermore, he suggested it will require regular connection, if not a constant one.

Harrison divulged:

There is some technology about how often, or how frequently the device has to ‘ping’, but that has not been… we have not talked publicly about that yet, but it will be very user-friendly

I Spy with My Little Eye

The Xbox One will be controlled through voice and gesture based commands via the new Kinect, which is no longer a peripheral but a core component.

Improvements include a 60% increase in field of view, minimum object threshold 2.5x smaller, facial recognition, and an infrared night-vision camera the can detect heat signatures like a human heartbeat, which could be used as a lie detector.

Even when it’s “off” it’s still on, running at a low-power state that allows it to be activated by the words “Xbox on.”

Jeff Henshaw, the group program manager for Xbox Incubation tells CNET that the Kinect can’t be disconnected but it can be disabled.

Henshaw explains:

If you want privacy, we’ll give you modes that ensure your privacy. And we actually have a little bit about this on the Web already. We will have something similar for the Kinect with Xbox One. The system is designed to have Kinect be an integral part of the experience. It’s not the case where you’ll be able to remove the camera altogether. But you’ll be able to put the system in modes where you can be completely secure about the fact that the camera is off and can’t see you.

In fact, Microsoft has already released a step-by-step instructional video:

Long before she became Supergirl, Kara Zor-El enlisted to colonize the universe in what was known as “The Great Expansion of Krypton.” But while Kara implores her teammates to work together, Dev-Em eliminates his competition in order to secure a spot on the mission. It’s the first murder on Krypton in over a thousand years so rather execute him and make it the second, the law council decides to get rid of him altogether.

Kara awakes from a cryo-sleep chamber to find her crew has been murdered by Dev-Em, who has clearly gone insane during his ten years as a stow away. Dev-Em alters course for a prehistoric Earth. He tells Kara that if she will not populate the planet with planet with him, then he will use the ship’s “growth codex” to create new Kryptonians. The ship crash lands in the Arctic and a shadowy figure exits.

Thousands of years later, a signal is detected coming from ship under the ice…

“Dandelions” by Cheryl Brown

Four yellow and one blue dandelions are on the couch. A giant pair of lips emerges from the TV and with a loud sucking and blowing sound, blows. Tiny Simpsons fly all over the room.

“Tubby Trouble” by Kyle Debona

Instead of the normal living room, it’s the Simpson’s bathroom and it zooms in on the tub. The tub is filled with bubbles and you can’t see the surface. A rubber ducky Marge pops up, followed by a rubber ducky of Lisa, Bart and Maggie. A toy tug boat of Homer pops up last. Homer then sinks again with a panicked look on his tug boat face.

“Revenge of the Sofa” by Ben Feldman

The Simpsons enter the family room and the couch is missing. They stand there looking puzzled. A vengeful anthropomorphized couch drops from the ceiling behind them and wraps the whole family up in rope side by side, then tips them over onto the floor. Then a “mother” couch and three child couches enter the room and join the first couch (the father), and they all sit on the Simpsons to enjoy some TV. THE END.

The winner was chosen by fans, who voted for “Dandelions.” Brown won a trip to Hollywood, where she was given a tour of the animation studio as well as a preview of her Couch Gag that airs Sunday, May 19th.

“That’s a good idea, Lace,” says Val. “Give him a lap dance. He’ll spill in 30 seconds.”

Lacey retorts, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Angelina Jolie had her breasts enlarged for her role as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider but the actress had them removed for her role as a mother.

Jolie reveals in a New York Times op-ed that she had a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carries the “faulty” BRCA1 gene, which increases the risk of breast cancer. She recalls telling her children how “mommy’s mommy” died of cancer but assuring them that they needn’t worry about her. Now they don’t have to.

“My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent,” Jolie explains. “I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

She notes that there have been many advances in reconstruction over the years. The surgery has left only small scars, which is reassuring to her children.

“On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman,” she adds. “I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”

BBC Worldwide said in a statement:

A small number of US Doctor Who fans have received their series seven part two DVD three weeks early. We are asking fans who may have the discs not to divulge plot details so that fellow fans who have yet to see the episodes do not have their viewing pleasure ruined.

The Doctor Who official Twitter feed added:

Steven Moffat has promised if fans help keep the finale’s secrets, we’ll release a special video featuring Matt & David right after the ep!

The commercial in question was the third part in series about a talking goat addicted to Mountain Dew. The animal assaults a white woman and is held for a police lineup along with several black men dressed as thugs. The criminals are played by members of the hip-hop collective Odd Future including co-founder Tyler, The Creator. The commercial was actually brainchild of Tyler, who is black and (I’m guessing) not racist against himself.

While black people are off limits, white people are fair game.

During the Great Recession, Washington Mutual (WaMu) produced a commercial that demonized bankers as a monolithic group of stodgy old white men. A young black man keeps the bankers in a holding pen and uses them as a focus group for what not to do. They become enraged over his proposal to eliminate bank fees but he pacifies them with a giant bottle of champagne. Just imagine the outrage there would have been if the races were reversed in this scenario and the champagne was malt liquor.

Not only was the commercial not pulled, they made more of them. This time the bankers were so unhappy that WaMu was eliminating fees that they threatened to jump off a building. Their equally greedy wives talked them out of it. “Who’s gonna pay from my liposuction?” a wife asks. Can you picture a bunch of baby mamas were asking for lip and butt enlargement?

Next WaMu took a whack at Italians American by portraying them as mobsters that the typical bank sics on customers. Do you think for one second that they’d ever make the debt collectors stereotypical black gangsters? Forget about it.

Without a doubt, these commercials are far more racist but where was the political correctness then?