Tale of 2 doctors: The NYTimes has the rundown on insults and veiled threats which were directed towards a whistle-blowing physician who questioned the safety of the diabetes drug Avantis. Seems the doc doing the intimidating worked for the drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, and he is now Director of Global Health for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Makes you wonder about the chilling effect such intimidation has on keeping us informed about dangerous or ineffective drugs.

Think you can multitask and chew gum at the same time? It might be time to slow the fuck down…

The first lunar eclipse in three years occurred Saturday. Here’s a picture of a partial eclipse over Prague in 2004. Complete beauty.

And while you’re stargazing, check out this NY Times piece  for a look at how the aurora borealis  lights up the sky in Fairbanks Alaska.

This time, the canary in the coal-mine is a bee.

Bee populations are plummeting across the US. Scientists are unsure as to why this is happening; what’s not in doubt is how much we depend on these kindly bugs:

From the NY Times article, Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril:

Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, 

vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation. 

So hug a bee today (but not too tightly)