Unsure what to give your special someone for Valentines Day this year? Why not give their name to one of the Bronx Zoo's 58,000 Madagascar hissing cockroaches.
posted by The Whelk on Jan 27, 2012 - 47 comments

Cannabis Culture
posted by twoleftfeet on Apr 3, 2011 - 59 comments

Backyard Brains, the people who showed you how to stimulate neurons in a cockroach leg using your iPhone, now bring you the remote controlled roach. [more inside]
posted by drdanger on Mar 7, 2011 - 28 comments

Two Buddhist teachers live a purportedly celibate life together as they strive for new heights of intimacy. But Tibetan Buddhist leaders and scholars are alarmed; the Dalai Lama refused a birthday offering. His teachings on yoga and business are controversial; so is the matter of his three-year "silent" retreat. More on Geshe Michael Roach. (Wiki.)
posted by fiercecupcake on May 15, 2008 - 80 comments

Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Brooch. These insects come in varied patterns and are decorated with the finest Austrian Swarovski crystal... All roaches are male to ensure sterility, and come complete with a leash set. People step on these things or feed them to other animals. We're giving them this really fabulous, beautiful life. Allegedly inspired by a joke. Product specimen shown in action here.
posted by brain_drain on Oct 11, 2006 - 28 comments

Nearly Half of Americans want to let states legally regulate and tax marijuana the way they do liquor and gambling.
Zogby International will pimp there services to just about anyone these days, including NORML for a poll on American's attitudes towards pot. According to the poll 65% of 18-29 year olds and 50% of 50-64 year-olds are cool with weed being legal and controlled like booze. The former slackers of Generation X, 30-49 year-olds, oppose it by 58% and the geezers over 65 oppose it by only 52%.

The pool shows some interesting generational attitudes. Is the 30-49 age group still following Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" mantra or is this the attitude of parents worried about their kids? I thought these folks were supposed to be the slacker generation, and now they're the strongest opponents to legalization.
posted by DragonBoy on Mar 17, 2006 - 130 comments

Wasp performs roach-brain-surgery to make zombie slave-roaches "Ampulex compressa is a wasp that has evolved to tackle roaches, insert a stinger into their brains and disable their escape reflexes. This lets the wasp use the roach's antennae to steer the roach to its lair, where it can lay its egg in it. ... Seeing a full-grown wasp crawl out of a roach suddenly makes those Alien movies look pretty derivative. " Via Boing Boing
posted by badlydubbedboy on Feb 3, 2006 - 49 comments