Put This In Your Lungs And Smoke It

It’s not quite as gross as a teratoma, but it is pretty nuts. Russian media are reporting that doctors found a 2-inch fir tree growing in a 28-year-old man’s lungs. Of course then along comes a biologist to point out that trees need such things as light. Anyway, I think the surgeon is smirking just a little bit too much.

Also in today’s links: Web-enabling your brain, using the hair off your head to help the earth, and more.

• A postdoc at MIT is trying to make accessing the Internet an experience seamlessly integrated with normal life — not bound by those pesky screens of various sorts and sizes. So, for instance, he holds up his two thumbs and first fingers in the shape of a box, and that becomes a digital photo.
• When I have a tough decision to make, I go out, drink some tequila, and go to sleep, and when I wake up in the morning, the right choice is there waiting for me. Apparently, my brain had the right answer in it before I even knew about it, an idea supported by new research.
• Human hair is really pretty on most people’s heads, but kind of gross in other instances, such as, say, a teratoma, or a mat used for soaking up oil spills. But apparently human hair is great at absorbing oil, and a valuable resource in the event of a spill.
• And another great innovation for you: biodegradable chewing gum. Made from tree sap instead of petrochemicals, the new gum breaks down into dust within six weeks. Officials in Britain, where the gum is sold, are really excited about having less gum to clean up off the streets.