Unshared LJ Interests
Jul. 8th, 2003 12:46 pmBlack Books Press -- where I work. Lotsa people interested in "black books" but they mean something else entirely.
Environmental Estrogen Mimics -- as I noted in passing before, this isn't exactly correct. I'm interested in estrogen and androgen mimics (phthalates, for example), and their environmental impact, as well as environmental pollution by "sex hormones" themselves -- like runoff from birth control pills, say. These things tend to mess up the sexual anatomy and behavior of fish and amphibians. (You can see my little project The XY Conspiracy for a "fictional" look at some of this stuff -- lots of links, but not very well-maintained at the moment, sorry. I'm in the process of revising the fiction part of the website. The scientific stuff remains valid.) Anyway, I am fascinated by every little story that comes out in Science News or wherever that reports on sturgeon being feminized, or frogs having trouble reproducing, because of hormonal pollution.
Microlivestock -- Steven likes to joke about this one, and about my livestock interest in general. No, I don't mean teeny-tiny goats or chickens (although I like dwarf goats), I mean small animals (and often rare breeds), usually raised in on a smaller scale than traditional livestock: non-improved domesticated turkeys (found in Mexico), guinea fowl, quail, water deer, and so forth. Iguanas are considered microlivestock; so are guinea pigs and rabbits. I'm somewhat interested in microbreeds of larger livestock, too. No, I am not a farmer; yes, this is just a theoretical interest.
Now that you all think I'm hopelessly weird...
Environmental Estrogen Mimics -- as I noted in passing before, this isn't exactly correct. I'm interested in estrogen and androgen mimics (phthalates, for example), and their environmental impact, as well as environmental pollution by "sex hormones" themselves -- like runoff from birth control pills, say. These things tend to mess up the sexual anatomy and behavior of fish and amphibians. (You can see my little project The XY Conspiracy for a "fictional" look at some of this stuff -- lots of links, but not very well-maintained at the moment, sorry. I'm in the process of revising the fiction part of the website. The scientific stuff remains valid.) Anyway, I am fascinated by every little story that comes out in Science News or wherever that reports on sturgeon being feminized, or frogs having trouble reproducing, because of hormonal pollution.
Microlivestock -- Steven likes to joke about this one, and about my livestock interest in general. No, I don't mean teeny-tiny goats or chickens (although I like dwarf goats), I mean small animals (and often rare breeds), usually raised in on a smaller scale than traditional livestock: non-improved domesticated turkeys (found in Mexico), guinea fowl, quail, water deer, and so forth. Iguanas are considered microlivestock; so are guinea pigs and rabbits. I'm somewhat interested in microbreeds of larger livestock, too. No, I am not a farmer; yes, this is just a theoretical interest.
Now that you all think I'm hopelessly weird...