Magic Statistics

Smoking marijuana while pregnant is alleged to reduce morning sickness.

A new Canadian study suggests smoking marijuana while pregnant is an effective way to combat morning sickness, though researchers note the findings are far from conclusive.
. . .
Rachel Westfall, a fellow with the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research at UVic . . . acknowledged the study had weaknesses — the subjects were all predisposed to feel cannabis had benefits, they were reporting on past experience and there was no control group.
. . .
As to adverse effects, some studies have found that recreational marijuana use leads to reduced birthweights, while others found no impact, the paper said. With marijuana use being so widespread, "if there was some serious developmental damage … I think we would have seen it come up," said Phillipe Lucas of the Victoria Compassion Society, which took part in the study.

Now there's a scientific approach: I think we would have seen it come up.

via Nealenews.

Lady Jane Grey, who sat on the throne for nine days in 1553 at the age of 16, was England's shortest-reigning monarch. She is also the only English monarch since 1500 who left no portrait universally accepted as authentic. That may be about to change.

The great puzzle of what Lady Jane Grey, England's shortest-reigning monarch, looked like has been cracked. A little improbably, the answer may have been sitting in a house in south London for the last 100 years.

A likeness of Lady Jane has proved as elusive as a likeness of Shakespeare but Christopher Foley, a prominent London art dealer who has spent months researching the Streatham portrait, said yesterday that he was "very certain" that it was a contemporary image of the queen.

Experts at the National Portrait Gallery have agreed to study the picture and Mr Foley's evidence and if they confirm his attribution it is likely to be hailed as one of the most exciting English art discoveries for many years, even though it is by an unknown hand.

This post, "A prayer of Lady Jane Grey", briefly recounts her tragic story.

UPDATE (6 March 2007): A different portrait has been identified as authentic.