This organic breakfast may not be “chemical free,” but it could change your brain. Photo by lauren glanzer.

Special congratulations this week to Ed Yong, who is officially a full-time freelance writer as of Wednesday. I can only imagine what he’ll achieve now that this science writing thing isn’t restricted to his spare time.

• Please note that “direct” experiments ≠ clearer results. Groundbreaking experiments that would be ethically impossible to conduct.
• Pre-emptive incest? Hermaphroditic scale insects impregnate their offspring just after conceiving them.
• In other words, bugger off, Senator McCain. Why would you want to sample bears’ DNA? Because bears are actually pretty important, for starters.
• No word on whether they also dance quadrilles. Teeny-tiny lobsters buzz to scare off predators.
• The first one alone may cause a spit-take. Four myths about organic agriculture may surprise you quite a bit.
• Or, less likely to draw, anyway. You’re more likely to win at “rock-paper-scissors” if you play blindfolded.
• “Ooooh, changes in grey matter.” Scicurious soft-boils a study purporting to show that eating breakfast changes your brain.
• Population control. When doing observational research on humans, the way you group people into populations may make a big difference.