Notes for April 27th

• April seems to have been flying by...just thought I'd point that out.  Haven't been doing 'papers of the day' for a while now because A) I've been reviewing a few papers and B) I had a job interview.  Hopefully will get back to it soon.
• This whole oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is incredibly frustrating.  This is exactly why environmentalists are concerned about these types of activities.  Even the best operating conditions sometimes result in catastrophic failure.  And often, the best operating conditions are more fantasy than reality.
• Flaxseed oil and fish oil are both great...but you're going to have to eat a lot more flaxseed oil.  Unfortunately (for me) I don't really eat fish.  Which means I'm going to need to start eating a lot more flaxseed.  
• Individual trees significantly boost the number of bird species.  Ok...sure...but really?  I think this is probably an example of an occasion where biodiversity and ecosystem function are not strongly linked.
• A virus that jumped from plants to vertebrates.  This makes me think I don't actually understand how viruses work at all.