► A parrot saved a choking toddler by, well, yelling for the sitter (CBS Denver). No, really! Added interest: the parrot in question is a Quaker parrot, a species illegal to own in many places.

► The tongue is not really divided into distinct taste areas (NYT). Also, I did not realize umami was an official taste receptor category now.

► Tony opines on China’s financial crisis and subsequent reckoning package. Of note:

Zhou-sixpack does not respond to price or income changes like your average Westerner. Though having enjoyed things like refrigeration and heating, most here are perfectly capable of getting by on less. As such, policy measures meant to increase domestic consumption are probably less effective than we’re used to thinking of them. If the fiscal stimulus was simply turned into a cash handout, most households would stick it directly into savings – spooked as they are about the slowing economy.

► DNA may be both more “loquacious” and less significant (~1% of the “total human genome”) than we previously believed.

Not long ago, RNA was seen as a bureaucrat, the middle molecule between a gene and a protein, as exemplified by the tidy aphorism, “DNA makes RNA makes protein.” Now we find cases of short clips of RNA acting like DNA, transmitting genetic secrets to the next generation directly, without bothering to ask permission. We find cases of RNA acting like a protein, catalyzing chemical reactions, pushing other molecules around or tearing them down. RNA is like the vice presidency: it’s executive, it’s legislative, it’s furtive.

Furtive! I love it.

► Finally, Megan McArdle started an open thread on bourgeois penny-pinching. (Fiver-pinching?)

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