Links post

• Best science on TV: Comedy Central's Stewart, Colbert?: “‘It is a very bad thing for the country that Comedy Central is the go-to place for hearing scientists talk about their recent work, but it's great for Comedy Central,’ [Caltech physicist] Carroll says.”
• The bacterial zoo in your bowel: “Who knows what revelations lurk within the poo of other nations?” I love the idea that I am a planet on which (well, inside which) live billions of tiny life forms in their various ecosystems. This is what one of my professors referred to as “dark side of the moon stuff” -- we know so little about what’s normal for the organisms living inside us.
• In praise of audio fiction: Blake Charlton is an MD student taking a research year— much like me!
• Interactive toys: Patricia McConnell speculates on what's going on inside her dog Willie's head when he plays with interactive toys.