I know three women who got pregnant while deliberately taking a break from infertility treatments. Perhaps they were sensitive to stress and taking a break from worrying about their infertility lowered their stress levels enough to let them conceive. Or maybe it was just random chance that their ovaries fired that month. It's impossible to know.

I hope the stress theory won't fuel yet another round of infertility victim-blaming. ("It's your own fault that you're infertile because you let yourself get too stressed out!") Infertility in and of itself is extremely stressful. And telling someone not to stress out about it is the surest way to make them more stressed!

Researchers should be studying the physiological changes that stress makes in women's bodies in general and our reproductive system in particular, with an eye towards countering these changes. In the meantime, it might not be a bad idea for infertility specialists to encourage their patients to practice known, safe techniques for reducing stress, like meditation, exercise, and other lifestyle changes.

His lips move.

At a recent family gathering, we counted up relatives with bionic parts. There's my dad with a bionic heart assistance device (pacemaker-defibrillator), my diabetic cousin with a bionic pancreas (insulin pump), my deaf cousin with bionic ears (cochlear implants), and a number of folks with bionic hips and knees, not to mention a breast cancer survivor with a bionic boob! Eventually we will all be like the Six Million Dollar Man as our body parts fail and are replaced with machines. So it's heartening to hear that DARPA is sponsoring development of prosthetic limbs that behave more like natural ones. This technology will spill over into the civilian sector and if it won't make us better, stronger, and faster than we were, at least it might make us almost as good.

Spay/neuter laws are not a bad idea in general, though. Shelters are full of unwanted dogs of all breeds, not just pit bulls.

"... Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."

And this is the guy the wing nuts want to be President. But hey, freedom isn't about, well, freedom -- it's about submission to authority to enable it to stick it to people you don't like.

I particularly hate it when parents give a kid the same trendy name that every other child the same age has, but creatively misspell it to show how unique and special their offspring is. All that these "uniquely" spelled names do is make the parents look like illiterates. It makes my inner editor want to break out the red pen -- "It's spelled Brittany, dammit, not Britnee or Britony or Brytinee or Britney or ..."

You are upset and angry because you've been betrayed. You're questioning your judgment for being taken in by your so-called friends and perhaps grieving a bit for friendships that turned out to be based on lies. These feelings are normal and natural, so don't feel bad or think less of yourself for them. They will lessen in time.

Meanwhile, you can use this experience to gain wisdom and empathy for the outsider, the bullied, the underdog. Realize that you are better off without these people in your life. Continue your studies. If you feel dissatisfied about your appearance, try a mini-makeover: exercise, update your wardrobe, hairstyle, and makeup (if you wear it), eat healthier foods, etc. Cultivate new, "real world" friends and hobbies. Get involved with your church if religion is your thing. Change your surroundings. You need to be moving forward. Living well is the best revenge.

And stay away from Facebook. It's the nuisance bar of the Internet.

Danica McKellar is trying valiantly to show teenaged girls that math is relevant to their daily lives and isn't just the province of male nerds. She's hoping to lead at least a few of them to that moment of enlightenment when they realize mathematics is actually good for something. These are totally worthy goals, yet you criticize her because her book uses examples that are traditionally feminine, instead of praising her for trying to present math in a format that would interest ordinary girls. Sounds like the typical Broadsheet circular firing squad to me.

I've heard this kind of talk from militant vegan acquaintances for years. Either they don't like how omnivores smell or they don't want to sleep with someone who they believe is unethical and/or immoral.

To each his or her own.

My conservative friends are the nicest people under most circumstances. But get them talking about anything relating to politics, terrorism, or the Iraq war, and it's as if Dr. and Mrs. Jekyll turned into Mr. and Mrs. Hyde before my eyes.

They're just sitting at different tables.

They won't go for Giuliani because they think he's soft on abortion, not because every single other position he's taken is anti-life and inconsistent with Catholic teaching.

Point about responsibility well taken. However, you cannot realistically expect a plane full of hundreds of people to maintain absolute silence just because you do not like noise. It isn't going to happen. Planes also have noisy fans and noisy engines that contribute significantly to the ambient noise level in the cabin.

Accommodation is a two-way street. You must be willing to change your own behavior if you are going to ask others to do the same. I've used earplugs and headphones many times in situations where I had no control over the noise level, and they work pretty well. If you choose not to use them, well, that's your lookout.