For the record, I bitched here about Ambien-induced weird behaviour long before it was trendy.

sarameg, there's no way you've done more mutant ninja turtle research than I have. I mean, I intend to name a daughter after one of them. Would I do that if they weren't mammallian?

How many years of teenage mutant ninja turtle study have YOU put in? Did you have the action figures?

Regarding naming, I put nothing past you.

Did you have the action figures?

Yes, and the ring. And the weapons.

Regarding naming, I put nothing past you.

I am laid low by your distrust, but not low enough to surrender the point.

Although I should really ditch work. It's so quiet in here, and the sun's come out from the stupid rainclouds.

Which weird behavior, though?

My experience with Ambien was that it was kind of psychedelic, but I never acted out while on it, personally.

Also: you are naming your daughter what now?

Which weird behavior, though?

I live alone, so I can't be sure of the extent of it. However, I need to hide all the phones next time I take one, because those conversations are out of control.

I can tell that I've done stuff, not just fallen asleep, by what's left on my TiVo, for instance. I'll watch and delete stuff and have no memory of it at all.

Luckily it gives me leaden legs, so I doubt I'll go anywhere far on them. Plus my new migraine prophylactics make me sleepy enough that I doubt I'll need a sleeping pill ever when I'm on them.

Rafael.

My Nano just played Hey Mickey, followed by I will survive , and now it's on It's raining men.

Sounds like your nano must have been thrilled about the move to San Francisco.

If I take a whole Ambien, I get fun hallucinations. I cheerfully burble at Pete about the curtains breathing, or that the light fixture above the bed has grown arms and is being all wiggly at me. Pete then tells me to shut my eyes and go to sleep, because isn't that what I took the Ambien for?

Huh. Ambien just made me sleepy. Guess I'm lucky, then.

Oh, & I post weird Ambienised too.

Unrelatedly, I'm stuck in traffic a few cars away from a Masai.

Current NASA research in anitmatter-fueled spaceships: [link]

Previous antimatter-powered spaceship designs employed antiprotons, which produce high-energy gamma rays when they annihilate. The new design will use positrons, which make gamma rays with about 400 times less energy.

The NIAC research is a preliminary study to see if the idea is feasible. If it looks promising, and funds are available to successfully develop the technology, a positron-powered spaceship would have a couple advantages over the existing plans for a human mission to Mars

...

"A rough estimate to produce the 10 milligrams of positrons needed for a human Mars mission is about 250 million dollars using technology that is currently under development," said Smith. This cost might seem high, but it has to be considered against the extra cost to launch a heavier chemical rocket (current launch costs are about $10,000 per pound) or the cost to fuel and make safe a nuclear reactor. "Based on the experience with nuclear technology, it seems reasonable to expect positron production cost to go down with more research," added Smith.