tDCS: a tiny amount of current into one's brain produces amazing performance gains!

I just heard the most recent Radiolab Short episode, which concerns tDCS with a couple of people describing their experiences with it and researchers discussing its prospects.

I won't spoil the Radiolab episode by discussing its contents in detail, but you won't be disappointed.

In addition to researchers, there are also a lot of amateurs working with tDCS, since hardware setups can be built for as little as $20. For example, this guy used a Radio Shack circuit teaching kit.

The potential for this "9-volt nirvana" seems enormous in so many areas of human endeavor it's hard to count ...

Any of my 6 or 7 regular readers tried this yet?

No shower for 12 years?

The New York Times recently ran an article on a research project on encouraging bacteria that live on our skin rather than discouraging them ... for example, by showering with the kind of soaps and shampoos and deodorants we typically use in industrialized societies.

The article describes a startup AOBiome that has been collecting bacteria that feed on ammonia. One of the researchers has been working with such bacteria (with himself) as a subject and hasn't had a shower in 12 years, according to the article. (Supposedly he still smells OK according to those he works with due to the action of the bacteria doing their job.)

Fascinating article. Anybody else here tried such a thing? Hard to imagine giving up showering but if the benefits turn out to be compelling I could certainly see changing out soaps and shampoos for something more bacteria-friendly.

Amazing times we live in ...