Getting back to lingerie

 

We won't be seeing the last of Sydney Sweeney anytime soon, I can guarantee that. And she also has her own line of lingerie.  The pictures accompanying the Daily Mail article indicate that it fits her quite well.

Sydney's Lingerie: 

Sydney Sweeney lifts the lid on her lingerie empire plans as she strips down for jaw-dropping photo shoot

The article also features this appealing quote: "Sweeney worked hard to make the undergarments feel as comfortable as a second skin. 'Boobs and bodies are like fingerprints; everyone's are different, and I wanted to design for that,' Sweeney shared."

Good plan, and it looks like it's a quality product as well. Representing it herself probably doesn't hurt sales one bit.

Yes, it's a house

 

I saw this on a short list of celebrity homes that are quite impressive.  And this one is certainly that.  The name of this impressive domicile is Friar Park, and it was owned by Beatle George Harrison for three decades.  According to the list text, his wife still lives there. 

A few other people could live there too.

Here's a short summary of what's there. This is from Country Life UK.

"The Victoria County History describes Friar Park as ‘a colourful and eccentric melange of French Flamboyant Gothic in brick, stone and terracotta, incorporating towers, pinnacles and large traceried windows’. It was enlarged and embellished by Sir Frank Crisp, a brilliant lawyer, who bubbled over with charm and energy, but was also an enthusiastic botanist and treasurer of the Linnaean Society of London. He was rich enough, too, to employ 45 gardeners at Friar Park. Alpine plants were his greatest passion and, in 1896, he began to develop his spectacular four-acre Alpine Garden, topped by a scaled-down copy of the Matterhorn."

The house itself?

It apparently doesn't have 120 rooms -- George Harrison's wife, who still lives there, says that's too many -- but it probably doesn't have much less than that.

Coffee is in your genes

 

Some people like coffee more than others. Now, don't be concerned about the title of this post, because even if you drink a lot of coffee, it won't alter your DNA.

However, researchers have used caffeine to control gene manipulation with CRISPR.  And here I thought caffeine was just a stimulant.

It's called chemogenetics -- and the article I'm about to cite says this:

"Chemogenetics refers to the ability to control cellular behavior using externally applied, small molecules — often drugs or dietary compounds — that activate genetically engineered switches inside cells. Unlike traditional drugs that broadly affect many tissues, chemogenetic approaches are designed to act only on cells that have been genetically programmed to respond."

Smart readers are already anticipating what comes next -- caffeine is the small molecule being used to activate the genetic switch.  Let's see how.

"Zhou’s newest research builds on existing knowledge of genetic “switches” within cells by introducing a new chemogenetic approach that uses CRISPR and caffeine. The process begins with installing the cells in advance. Genes encoding the nanobody, its matching target protein and the CRISPR machinery are delivered using established gene-transfer methods, allowing cells to produce these components on their own. Once this molecular framework is in place, the process can be externally controlled. When a person later consumes a 20 mg dose of caffeine — such as from coffee, chocolate or a soda — it triggers a nanobody and its matching target protein to bind together, thereby activating CRISPR-driven gene modifications inside cells." 

Cool, right?   What could that help with?

"When an engineered nanobody protein can be switched on by caffeine, it’s called a “caffebody.” By harnessing the power of these caffebodies, Zhou says scientists may someday be able to treat a range of diseases. In the long term, he believes it may be possible to engineer cells that allow people with diabetes to boost insulin production simply by drinking a cup of coffee."

I think I'll have a cup of coffee while I think about this.

Reference: Wang T, Nonomura T, Cui M, et al. Reprogramming chemically induced dimerization systems with genetically encoded nanobodies. Chemical Science 2025;16(46):21774-21780. doi: 10.1039/D5SC05703E

 

A public service, of course

 

Always glad to draw the attention of my readers to new lingerie offerings.  This one is Avidlove (click the avidlove.com link for more). They're also on Facebook.

Some of their items are displayed below. I find them quite fetching. The models are helpful with that.

Yes, she did

 

Apropos of nothing in particular, I discovered something about the Asian actress Ming-Na Wen, who I remembered all the way back to her stint on As the World Turns, and I know of her subsequently notable appearances in Mulan (Mulan's voice in the animation, briefly seen in the live action version), ER, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and most recently The Mandolorian, though she's had more work since.

So, she was also in a movie titled One Night Stand, with the top two cast positions occupied by Wesley Snipes and Nastassja Kinski.  It was notable because she was briefly (and really) topless, qhite nicely, not aided by AI. I just never knew that before.  You can take my word for it or do a bit of searching, if you want to know and see more.

But she has been and still is, quite attractive. The picture below shows her smiling; in many of her glamor pictures, she looks haughty and sexy, mouth closed.  (And I should add, she's married with two kids. Not a problem for me.)

Lighthouse of the Week, March 22-28, 2026: Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland, Canada

 

I checked before I did this Lighthouse of the Week post, and I've done five or six lighthouses in Newfoundland before this. That's not a problem, because there are many more.  I find it hard to believe that I missed this one until now, because it is truly hard to miss.  You'll see what I mean in a moment.

First of all, location-wise, it's nearly the easternmost location in North America, but Cape Spear (also with a lighthouse, which I've featured before) is a couple degree-seconds further east.

So Cape Bonavista is here, with St. John's shown for visual perspective.

The info I obtained from the Lighthouse Directory is below.

"1843. Inactive since 1966. 11 m (36 ft) round cylindrical stone tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 2-story stone keeper's house. A very rare 1816 catoptric light, with six reflectors, is installed in the lantern. Lighthouse and lantern painted with vertical red and white stripes. Three additional dwellings and other buildings. ... This historic light station has been restored to its appearance during the 1870s. Restoration was delayed by a fire set by lightning on 3 August 2001 but the project was completed by reinstallation of the restored catoptric light in September 2003. The lighting apparatus used in Scotland from 1816 and transferred here in 1895 is on display."

Lighthouse Friends:  Cape Bonavista, NF

Pictures (including, of course, the catoptric light) are below. Now you can see why it's hard to miss. There are some good fine art pictures of this one, but I'll let you search for them.

Maybe not Invisible, but Camouflage Man?

 

Technology constantly amazes.  Researchers have come up with a new material that changes color in the same manner as nature's consummate color-changers, octopi and cuttlefish.  Now, I don't think it's as adapted as these creatures to pattern- and color-match (example below), but given what can be accomplished with our amazing electronics and sensors and machine intelligence, that might happen sooner than imaginable.

So what can this remarkable material do?

"The team demonstrated that the same technique can be used to design and reveal complex, switchable color patterns. The researchers put thin, metallic layers on each side of the patterned polymer film to create Fabry-Pérot resonators, which isolate specific wavelengths of light based on the distance between the metal layers. As the polymer films swell to different widths, they display a variety of colors. With the same electron-beam patterning and the right mix of water and solvent, the single-colored sheet becomes a riot of colorful spots and splotches.

“By dynamically controlling the thickness and topography of a polymer film, you can realize a very large variety of beautiful colors and textures,” said Mark Brongersma, a professor of materials science and engineering and a senior author on the paper. “The introduction of soft materials that can expand, contract, and alter their shape opens up an entirely new toolbox in the world of optics to manipulate how things look.”

What's in the future?

"  “We want to be able to control this with neural networks – basically an AI-based system – that could compare the skin and its background, then automatically modulate it to match in real time, without human intervention,” Doshi said."

I told you.

Reference: Doshi S, Güsken NA, Dijk G, et al. Soft photonic skins with dynamic texture and colour control. Nature. 2026;649(8096):345-352. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09948-2

So maybe we can make Mystique ... eventually.