“Dr. SkySkull” selects several notable posts each week from a miscellany of ResearchBlogging.org categories. He blogs at Skulls in the Stars.

• Measuring Gravity: Ain’t Nothin’ but a G Thing. Gravity is one of the fundamental forces of nature, but also one of the most difficult to measure precisely; a recent experimental measurement of the gravitational constant has shown significant deviation from the accepted value. Chad Orzel at Uncertain Principles looks at a variety of recent gravitational measurements, and explains the implications of the recent discrepancy.
• Snapshots of magnetic fields. While we’re talking about things that are hard to measure, let’s talk about magnetic fields! Magnetic fields are extremely difficult to measure with nanoscale precision and in the time domain, in marked contrast to measurements of other quantities. Joerg Haber of All That Matters discusses recent techniques for measuring such fields.
• Spices as antiseptics… maybe. Spices can add lots of “zing” to your food, and make some people suffer while eating it, but do they serve an even more important biological function? Thomas Kluyver at Thomas’ Plant-Related Blog looks at the evidence that the use of spices has served an antiseptic purpose in food preparation, and the limitations of that evidence.
• Tauromaquia Today. And now for something completely different! Bécquer Medak-Seguín of Hispanic Studies Forum discusses a dispute in the interpretation of artist Goya’s collection of etchings on bullfighting, La Tauromaquia.

Check back next Monday for more “miscellaneous” selections!