Here's the second lecture from the UA College of Science's Tuesday night lecture series on "Mind and Brain," presented by Regents Professor Leslie Tolbert, vice president for Research, Graduate Studies, and Economic Development and professor of Neuroscience, and Cell Biology & Anatomy.

This week's lecture about the relative advantages and disadvantages of having a brain and learning was fascinating. Anna Dornhaus, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, told the audience that when you can separate smart fruit flies from dumb fruit flies and breed several generations worth until you have really smart fruit flies and really dumb fruit flies. But when you put them into a single community, the dumb fruit flies breed more effectively than the smart ones. Dornhaus noted: "Idiocracy in a petri dish."

No lecture next week because it's spring break. Here are more details on the series.

Here's a brief description of what you'll see if you watch Tolbert's lecture above:

The human brain is the most complex object known to us. It contains roughly

• Photo courtesy of Craig Stillwell
• Sexual size dimorphism: Female hawk moths (left) are larger than their male counterparts

So you like big butts and you cannot lie? UA researchers have a new theory about sexual dimorphism.

Daniel Stolte from the UA has some details:

Take a look around in the animal world and you will find that, in most organisms, individuals of one sex are larger than the other of the species.

Even though evolutionary biologists have long recognized this discrepancy, called sexual dimorphism, they have struggled for decades to solve a major paradox: How can males and females of one species be of different sizes, given that they share the same genetic blueprints dictating their development and growth?

Researchers from the University of Arizona have discovered that the key to unraveling this mystery lies in

Democratic Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard has filed his gubernatorial nominating petitions and turned in his paperwork to get Clean Elections dollars.

The press release:

Attorney General Terry Goddard today filed nominating petitions and $5 donations in order to qualify for Clean Elections funding in his campaign for Governor. The campaign submitted more than 5,300 $5 donations and more than 8,500 signatures, the fruits of a grassroots effort that spread across every Arizona county and did not rely on paid circulators to gather signatures.

"Arizonans from across our state rolled up their sleeves to get this job done," said Attorney General Goddard. "They did it because they want

There are a bunch of noteworthy food-themed happenings taking place at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend. They actually have a whole stage dedicated solely to culinary demonstrations, most of which take place Saturday, and presentations about food, most of which take place Sunday. You'll find a schedule below.

We wrote about a restaurant called Chinese Box in this week's Noshing Around column, but outside of information gleaned from a banner on the exterior we knew very little about it. A reader dropped us an e-mail this morning to let us know that Peter Fung, the owner of Mandarin Grill at 8300 N. Thornydale Road, will be co-owner of the business.

Fung says the place will serve authentic Cantonese and Mandarin fast food. He stressed that the place will not be just another Panda Express and that it will not serve "Americanized Chinese food." The menu will have about 25 items, most of which will fall in the $6 range. He hopes to have it open by the end of April, and would like to open other locations if the first one works out.

Delivery will be available within a three-mile radius. Hours: 10 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Thursday; and 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. on weekends.

Don Garrot, co-owner of Don’s Bayou Cajun Cookin’, was hesitant to talk about the new restaurant this morning. People are already flocking to the place and he's concerned that he won't be able to keep up with demand if more people hear about it.

“I need to get some bigger pots,” said Garrot this morning during a discussion that also touched on 180-year-old recipes and gigging frogs in the bayous of Louisiana. He says he learned about Cajun cooking while growing up around Baton Rouge. He opened just three weeks ago, and word of mouth is already bringing in enough people to sell out some menu items on busy days.

Expect homemade turtle stew, fried alligator nuggets (yes, real alligator), crawfish étouffée, fried catfish, jambalaya, chicken and seafood gumbos, barbecued pork and beef, frog legs, jalapeno cornbread, slaws, salads, red beans and rice, po’ boy sandwiches and “momma’s cherry pecan cake.” Everything is homemade and many ingredients are flown in from Louisiana, says Garrot.

The place — which is located in a former plant nursery at 8991 E. Tanque Verde Road — seats about 18 people. Outdoor seating is also available. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday. Take out is available. Call 749-4410 for more information.

(Special thanks to Tucson Weekly reader Ken Sandock for the tip.)

"The U.S.-Mexico Border: Living and Writing on the Edge," from 1 to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 13, at the Student Union Gallagher Theater, will be moderated by local author Tom Miller (Revenge of the Saguaro). The panel will be broadcast nationwide on C-SPAN and a booksigning will follow.

Anna Mirocha has details on the festival in this week's TW:

This year's festival, to be held Saturday and Sunday, March 13 and 14, at the University of Arizona, will feature workshops, poetry readings, panels, book reviews, writing contests, book sales (of course) and children's activities. Hundreds of authors—including many best-selling ones—will flock to Southern Arizona from across the country to give lectures, interviews and book signings.

"Time Stood Still," by Lynn Taber, is among the works on display in A Radiant Land, continuing through May 29 at Etherton Gallery, 135 S. Sixth Ave. The show features pastels by Lynn Taber and photographs by Jack Dykinga and Eliot Porter. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment, 624-7370.

There will be an artist reception and book signing tomorrow, Saturday, March 13, from 7 to 10 p.m.

The payday lenders, who will go out of business on July 1 if they don't get legislative action before then, are making another effort for a new lease on life:

Howie has the details:

Rejected by voters and stymied in the House, lobbyists for payday lenders are now trying to get a Senate panel to approve legislation to keep the industry alive beyond June 30.

But now there's a sweetener: They're offering to set aside an estimated $1.5 million of their proceeds each year for community-based organizations that help the needy.

That still may not be enough to corral the votes they need to keep the doors open. Most Democrats and several Republicans already have announced their opposition to extending the life of a special law that allows lenders to charge what would be the equivalent of 400 percent interest on an annual basis.

Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives are still pushing to strip away health insurance from 310,000 Arizonans below the federal poverty level even though federal aid being approved this week would allow them to keep them on the program.

The House is moving through the budget bills this afternoon. Still no action in the Senate.

Watch the live proceedings here.