In an article published in the latest issue of The FASEB Journal, Sinkkonen proposes that the "symmetry, shape, and position of umbilicus can be used to estimate the reproductive potential of fertile females, including risks of certain genetically and maternally inherited fetal anomalies." He found that people have very clear preferences for their belly buttons, preferring those that are only slightly indented (so never outies!), t-shaped or oval, and a little hooded. Sinkkonen suggests that abnormal bellybuttons may indicate a risk of several fetal abnormalities. However, in case you are feeling bad about your outie, or heavily-hooded navel, Sinkkonen says: "Don't worry. Nobody's perfect except Angelina Jolie." [LiveScience]

The BBC talks to 26-year-old Rob Swainson, who had surgery right after his birth, to correct the fact that he was born with his stomach and intestines poking through a hole in the abdominal wall. He has a "cross-shaped scar" instead of a belly button. "I thought about having one constructed when I was getting interested in girls, but not for long," he says. "You only have to look at Michael Jackson to realize it's probably best to live with what you've got." Because yeah, having an artificial navel made sounds weird. But! Doctors do it all the time, the BBC reports. For people who have tummy tucks or hernias. A plastic surgeon will create a belly button.

And the comments on this BBC story are fascinating. "Riv" writes:

I too was short-changed a navel at birth; although to this day I have no idea why. I suspect being born three months premature via caesarean section may have meant the tissue was pliable enough to gently set into a mild indentation. Any doctors out there who can confirm? I used to tell people I was grown in a vat…

"Maureen" idenifies with Karolina:

I have exactly the same sort of smooth indentation. It's the result of a repair of an umbilical hernia when I was two years old, 65 years ago. For many years now this operation, if done in the UK, would be completed with a cosmetic belly button. Perhaps The Czech republic hadn't caught up with the modern technique 24 years ago.

There's this amusing anecdote from "Bill":

Sixty years ago I was house-surgeon to a London surgeon, a real Lancelot Spratt character. He thought the umbilicus was a nasty dirty place and when operating on anyone's abdomen he would, without permission or consultation, cut it out. My job was to invent some story to tell the patient why it had been necessary. How times have changed.

And, lastly, wise words from "Edward" :

Adam and Eve didn't have belly buttons either.

Who Doesn't Have A Belly Button? [BBC News]
Victoria's Secret Model Karolina Kurkova And The Riddle Of Her Missing Belly Button [Daily Mail]

• The Indian city of Pune has banned the wearing of scarves while driving, under the theory that a scarf can be a terrorist disguise. Women's response: a scarf can also help you breathe in polluted, dusty Pune. • Most TV might make your kids think that Dad's incompetent, Mom's a saint, and women love yogurt. But can some shows actually help parents raise good feminists? Check out the discussion at Feministe. • Scary science: high prepregnancy BMI can increase the risk of brain and spinal cord defects. The good news: it doesn't hurt the baby's heart. • More scary science: high BMI may also decrease survival rates for breast cancer. The good news here: moderate drinking increases survival rates. • And some bad science: Dr. Chuck MacKnee claims that sex between committed Christians is more "holistic" than Tantric or Kama Sutra-style sex, "involving full body gratification as well as emotional and spiritual highs." His sample size: ten people, two of whom were pastors. • A city in central Japan had its Belly Button Festival this weekend, featuring an awesome dance in which "revelers paint a face on their torsos and stomachs and pretend it is a head." • And finally, from the department of the purely ridiculous: name analyst/professional weirdo Laurence Y Payg claims his name advice catapulted boring Laura Hollins into supermodel Agyness Deyn. His main technique seems to be adding y's, and he would like to help out another British star by transforming her into Amy Wynehouse. •