Monthly Archives: September 2013

When I first learned that  mitochondria (and chloroplasts) have their own  DNA and their own personal DNA replication mechanism, I wondered if they had their own viruses that hijacked that replication mechanism.   It was a long time  coming, but it … Continue reading →

It has been said that schizophrenia strikes without regard to sex, race, social class, or culture.  Whoever said that must be crazy: it’s far from true.  Schizophrenia is more common in men than women – about 1.4 to 1.  It’s … Continue reading →

I don’t think that there are any. But  then how did they manage to  be one-with-the-land custodians of wildlife?  Uh…. Conservation is hard.  Even if the population as a whole would be better off if a given prey species persisted … Continue reading →

Once upon a time, I read a book on parasitology. In the the introduction, the author mentioned a copepod that settles on the eyes of a particular kind of fish, eventually leaving that fish blind.  He mentioned that naive grad … Continue reading →

It has been suggested that a large meteorite was responsible for an odd  climatic twitch from about 12,800 to 11,500 years ago (the Younger Dryas , a temporary return to glacial conditions in the Northern Hemisphere) and for the extinction … Continue reading →

Chimpanzees, although expensive,  are really useful for medical research, since they’re much closer to humans than any other experimental animal. Yet the Feds are phasing out chimp research, and are sending them off to Club Chimp.  Francis Collins, director of … Continue reading →

Individuals vary a lot in wealth,  and so do populations.  Many factors influence wealth – income, the payoff for saving, historical experience, etc – but people likely vary in their innate propensity to save. This may be partly due to … Continue reading →