On Being a Platypus
It must be hard being a platypus. All your friends laugh at how funny you look and now you have to face up to the fact that your genes are just plain wierd too….
In res humanus
Thoughts on what it means to be human in today’s worldArchive for Science
Eight Belles Shows the Problems of Breeding, Not Racing
It was a sad day for the Kentucky Derby when they had to put down the second place horse, Eight Belles, on the track after the filly broke both front ankles after the race. Some people are stunned, others are angry. We can argue about whether horse racing is a good or bad sport, whether it abuses animals, whether it is elitist, etc., but Eight Belles’ story is not about racing, its about bad breeding.
MDR-TB: Why this bowl of letters is important.
A study just published in the British Medical Journal indicates that the number of cases of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has increased dramatically in recent years in the UK. While we here in the US might not care much, we should. It is only recently that the UK has become a center of immigration; we have accepted immigrants for years and so disease trends are likely now to be similar. Rises in MDR-TB in the UK moreover, mirror rises seen elsewhere even in more insulated countries. The take home lesson: we are bound to be hit, meaning that you should start being concerned now about your future health.
eammasuoka