High-school biology texts regularly present Darwin’s theory of evolution in contrast with Lamarck’s earlier explanation, and the organism most often used to illustrate the difference between the two views is the giraffe (e.g., Creager et al., pp. 233-240). Lamarck, it is said, told a story of giraffe necks becoming longer as the animals tried to stretch their necks to reach food (Law of Use and Disuse). The longer necks acquired in this way would then be passed on to their offspring (Law of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics). Continued stretching over the generations led to today’s long-necked giraffes. Darwin, on the…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From February, 2006
DEATH: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ATTEMPT AT A DEFINITION
(1: Holding the Tail) The mouse is shaking his head and tail as if he is saying no, no, no. Honest, he is. Yesterday, I couldn’t do the mouse in, but that was yesterday. I’ve learned to do other things that I didn’t enjoy. Annihilating a mouse is a yet another one of those unpleasantaries, that I must own up to. Killing mice is a part of life and accepting life is a part of growing up, so it follows that making this mouse give up his ghost is a part of my maturing process. Besides, death is happening everywhere,…
READING WEEK – THURSDAY
Finger-length ratios and sexual orientation (pdf). (2000) Nature 404:p455 In which we learn that the size of your fingers correlates to sexual hormone production and possibly sexual orientation. This is great for party conversations – we hear that even the Pope himself tried this one out. – – – FIRST PARAGRAPH: Animal models have indicated that androgenic steroids acting before birth might influence the sexual orientation of adult humans. Here we examine the androgen-sensitive pattern of finger lengths, and find evidence that homosexual women are exposed to more prenatal andro- gen than heterosexual women are; also, men with more than…
READING WEEK – WEDNESDAY
How Baseball Outfielders Determine Where to Run to Catch Fly Balls (pdf). (1995) Science 268:p569 In which we learn that apparently, there can be a scientific basis for 7 figured salaries. Next up, how to objectively judge figure skating. – – – ABSTRACT: Current theory proposes that baseball outfielders catch fly balls by selecting a running path to achieve optical acceleration cancellation of the ball. Yet people appear to lack the ability to discriminate accelerations accurately. This study supports the idea that outfielders convert the temporal problem to a spatial one by selecting a running path that maintains a linear…
READING WEEK – TUESDAY (VALENTINE’S DAY)
Ancestral and recombinant 16-locus HLA haplotypes in the Hutterites. (1999) Immunogenetics 49:p491 In which human mate selection appears to be determined by genetics afterall. This study was done using a small community (Hutterites) since carefully controlled human mate matching and observation would be unethical – at least without reality TV. – – – ABSTRACT: Prior studies in the Schmiedeleut Hutterites of South Dakota have demonstrated associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype matching and fetal loss (Ober et al. 1992) and mate preferences (Ober et al. 1997), as well as deficiencies of homozygotes for HLA haplotypes (Kostyu et al. 1993).…
READING WEEK – MONDAY
February 13th to 17th is the University of British Columbia’s Reading Week and we here at the SCQ are following suit with a title page each day this week that will both impress and amaze you. First up, the braniac mouse… – – – Genetic enhancement of learning and memory in mice (pdf). (1999) Nature 401:p63 In which mankind inches closer to the production of mice that can appreciate but not necessarily enjoy Jane Austen literature. – – – ABSTRACT: Hebb’s rule (1949) states that learning and memory are based on modifications of synaptic strength among neurons that are simultaneously…
AFRICAN LION FAMILY OBJECTS TO THEIR PORTRAYAL IN RECENT DISCOVERY CHANNEL DOCUMENTARY
Papa Lion (Carl) First off, that tree we were lying around in the shade by, that wasn’t even our tree. The producers literally brought in that tree and told us it was going to be our new tree. They said our tree—the tree we’ve lay under for years—“didn’t have a river view” and was “a little smaller than what we were looking for.” This was all said to me in front of my kids, I might add. Real class act that Discovery Channel! Just like any family we like to have our place look clean, so we moved all the…
ASPARAGUS, STINKY PEE, AND SCIENTIFIC CURIOSITY
I was recently enjoying a nice dinner with a few close friends of mine. Our conversations are often less than delicate, so it was no surprise that talk soon became a little tactless. The subject turned to the unpleasant yet inevitable consequences of our meal that would visit each of us within a few hours. No, we weren’t talking about beans (the so-called “musical fruit”), but about asparagus, a seemingly benign green delicacy that goes especially well with hollandaise sauce. Strangely, one member of our group had no idea what we were talking about, despite describing asparagus as her favourite…
DRUGS ARE THE ANSWER
Okay. Experiments are failing. Confidence is disappearing. Each dark day feels a little more desperate than the last. I am in dire need of course correction and I’ve stumbled onto an absolutely foolproof solution that will undoubtedly have me rocking the bench again very, very soon. Drugs. That’s right. Drugs are the answer. And nothing weak either. Though the irony of abusing nicotine while studying lung cancer scores well, cigarettes just don’t have the kick I’m looking for. With firsthand experience attempting to pipet after guzzling a sixer, booze are out too. And you can forget pot: my lack of…