Category: Uncategorized
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The Highest Frontier got an entertaining review as number 4 on the Christmas list of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the German equivalent of the New York Times.
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When people talk about animal rights, they generally mean vertebrate animals. I don’t see butterflies, earthworms, or octopi on the PETA site. In arguing for protection of mice, PETA specifically notes that mice have “nervous systems similar to our own,” that is, a vertebrate central nervous system (CNS). The list of animals on the main…
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Of course humans are animals, but sometimes we forget that our companion animals have genes too. For example, pet dogs have many genetically inherited conditions that can affect their health. Some genes just make for interesting traits like coat color of Labradors. You can try breeding yourself to see how the puppies turn out. Unfortunately,…
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In the decade since Brain Plague, extraordinary revelations have come out on how microbes control the mind. A recent article in PNAS reports how Lactobacillus bacteria in the digestive tract of mice decreased stress and anxiety behaviors. The bacteria were associated with increased neurotransmitter expression in the hippocampus area of the brain, among other brain…
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The Highest Frontier makes a great gift for students, and their parents: How to survive college–and save the world besides. For December, anyone who purchases The Highest Frontier for a gift may request a free book of your choice from the Elysium Cycle. To receive the free book, send your address here. Offer good while…
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In a scene out of Frontera College, the free on-line computer game Foldit allows you–anyone–to help discover protein structures. By playing the game, you improve the model of crystallography-based structures for key medical proteins such as those of viruses. Improved structures help medical researchers design better drugs. Recently Foldit players obtained the structure of a…
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I’ve always felt like an “alien,” and aliens populate my books. This week’s New Yorker cover reminds me of my grandmother Carolina Watrobska, a Pole whose illegal escape from Ellis Island in 1921 was reported in the New York Times. Here is a condensed version of the article: AIDS ALIEN SISTER TO SLIP INTO CITY…
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A friend of mine, a self-described “microbial supremacist” at Small Things Considered shows how animals make use of microbial odors. How do hoverflies locate aphids–a garden pest we wish to control? The aphids secrete honeydew, which the aphid’s symbiotic bacteria ferment to various volatile compounds. These compounds attract the hoverflies to lay their eggs. How…
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Stare at this color pattern, without blinking, and slowly count to ten. Then shift your eyes to a blank sheet of paper. What happens? In your retina, each of your cone cells (color receptors) adapts–loses the ability to see the color. Now white light can only be perceived as the opposite color. This is called…
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In Brain Plague, the artist Chrys has a mutant visual receptor that causes her to see infrared. Her vision might look something like this infrared photo–a landscape that is real, yet surreal. What if she accepts the “micros,” microbial helpers–and they take over her brain? People make mistakes. Another character who carries micros says, “I…
Joan Slonczewski 