The Weight of Progress Life has improved for lots of people. Economic development and globalization has brought many out of poverty. Kenyan farmers shop and bank with their cell phones. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have moved from the impoverishment of the Cultural Revolution to high levels of education and ambitious middle class lives. As […]
Losing Nature (10/31/13)
At the Grocery The process is magical. Perfect red-cheeked apples line up in stylish rows beneath transparent domes.. Next to them lie delightfully bright yellow mangos. Each perfect form is unique, demonstrating their shy markings of orange, brick red and lavender whose beauty declares their nutritious freshness. You inspect each through the transparent plastic, looking […]
Lust In the Dust (10/21/13)
Must Sex Lead to Death? Never heard of the dasykaluta? The phascogale? Don’t be surprised. Small marsupials rarely get favorable media attention. Look at how we treat mice. But these otherwise insubstantial, arthropod ingesting (that includes roaches) rodents deserve our interest and perhaps our piteous respect. For they show the lengths evolution can go to […]
Sitting Smoking Sleeping (6/18/13)
Going to Extremes Human beings love to test limits. For many it’s fun to drive a car. And if driving is fun, it’s also fun to simultaneously talk on the phone, eat a granola bar, read our emails, dictate a letter and watch TV. Except when we run someone over. Or slam into rear of […]
The Meat-Bug Connection (5/13/13)
The Coming Food Information Revolution Beef – and eggs – just got a lot more interesting. A group of researchers fed lean beef (nicely cooked) to a bunch of everyday meat eaters and vegans. They then investigated. Did ingesting lean beef change lipid levels in the blood – you know, the stuff supposed to cause […]
