Search Content

Displaying results 65601 - 65650 of 87947

The Unknowns

As much as I loathe to quote Rumsfeld, there's something inside the concept of known unknowns versus unknown unknowns. This is at the root of much of the work that I do, and this post is meant to address the role of the unknowns in the life sciences generally, but pharmaceutical development specifically. Quite simply, the google searches work pretty well for the "unknown knowns" - stuff that someone else has posted somewhere on the web, something that is known or at least believed, something that is hyperlinked and indexable. This is the modern version of common knowledge, and some…

Lott's misleading posting about the Appalachian Law School shootings

Lott has a posting responding to my comments on his claims that the news coverage of the shootings at the Appalachian School of Law was biased. I wrote: Unfortunately, Lott's counting methodology is flawed, his count missed half of the stories that mentioned the armed students, his version of what happened deliberately omits important facts and omits contradictory accounts from other eye witnesses and his version contains details that appear to have been invented by Lott. Lott has no answer at all to almost all of this, so he just responds to part of the criticism…

Our Dangerous Planet

During the 1970s, international aid agencies came up with a brilliant plan to stem a plague of water-borne illnesses in the Asian country of Bangladesh. They would underwrite the installation of wells in disease-troubled villages, tapping into the cleaner ground water below. They would use simple, relatively inexpensive tube wells, place thousands of these over-sized drinking straws into the shallow aquifers. And these straws - millions of them - would suck up the cleaner, microorganism free water in healthy abundance. At first, it seemed to work like a blessing. Infant mortality…

The Methane Calculation

Almost 200 years ago, methane gas ignited in a coal mine in England, setting off an explosion that killed 92 miners. These were not miners as we think of them today - in the pre-child-labor-law world almost half were children, as young as eight years old. So that one can make an argument - regarding last Thursday's methane gas explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, that killed 25 adult miners and left another four so far missing - that we've made some progress in protecting children from mine disasters. Our track record in protecting adults is less impressive - that is they…

The moonshine murderer

A few days ago, I wrote about the lessons I'd learned while a young journalist in North Georgia on how to safely drink illegal alcohol (Moonshine Days). Probably because I had moonshine on my mind, I ended sharing stories about it with family and friends during a recent visit to the state. Just to let you know, my father, a retired entomologist from the University of Georgia, swears that he has disposed of the moonshine stock they once kept in the basement. Even though it tasted great. Really. But beyond trading drinking experiences, the most interesting conversation I had was with old friend…

Coturnix of A Blog Around the Clock Says...

What is science's rightful place? In our heads, of course. All of our heads. But Seed is asking, so let me elaborate briefly. As I said before, science is not just active participation in research. Science is a mindset. We are all born scientists, exploring the world around us and experimenting with it. When we grow up, we continue being scientists in our day-to-day lives. If you walk into a room and flip a switch and the light does not come on, what do you do? I doubt that you throw yourself on the floor in fear, speaking in tongues, praying, blaming the Aliens or asking the Government to…

How We Face the World

Chuck Close, Self-Portrait. Photograph: Ellen Page Wilson/Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York Imagine a chair. It has physical attributes: four legs, a seat, some sort of a back. Now imagine a human face. It also has physical attributes: eyes, a nose, a mouth. But, remarkably, the ways we process these features in our brains—and more crucially how we remember them—are significantly different, relying on wholly distinct neural pathways. Social memory it turns out is a completely different cognitive task than, say, remembering everyday inanimate objects, numbers and dates, or events. Nowhere is…

Too much of a bad thing

I've never liked Gary Null. Early in my blogging "career" I wasted thousands of words expressing my incredulity at his horrible health advice, his paranoid rants, and his shameless hucksterism. Then I saw something shiny and forgot about him for a while. But now blog bud Orac has ruined my reverie. He informs me that Gary Null took a dose of his own medicine---and nearly died. As a compassionate human being, I can only hope he recovers quickly with no serious sequelae. As a physician, educator, and writer, I hope we can use this as an object lesson in the dangers of idiotic medical…

A travesty in Texas

There's a prosecution going on in Texas that sounds so corrupt, and could have such a chilling influence on the pursuit of quackery nationwide, that it cannot be ignored. I urge you to read the story in the Times, but here's a brief recap. In Kermit, a small Texas town, two nurses at local hospital became concerned about the practices of one of the physicians, Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles, Jr. Among the alleged practices were the improper peddling of herbal medicines to hospital patients, and the performance of (sometimes unorthodox) surgical procedures without the appropriate privileges to do…

"Nobody knows, the trouble I've seen..."

The great Dr. Sandy Templeton once asked his pathology class, "Why do people go to the doctor?" People came up with all sorts of responses, but to each he gave his best British, "No, no, no, no!" Then he would tell us, "They come to the doctor because they don't feel well and they want you to make it better!" So obvious. So simple. And yet, so complicated. As physicians, we have a number of ways of helping patients, only some of which make the patient feel better. Primary and secondary prevention of disease don't necessarily make people feel better in the short run, so they can be…

VIBE Machine---not half as fun as it sounds

Let's say you have cancer. And let's say you're really, really sick of having cancer. And let's say that you're also pretty tired of scans, chemo, radiation, hair loss, nausea. And let's say you're not really sick and tired of living, but actually pretty happy to be alive. Finally, let's say someone says that they can get rid of your cancer, without all of those pesky side-effects. It's a win-win, no? No. It's easy to believe in promises that are congruent with our wishes. That's what makes human beings so easy to deceive. A case in point is the VIBE Machine, a discredited quackery…

I hate orange urine

On July 4th at 5 a.m., I'm loading the family into the car and driving very far away, where cellphones, pagers, and most critically the internet, do not work. Blogging has been very hard for me lately. I love writing, but due to work and family mishegos it's been hard to keep up with the posting. I'm hoping a stint up in the woods providing medical supervision to 400 souls will be rejuvenating. While I'm gone, I'll leave you with some of my favorite posts about the human side of medicine. I hope you enjoy reading them again, or for the first time. --PalMD Urinary tract infections (UTIs…

Our children suffer (and die) for our ignorance

You don't have to be a parent to care about the welfare of children---but it does bring things into a sharp, personal light. I recently wrote about Daniel Hauser, a child likely to die of Hodgkin's disease due to his parents' cult medicine beliefs. Cases like his are aberrations---they stand out for their rarity, but also for their horror. Still, the horror is mitigated somewhat by the rarity. More frightening are systemic abuses of children via cult medicine beliefs, ones that affect dozens or hundreds of kids at a time. One of the most egregious of these is Lupron therapy for autism.…

One last word on the Geiers: So good it shouldn't be buried in the comments

I was going to give this a rest for a while, but this is too good not to post a brief note about. Posted in the comments of my piece debunking the Geiers' pseudoscience and their laughable "scientific" article claiming to show a decrease in the rate of new cases of autism since late 2002, when thimerosal was removed from vaccines completely other than some flu vaccines was this gem of a comment, by one MarkCC, which stated the essence of what was wrong with the Geiers' so-called "statistical analysis" of the VAERS database: Here's the key, fundamental issue: when you're doing statistical…

I was right: The teacher admits that Airborne doesn't work

A while back, I wrote about Airborne, the "herbal" concoction designed by a schoolteacher that is touted as preventing colds and the flu if taken preemptively or lessening their severity if taken early on in the course of a cold. I concluded that there was no evidence that it did what Victoria Knight-McDowell, a schoolteacher and the creator of Airborne, claims. Now the company itself seems to be admitting as much. It turns out that the company commissioned a study to "prove" Airborne's efficacy, and its results did seem to show a mild positive effect on colds. Unfortunately, the study was…

Tom and Jerry: A nefarious Jewish plot

You can't make stuff like this up. You really can't. Did you know that Tom and Jerry are in reality a clever secret nefarious plot by the Jews? That's what Professor Hassan Bolkhari, who teaches philosophy of art at Tabatabaei and Al-Zahra Universities in Iran and is a member of the Film Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a cultural advisor to the Iranian Education Ministry, asserts (if you understand the language, feel free to check out the original video here): There is a cartoon that children like. They like it very much, and so do adults - Tom and Jerry. [...] Some say that this…

Global Dimming

David Tiley has an has an interesting summary of a BBC program on Global Dimming. It seems that, over the past 40 years, while the amount of sunlight reaching the top of the atmosphere has not changed, the amount of sunlight reaching the surface has declined. Despite this, the earth has warmed over the same time span. The BBC program raises the alarming prospect that burning fossil fuels is making aerosols that produce the dimming and global cooling that is partially masking the warming produced by increased greenhouse gasses. That suggests that the greenhouse gasses…

Is everyone out of step except Tim Blair?

Tim Blair continues to insist that the election was about Iraq. I'll look at his arguments in a moment, but first let's look at what everybody else says about this. Tom Allard and Mark Metherell in the Sydney Morning Herald: Iraq flared briefly after the Jakarta bombings---most notably in the leaders' debate---but was mostly left alone by the Opposition, even though Mr Howard refused to talk about the issue, betraying his fears the missing weapons of mass destruction and increased terrorist threat could hurt this chances. A "Labor Insider" in…

Cowpox as a sexually transmitted disease?

In February, a young woman visited an urgent care clinic complaining of painful vaginal ulcers.  The differential diagnosis of genital ulcers is interesting.  Common sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea and chlamydia don't cause ulcers, but syphilis, herpes, chanchroid do (as do other diseases, but they are not common in the U.S.).  Syphilis is typically painless, so most painful genital ulcers turn out to be herpes, and sometimes chanchroid.  She revealed to the doctors that she had recently had sex with her boyfriend, a soldier who had just been vaccinated against smallpox.  …

The Great Zombie Hoax

ZombiePal, thanks to Ataraxia Theatre Scene: Harpo Studios, Chicago, IL, under heavy guard Dramatis personae: Oprah Winfrey, talk show host; Jenny McCarthy, famous person; Erica Turner, un-dead North Sider Oprah: Jenny, you have been such a maverick. It takes a brave person, one with great inner strength, to say things that are unpopular. How is that adorable boy of yours? Jenny: Well, he's just great! I have him on a new diet and it's done wonders! Oprah: That's great! I need to ask you all about it, but first, what do you say to those folks out there who say such negative things…

The National Autism Association not "antivaccine"? Then why is its president speaking at an antivaccine quackfest?

As I hang out at the San Diego Convention Center, I can't resist one last note on the Chili's debacle that I wrote about yesterday.Remember how Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association (NAA), the antivaccine group posing as an autism advocacy group, whined when Chili's backed out of its deal to donate 10% of its proceeds from yesterday's sales to the NAA that she isn't antivaccine? I'll refresh your memory, so that you don't have to click on the link above: Wendy Fournier, president of NAA, said, “It was obvious that the comments [Chili's was] getting were a fight about…

Protein folding is coupled to mRNA stability ... across a membrane

Yes this is the surprising result interpretation of Jonathan Weissman's paper in Science. For non cell biologists, click here first, to get some background on the unfolded protein response (UPR) and ER associated degradation (ERAD). And to learn about some recent developments on ERAD, click here. OK on to the HARDCORE cell biology ... Remember under UPR conditions cells want to stop translating ER targeted proteins and instead synthesize chaperones and ERAD components. UPR inhibits translation through PERK (see the post on UPR) but what happens to the mRNA that encodes ER targeted proteins?…

New England's deep canyons win protection

Score one for Oceana and the New England Fisheries Management Council. Actually, score them fifteen. The two groups recently announced they have laid the foundations for designating 15 deep-sea canyons off the coast of New England as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern in an effort to build a more sustainable groundfish fishery. Press release follows below from BYM Environment News. The New England Fishery Management Council had laid the foundation to protect unique marine habitat by designating a series of canyons and seamounts from Maine to the Chesapeake Bay as Habitats of Particular…

Why is The Giant Isopod Giant?

Kevin's wonderful post on the Giant Isopod inspired me to post on a topic I have long pondered. Frequent readers of DSN know that I am fond of Sylvia Earle and the topic of body size. Honestly, it is not just body size is all matter of size related issues. A roadside trip can be quickly diverted by the world's largest ball of yarn or North America's largest biscuit. Mmm...biscuits, but I digress. What I want to discuss, and I use this word specifically as after 10 years contemplation I seem no closer to an answer, is why the Giant Isopod is, well, giant? Mosely noted in 1880…

The '10 weird things about me'...the meme.

Tagged by the meme from Adventures in Ethics and Science and Retrospectacle... I have OCD tendencies. All the hangers in my closet have to be the same color and oriented in the same direction.  A stain on my clothing, no matter how small, will cause me to change clothes. My cd, books, and everything else in my life is close to alphabetized as humanly possible.  I can organize the same set of items mutiple times in row and still not be happy.  Any deviation from organization or a plan will completely shut me down for the day. I do not have toenails on either my left or right big toe. …

Combining C With Assembly

The latest issue of Embedded Systems Design has an interesting article on combining C code with assembly code for DSP applications. In some cases, they show an ten fold speed up for an assembly plus C implementation versus straight C code. Now before anyone starts hollering, please remember that embedded programming is not at all like normal desktop application programing. Generally you're operating in a "slim" (i.e., resource poor) environment. Heck, some embedded processors only have a few hundred bytes of RAM available and you might be talking about a clock frequency of just a few…

My Horrorshow Glazzes

Nigh on two weeks ago, O my brothers and sisters, your Faithful Narrator went under the microtome and the laser beam so that my starry glazzes might viddy the cruel, cruel world dobby-like. Grazhny contact lenses are no longer in my present day; cally remembrances of the far, far distant past, they are. I was faced with the potential of needing two pairs of otchkies, one for distance and the other for reading and mid-range viddying, "Yarbles!" to that, I skazated. So I got it into my gulliver that having my glazzes shived to perfection was the way to go. So you, my Science Blog droogs,…

Men Who Cannot Follow Clear Directions From Women

I warned Jon, I did. D00d, that thread is for MOCKING MANSPLAINERS. Now, here I will repost Jon's mis-directed comment. Zuskateers, you may feel free to read (warning: contains mansplaing) or skip right over to the comment thread and post your own examples of Men Who Cannot Follow Clear Directions From Women. SKM, I used the word "system," for a reason. I'm not opposed to the idea that there's a particular kind of gendered condescension on the part of males in response to females. The problem I have is the way it's being discussed, in the sense that there are a number of conceptual…

Kansas Guild of Bloggers: The recipe file

Every few weeks, we gather the finest of Kansan and Kansas related bloggery. This week, a series of recipes. Modern science: Drop an apple on Isaac Newton, wait until he realizes that the laws of nature apply to the whole universe. Use those laws to fly missions around the Moon, as described by Paul Decelles, and to produce cover art for one of rock's greatest albums. Brussels Cockaigne: Wash and cut in half a dozen of honorary Kansan Bill Farrell's brussels sprouts. In a skillet, brown a couple cloves of garlic in a couple tablespoons of butter and an equal amount of olive oil. Remove…

Baiji dolphin, R.I.P.

China's white dolphin called extinct after 20 million years: An expedition searching for a rare Yangtze River dolphin ended Wednesday without a single sighting and with the team's leader saying one of the world's oldest species was effectively extinct. The white dolphin known as baiji, shy and nearly blind, dates back some 20 million years. Its disappearance is believed to be the first time in a half-century, since hunting killed off the Caribbean monk seal, that a large aquatic mammal has been driven to extinction. A few baiji may still exist in their native Yangtze habitat in eastern China…

Who defeated what?!?

Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics, argues that: In this election, both the Religious Right and the secular Left were defeated, and the voice of the moral center was heard. A significant number of candidates elected are social conservatives on issues of life and family, economic populists, and committed to a new direction in Iraq. He presents no actual evidence for this claim, which is frustrating. I wasn't aware that the secular and religious left were at odds in this election, so I don't know how he could say one lost to the other. I do agree that the religious right got beaten badly,…

It's not all about Darwin

There's going to be a lot of talk about Darwin in the coming year. It's practically impossible to talk about evolution without tipping our hat to him in some way, but as Carl Zimmer recently pointed out during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution (which he was kind enough to post) what we know about evolution does not begin and end with Darwin. The point is familiar but it still deserves reiteration, particularly since many efforts to communicate evolutionary science to the public fixate on Darwin and Darwin alone. As Carl himself said; Darwin deserves celebrating, but that doesn't mean we…

The Creation Museum, one year on

The latest issue of Evolution: Education and Outreach features a few thoughts from Gordy Slack on AiG's Creation Museum, which just passed the 1-year mark back in May. The controversy surrounding it has largely died down in the last year, particularly given the shenanigans involved with the release of Expelled, but Slack thought it profitable to take another look. Slack starts off the piece by identifying what all the hubub is really about. While claims of creationists, like Tyrannosaurus rex lived alongside Adam & Eve and ate coconuts in Eden, are little more than delusions the…

"Dakota" unveiled, but not in the literature

Is the National Geographic Society hurting science more than helping it? In December of 2007 the group launched a media blitz (including two books, a documentary, and a speaking tour) surrounding the exquisitely preserved specimen of "Dakota," purported to be an as-yet-undescribed species of Edmontosaurus. Although the NGS released a supplementary news report in March to keep everyone's interest going, I don't think I'm alone in expressing my frustration that this dinosaur has been widely promoted yet we're all still waiting for something, anything in the technical literature. Those of you in…

Darwin overload?

There is no student of nature in all of history who is as well-documented as Charles Darwin. While the paper trail that chronicles the private thoughts of important researchers like Georges Cuvier and Richard Owen is often frustratingly thin, reading the entirety of Darwin's books, papers, and correspondence could easily become a full-time job. Beyond the importance of his ideas we celebrate Darwin because his life is open for us to examine, the story of how a young believer in Creation set sail for a journey around the world that would ultimately spark a scientific revolution. There is…

A tidbit from Richard Owen

The skull of Machairodus, from Owen's A History of British Fossil Mammals, and Birds. Digging through the seemingly endless mass of 19th century paleontological literature that I have collected via Google Books, I happened across a very interesting quote from Richard Owen in his 1846 textbook A History of British Fossil Mammals, and Birds. Earlier in the week, while researching William Buckland's relationship to the bewitching "Red Lady" during the 1820's, I was struck by some of the rhetorical techniques used by Buckland to diminish the importance of the skeleton. Among them was the…

SVP issues a decision on Aetogate

Over the past several months many people (myself included) have been anxiously awaiting the ruling of the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology ethics committee on the controversy informally known as Aetogate, and on May 23 the SVP committee released their decision (if you need to catch up, see Mike Taylor's site and my posts here, here, here, here, and here). The ruling was a mixed bag, although it does have some broader implications for how paleontologists conduct research and publish their work. (You can see the documents released by the committee, including recommendations as to "best…

Exam day

Today I've got a human osteology exam, so while I'm trying to make sure I know all my processes, foramina, and sutures things are going to be a bit light here. Still, I've got a few items of interest to unload here before trying to cram more of White's Human Osteology into my brain; The next edition of the Boneyard is coming up this Saturday and will appear at Familiarity Breeds Content. Get your submissions in to me or Nick soon! Two weeks after that the carnival will be back here with a special edition where participants will have a chance to win some paleontology books from my own…

On to better things...

I suppose today is as good a day as any to break the news to you all, especially since Janet has just made an announcement similar to the one I'm about to make. As many of you are aware, my academic career has been rather rough, my university not being of very much help in preparing me for a career in vertebrate paleontology. This past week, I received notice that I have been in college for so long (and that my transcript is so poor), that I would have to start all over from freshman year again. 120 credits, gone in the blink of an eye. What's more, I'd have to pay double the regular tuition…

Yet another reason to watch where you step

Not long ago I wrote about some of the potential risks for scientists who do much of their work in the field rather than the lab, and according to the Salt Lake Tribune there's a new danger to be on the look-out for; a predator-control device known as a M-44. In 2003 Dennis Slaugh was riding an atv in Utah when he saw what looked like a survey stake stuck in the ground, but what he didn't know was that the "stake" was really a M-44. When he bent down to brush off the device it fell over, and when he righted it again Slaugh received a blast of the poison sodium cyanide in the face, an event…

The "7 Things About Me[me]" Strikes Back

The infamous "random things" meme is again making the rounds and I've been doubly tagged, first by Greg Laden and then by Mike Haubrich, so just as I've done in the past (see here and here) I'll pull double duty an try to come up with some original answers. I'll continue Greg's line first since he was the first to tag me, so here's my ancestry through that line; Father: Greg Laden Grandmother: The Ridger Great Grandmother: Grrl Scientist Great Great Grandmother: Tabor Great Great Great Grandmother: Maya's Granny Great Great Great Great Grandmother: Busha Full of Grace I don't…

More killer croc films?

If it wasn't apparent already, I'm a sucker for monster movies, especially ones involving oversized crocodilians. The vast majority of them are absolutely horrible (like tomorrow's movie of the week, Supercroc), but next month (Nov. 8) a more promising feature from the director of Wolf Creek will be coming out. The film is called Rogue, and while it follows the basic killer croc formula (come on, how many original story lines about giant man-eating suchians can you come up with?) it seems like it's actually going to be scary and enjoyable, unlike the cheese-fest that was Primeval. In fact…

Pouring tea in a plane - upside down

Let me start with the video. Here is a guy flying a plane in a barrel roll and pouring some tea at the same time. Talk about multitasking. How can he pour upside down? Well, there are two ways to look at this. First, I can look at this in the frame of the plane. For this case, I can invoke the fake force - centrifugal force. Oh yes, I am going to do it. You probably remember all your physics instructors warning you to never ever do this. Well, they say that because they are afraid you will do something bad with it. Here, I will only use the centrifugal force for good. What is the…

Which is a better show for physics?

Tom and Jerry, or Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman? Answer: Tom and Jerry. What? Yes. The reason: Tom and Jerry has bad physics but does not pretend like it has good physics. I know this is probably going to "type-cast" me as "that guy that keeps attacking Ruff Ruffman." Soon to be followed by "Leave Ruff ALONE!" I am sorry, I can't help it. Here is my problem. If you are going be a show, do whatever you like (I might still make some comments). If you are going to be a show that attempts to teach some stuff, don't you think you should get it correct or at least not reinforce bad ideas? The…

I have a new favorite conspiracy theory!

Mark Townsend, a putative candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, is onto something big. "I am running for U.S. Senator of the Great State of Alabama," he explains, "because I believe in 1906 NCAA was not created. They evolved from the same system of government created by the Roman and British Empires. I believe these systems of government were evil." Furthermore: I believe we the people of America must choose God over evolvement and open our eyes to both the evil and the good that has evolved or been created by us the citizens of America. I want to make it crystal clear that I believe…

Preserved for Posterity

Joy, of TelicThoughts, posted some gentle thoughts on PZ Myers, they were deleted due to "incompetence." As a public service, the vile mess is below the fold: "He Should Die of Gonorrhea and Rot in Hell": Yeah, that's a a movie quote*. And quite funny too, considering the movie and the context. Would you like a cookie, son? I'm posting it here because PZ's latest escapade of bragging that he was receiving "death threats" after soliciting consecrated Catholic host so he could publicly desecrate it has caused quite the Big Stir in cyberspace over the past week. I'm sure you're all aware of the…

Fame!

I used to tout every bit of media interest I've gotten, but lately it's hardly seemed worth it. Press outreach is part of my job, so a quote in a newspaper in Florida, or a radio interview in Pennsylvania, doesn't do much for the ego any more. I will note with interest this article at conservative news site CNSnews, relating to anti-science bills that have been introduced in several states. The author talks to Expelled producer Walt Ruloff, Expelled star Carolyn Crocker, Disco. 'tuter Casey Luskin and the legislator who introduced Louisiana's version of the noxious bill. Pleasantly enough…

Hawking's aliens

It looks like there is a theme going around the science blogosphere, triggered by a few remarks from Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking says we should avoid any aliens—they'll destroy us. Sean Carroll agrees, but think it's highly unlikely. Phil Plait disagrees that aliens will destroy us, also thinks it is unlikely anyway, but also thinks it more likely we'd be demolished by von Neumann replicators without seeing the aliens at all. Ethan Siegel is optimistic and wants to run out waving his arms for attention. He scares me the most. As the token biologist, I'll differ from all of them. If I…

The Evolution of Affluence

History tends to make even the most unlikely revolutions seem inevitable. Looking backwards to the 18th century, it's easy to conclude that the Industrial Revolution was bound to happen, that the forward march of modernity was predestined. But what this fatalistic view of history overlooks is just how unlikely it is that a nomadic band of hunter-gatherers would one day settle in big cities, develop some startling new technologies, and escape the Malthusian trap. Starting in the 18th century, a few select human populations (such as Great Britain) managed to increase their economic…

Supertasters and Wine Critics

This is what happens when a wine critic decides to scientifically test his sense of taste: She first handed me a cotton swab and instructed me to rub it vigorously against the inside of one of my cheeks. This was the genotype test; as soon as I was done, Reed's assistant, Fujiko Duke, whisked the sample to the lab. Reed then handed me a Q-tip, and told me to dab the end of my tongue with some blue food dye, which would more clearly reveal the fungiform papillae. I placed a white binder ring on the tip of my tongue, at a slight angle from the center, and Reed began counting the bumps inside…