Increased measures of Tired, Fatigue, Sluggish, Weary, and Heaviness of Limbs? Yes. Decreased measures of Energetic, Friendly, Lively, and Vigor, Concentration? Also yes. And yes: I am quitting coffee. What in the devil is going on in my brain? I am trying to quit coffee, I should say. Not sure it’s going to stick. But [...]
Manatees are so far from rats and roaches. As our planet reels into a chaos of meltdowns and hurricanes, rats and roaches will be fine. Manatees… let’s just hope they sink when they die, because they’d make an awful stink. I’ve kayaked with the sea cows a few times. It’s eerie. They live in murky [...]
Here’s a stumper: Normally, a male chimp doesn’t pay much attention to his kids. That’s women’s work. But in the wild, males are ready, willing, and able to adopt orphaned chimps. What gives? The observation comes from three different groups over a period of 27 years. During that time 36 youngsters were orphaned, and half [...]
The idea that kids are healthier if they grow up with a bit of filth in their face is not new. Plentiful evidence suggests that we evolved to benefit from our rustic surroundings. Now research says the same of pigs: The dirtier the better. The idea is that exposing a young immune system to germs [...]
Don’t smoke, don’t eat burned meat, and don’t spend too much time alone. That last one is especially important if breast cancer runs in your family. And if you’re a rat. Scientists started this experiment with 40 rats whose genes predisposed them to breast cancer. Twenty rats lived in groups, as rats normally do. The [...]
I always wondered how animals (including humans) fight the parasitic worms we all get. Almost all animals have some, including the majority of humans. Why don’t we have billions? Why aren’t we all desperately thin and miserable? We have ways, it turns out. At least, mice have ways. When scientists gave worms to mice, the [...]
Can you tell who’s a Democrat and who’s a Republican with just a glance at their faces? Odds are, you can. In light of the book I’m just finishing, I’m not surprised. So much of our personality is genetic, inherited. And we have evolved, social animals that we are, to read a great deal in [...]
To feed the birds, or not? Won’t it make them dependent on bird feeders, and pervert their natural habits? Well, yeah, possibly. But it may also make them into a new species. In just 30 generations bird-feeder bound birds began to change their shape, not to mention their migratory habits, German scientist found. They’re splitting [...]
Got your goat fever shot? ‘Cause I hear it’s baaaaaaad. Actually, it’s not (yet) as virulent as pig flue (swine flu, H1N1). Among the 2300 cases in Holland this past year, there were only a handful of deaths. But the speed with which “Q Fever” has ascended from an occasional fever of goat farmers to [...]
What do the world’s impoverished children lose in their ears? Stones, seeds, beads, and insects. Kids from wealthy nations go for the beads and insects. Actually, the insects aren’t a choice. They just wander in while the kid is asleep and presumably can’t find their way out. Cockroaches are very, very common in children’s ears. [...]
