Animals, as I explained in my recent column for Discover, take precautions not to get sick (including the famous anal cannon). We take precautions too–conscious ones, based on what we have learned about how diseases spread, and perhaps also unconscious ones that lower our risk of infection.
But if those precautions fail, we humans sometimes take medicines to kill off the pathogens making us sick. And there’s an intriguing body of evidence suggesting that animals take medicine too.
I’ve been writing from time to time recently about the poor job that op-ed sections do with science. As my prime example, I’ve focused on a column George Will wrote poo-poohing global warming for the Washington Post. But I’ve never meant to imply that that particular column was some isolated fluke. I think similar problems can be found in the editorial pages of many newspapers, and many branches of science are affected.
I’m honored to report that I’ve been asked to deliver this year’s John Wesley Powell Memorial Lecture. Here is a description of the lecture series from its organizers, the Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
Continue reading “The 2009 John Wesley Powell Memorial Lecture: “What Is Life?””
Science Magazine, March 6, 2009
If your chrysanthemums look stunted and ugly, take comfort. They’re infected with a parasite that may tell us a lot about how life began.
Continue reading “Fast-mutating viroids hold clues to early life”
This chrysanthemum leaf is infected with naked bits of genetic material known as viroids. Over at Origins, Science‘s blog, I take a look at new research that suggests these extraordinary little pests may have a lot in common with the earliest life on Earth. Check it out.