Meg, a graduate student in physiology and pharmacology, writes, “It’s a starburst lilly with DNA as a stem to symbolize that everything originates from genetics!”
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published February 20, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.
[Correction appended]
Monday I bemoaned the lack of fact-checking of opinion pieces in newspapers, pointing to a George Will column on global warming in the Washington Post as evidence. Now the Washington Post op-ed folks claim that it was in fact heavily fact-checked. All I can say is that none of them better apply for a fact-checking job here at Discover.
To recap: George Will wrote a column in which he tried to downplay the evidence that global warming has already affected the Earth, and that it will have bigger impacts in the future. Various bloggers have pointed out examples where Will misrepresented scientific studies in this column.
There are two things I really like to learn about: parasites and the human mind. And so I was intrigued to learn about some studies that suggest that we defend ourselves from infections not only with an immune system made up of cells and antibodies, but one made up of unconscious behaviors. It’s the topic of my new column about the brain in Discover. Other people can make us sick, and so perhaps we deal with them differently depending on our risk of getting sick. Take this study, from Carlos Navarrete, a psychologist at Michigan State University. He and his colleagues designed an experiment to compare how pregnant women respond to strangers. During the first trimester, both mother and child are particularly vulnerable to infection.
Discover, February 18, 2009
The long battle between humans and infectious microbes has left its marks all over us.
It shows up most obviously in the way our bodies are constructed. The thousands of species of bacteria that swarm over us cannot penetrate our multilayered skin. Entry points, such as the eyes and nose, are bathed in moisture to help flush out pathogens. The lining of our lungs releases bacteria-killing compounds. Viruses that manage to infect cells are greeted by proteins that attempt to shred them into genetic confetti. Any pathogen that sneaks past all these defenses then faces an army of immune cells, which can devour and destroy the invaders. Immune cells can also manufacture antibodies, which allow them to launch swift attacks if they encounter the same infection elsewhere in the body.
Continue reading “Is Patriotism a Subconscious Way for Humans to Avoid Disease?”
Over the past two summers I’ve paid visits to the lovely Isles of Shoals to speak to students and scientists at the Shoals Marine Lab. (I wrote a post about my 2007 trip here, and last summer’s journey here.) This year I’ll be trying something new: I’m teaching a week-long college-credit course on science writing. It will run from August 10 to 17, and, like all classes at Shoals, it will be intense. We’ll read a lot, write a lot more, and take advantage of the unique environment of Appledore Island, where you should never be surprised to encounter an underwater archaeologist, an ornithologist banding migratory birds, or a vet dissecting a seal on a picnic table.