“March of the Penguins,” the conservative film critic and radio host Michael Medved said in an interview, is “the motion picture this summer that most passionately affirms traditional norms like monogamy, sacrifice and child rearing.” –from an article describing how some religious leaders and conservative magazines are embracing the blockbuster documentary.
Back in the dark ages (otherwise known as the 1990s), writing about science felt a bit like putting messages in a bottle. I’d write an article, a few weeks or months later it would appear in a magazine, and a few weeks or months later I might get a response from a reader. In some cases, an expert might point out an error I made. In other cases, she or he might explain the real story which I had missed. The delay could make for some disconcerting experiences. The first time I met the late Stephen Jay Gould, to interview him for a book I was working on, I was still lowering myself into a chair when he began complaining about the cover headline to a story I had written about fossil birds over a year beforehand. I stared at him blankly for a while as I reached back into my memory banks to figure out what he was talking about.
I’m back from a computer-free vacation, and of course I have returned to mountains of emails and a long chain of fascinating new links. In place of any original thoughts of my own, let me just point you to a few things that look interesting (if you have any mental space not presently occupied by the horrors of Katrina).
In Character, September 1, 2005
Can amoebae be loyal?
The very question may make you twist up your face in skepticism. Surely this is a case of anthropomorphism at its most absurd. After all, loyalty is the sort of quality we like to think distinguishes us from animals – not to mention microbes. Loyalty demands steadfast dedication in the face of temptation. It requires us to make noble sacrifices, to give up selfish interests for something beyond ourselves – whether it be a nation, a church, a principle, a friend. “I will follow thee/To the last gasp with truth and loyalty,” says the faithful servant Adam to Orlando, the hero of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. How could an amoeba display such nobility of spirit?
Continue reading “Loyalty Under a Microscope: Why Amoebae Stick Together”
Clint, the chimpanzee in this picture, diedseveral months ago at a relatively young age of 24. But part of him lives on. Scientists chose him–or rather, his DNA–as the subject of their first attempt to sequence a complete chimpanzee genome. In the new issue of Nature, they’ve unveiled their first complete draft, and already Clint’s legacy has offered some awesome insights into our own evolution.