Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Another magnificent piece of writing from Zimmer. This time on arctic adventurers, fish, and "one of the most crucial transitions in history of life": How the first tetrapods emerged from water, and started to move about on dry land
Inside the world of DIY synthetic biology. Where amateurs attempt genetic engineering in homemade labs. Will it lead to a wave of scientific breakthroughs, and valuable new life forms? Or a new generation of Dr Frankensteins?
The future has arrived: Two tetraplegics, paralysed and unable to speak, have regained some independence. They can control robotic arms by power of thought alone. Tiny electrodes implanted in the motor cortex work the magic
"Waking up after a good night’s sleep, you feel restored, and many studies have shown the benefits of sleep for learning, memory, and cognition. Yet if sleep is beneficial, what is the mechanism?" Recent research suggests an answer
Short history of the neuron. The Spaniard Santiago RamĂłn y Cajal first proved that the nervous system was made up of distinct building blocks in 1887. Term "neuron" coined shortly after in 1891 by German anatomist Wilhelm Waldeyer
Will we ever build an artificial womb? Complications exist, but lure is clear. "Ectogenesis comes with an irresistible hook: This technology would bring us closer to the day when motherhood and fatherhood mean the same thing"
Why do our hands only have five fingers? Polydactyly (having additional digits) is a common birth defect, but not one natural selection favoured. Truth is most of what we do can easily be accomplished with just three fingers
Why studies in neuropolitics (attaching political beliefs to biological fundamentals) are "at best pointless, and at worse dangerously divisive". Correlation does not equal causation. The field is no more credible than phrenology
Exploring the complexities of engineering an effective, universal defence against the HIV virus. "Creating an HIV vaccine is like trying to fire a gun at millions of shielded, moving targets. Oh, and they can eat your bullets"
"Organ transplants would be peripheral to the story of death if they were what the organ trade claimed them to be: The neat extraction of body parts from totally dead, unfeeling corpses." Regrettably that is far from the case
Vaguely aware of some controversy over scientists engineering a mutant strain of the bird flu virus, but not quite sure of the details? No problem, here's Carl Zimmer with a handy backgrounder that will bring you up to speed
"The dairy farmers of America, and the geneticists who work with them, are the Mendels of the genomic age. That makes the dairy cow the pea plant of this exciting new time in biology." Here's how to produce cattle farmers dream of
Tetraplegic, paralysed and unable to speak for past 15 years, drinks coffee unassisted. Using a robot and the power of thought
