There’s a kind of unassailable, depressing logic to this that drives me to despair of the entire human project. So I thought I would share it broadly! Perhaps someone can point me to a counterargument (preferably in cartoon format). —- https://abstrusegoose.com/276
Jessa Gamble is embedded in an experimental evolution lab at the University of Ottawa. Hope Jahren writes that you can hear corn growing in the Midwest. It sounds like the collective rustle of husks adjusting to accommodate the day’s inch of growth. I am tempted to put a microphone in the incubator. Would my bacteria […]
Jessa Gamble is embedded in an experimental evolution lab at the University of Ottawa. What I cannot simulate, stepping into the daily life of a lab and its early career researchers, is the stress they feel. I do not, except vicariously, buzz with the manic tension of finalizing a five-year NSERC grant. I am not […]
Evolution, we are often reminded, conducts itself at a glacial pace. It throws its dice and picks its favorites over thousands of generations—plenty of time, we wearily explain, for a functional eye to develop. By the same slow token, this process, life’s old standby for adapting to new environments, will not be fast enough […]
I spent this Labour Day weekend at a hunting and fishing club of which my father is a member. The Dumoine River Rod and Gun Club was celebrating its 100th anniversary, and forty-or-so members and relatives careened their way up the hills and dales of the old road to the club lodge for the gathering. […]
September 24-28, 2018 This week, Sally lets us in on some tech news: 2018 is the Cambrian Explosion of Steganography. Messages can be hidden in a variety of media, and it’s very hard for law enforcement to find. “Jpgs, gifs, pngs, mp3s –all of these have loads of storage space just begging for stowaways. They just […]
September 3-7, 2018 This week, on the Last Word on Nothing: Erik is a committed father who is finding the toddler years more of a chore than some other dads make it seem. Candid soul searching ensues. Cameron’s spring cleaning uncovers unwelcome houseguests. Her research into their origins and lifestyle only serves to gross her […]
August 6-10, 2018 In a personal archaeology, your memories are the artifacts, writes Craig this week. And they are all rooted in place. Guest Melinda Wenner Moyer did us all a favour and brought together some of science writing’s greats to ask which of their stories we should read—and likely didn’t find the first time. […]