It’s because I’m too introspective. Introspection is a no-no for extreme athletes, according to this article on the subject. Oh, there are a few other reasons, too. One is that I’m not crazy, and another is that I don’t like … Continue reading →
This article about how head injuries sometimes (although very very rarely) lead to savant powers made me think (once again) of the Jorge Luis Borges story “Funes, the Memorious.” Fortunately, the work appears in its entirety online, so if you … Continue reading →
I was away in New York for a few days and came back last night with a cold. So this morning I canceled a bunch of things I was supposed to do and just crawled back into bed, hunkering down. … Continue reading →
Basically, it was part of the anti-vaccine hysteria. Where I live, Lyme disease is a very real possibility if you go outside in the countryside or even suburbia. People have to dress with great care to avoid it, and I … Continue reading →
The true costs are mostly hidden: Let’s start with how much Canadians actually pay. The OECD arrives at its figures by the hopelessly simplistic method of dividing a nation’s total health care expenditure by its population. Thus, Canadians pay about … Continue reading →
I’m so old I can remember when you had to wash and dry lettuce by hand. What a pain in the neck that was. Then came a fabulous invention: the salad spinner. Salad spinners may seem pretty primitive to you … Continue reading →
Like Charlie Gard before him, British toddler Alfie Evan’s situation highlights not just questions of medical ethics, but the power of the state over the individual. I wrote about Charlie here. Alfie Evans’ situation differs in some details, but it’s … Continue reading →
This is an important and sobering article about brain function. Here’s an excerpt: At TIRR, [Kothari, an assistant professor of rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine] estimates nine out of 10 patients who come to him with a vegetative label … Continue reading →
That’s the clickbait headline for this BBC article. I thought it might be something about Neanderthal genes, or perhaps mitochondria. But no; it’s about bacteria, mainly gut bacteria: Human cells make up only 43% of the body’s total cell count. … Continue reading →
That’s the headline for this eyecatching article in the Guardian. At any rate, it certainly caught my eye. I initially assumed it might be about assisted or permitted suicide, and whether and when a minor could be allowed to make … Continue reading →
As a person who had some trouble with infertility when I was trying to conceive, I found this story very touching.
Continue reading →No, but it will seem longer. That’s my attempt at a joke. But maybe it’s not a joke. Maybe it’s true. For many years there’s been an idea—derived initially from animal research—that restricting caloric intake makes a person live longer. … Continue reading →