Stress: Portrait of a Killer on PBS

I managed to watch most of the recent National Geographic special title “Stress: Portrait of a Killer” on PBS last night. The program itself was an excellent summary of the effects of psychological stress on physiology in both humans and nonhuman primates. Robert Sapolsky’s research on stress response in wild baboons served as the jumping [...]

Paper wasps never forget, sort of

An elephant may never forget, but paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) can remember fights with other wasps for up to a week. This is quite an accomplishment considering their brain is one-millionth the size of a human brain! P. fuscatus queens share nests with other queens, after establishing social dominance relationships through aggressive contests. Likewise, it [...]

Newt Gingrich speaks on the state of science in America

While my coursework and lab duties have kept me away from most pleasure reading, I still get the chance to read my semimonthly issue of SEED magazine. The current issue contains a Q&A session with former Speaker of the House—Newt Gingrich. I don’t agree with many things that come, or came, out of Mr. Gingrich’s [...]