Author Archives: kirkmike157

Untangling the March for Science

Posted on April 24, 2017 by kirkmike157

If there was a single cartoon that captured the essence of the “March for Science”, this was it. The image of a sanctimonious Bill Nye grinning approvingly over some gender studies nonsense, while the true icons of science look down … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Activism and the Academy

Posted on March 17, 2017 by kirkmike157

I am a member of a thing I call the Academy. It is a club, but without any roster, dues, or membership requirement – other than a preoccupation with science. It is non-exclusive, without judgment of any kind with respect … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged | Leave a comment

Utah

Posted on December 11, 2015 by kirkmike157

Red dust from the desert filtered into the tent as the morning sun rose. At dawn the light was diffuse and the triangle of fabric enclosed space was peaceful. Then the first of the sun’s direct rays brushed the canvas … Continue reading →

Posted in Short Stories | Tagged | Leave a comment

1958: Galveston physicians render infants Vitamin F deficient

Posted on October 8, 2015 by kirkmike157

There seems to be a dedicated readership numbering in the solid single digits who faithfully read each entry I post here. Those who would not be counted in such a group are encouraged to read my last post, Vitamin F, … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Vitamin F

Posted on August 28, 2015 by kirkmike157

  Sabine is a mouse midwife. She’s looking after about 20 expectant mouse moms, and the prognosis for the babies is not good. 3/4 of them will be born looking relatively normal, and no one is too concerned about these. … Continue reading →

Posted in Drug Development, Genetics, Medicine, R&D, Science | Leave a comment

Pig Blood

Posted on July 31, 2015 by kirkmike157

There were two dead pigs dangling from the ceiling, spinning around together in a slow pirouette. Another was submerged in a vat of scalding water, and one more lay sprawled on the grate of a heavy iron rack. Kurt had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Who were the Denisovans anyway?

Posted on July 29, 2015 by kirkmike157

Originally posted on TwilightBeasts:
Human evolution used to be the preserve of two groups of academics: the ones who liked fossils and the ones who liked stone tools. Both regarded the other as peculiar for being obsessed with the wrong…

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sympathy for the Devil

Posted on June 12, 2015 by kirkmike157

Tim Hunt is a 72-year old British Nobel laureate who was forced to resign from his position at the University College of London this week because of things he said at a press conference. Those sentences have been reproduced widely … Continue reading →

Posted in CaBRI, Science, Short Stories | Tagged | Leave a comment

Lineage-Enders

Posted on April 21, 2015 by kirkmike157

Teddy Wayne recently wrote a piece for the Sunday New York Times called “The Childless Life” (the digital version is titled “No Kids for Me, Thanks”) which at face value was a discussion of the individual choice to go vocally, self-righteously extinct. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Genetics, Natural History, Science, Sperm donation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Of Mice and Men, and Cats and Women

Posted on February 9, 2015 by kirkmike157

 Wookie Bear I am infested with parasites. My entire house is lousy with them—the word lousy is derived from the singular form for lice, a particular small mammalian ectoparasite. We categorize our parasites by where they live—the endoparasites like ascarid worms … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics, Natural History, Science | Leave a comment