Before Four

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/30/484053435/personality-can-change-over-a-lifetime-and-usually-for-the-better  This is a report from SHOTS, Health NewsBlog from NPR about personality changes during one's lifetime. The writer, a professor at Colby College, cites three studies (but I don't see the references or the publications), supporting the observation that the changes in personality are positive and are accelerated when people are leading meaningful and satisfying lives. (I say, which precedes which? but I am only the messenger.) The vagueness in the article (a real holiday-type article) are contrary to the high standards of Solipsists Soiree, but may not be so of NPR.


Mini Book Review:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Small-Package-History-Biographies/dp/0801896967 I recommend Death in A Small Package, by Susan D. Jones and published by Johns Hopkins University Press.  The book is more of a "biography of a disease" than a history, as the author explains. She cites the history and the symptomatology and various manifestations of infection by anthrax bacillis. There's cutaneous, enteric, and inhalational anthrax, and the writer doesn't spare the reader much in the description. The book is very well-written but it goes beyond the usual reporting of microbial diseases when it deals with the "weaponizing" of inhalational anthrax, which was known as woolsorter's disease, transmitted by the lighter-than-air spores containing the disease genome borne on an infected animal's fleece.
Jones describes the "shadowy" scientists working at the "junction of basic research and national security", tasked with purifying the spores, and one can't help but think that, in the post 911 era, the Home Security Agency has gotten more desperate and also more deliberate in its search for weaponizable agents, now to be carried by drones.
The difference between anthrax and other microbiological agents is that B. anthracis must kill its host to propagate itself. "Here is where the life cycle of B. anthracis intersects with the capacity to create fear." This is a really great book and I recommend it.




http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/13/481586649/a-map-of-where-your-food-originated-may-surprise-you  This, from an NPR blog called The Salt, is an interactive map of where your food originates. It originates (the article) from International Center for Tropical Agriculture and the USDA. The work was done by plant scientists. Interestingly, the original concept that food crops have origins was developed by the Russian "plant explorer" Vavilov. This research used Vavilov's methods. Did you know that Italian tomatoes come from the Andes?


http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-chocolate-electric-beam-20160620-snap-story.html  To make chocolate healthier, put it into an electric field. This is an article from the LATimes on research done at Temple U on a grant from the Mars company. The results, published in PNAS, showed that treated chocolate lost some of its viscosity and fat content. The work generated two patents and may part of my salary. (Full disclosure.)






http://www.nature.com/news/sex-redefined-1.16943 A 2015 review from Nature about the redefinition of sex.  A historic approach is taken and cases like CAIS are mentioned (complete androgen insensitivity syndrome) in which a person has testes but female external genitalia. Cases like these may make it necessary to broaden the definition of sex as more of a spectrum rather than a binary.



https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160630163800.htm  From Science Daily, a report of research from the U of Arkansas and published in Science that analyzed dental anatomy and diet  of two human ancestors from tooth fossils, one was vegetarian and one not. The point was that evolution could result in suboptimal physical traits not matching functional need.






http://www.sciencealert.com/girls-are-going-through-puberty-earlier-than-ever-before-with-long-term-effects  From SciAlert, an article from The Atlantic about earlier puberty in girls causing health problems later in life, such as breast cancer. A 2013 study from the J of Adolescent Health found that girls who had their periods younger than their peers have up to 30% increase in breast cancer risk.




http://www.nature.com/news/the-visualizations-transforming-biology-1.20201  An article in Nature  about how graphic design and visualizations are transforming biology. There is an image of a dragonfly wing which was prepared from a computer's selection and classification of cell size and shape, which allows for automated classification of species. There is a type of software called CellPACK which allows for selecting particular cells which be available in a user friendly or "more streamlined" version next year.




http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2016/07/02/yes-you-are-a-fish/  From one of my favorite blogs, Pharyngula, by PZ Myers, about our relationship taxonomically with fish, and about gnathostomes, and cladistics, a way of grouping organisms with their common ancestors.




http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-would-happen-if-you-didn-t-sleep-claudia-aguirre  A TED-ED talk about the effects of sleep deprivation.

http://www.sciencealert.com/new-regenerative-tooth-fillings-heal-your-teeth-from-the-inside  From SciAlert, a report of research done at the U of Nottingham on new regenerative fillings that heal from the inside out and include stem cells.


https://www.newscientist.com/article/2096001-turtle-herpes-outbreak-hints-at-great-barrier-reef-contamination/  From the New Scientist, a report about herpes virus infection in turtles. From James Cook University in Australia. The virus causes tumors in turtles and may have been brought about by environmental contaminants from human activity weakening the turtles' immune systems.


http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/06/how-some-salamanders-regrow-their-limbs From PLOS , how salamanders regrow their limbs. This article is a report of how bone, muscle and blood vessels grow from stem cells formed at the wound surface. Ten microRNAs obtained from three species that are capable of regeneration of limbs were the same in all three. This work may someday lead to the repair of serious limb injuries in humans. And they are cute.



http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46007/title/Opinion--Reimagining-the-Paper/ From The Scientist, a commentary about the scientific journal article and the complexity of its format making communication of an idea, the intended purpose of the paper, more elusive. Written by a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School.


https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-launches-largest-ever-study-breast-cancer-genetics-black-women This is a"news flash" from the NIH announcing an NIH-funded study of breast cancer in black women. The Breast Cancer Genetic Study in African-Ancestry Populations is a collaboration that will share tissue samples and statistics among different institutions. All told, the $12 million grant will include 20,000 patients.

http://memento.muttermuseum.org/detail/skull-with-transorbital-lobotomy  This is an exhibit at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. It shows the results (anatomical, not behavioral) of a transorbital lobotomy, an operation that was "perfected" by physician Walter Freeman.




http://phys.org/news/2016-07-urinal-electricity-urine.html  From Phys.org, (physics blog) a report of the production of electricity by a public urinal using urine. This work was done in UK and was published in Environmental Sci: Water Res. Technol.