Darren Chiacchia, an American equestrian athlete who won an Olympic medal in Athens in 2004, is on trial.

The charge? Exposing his partner to HIV in the state of Florida, where it is illegal for an HIV+ person to have sex with someone without disclosing HIV status. According to Chiacchia's bitter ex-lover, Chiacchia hid his status from his ( Read more... )

I started thinking about this when I read an MSNBC article, cited below, about the way the evolution of blooming plants allowed the Amazon Rainforest to expand significantly in size because their leaves give off more humidity than other plants. The concept that scientists touched on is much broader than the vasculation of angiosperms - that living ( Read more... )

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My fifth grade teacher once told our class that the difference between humans and animals was an elusive thing called "reason." When you hit a dog, she argued, the dog would yelp in pain and run away but know nothing beyond what it shows in its behavior. The human would ask "why?" and try to prevent itself from being hit in the future ( Read more... )

The first time any of us witnessed a cancer patient - a bald-headed peer in our elementary school, an aunt or grandmother with an appointment for a mastectomy, or a grandpa who got a dark, funny-looking mole removed - a reassuring adult explained that cancer isn't contagious. Cancer is our body's own growth turned against us, sparked by a precise ( Read more... )

The first time I tasted cilantro, I thought I was licking the dust from ground pennies. The flavor was overwhelmingly metalic, and so strong that even in in a few tiny green fragments it ruined the the rice dish I was eating. I'm not a picky eater, and if it weren't for cilantro, there wouldn't be a single food I don't like. But while a majority ( Read more... )

This article and chart seeks to understand the "natural" diet for humans by looking at human physiology. The chart considers things like teeth, facial structure, and stomach acidity, comparing humans to known herbevores, omnivores, and carnivores. The website I got this from clearly has a pro-vegetarian bias, but the facts in the chart are ( Read more... )

I want to offer a disclaimer that the following addresses my views on the ability of non-experts (particularly authors) to critique scientific or political theories through fiction, and DOES NOT reflect a stance on the reality of global warming or attempt to validate or invalidate Global Warming Theory as truth.

( Polemic Literature's Failures )

Science is the process of forfeiting what we want to be true or what we think is true to accept what we observe to be more likely true through a process designed to seek truth in spite of our ever-present biases and preconceptions. Because science functions this way, we are often called to accept facts and ideas we don't like - but reality exists ( Read more... )

I'm curious about this ( recent study... )

After decades of research, they've found a chemical compound that significantly reduces the effects of Alzheimers disease. Previous compounds could help compensate for damage that Alzheimers causes, but no existing drug has been able to directly combat Alzheimers the way that this new compound can, and none have been able to do so without some ( Read more... )