When I was a little girl, the professor from Gillian’s Island was my hero. He was smart, unassuming, and solved a lot of problems. I deduced that scientists were incredible. As clever as physicians, with the power to save lives, but much cooler, as they shunned the limelight. Later in TV history came McGuyer, who fixed an awful lot of… Read More »The Evolution of the Evil Scientist. Part 1. The Money.
Corporations might be legal persons but they don’t have DNA. This expression ‘in our DNA’ is a thorn in the eye of my scientist’s sensibilities when it’s used to describe organizations. I know, it’s just an expression that means something fundamental to behaviour, beliefs or actions. Fair enough as a metaphor. But, I don’t like it. Because of my propensity… Read More »Is it really in your DNA?
I can’t explain how I just came across this article posted on the CBC website in February, but I’m glad I did. The title and tag-line are evocative : ‘Cities causing genetic changes in plants, animals. Wild things may be changing at a genetic level to survive in modern cities.’ Genetic changes [may have occurred], but not necessarily mutations due to environmental… Read More »Isn’t Adaptation a Good Thing?