There were so many amazing ones came across this week, that it was hard to choose!
Was Darwin Wrong? Well not exactly; but every theory needs revision now and then. If the writer of this one is even half right, then something pretty big is going on in Biology. But read it just to learn about the Senegalese Birchir, which seems to pack 10 million years of evolution into ten weeks!
Why are Trump fans afraid? Fear of being found wrong seems to be the key. This piece in The Atlantic is a masterly insight into the human condition
we thank Mr Peter Seymour for this story
CRISPR at Ten Whatever the petty political squabbles of today, future generations will look back to say “this was when they invented CRISPR- and it was going to be BIG!” New York Times via Nature Briefings cover this one
It’s been ten years since microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier and biochemist Jennifer Doudna published the research that paved the way for CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing. In 2020, they shared the chemistry Nobel for the work. An overview of the technique’s past, present and future looks at how it has transformed the life sciences.The New York Times | 10 min read
Reference: Science paper
Supreme Court shows its true colours And they are Republican Red, or at least that’s how it seems to us foreigners. This is the second one in a week. On a completely unrelated matter, here’s a word game: choose from these words; Vindictive, spiteful, ignorant, prejudiced, gloating, selfish, wilful, cruel, capricious, ancient, petty-minded, stupid, partisan, deceitful, complacent, and downright nasty. How many can you apply to a decision which has been in the news this week?
the US Supreme Court has prohibited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from crafting broad regulations to drive the country’s power industry away from coal and towards cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar. The court’s ruling could make it much harder for the administration of President Joe Biden — and its successors — to curb greenhouse gases as promised under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. And that spells bad news for the planet, because the United States is both one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world and a crucial player in the countries tackling global warming.Nature | 6 min read
Old Skool debate In England, Private schools (confusingly known as “Public Schools”) boast that their superiority is due to the fact that they run like businesses. But how many other businesses get charity status tax breaks? asks The Conversation:
More Unreason: Flat earthers Why do people believe palpable untruths? Flat earthers are now just one case among many. Here the Conversation tries to understand a little more odf the emotional roots of bizarre beliefs
That’s quite a reading list! We’ll close with this nice video of some Tiger cubs(hope it clicks OK) and wish you all a happy weekend
#tiger #conspiracy theory #EPA #supreme court #CRISPR #evolution #donald trump
Learning, Science and Society 