This kid is only 7 now, so we may hear more about him in the future. Be sure to test your kid with 10-lb weights. Perhaps s/he has the potential to become a governor some day.

As a corollary, there appears to be a mutation in cats with the opposite effect - i.e., a disproportionately high fat to muscle mass ratio. Such cats are incredibly dense yet function primarily as pillows. Clearly it is a genetic condition (according to my cat Tacaribe, at least).


There is a more recent post with some details about this condition here.

Labels: genetics, health, humans

It has surprised me that I have not heard about environmentalists complaining about the planned 700-mile fence along the U.S. - Mexico border. As an ecologist, my first reaction was to guess that it would be a disaster for the many endangered species in the Sonoran Desert, and it turns out this assessment is shared by The Center for Biological Diversity, in Tucson.

Many large mammals in the Sonoran Desert need access to large ranges in order to survive. The fragmentation of populations is a detriment to endangered species recovery. In addition, the construction and maintenance of such a wall will obviously result in a lot of habitat destruction in the area.

Labels: biodiversity, environment, nature

This is intended to be a low-key weblog in which topics of biological (and sometimes musical?) interest are discussed. At this point, I mostly envision it as "The Biology Behind the News." It is not intended to be overtly political, but postings may touch on the biological implications of policy - and science policy is a bit of a wired topic these days.