Biology

Immortality has always struck me as a terrible idea — the most extreme expression of self-infatuation. Out with the old and in with the new seems like a universal law and a good one. It turns out, however, that that’s not always the case. Nathaniel Rich writes: After more than 4,000 years — almost since [...]

Adam Rogers poses some interesting questions about how we understand intelligence, but the observations he describes about slime molds pose an array of other questions. For instance, although a slim mold doesn’t possess a brain as a distinct organ, what might this organism’s aptitude in network formation tell us about the way neural networks are [...]

NPR reports: Scientists Wednesday unveiled the first catalog of the bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that populate every nook and cranny of the human body. Researchers hope the advance marks an important step towards understanding how microbes help make humans human. The human body contains about 100 trillion cells, but only maybe one in 10 [...]

The following article looks at the harmful effects of excessive hygiene and while it’s clearly directly relevant to America’s hand-sanitizing cleanliness-obsessed culture, the fear of germs is itself symptomatic of a wider culture of fear. In our hunger to feel safe we have lost an understanding of the healthiness of insecurity and the pathology of [...]