The fresh-faced girl with heavy bangs in the photo in the upper left was seven years old when the photograph was taken. In the yearbook picture to its right, taken ten years later, we see a serious high school student with considerably shorter hair, one who probably had no suspicion that in 16 brief years… Read More »
All humans die. However, while each of us knows we shall someday die, few of us can escape wishing we could delay the process. Some succeed. The oldest documented living person, Marie-Louise Febronie Meilleur of Corbeil, Ontario, reached the age of 117 years in 1997. The tantalizing possibility of long life that she represents is… Read More »
With one very special exception, every cell in your body is a prisoner to developmental decisions made long before birth, committed without choice to being a particular tissue — if muscle, every time the muscle cell divides, its descendents are muscle cells too. After about 50 divisions (the number varies with the kind of tissue)… Read More »
My wife and I invited friends over to watch the Kentucky Derby last weekend. We try to do this every year, as we love the semi-ridiculous over-thetop feel of Derby Day. Not so much fun last year, when one of the horses fell at race’s end with fractured ankles. It got me thinking about bone… Read More »
As the year 2000 draws to a close, it’s difficult to avoid the pang of apprehension that comes with being another year older. Aging is the one aspect of life that none of us avoid, but most of us hate being reminded of. This month, however, there is an odd bit of news in the… Read More »