Appraise war in terms of the fundamental factors. —Sun Tzu The card game of war is typically considered a children’s game, as it requires no skill to play and minimal understanding of playing card relationships in a standard deck. With skill eliminated as a factor in determining the outcome, it is often assumed that war is simply a random game of chance. Yet the game cannot be purely determined by chance, as the initial conditions of the game must have some bearing on the final state. The existence of random factors in the game do not allow for the claim…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From journal club
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: I CHOOSE BURGER ‘B’
REFERENCE: Potential Effects of the Next 100 Billion Hamburgers Sold by McDonald’s. (2005) American Journal of Preventive Medicine 28(4) :379-381 ABSTRACT: Background: McDonald’s has sold more than 100 billion beef-based hamburgers worldwide with a potentially considerable health impact. This paper explores whether there would be any advantages if the next 100 billion burgers were instead plant-based burgers. Methods: Nutrient composition of the beef hamburger patty and the McVeggie burger patty were obtained from the McDonald’s website; sales data were obtained from the McDonald’s customer service. Results: Consuming 100 billion McDonald’s beef burgers versus the same company’s McVeggie burgers would provide,…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT?
REFERENCE: In Vitro-Cultured Meat Production. (2005) P.D. Edelman, D.C. McFarland, V.A. Mironov, and J.G. Matheny. Tissue Engineering 11: p659 ABSTRACT: Although meat has enjoyed sustained popularity as a foodstuff, consumers have expressed growing concern over some consequences of meat consumption and production. These include nutrition-related diseases, foodborne illnesses, resource use and pollution, and use of farm animals. Here we review the possibility of producing edible animal muscle (i.e., meat) in vitro, using tissue-engineering techniques. Such “cultured meat” could enjoy some health and environmental advantages over conventional meat, and the techniques required to produce it are not beyond imagination. To tissue…
A FABRICATED PAPER: HYPERACTIVE SLOTHS LEADS TO ISOLATION OF A NEW COMPOUND
(This paper was designed by a group of students for a class project, and as such is completely fabricated) TITLE: Hyperactive sloths leads to isolation of a new compound ABSTRACT: The observation of hyperactive three-toed sloths, Bradypus variegates, on the island of Barro Colorado is due to the addition of Panamae caenaela to their diets. P. caenaela is only found on the Barro Colorado Island which explains why only hyperactive sloths were found on the Barro Colorado Island. Using gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry analysis, we were able to isolate the compound responsible for the hyperactive behaviour of the sloth. The…
THE HEDDA GABLER CONJECTURE
(This piece is an attempt at plotting out the classic Ibsen play as if it were a science experiment – wiki links to Henrik Ibsen and the play itself) ABSTRACT: In contrast to previous studies conducted in recent years on the causal relationship between narcissism and self-destruction (A. Strindberg, H. Ibsen, A.Chekov), we have sought to produce a linear-time chart allowing for the groundwork of a general model. By subjecting several axioms to a sequence of increasingly complex control variables, we find latent inconsistencies inherent in the initial equation, resulting in a paradox. SUBJECT HEADINGS: Time, Fate, Will, Greed, Destiny,…
A FABRICATED PAPER: MITOCHONDRIAL EVOLUTION: SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?
(This paper was designed by a group of students for a class project, and as such is completely fabricated) TITLE: Mitochondrial Evolution: Should I stay or should I go? ABSTRACT: The distinction between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure is still accepted today as the most fundamental discontinuity in the living world. In the process of analyzing the newly sequenced bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii it was discovered through a BLAST search that a non-coding region of DNA showed high homology to the importin-α gene of eukaryotes. The genomes of Rickettsia canada and Rickettsia rickettsii were both found to contain a sequence homologous…
READING WEEK – THURSDAY
Finger-length ratios and sexual orientation (pdf). (2000) Nature 404:p455 In which we learn that the size of your fingers correlates to sexual hormone production and possibly sexual orientation. This is great for party conversations – we hear that even the Pope himself tried this one out. – – – FIRST PARAGRAPH: Animal models have indicated that androgenic steroids acting before birth might influence the sexual orientation of adult humans. Here we examine the androgen-sensitive pattern of finger lengths, and find evidence that homosexual women are exposed to more prenatal andro- gen than heterosexual women are; also, men with more than…
READING WEEK – WEDNESDAY
How Baseball Outfielders Determine Where to Run to Catch Fly Balls (pdf). (1995) Science 268:p569 In which we learn that apparently, there can be a scientific basis for 7 figured salaries. Next up, how to objectively judge figure skating. – – – ABSTRACT: Current theory proposes that baseball outfielders catch fly balls by selecting a running path to achieve optical acceleration cancellation of the ball. Yet people appear to lack the ability to discriminate accelerations accurately. This study supports the idea that outfielders convert the temporal problem to a spatial one by selecting a running path that maintains a linear…
READING WEEK – TUESDAY (VALENTINE’S DAY)
Ancestral and recombinant 16-locus HLA haplotypes in the Hutterites. (1999) Immunogenetics 49:p491 In which human mate selection appears to be determined by genetics afterall. This study was done using a small community (Hutterites) since carefully controlled human mate matching and observation would be unethical – at least without reality TV. – – – ABSTRACT: Prior studies in the Schmiedeleut Hutterites of South Dakota have demonstrated associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype matching and fetal loss (Ober et al. 1992) and mate preferences (Ober et al. 1997), as well as deficiencies of homozygotes for HLA haplotypes (Kostyu et al. 1993).…