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All the fireflies, which I caught here, belonged to the Lampyridae (in which family the English glowworm is included), and the greater number of specimens were of Lampyris occidentalis. I found that this insect emitted the most brilliant flashes when irritated: in the intervals, the abdominal rings were obscured. The flash was almost co-instantaneous in the two rings, but it was just perceptible first in the anterior one. The shining matter was fluid and very adhesive: little spots, where the... Read more
While reading through the Voyage of the Beagle I stumbled on some of Darwin’s interesting observations of animal behavior which I will share with you in the upcoming blog posts. What I will not do is to comment on Darwin’s observations or explain the animal’s behavior. I will deliver the pieces raw and uncut to put the reader in the shoes of a scientist. In this way I hope to spark the interest and the curiosity of the reader to... Read more
Currently, pharmaceutical companies develop and test most drugs in Europe and North America, where they are licensed with efficacy rates as low as 30%. In contrast most drugs are usually marketed worldwide without any idea of how effective or safe they are in different population groups, and certainly without any regard for differences in SNP patterns or of other genomic variation that may correlate to differential drug responses between these groups. ... Read more
The yellow press is known for stirring the emotions of the reader – good and bad - not so scientific journals like Nature. But once in a while a nature paper is published whose wider implications are not well received in certain circles and which makes a lot of people angry - for different reasons. ... Read more
It’s easy to think that some behaviors are just inherently male or female. Boys like to play with trucks. Girls like to play with dolls. ... Read more
Traffic stops are the most frequent form of police contact with the public. In the US traffic stops have become a politically volatile issue as many blacks have complained that many stops and searches are based on “race” rather than on legitimate suspicions – in this case the procedure is called racial profiling. ... Read more
As my beloved Uganda celebrates fifty years of independence from British rule we are looking back on its rocky path to the present and looking ahead with hope to a better future. The last 50 years have been characterized by great achievements but also tremendous challenges in human development. I wonder if Uganda will be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1: halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. ... Read more
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