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Last week I suggested there might be things our minds can’t really conceive of related to the universe in which we live.  Here’s a similar concept.  (This is what I get from sitting around thinking too much.) Over the past ten years or so, astronomers have discovered over 500 planets outside our solar system.  None of them, however, have…

The human mind is a wonderful instrument, capable of intense reaches of imagination and ingenuity.  With it, we’ve traveled the stars and delved into the interior of the atom.  We’ve investigated the mechanism of disease, evaluated the bottom of the ocean, and produced treatises of word and music of immense beauty.  Among other things.  Now, I’m…

It is a frequently stated truism that, “There is an exception to every rule.”  But many people have pointed out that some rules seem to have no exceptions.  Take, for example, the rule that the circumference of a circle is pi times the diameter.  This is always true, no exceptions.  That seems to contradict the rule that,…

I want to set down a few comments on word usages I’ve heard over the past several years. Two of these come from combat situations, which isn’t unlikely since we’re fighting two wars. I heard on the news yesterday that three American troops were killed in Afghanistan. This use of the word “troop” in that…

A few months ago, I found the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, on the New Releases shelf of a local bookstore. Interestingly, it’s become a best seller. The book tells the story of the derivation of the most important cell line in biological sciences, HeLa. What interested me was not…

This is a new blog I set up Sunday, May 2, 2010, and I’d like to welcome you to it.  This is my first post, and a little explanation about this blog is probably in order.  As a scientist with a Ph.D. degree in virology (the study of viruses) I expect to blog about topics in science (physical sciences as well…