Last week was a lull, but this week I have a few things to share...
The agricultural revolution that began 11,000 years ago changed humanity as well as the planet. But how did the transformation happen? Some intriguing clues have emerged in recent months from ancient DNA extracted for the first time from the oldest skeletons of farmers. I wrote a feature for the New York Times about the new findings, and how archaeologists are folding them into their understanding of how farming began. (Image: P. Dorrell and S. Laidlaw/The Ain Ghazal Archaeological Project)
In the early 1970s, scientists were making great strides towards a vaccine for the common cold. And then research ground to a halt. There hasn't been a human trial of a cold vaccine for forty years. Now there's a revival of research, driven by a realization that colds can be a lot worse than we once thought. I've got a story on the turnaround in Stat.
For my latest Science Happens! video, I paid a visit to Wendy Suzuki at New York University. Suzuki is exploring how the body can affect the brain--in particular, how exercise can improve our memory and attention. Suzuki put me on a treadmill and gave me some cognition tests to show me how it works. Check it out.
January 28-29, 2017 Rancho Mirage Writers Festival
March 2-3, 2017 San Diego. The Future of Genome Medicine. ***Here's a pdf of the speakers.
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Best wishes, Carl
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