The Ed's Up #48

DIY diagnosis: how an extreme athlete uncovered her genetic flaw

If you read one thing from this newsletter, I'd recommend this one. It's a story about Kim Goodsell, an extreme athlete who discovered that she had two extremely rare genetic diseases, and taught herself genetics to figure out the link between them. And she got it right. I tell Kim's story, and explore whether she's an outlier or a harbinger of things to come.


 

Seals May Have Carried Tuberculosis To The New World

Adaptive Colour-Changing Sheet Inspired By Octopus Skin

A team of scientists have developed a flexible pixellated sheet that can detect light falling upon it and change its pattern to match. So far, its large pixels can change from black to white and back again. It’s a far cry from an octopus’s skin, but it does share some of the same qualities. For example, it changes colour automatically and relatively quickly—not cephalopod-quick, but within a second or so. (Image: Hu et al)
 

Birds Lost Their Sweet Tooth, Hummingbirds Got Theirs Back

Hummingbirds feed largely on nectar, the sweet liquid that flowers produce. But they lack a gene that allows us to taste sugar. Instead, they have evolved a workaround: they repurposed two other taste genes that are normally responsible for detecting savoury tastes. On a hummingbird’s tongue, these savoury sensors are sugar sensors too. (Credit: Finca Berida)

More good reads

• A stunning, beautiful, moving piece by Brooke Jarvis on meeting the people most affected by climate change
• 250 boxes full of 13,000 grasshoppers, forgotten for 50 years, could tell us interesting things about climate change. By Stephanie Paige Ogburn
• Turns out there are many good reasons why you'd want to brain-scan dead people. Vaughan Bell discusses.
• “But like all fairy tales, the one about talking apes is partly make-believe.” Jane Hu on the strange, disturbing world of Koko the gorilla and Kanzi the bonobo.
• Dandruff-causing fungus unexpectedly discovered in deep sea vents, Antarctica, eel guts, corals. Fascinating story from Jennifer Frazer
• That lovely smell after the rain is called "petrichor". It's also a signal for plants. By Joe Hanson.
• A new study on what happens when people feel "in the zone", by Virginia Hughes who seems to live there permanently
• This really is a wonderful piece about breaking into a secret ecosystem, trapped in ice. By Douglas Fox.
• "No government wants to be seen as pro-killer-robot." This Rose Eveleth piece has the best quotes.
• Yes, this! "Microbiome science needs a healthy dose of scepticism"

More good links will be released in tomorrow's linkfest on Not Exactly Rocket Science

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And that's it! Thanks for reading.